Walther P99

target

target

Regular
Rating - 100%
16   0   0
Location
St. Andrews, Mb.
I'm considering a P99 in either 9mm or .40 S&W. I see Wolverine carries them and I think Wholesale as well, but I may be wrong. Walther's website suggests the barrel length of the P99AS etc. to be less than 106mm.
Wolverine shows them at 106mm. I would need it to be 106mm to remain restricted.

Any thoughts and comments about these guns as far as performance/durability is concerned?

I'm leaning toward 9mm rather than .40 S&W, but have no idea what they go for as new.

I would also consider previously enjoyed ones as well.

Thanks
 
Yah, there has been a fair bit said about these pistols... even in the last couple months. Check those out for some good info.

I have a P99 AS in 9mm. I like it a lot. It has basically become my main centrefire pistol - just because I get better results with it than the other guns I have.

The striker-fired DA/SA design of the gun is very unique. A striker fired gun with a decocker? I can't think of another one. The 5 interchangable front sites are a great idea - I wish every gun came with something like this. The interchangable backstraps are not a big deal for me, the ergonomics of the gun are excellent no matter which backstrap you put in.

The gun has its detractors but I have shot mine a lot and have not had problems. No fail to fires or fail to ejects, and the accuracy is more comparable with a SIG 226, HK USP or Beretta 92 than with a Glock, Steyr or XD-type gun. Some people also like to put forward this idea that the gun is somehow less durable than Glock, SIg, etc. Owning and shooting this gun and a lot of it's competitors, I really don't see that, but everybody has an opinion right? :rolleyes: I know that the P99 beat the USP for a big contract for the Polizei NRW over in Germany. Clearly durability is going to be an issue in that decision. The Montreal PD use them as well.

In saying all this, note that I absolutely LOVE Glock, SIG, HK and Steyr pistols. I'm not a devotee of Walther and nothing else. I just think that Walther is every bit the gunmaker that their more ascendant German and Austrian breathren are. They have lots of good ideas and they make really nice kit.

The only negative thing, and I've mentioned this on the board elsewhere, is that my girlfriend and another woman that was shooting this gun felt that the felt recoil was pretty heavy for a 9mm. My girlfriend doesn't like shooting the gun because of this. Personally, I just see the gun as more "snappy" than anything. It has more of a sharp "crack" sound to it when it fires than other 9mm guns, and you feel it in your hands after shooting a lot of rounds in a row, but it is still pretty tame. It's a 9mm after all.

On the barrels, for the rest of the world it is 4 inch (102mm) for the 9mm and 4.17 inch (106mm) for the .40 cal. For Canada, both of them are 106mm. Walther has a long history of accomodating dumb Canadian gun laws with the P99 (but unfortunatley not with the P22 or PPK). 106mm versions of the P99 have been coming into Canada for years and years now.
 
Walther P99 is a piece of #### . You can find a picture of it in the dictionary under the word scrap or junk .
 
target said:
Any thoughts and comments about these guns as far as performance/durability is concerned?
Click to expand...

A friend of mine has a 9mm P99 and he has been very happy. I have shot his P99 ten or twelve times and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. The only reason I don't own one yet is because I already own too many plastic guns :D
 
I had one in 40S&W...the recoil rod lasted less than 50 rounds of factory ammo...
The recoil was also nasty...subjectively worse than other 'plastic' units...
Have had several in 9MM...now we're talking...still 'snappy' but tolerable.
Feels good, looks...'dead ###y'!..BUT I've ended up trading/selling them as the attraction didn't last...
As far as concluding that, just because a pistol wins some type of government contract competition it's 'hot s**h off a shovel', don't!
The winners are often a case of either price point or "It's not who you know,
it's who you b**w!"
 
target said:
Walther's website suggests the barrel length of the P99AS etc. to be less than 106mm.
Wolverine shows them at 106mm. I would need it to be 106mm to remain restricted.
Click to expand...
In Canada, the barrel length is 106mm. One gun company that cares. I like that! Now if S&W would add 1/4" to their revolvers I'd be happy...
target said:
Any thoughts and comments about these guns as far as performance/durability is concerned? I'm leaning toward 9mm rather than .40 S&W, but have no idea what they go for as new.
.
Click to expand...
My wife bought one in December for $999. I have fired it a few times and it is a great gun. So far about 500 rounds through it without any problems.....
 
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: People who say that the P99 is a POS don't know what they are talking about... Armchair commandos....

The P99 is my duty sidearm for the last 5 years. It has seen rain, snow, mud, sand, heat, humidity and a lot of abuse and it is still coming back for more. In 2003, when I was a full time pistol instructor, I shot something like 10K rounds and never, read NEVER cleaned my gun or gave it the minimum attention required for a duty sidearm. The slide finish is incredible. Barely shows holster marks. Remember that my holster is made of Kydex (Saf. raptor)... It never failed to work. Period. Believe me, were all pretty rough with weapon that is paid with money that doesn't comes out of our pocket. For those who've been in the CF, remember how we treated those C7...:evil:

The only problem I had was a broken ejector, something probably normal after 15K rounds shot in operational environment. Also, roll pins rust pretty fast, but it can be fixed with some oil. Don't forget that the pistol was often dropped on concrete or being hit while doing some physical high risk intervention (read no simulation, real stuff :D ).

Is it the best pistol around? Probably not. Would I have chose something else if I was allowed to choose my duty pistol? Maybe, but only to find something that better fit my hand or with a DA/SA instead of the Quik action. But, this pistol has served me well as well as other thousands of LEO in Qc. I'm betting my life on it every day that I go to work.

This is real experience, not something read in a magazine... ;)
 
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the input whether constructive or not.
The only problem now is that I'm probably more undecided then ever.
Now I think I should be looking at a Sig or something. :confused:
 
Well, my range gun is a Sig P226ST in 9mm. Less than 300 rounds in it, but so far so good! Go for what you like and what makes your heart beat rise... It is a toy, not a duty weapon you are looking for. After all, James Bond carries the P99....:rockOn:
 
I had one in my last badge course and it was one of the worst guns I have seen to take the course with...right up there with a Ruger P85 and horror of horrors the styer M5
 
i used to have a P99 and had to thin out the heard... it was a very difficult thing to do. the only reason was that it was easier to sell than my USP.

the P99 gets bashed a lot, but i have not had any problems with it,
 
azone said:
Bond carries a ppk and the p 99 is crap ask storm
Click to expand...

The P99 made its first appearance in a Bond film in 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies" and has been in every Bond film (3 more) since then:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_James_Bond_firearms

I agree with what other people have said on this board, which is, (setting aside the "fiction" thing for a minute) a PPK probably makes more sense for a cocktail party spy like Bond. He can always break out something heavy duty if he needs it (seems to like the UMP in the new movie).

The Bond movies are such "product placement" whores now though. Cars (Ford/Aston Martin/Land Rover), vodka (Smirnoff), watch (Omega), phone (Sony Ericsson), computer (Sony Vaio), all manner of gadgets and storage devices (always Sony if they make it). Of course the gun is product placement too.

azone said:
I had one in my last badge course and it was one of the worst guns I have seen to take the course with...right up there with a Ruger P85 and horror of horrors the styer M5
Click to expand...

Holster courses are about safety, not shooting. Any auto-loader would be fine. You could even teach a pretty good version of the course with rubber prop guns if you had to (not reloading... but).

http://ipscbc.org/blackbadge.htm

I don't really see a problem with Ruger autopistols. They are at a lower price-point, but there is no big problem with them. The Ruger "P" series autoloaders have been around for decades. Lots of guns die out if they are crap. Ruger "P" series keeps on trucking.

There is no pistol called a "styer M5". The Steyr (that's "e" then "y") M series pistols are usually designated as "M9", "M40" or "M357". "M" is for "medium" sized pistol (the "S" pistols being "small"), the numbers designate the calibre. The newer design pistols have "A1" added to the name. The trapazoid sites can give people problems at first if they aren't familar with them, but the design of the pistol is a proven success. I find them to be somewhat similar to a Glock, but with a better trigger.

On the P99, I had mine at the range yesterday (Feb. 17). We were shooting those "Dirty Bird" splatter targets from Birchwood Casey for awhile. The ones that have nine 3 inch circles on a white background. Normally my girlfriend and I use these targets for .22LR and .223 rifles (at 50m).... sometimes with .22LR pistols (at 10 to 15m). We were using the P99 and a Beretta on these at 12 metres yesterday. On one go-round I shot 7 of 10 rounds into one 3 inch circle at 12 metres with the P99. Try that with a Glock sometime... see what the results are. I'm not saying the P99 is the ultimate gun for accuracy. I could probably get similar results (with a few tries) with most quality autos that will fire in SA. I'm just saying the P99 is no slouch on accuracy. I've shot mine a ton and haven't had any problems with it. They are nice little guns. Lots of inventive features in a tough package. Like the Glock, the Mini-14, the P22, the SIG Mosquito and (fill in the name of your favorite "love to hate" online message board gun here), there will always be no shortage of people that go online and bash this gun. Personally I'd rather put my energies into shooting these guns.
 
Last edited:
100_6516.jpg


I love mine.... The AS trigger/striker is fantastic.

Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy
 
I had one(purchased from foxbat, above post), i really liked it, but like he said, the attraction wears off quick. I sold it really just to buy a .45 that i loved, but i'd consider buying another, if i had more expendible dough...
The people that mentioned the heavy recoil or snappiness, are correct.
Compared to other 9mm's it snaps back pretty hard, but i actually liked that at the end of the day of shooting.....
I bought a STI RangerII in .45ACP, and i love it to death, but the recoil on it is so smooth..... that i'll probably get another P99 when i can!!
Rob
 
I do also have to say, that it lost appeal for me, in '06(?) when they rounded out the trigger guard.
I would only purchase one, based on looks/###y appeal, if it had the original trigger guard design.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom