The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum

Three years ago I bought a P-64 (1970) from a co-worker. But, today was the first time I shot it. Yes, I know some will ask why I waited so long. Well I saw the co-worker shoot the gun during qualifications the week before he sold me the gun, so I knew the gun would go bang. Also, the co-worker carried the gun as his “bug” on duty. And I had other guns that I shoot and carry on the job.

The reason that I purchased the gun was the price ($100.00 w/four mags) and the looks of the gun. The gun came with 13 rounds of green case ammo (Wolf brand??). So the gun went home with me. I put the gun in my tractor toolbox so I would have a gun when I was working on the farm.

Well today I pickup two boxes of American Eagle (Federal) 95 gr full metal jacket ammo. Here is what I found. The green case ammo was hot; it shot hotter than a 9mm, somewhere around 40 cal. The American Eagle ammo was the same. No problems with the American Eagle, good ammo. The green case ammo had one FTF and one round blew back some powder on me. From 20 feet the gun took out the center of the q-target. This was off hand shooting, double and single action.

Now the trigger. Double action was about the same as my 2-generation Kel Tec P3AT (8 pounds) and the single action was very light. The single action trigger was lighter than my Glock 3.5 pound trigger. It feels like some of my match pistols, under one pound (way under). In other words if I was not thinking about the trigger in single action mode, the gun would go off.

To me the 9x18 round is capable round to do the job. It seems hotter that the 9mm. I think I will get the Pro-Tach chronograph out and test some factory loads.

In other words I like this gun and she is a keeper.

frankmako

Sounds like you got a P-64 with the hammer spring changed out to a lighter one. Accurate little devils,aren't they?! [:D]

Hello frank, welcome to the forum.

I'd have a look at that trigger. Some folks early on experimented with different weights of PPK springs, or cut their original springs, and it sounds like you have some spring in there that is just too light. Here's one thread that discusses hammer springs. There are lots others in the Fixes & modifications section:

http://p64.proboards67.com/index.cgi?bo ... 1178578217

The small P-64 does feel like a 9mm doesn't it? And those were some stout rounds you were shooting. Federal is the most expensive ammo you can buy in 9x18. Most of us order from the internet, such sites as Aim Surplus.

I've chronographed just about every 9x18 round I could think of and posted the results here:

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=299

I used a Makarov, which has a slightly longer barrel and shoots about 40 fps faster on a 1,000 fps load than a P-64.