Walther makes an interesting range of firearms. Their current premier flagship firearm is the Walther PDP. It’s an advanced, high-speed, modernized, optics-ready pistol. They also make the classic Walther PPK, a near-century-old design that’s still popular. In between those two, we have some interesting oddities like the Walther PD380. The PD380 is an evolution of the older and oft-forgotten PK380.
The PK380 was never an all-star and came out at a time back when pocket .380s were the .380 guns of choice. The PK380 wasn’t pocket-sized, but was relatively compact. For reference, it’s bigger than a GLOCK 26 but smaller than a GLOCK 19. It’s kind of a tweener size and the PD380 follows the same footprint. The PD380 is coming out at a time when those little pocket-sized .380s aren’t so popular any more, but the mid-size .380 has really taken off.
Ruger produced the Security-380, Beretta has the Cheetah, Smith & Wesson has their EZ series, and SIG makes the P365-380. The mid-size .380 ACP is a genre favored for its low recoil and ease of use. Operating the slide shows little resistance, and the gun seems aimed at those with reduced grip strength and who may be recoil sensitive.
What’s New With the PD380
The PD380 isn’t revolutionary by any means. It’s a short recoil-operated, semi-automatic that feeds from a single stack magazine. I don’t think I’m the intended customer of this weapon. The PD380 seems aimed more at the casual gun owner or even the first-time gun buyer who’s seeking a simple handgun they can operate with ease.
The PD380 has a short two-slot rail but isn’t optic-ready. The gun is a DA/SA action with an exposed hammer alongside a manual, ambidextrous safety. The magazine release is also ambidextrous but is not the usual button located behind the trigger. Instead, Walther has gone with the trigger guard paddle release that’s popular on the Euro models of Walther’s and HK’s pistols.
The single-stack magazine feels out of date until you go to load it. It’s super smooth and easy to load. All nine rounds go in with ease. If they had tried for a stack-and-a-half magazine design, it would have been much harder to load than a single stack.
The PD380 features a super slick slide that’s also easy to manipulate. It moves very cleanly. I had my wife try it, and she had no problems racking the slide. The serrations are aggressive and deep, which allows for a great grip on the slide.
Speaking of grips, the Walther PD380 takes a new approach. This is probably the biggest change from the older PK380 design. Walther went with a PDP-style grip, which is absolutely fantastic. It’s a great improvement with an awesome grip texture.
Across the top, there are simple plastic iron sights. The rear sight is fully adjustable and, according to some folks, could be swapped for aftermarket GLOCK 19 sights, but I didn’t have any G19 sights to try that out.
The PD380 Going Live
The PD380 is fairly simple. I’m not a huge fan of a safety on a double-action handgun, but it is what it is. The safety doesn’t de-cock the gun, but you can place the safety on and drop the hammer to safely de-cock it if you so choose. As a fan of DA/SA action guns, I was impressed by the PD380. The double-action trigger is long and heavy, but smooth. The single action pull isn’t exactly 1911-like…there is some pre-travel, and it’s a bit spongy, but it’s not bad at all.
Impressive? No, but perfectly suitable for its intended use. It doesn’t disturb your sight picture as you press the trigger. The little .380 ACP has very mild recoil. It’s super comfy, which fits for its size and caliber. The low recoil makes it easy to control, and you can get some rapid-fire shots on target. The gun shoots flat, and the muzzle rise is minimal. I was able to get the gun rocking quite quickly, to the point where the front sight never stood still.
I have big hands, and admittedly, every so often, I got bit by the slide. Out of habit, I push my hand as high as possible on the gun, and when I do that, the PD380 can take a bit of a bite out of the skin above my thumb. It’s not terrible or painful like the Bodyguard 2.0, but it’s noticeable.
Shooting Straight
I did three different accuracy tests. The first was a simple 25-yard off-hand test. I aimed at a ten-inch gong and fired one magazine slowly and surely. Admittedly, the gun didn’t perform well. With the Bodyguard 2.0, I can get 10 for 10. With the PD380, I went five for nine. I repeated the test at 20 yards and went seven out of nine. At 15 yards, the gun went nine for nine.
At 15 yards, I fired a four-inch group into a B8 target. The PD380 works decently up close and allows for accurate and fast follow-up shots. Staying at 15, I ripped off strings of four rounds as fast as I could, and they remained contained in that B8 target. With speed and accuracy in mind, I set up a dedicated A zone target and executed a few low-ready Bill drills.
I was able to score some under two-second par times. Add a draw in and we are likely looking at a 3 seconds and some change. I don’t have a holster to do a proper Bill Drill, but the gun performs well up close and when shooting quickly.
Yeah, But Reliability
At first, I wasn’t impressed. I was fully ready to write the gun off after my first fifty rounds. I had tons of failures to go into battery. The slide wouldn’t move forward and I had to remove the magazine and clear the gun to fix the problem. I sat there, steepted in disappointment until I looked closely at the ammo I was shooting.
The Fiocchi 95 grain loads have an odd “belt” in the case below the projectile that creates a noticeable little bump. I also did a bit of DuckDuckGoing and found that, according to many owner reports, Walthers in general don’t like Fiocchi ammo. Some say it’s the thicker rim, however I think that odd belt is the culprit.
I switched to Remington UMC 380, which noticeably don’t have that odd bulge on every round. This ammo cycled reliably without a problem. It’s worth mentioning that the PD380 was the only gun that choked on the Fiocchi ammo. I’ve been using a pair of pre-covid cases of .380 ammo I’d bought for testing and hand’t had that problem occur before.
The PD380 – Worth It?
The PD380 isn’t for everyone. It seems like Walther is targeting the same crowd who’s buying the S&W EZ series. They don’t appear to be marking the gun in that manner, but I’m no marketer. The low price of the PD380 makes it an attractive handgun and the low recoil is icing on the cake. The PD380 may not be for me, but I think they have a potential winner if it gains steam. Just watch out when buying ammo.
Specifications: Walther PD380 .380 ACP Pistol
Caliber: .380 ACP
Capacity: 9+1 (2 magazines included)
Overall Length: 6.5 inches
Width: 1.25 inches
Height: 5.2 inches
Barrel Length: 3.7 inches
Weight (empty with magazine): 20.6 ounces
MSRP: $449
Little too heavy for my pocket. My Ruger LCP MAX works for me.
Happy Thanksgiving All.
I bought a PK380 when it first came out. I have small hands and it fits me perfectly. I like the way it shoots with low recoil. It’s just too big to carry concealed for a small frame person like me. This PD380 is almost identical with a few differences that don’t improve it much. The mag release on the PD is the same as the PK which is awkward to operate due to it’s location. It just doesn’t operate smoothly. I think they wasted their time on this one.
“I like the way it shoots with low recoil. It’s just too big to carry concealed for a small frame person like me.”
Concealed-carry in general must be a royal PITA for slight-built individuals like yourself, unless skirts with a thigh holster are an option. Pretty much everything else are styles that don’t easily work with firearm carry, sadly…
“Across the top, there are simple plastic iron sights.”
No different than Glock, then.
I never understood Glock’s insistence on cheaping out like that, especially since LE was the primary intended market, and you would think you would want them to hit what they were aiming at reliably…