Walther PP Super
Walther PP Super
The PP Super came about as the result of requests made by German police officials for a more powerful cartridge than the traditional 7.65mm cartridge that had been carried for so many years. The police were lery of the full-power 9mm Parabellum cartridge because of its penetration
capabilities in densely populated Germany. Walther designed this completely new pistol in 1973 to answer their needs, however the cartridge was first experimented with during WWII but did not succeed.
This cartridge is the 9mm Police as Walther calls it. It is similar to the Makorov 9x18, but the bullet diameter is smaller than the Mak; it is the same as the 9mm Para. This pistol was also chambered in 9mm kurz.
It is a traditional blowback design with some added features that the Walther PP and PPK are lacking. First is a long-awaited for slide hold open catch. The second is a decocker instead of the safety lever found on the other PP series pistols. As can be seen in the image, the slide has been redesigned for a more modern appearance and the trigger gaurd and grip has been enlarged. It is very comfortable to hold and fits nicely in the hand. It is a larger pistol than the PP, approaching the size of the P5 in all dimentions except thickness through the slide. This pistol also incorporates the recessed firing pin first introduced on the P4 and subsequently used on the P5 and P88 designs.
Roughly 10,000 were produced in 9mm Police and about 1000 in 9mm kurz before production halted in 1981. Unfortunately it did not sell well in either caliber. It is nonetheless an excellent personal protection handgun and is built and finished as well as the other German PP series handguns.
18JUL99
I recently purchased a Bavarian Police trade-in that is about 99% condition. It has the Bavarian Police acceptance stamp on the right side of the grip and the Interarms logo under the slide on the left side of the frame. I fired 50 rounds of Fiocci 9mm Police through it and it functioned perfectly. Groupings off-hand were around two inches at 15 yards and 5/8" at seven yards. Very very accurate. The PP Super handles extremely well due to its grip design and greater weight than the PP. It sure is nice having the slide hold open lever and the decocker feature. Another excellent product from Walther Waffenfabrik.
19DEC99
In this close-up view of the acceptance mark, you will notice that it has been stamped over in an attempt to obliterate it. Looking closely past the spikes that radiate from the circumference of the obliteration stamp, the acceptance stamp itself can be seen. In this view it is upright in the form of a heraldy shield. Within this shield can be seen three lions in a running posture stacked on top of one another. Look closely and you will begin to see it. This is the stamp of the Baden-Wurtemburg State Polizei. The pistol has a date stamp of 1976 on the chamber. Judging from the condition of this pistol (99%+), and the year of manufacture, it is doubtful
that this pistol was carried for very long as this was during the transition to the P5. The trigger is much smoother on this pistol after having fired about 200 rounds through it since I have had it. Much smoother than my NIB PP Super pictured above.