Walther PPS broken striker guide

[A-R]

Took my new-to-me Glock 27 to the range today. Brought along his big brother Glock 23 and #1 rival, Walther PPS 9mm. Put the G27 through its paces, while also giving some practice time to G23 and PPS. All three shot well, amazed the G27 and PPS with shorter barrels and grips shoot equally as well as G23.

Went home and cleaned up all three, but noticed this injury to my PPS:

red arrow pointing to crack in the plastic/composite "striker guide" of my 9mm Walther PPS

Gun actually still functions properly, dry firing etc. without a hitch. But obviously I'm not comfortable carrying a self-defense gun with a known break in functional part. Guess I'll have to call Smith & Wesson customer service tomorrow. Would be great if they'd just send me a new part (taking apart the slide on this Walther is same as a Glock), but I'm guessing they'll make me ship back the gun to them for repair and probably a two- to three-week turnaround.



Glad I found that deal on the G27 last week ($339.95 +tax), looks like he'll be in the starting lineup sooner than I expected after a great practice today and injury to the previous starter at that position.

[thankGod]

Sorry about the busted part. I was just looking at a PPS yesterday. I understand that they are nice shooters for the size and weight, and the slimness would make an easy CC.

[RECIT]

I acquired a 9mm PPS recently and like it a lot. Sorry to hear about your failure in such a reputable pistol. Please let us know the outcome when available.

[A-R]

Called Walther/Smith & Wesson today. First guy I talked to said he didn't have any parts in stock to send me, but their repair techs keep all parts in stock and I could send it in for repair (figures ). I agreed and asked for free shipping. He took my name, address etc. and said he'd send the shipping label. So I was looking at 3-4 days to receive label + 3-4 days to ship to Massachusetts + 5-10 days for repair + 3-4 days return shipping. I said I'd rather not be without my primary self-defense gun for more than three weeks and asked why he couldn't send the shipping label to me electronically, he stopped himself short and said "well, I can't do that sir". So I took the cue and asked "is there someone there who COULD do that?" He said yes and forwarded me to Joe Marcoux, who graciously agreed to email me the FedEx label, which I received a few minutes later.

Of course, finding a FedEx location that will accept a firearm for shipping is a whole other hassle. Finally had to call and speak to someone at FedEx's 1-800 number just to get a street address for the main distribution center that will accept a firearm. Glad I did, because the directions from the FedEx/Kinko's person on the phone of "near Parmer and I-35" was way off (it's actually at 2001 W. Howard Lane near Scofield Ridge Parkway, just west of Metric for any other Austinite's who need to know). It's amazing - and a sign of the times - that a FedEx employee at one retail location can't even give me the street address or phone number to the only location that will accept my particular shipment.

Anyway, I'll be dropping off my PPS at the FedEx main center this afternoon. I'll be missing her while she's gone.

[UpTheIrons]

So I was looking at 3-4 days to receive label + 3-4 days to ship to Massachusetts + 5-10 days for repair + 3-4 days return shipping.

Actually, IIRC, FedEx and UPS are required to ship handguns Overnight or Next Day, so you should be able to shave at least 4 days off that estimate. I'm glad you found some intelligent life while you were at it, too - both at S&W and FedEx.

[A-R]

So I was looking at 3-4 days to receive label + 3-4 days to ship to Massachusetts + 5-10 days for repair + 3-4 days return shipping.

Actually, IIRC, FedEx and UPS are required to ship handguns Overnight or Next Day, so you should be able to shave at least 4 days off that estimate. I'm glad you found some intelligent life while you were at it, too - both at S&W and FedEx.

Actually the guy working the counter at the main FedEx facility in Austin seemed "into" guns. He first asked me to open my nicely taped box and show him the gun was unloaded. I protested (he said everyone did, but a few have been caught in the big "oops" moment), but opened the box and showed him the unloaded weapon. He said "we get a lot of returns for Walthers", mostly PPKs it seems. I told him PPKs had been recalled last year. Which led us to chatting about guns etc. Nice guy.

[A-R]

Sorry about the busted part. I was just looking at a PPS yesterday. I understand that they are nice shooters for the size and weight, and the slimness would make an easy CC.

Yes, I've been impressed with the gun until this relatively minor problem. Only wish they were more prevalent/popular so there'd be more replacement parts readily available (like Glocks) and night sights would be great - still not available AFAIK, but read a rumor that Walther unveiled an updated PPS with night sights at the S.H.O.T. show.

It is a joy to carry IWB in a Crossbreed Supertuck. Easy to forget it's there.

Overall design/build is "tighter" than a Glock, thus accuracy is quite good for a 3-inch barrel, even with a slightly stiffer/grittier trigger than Glock. At 7 yards it is the equal to any of my Glocks. At 15 yards, I start to get a bit sloppy with it (likely because of the thinner grip). When compared to other firearms even close to its size, I am more accurate with my PPS than almost anything I've shot close to it's size ... much more accurate than Kahr or J-frame revolvers, on par with Glock 27 and Bersa and Walther .380 "blowback" designs (but thinner than Glock and more powerful round than .380), not as accurate as an HK P7, but weighs less fully loaded than a P7 weighs empty. It definitely fills a nitch that needed to be filled, IMHO.

Anyway, here is the range report I posted back in September when I first picked it up. http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... rt#p314349" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[A-R]

So I'm tracking my PPS as it journeys via FedEx to Massachussetts. Someone explain this to me ...

Jan 26, 2010 11:52 PMArrived at FedEx locationMEMPHIS, TN
Jan 26, 2010 9:52 PMLeft FedEx origin facilityAUSTIN, TX

How does it get from the distribution center in Austin to the distribution center in Memphis in two hours? If I left my house for Austin Bergstrom Airport, I wouldn't even be sitting on the plane in two hours, much less take off, land, disembark, load into a truck, and drive to the destination facility in Tennessee. And the FedEx main facility in North Austin is about as far from airport as my house (though perhaps FedEx's main Memphis hub is actually in the airport itself).

To heck with commercial airline travel, just wrap me in a box and ship me to my next destination via FedEx. (just be sure to declare my CCW and show them it is unloaded before plane takes off )

[thankGod]

To heck with commercial airline travel, just wrap me in a box and ship me to my next destination via FedEx.

I think this has been done.

Don't fret. You'll have your PPS back in no time, and you'll be smiling .

[Keith B]

So I'm tracking my PPS as it journeys via FedEx to Massachussetts. Someone explain this to me ...

Jan 26, 2010 11:52 PMArrived at FedEx locationMEMPHIS, TN
Jan 26, 2010 9:52 PMLeft FedEx origin facilityAUSTIN, TX

How does it get from the distribution center in Austin to the distribution center in Memphis in two hours? If I left my house for Austin Bergstrom Airport, I wouldn't even be sitting on the plane in two hours, much less take off, land, disembark, load into a truck, and drive to the destination facility in Tennessee. And the FedEx main facility in North Austin is about as far from airport as my house (though perhaps FedEx's main Memphis hub is actually in the airport itself).

To heck with commercial airline travel, just wrap me in a box and ship me to my next destination via FedEx. (just be sure to declare my CCW and show them it is unloaded before plane takes off )

FedEx main hub is at the Memphis airport. Austin to Memphis is about 560 airline miles, so about 1.5 hours flight time. Still pretty quick though.

[RHenriksen]

Thanks for posting about your experience. I just checked the same part on mine, all is intact, thankfully. I've run 1-2k rounds through mine so far. Hope you get yours back quickly!

[A-R]

Thanks for posting about your experience. I just checked the same part on mine, all is intact, thankfully. I've run 1-2k rounds through mine so far. Hope you get yours back quickly!

How are you cleaning your slide and striker (firing pin) channel? I typically just scrub the whole thing with Shooter's Choice solvent and then blow dry it with compressed air. But occassionally I'll also use either Shooter's Choice or Birchwood Casey "plastic safe" spray cleaner. I'm careful to ALWAYS use the plastic safe formulas because all my handguns except my J-frame have some amount of plastic/composite material.

But now I'm wondering if that could've weakened that part? Would really upset me if that was the culprit because I've been using the same to clean my Glock for more than 10 years with no issues what so ever.

Of course, on same week this happened to my PPS the plastic belt clips on my Crossbreed SuperTuck for the PPS finally broke too (they are graciously mailing me a set of the replacement metal clips). Not a good week for composite materials for me. I dunno what kind of composite Glock uses to make their parts, but I wish all gun makers, holster makers etc would use it too.

[RHenriksen]

I haven't gone further than the standard field striping - ie, I haven't disassembled the slide. I dip a toothbrush in Hoppe's #9 and scrub the underside of the slide, shoot it with a polymer-safe solvent (can't recall the brand offhand, but I get it at Academy), and then used compressed air to accelerate the evaporation of the solvent. Rub a cleaning patch w. oil on the slide to get the finish looking even.

[A-R]

shoot it with a polymer-safe solvent (can't recall the brand offhand, but I get it at Academy)

sounds like we use the same "polymer-safe" spray solvents. Please let me know if you ever have same/similar problem. I'm hoping mine is just a one-time "oops" from a part that wasn't as strong as it should've been. Hopefully the solvents are degrading the polymers.

[A-R]

Called Walther/Smith & Wesson today. First guy I talked to said he didn't have any parts in stock to send me, but their repair techs keep all parts in stock and I could send it in for repair (figures ). I agreed and asked for free shipping. He took my name, address etc. and said he'd send the shipping label. So I was looking at 3-4 days to receive label + 3-4 days to ship to Massachusetts + 5-10 days for repair + 3-4 days return shipping. I said I'd rather not be without my primary self-defense gun for more than three weeks and asked why he couldn't send the shipping label to me electronically, he stopped himself short and said "well, I can't do that sir". So I took the cue and asked "is there someone there who COULD do that?" He said yes and forwarded me to Joe Marcoux, who graciously agreed to email me the FedEx label, which I received a few minutes later.

Received the snail mail version of my FedEx shipping label from Smith & Wesson on Saturday . Glad I pushed to receive this by e-mail the same day. Cut at least four days off my "without-firearm" time.