Walther P99 .40 QA s&w REVIEW

[Falstaff]

I've just returned from the 4 day defensive handgun course at Front Sight in Nevada. I brought my new (to me, PPT sale of near new p99) Walther that I've never fired before. After 1,000 rounds over 4 days, let me say this: FLAWLESS. This gun was awesome, no jams, no FTE's, no stovepipes, absolutely no mechanical failures whatsoever (except the ones FS had us intentionally create for practice). And out of a possible 125 pts on the qualification final shoot i was -6 because of two near miss head shots at 10 or 15 meters (as you can see from my final 2 shots were outside the cranial-ocular cavity but still lethal IMO- anyway those misses were my fault, not the weapon's.

The fit of the Walther to my hand is excellent, the ambi mag release is a definite advantage- way faster than a Glock or SA where you have to use your thumb. The gun is way more accurate than I am- no question about that. I picked up a bunch of different discarded rounds on the range (FS has you use live ammo for setting up stovepipes and type 3 malfunctions, they will NOT allow anyone to pick up cartridges during class, but after class i picked up hundreds of discarded cartridges of various manufactureers- Wolf steel case, CCI al. cased, winchester, federal, Armscorps, all fed and functioned fine. In the steel man on man competetition the Walther 40 cal knocked the steel over with ease whereas the 9mm users had to make 2, sometimes 3 shots to make the steel flip- the 2 FN 5.7's out ther that day? Fergeddaboutit! The 5.7 round was TOTALLY unable to knock over plate steel- they didnt have a chance!

Now for the cons- the walther QA trigger is not for the faint of heart. The FS instructor did NOT like the fact that on the Walther QA triggers you have to rack the slide back to re-cock after you de-cock. That's right, on the Walther QA if you push the de-cock button, you have to actually rack the slide to re-cock the striker. You only have to move it back about a 1/2", but it is still a questionable feature for a combat handgun IMO. I think if the weapons inspector realized that you have to rack slide on a Walther QA for a re-cock, they would not have allowed me to use the gun.
There is no other safety on the p99 QA (except the decocker)


My skills test qualification target; minus 3 for each miss outside the Cranial-Ocular cavity box- those two misses were at either 10 or 15 meters and those two misses were what kept me from getting Distinguished Graduate! Oh, well, guess i have to attend AGAIN!

[nemisis1400]

If you decock, you can't fire the gun? i thought for most guns, decocking puts it in double action mode with a heavier trigger.

[xxxx]

If you decock, you can't fire the gun? i thought for most guns, decocking puts it in double action mode with a heavier trigger.

Yeah... maybe your P99 is broken.

[zman]

From Wiki:

P99AS (Anti Stress)
This variant comes closest to a traditional Double-Action/Single-Action trigger with a decocker. In Double-Action mode the internal striker is at rest with no pre-load and the trigger travel is 14 mm (0.55 in) long at approximately 38 N (8.5 lbf) trigger pull. When the slide is racked completely to the rear upon (re)loading, the internal striker is manually pre-cocked to Single-Action mode and the trigger remains in the forward position for the first shot and the Anti Stress mode is activated. The trigger travel is 14 mm (0.55 in) long in the Anti Stress mode at approximately 20 N (4.5 lbf) trigger pull. On all subsequent shots, the P99AS is automatically pre-cocked and the trigger travel is reduced to 8 mm (0.3 in) at the same 20 N (4.5 lbf) trigger pull. For manually deactivating the Anti Stress mode and setting the pistol to Double-Action mode the P99AS features a decock key or knob on the slide. The Anti Stress mode can also be manually activated by moving the slide approximately 10 mm (0.4 in) back.

P99DAO (Double Action Only)
The P99DAO is similar to the previously produced P990 Double Action Only variant. The internal striker is at rest with no pre-load. The trigger travel is approximately 14 mm (0.55 in) with a trigger pull of approximately 38 N (8.5 lbf). The trigger pull is consistent in length and force from the first shot to the last and the striker returns to its de-cocked position after each shot.

P99QA (Quick Action)
This variant has a Glock-style trigger system with a pre-loaded internal striker. When the trigger is pulled, the striker is fully cocked and released, firing the pistol. The trigger travel is approximately 8 mm (0.3 in) with a trigger pull of approximately 38 N (8.5 lbf). The trigger pull is consistent in length and force from the first shot to the last. The P99QA was announced in 2000 and 2001

[Falstaff]

The walther manual states that "after the decock button is presseed the weapon cannot fire until the slide is racked"

I will scan it it and post it, Wiki (as often is the case) is WRONG.

[Falstaff]

[Falstaff]

So, I don't pthink my p99 is broken...at least according to the manual it's operating as per the description. (ie, after decocking, with a round in the chamber, the ONLY way to fire it is to pull the slide slightly to the rear and release (in my experience it must be pulled about 1/4 to 1/2" (Now i gotta go measure it!)

[Jerm]

I have a SW99 which is basically the same gun. When you push the decock button it goes to a double action type mode with a heavier trigger pull. I have never had to rack the slide to make my gun fire.

[Falstaff]

I say again, the QA is NOT the same as the SW99, or the p99 AS, or the p99, or the p990. It does NOT ever go into double action trigger mode. The above scan from the manual is quite clear; the decocker button renders the gun unable to fire until the slide is moved slightly to the rear (in my experience about 3/8 to 1/2" is required. This is a unique "feature" to the Walther p99 QA (It's debatable whether it's a valuable "feature").