What makes the difference?

[railfancwb]

The Walther PP, PPK, and PPK/S have been manufactured for a good while. The PPK/S dates back to the GCA68 era and the others even further back.

 

Walther licensed some/all the designs to USA manufacturers including Smith & Wesson. Having licensed the designs, rather than cloning them, one would think that Stateside manufacturers would have technical support available from Walther to “get it right”.

 

Yet reviews seem to indicate that the pistols made in the USA are inferior to those made in Germany.

 

Why is that?

 

Is it the snob appeal of the “Made in Germany” label?

 

Or are there real quantifiable differences?

 

Would a testing routine taking five USA made and five German made pistols - say PPK/S - with relevant data concealed by electrical tape reveal superiority of the German made ones?

 

 

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[Alabusa]

From a machinist pov, the Germans are leaps and bounds ahead of the states. They still encourage the craftsmanship and attention to detail that only a master machinist can give. Stateside, they are only worried about the bottom line and want operators not machinists.

 

I have interviewed with a couple different arms makers and they run about 10 operators to 1 machinist. The machinist is a supervisor over the operators. It is just production work at its best and the biggest concern is fast turn around.

 

The U.S. has chosen quantity over quality while the Germans only concern is quality.

 

Think of it like this, the German production parts are equal to the custom shops in the states.

 

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[OldDad]

My S&W PPK/S is a beautifully made and perfectly functioning piece. I don't really see how it could be better.