Is the Walther P99 another underestimated and misunderstood pistol?

[SSGN_Doc]

I’ve had this pistol on my list to to buy if I came across one that was not criminally priced and in good condition, for quite a few years. It didn’t help my cause when importation really slowed in favor of importing the PPQ, as most striker fired pistol fans focused on shorter, lighter trigger pulls and short, trigger resets, to cut their split times in competition.

The P99AS (AS being short for Anti-Stress trigger), was developed as a duty pistol, plain and simple. The trigger system is the most misunderstood and unique parts of this pistol. In my own opinion, (of the exact value I charge for it), timing of development, and lack of effective marketing lead to confusion and disappointment from many who expected the trigger to be more like a Glock. The release of their own PPQ (Police Pistol, Quick action), and the resulting response from competitors in the market, also making fully cocked, single action striker fired pistols made more of a connection with the “lighter and faster trigger = better” crowd. Everyone wanted sub quarter inch trigger travel, under 4 lbs, with a 1/8” or less trigger reset that made a big click.

A striker fired pistol with a double action first pull around 8-9 lbs just didn’t have the same marketing appeal to the HSLD crowd. Even though the following single action trigger pulls seem to have exactly the characteristics that appealed to fans of the PPQ.

Now that many folks who have “gotten serious about carry” seem have gone through a shift in thought on fully staged striker fired pistols, there seems to have been a bit of a revival regarding hammer fired DA/SA pistols among some of them. I wonder, if the timing had been a bit different and the marketing a bit more savvy, would the P99AS have enjoyed more of the sales benefit and aftermarket support we see among the DA/SA revival? Could this have been “the striker fired pistol for serious use only”?

If you are looking for a range toy or a competition pistol look elsewhere, it won’t scratch that itch. There is room for improvement even in the “Duty use” realm. Trigger stacking could be improved without sacrificing safety or reliability. The trigger face could be shaped a little flatter for comfort and longer range/training sessions, and the grip texture could be improved to give more traction. But the basic platform seems solid. Aftermarket support or a Gen 3 could address these issues.

The gun is still in production by Walther, but mostly for European sales and police and military contracts. Importation to the US is much more limited. The P99C (Compact, closer to Glock 26 size) is still brought in regularly, but the full size (closer to Glock 19 size) is not as common.

Curious about others thoughts on this pistol and the DA/SA/decocker revival.

[olstyn]

If you are looking for a range toy or a competition pistol look elsewhere, it won’t scratch that itch.

Actually, I compete with a P99AS, and it serves just fine in that role.


grip texture could be improved to give more traction

Agreed. I've never felt like I was about to lose my grip on it, but it could definitely be better.


The gun is still in production by Walther, but mostly for European sales and police and military contracts. Importation to the US is much more limited. The P99C (Compact, closer to Glock 26 size) is still brought in regularly, but the full size (closer to Glock 19 size) is not as common.

You actually have this backwards. The P99c seems to have completely disappeared from Walther's US offerings. As far as the full size goes, it has pretty much always been a feast/famine situation. My understanding is that Walther makes them in batches and does one big shipment at a time to the US, so P99s tend to be cheap and plentiful right after the shipment happens, and then get progressively rarer and more expensive for a period of time afterward, rinse and repeat.


Curious about others thoughts on this pistol and the DA/SA/decocker revival.

My P99 has been boringly reliable and accurate for me over 10K+ rounds. I think the higher slide velocities and more complex spring arrangement in the P99c may lead to needing to replace its springs more often, or overall lower reliability. IIRC the G26 RSA also needs to be replaced more regularly than a G19 or G17, so I'd view that more as a maintenance issue that needs to be paid attention to than an actual defect.

[MGW]

I think Doc_Glock is pretty fond of them.

[SSGN_Doc]

Actually, I compete with a P99AS, and it serves just fine in that role.



Agreed. I've never felt like I was about to lose my grip on it, but it could definitely be better.



You actually have this backwards. The P99c seems to have completely disappeared from Walther's US offerings. As far as the full size goes, it has pretty much always been a feast/famine situation. My understanding is that Walther makes them in batches and does one big shipment at a time to the US, so P99s tend to be cheap and plentiful right after the shipment happens, and then get progressively rarer and more expensive for a period of time afterward, rinse and repeat.



My P99 has been boringly reliable and accurate for me over 10K+ rounds. I think the higher slide velocities and more complex spring arrangement in the P99c may lead to needing to replace its springs more often, or overall lower reliability. IIRC the G26 RSA also needs to be replaced more regularly than a G19 or G17, so I'd view that more as a maintenance issue that needs to be paid attention to than an actual defect.

Thanks for the feedback and corrections. When I started actively looking for a full size all I could find were the compact models. To fill the void I did pick up a used Canik TP9V2 to try the platform type out. I have been favorably impressed with the function and reliability of the inexpensive Turkish copy. (It completed a fully reliable 2000 round challenge, and has been boringly reliable and accurate, but I still wanted the Walther).

I could have been more specific on my statement about competition use. I really meant dedicated race gun where most opt for the unlimited class, with optics and ultralight, fully staged, SA only triggers. I don’t think it is going to scratch the itch of the unlimited hot rod class of competitor.

I’ve switched to DA/SA hammer-fired pistols with decockers for carry and practical competition. I don’t go full hot rod though.

[olstyn]

I could have been more specific on my statement about competition use. I really meant dedicated race gun where most opt for the unlimited class, with optics and ultralight, fully staged, SA only triggers. I don’t think it is going to scratch the itch of the unlimited hot rod class of competitor.

You are 100% correct there - it's not an appropriate base for a USPSA Open gun build. It works fine for Production, though, and I even use mine to shoot Limited Minor sometimes, too.

[Danjojo]

My favorite 9mm pistols and the only strikers I owned for quite a while. Perfect size for versatility and AS system is the perfect action in my mind. Flawless reliability and wonderful accuracy. As proven as any modern pistol design and more than most.

Like some others, I bug Walther for updated versions with an enhanced texture and a grip shaped altered more for recoil management (now also requesting a button mag release.) They tend towards shapes and textures that are more for natural POA, trigger finger isolation, comfort across the lines. Want something just a little more aggressive and "gamey" with the AS system.

Didn't get as much traction as there should have been based on release time frame and S&W handling things here for so long.

[Duelist]

My brother has a compact. It’s a nice little gun. The trigger shape is weird. IIRC, he looked all over for months before he found it. It hit all the criteria he had for a pistol, so he didn’t get something else, and just loves the thing.

[Doc_Glock]

The P99 AS and its compact version are great pistols (as well as the PPQ). They are just really uncommon and I divested myself of them in an attempt to simplify my life down to Glocks and HKs.

Nothing personal, I just like the HKs better for a DA/SA system.

P99AS is the only striker type DA/SA gun I am aware of.

[SSGN_Doc]

P99AS is the only striker type DA/SA gun I am aware of.

There are knock offs/clones and “half breeds”.

The Canik TP9, TP9V2, and TP9DA are different generations of Turkish P99 clones.

The S&W99 and Magnum Reasearch MR9 used German Walther parts and American Parts.

Pretty sure most are no longer being produced.

I’ve had one of the Canik TP9V2s for several years, and it’s a pretty decent copy.

[Brian T]

Wasn't there a P99QA or Quick Action? I could swear that was the one a shop tried to sell me many moons ago.

[CalAlumnus]

Wasn't there a P99QA or Quick Action? I could swear that was the one a shop tried to sell me many moons ago.

Yes. It was a P99 with a Glock-style, partially-cocked striker. They evolved it into the PPQ, with it's fully-cocked striker (and various other design changes).

[HeavyDuty]

I have a P99c (I think all the compacts are AS models, right?) that I bought new during the fire sale, plus my late stepfather’s duty gun - a P99QA in .40. I’ll be honest, if I was told I could have only one gun for carry I’d be tempted to make it the P99c despite all of my Glocks - it just plain shoots. Plus, being able to completely decock it makes it the one I prefer for AIWB (Gadgets on the Glocks serve the same safety / peace of mind purpose.)

[RevolverRob]

I want to really like the P99-AS, I do. Like really, really, really, want to like it, because the grip feels great to me and I love lever-style mag releases. Alas, the inability to really run the decocker with one hand eliminates it from contention for me.

While it is as safe as any Glock without being decocked, it is the decocker that makes the P99 stand above the rest. But I cannot manipulate it with one hand, without a whole lot of questionable grip changes. I do not carry a handgun that cannot have all of its controls and features worked with one hand.

The P99-AS is a handsgun as opposed to a handgun.

[HCM]

There are knock offs/clones and “half breeds”.

The Canik TP9, TP9V2, and TP9DA are different generations of Turkish P99 clones.

The S&W99 and Magnum Reasearch MR9 used German Walther parts and American Parts.

Pretty sure most are no longer being produced.

I’ve had one of the Canik TP9V2s for several years, and it’s a pretty decent copy.

The Walter P99 is a good design when properly executed.

The Walther made guns are good to go.

As documented here in other threads the early Caniks were not fully drop safe.

The S&W SW99 was an unmitigated disaster due to changes and QC issues on S&W’s part. They are best avoided.

[KevH]

The Walter P99 is a good design when properly executed.

The Walther made guns are good to go.

As documented here in other threads the early Caniks were not fully drop safe.

The S&W SW99 was an unmitigated disaster due to changes and QC issues on S&W’s part. They are best avoided.

My agency issued the Smith & Wesson SW99 40 for a few years.

It easily ranks high as one of the most unreliable piece of garbage pistols thrust upon the market in the past century.

Our entire first order of over 200 guns had to be sent back to S&W twice. By the third batch we had basically given up and almost no one carried it. It was so bad that guys were giving personal loans to academy recruits to go out and buy a different gun. I don't think a single gun made it through an academy class without having to be swapped out. FTF, FTE, broken parts, and random decocking mid string of fire...you name the malfunction these things seem to do it.

Around 2007, Smith & Wesson encouraged (damn near insisted) our agency (and any other agency that had bought the SW99) to swap them for the M&P for free. We gladly took them up on the offer. The M&P series has been a phenomenally reliable pistol for us.

I once asked what happened to all of department SW99's. I was told that S&W would not allow them to be resold on the US market and that the SW99 was an episode the company wanted to forget.

I've shot German-proofed Walther P99's in 9mm and found them to be a somewhat pleasant guns. I think I'm so scarred by the SW99 fiasco I would never want one.

[Thy.Will.Be.Done]

My agency issued the Smith & Wesson SW99 40 for a few years.

It easily ranks high as one of the most unreliable piece of garbage pistols thrust upon the market in the past century.

Our entire first order of over 200 guns had to be sent back to S&W twice. By the third batch we had basically given up and almost no one carried it. It was so bad that guys were giving personal loans to academy recruits to go out and buy a different gun. I don't think a single gun made it through an academy class without having to be swapped out. FTF, FTE, broken parts, and random decocking mid string of fire...you name the malfunction these things seem to do it.

Around 2007, Smith & Wesson encouraged (damn near insisted) our agency (and any other agency that had bought the SW99) to swap them for the M&P for free. We gladly took them up on the offer. The M&P series has been a phenomenally reliable pistol for us.

I once asked what happened to all of department SW99's. I was told that S&W would not allow them to be resold on the US market and that the SW99 was an episode the company wanted to forget.

I've shot German-proofed Walther P99's in 9mm and found them to be a somewhat pleasant guns. I think I'm so scarred by the SW99 fiasco I would never want one.

I would not judge Walther by Smith & Wesson's poor business practices, the two are not the same in fact they are no longer even doing any business together. Smith & Wesson was the importer for Walther for quite a while, but no longer. As said previously, S&W messed the SW99 up royally independent of Walther.

[HeavyDuty]

My agency issued the Smith & Wesson SW99 40 for a few years.

It easily ranks high as one of the most unreliable piece of garbage pistols thrust upon the market in the past century.

Our entire first order of over 200 guns had to be sent back to S&W twice. By the third batch we had basically given up and almost no one carried it. It was so bad that guys were giving personal loans to academy recruits to go out and buy a different gun. I don't think a single gun made it through an academy class without having to be swapped out. FTF, FTE, broken parts, and random decocking mid string of fire...you name the malfunction these things seem to do it.

Around 2007, Smith & Wesson encouraged (damn near insisted) our agency (and any other agency that had bought the SW99) to swap them for the M&P for free. We gladly took them up on the offer. The M&P series has been a phenomenally reliable pistol for us.

I once asked what happened to all of department SW99's. I was told that S&W would not allow them to be resold on the US market and that the SW99 was an episode the company wanted to forget.

I've shot German-proofed Walther P99's in 9mm and found them to be a somewhat pleasant guns. I think I'm so scarred by the SW99 fiasco I would never want one.

When Dad was picking his last duty weapon he came very close to getting a .45 SW99. It sounds like he dodged a bullet...

[Whirlwind06]

There are knock offs/clones and “half breeds”.

The Canik TP9, TP9V2, and TP9DA are different generations of Turkish P99 clones.

The S&W99 and Magnum Reasearch MR9 used German Walther parts and American Parts.

Pretty sure most are no longer being produced.

I’ve had one of the Canik TP9V2s for several years, and it’s a pretty decent copy.Canik still shows the TP9DA
https://www.centuryarms.com/tp9da.html

They actually did a recall and fixed the drop safe problem from what I have seen.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[Bucky]

My agency issued the Smith & Wesson SW99 40 for a few years.

It easily ranks high as one of the most unreliable piece of garbage pistols thrust upon the market in the past century.

Our entire first order of over 200 guns had to be sent back to S&W twice. By the third batch we had basically given up and almost no one carried it. It was so bad that guys were giving personal loans to academy recruits to go out and buy a different gun. I don't think a single gun made it through an academy class without having to be swapped out. FTF, FTE, broken parts, and random decocking mid string of fire...you name the malfunction these things seem to do it.

Around 2007, Smith & Wesson encouraged (damn near insisted) our agency (and any other agency that had bought the SW99) to swap them for the M&P for free. We gladly took them up on the offer. The M&P series has been a phenomenally reliable pistol for us.

I once asked what happened to all of department SW99's. I was told that S&W would not allow them to be resold on the US market and that the SW99 was an episode the company wanted to forget.

I've shot German-proofed Walther P99's in 9mm and found them to be a somewhat pleasant guns. I think I'm so scarred by the SW99 fiasco I would never want one.

IIRC, NJ State Police had an equally bad experience with their SW99s.