The Walther P99 Has Come to an End [Archive]

spyderco monkey

01-14-2023, 04:58 PM

Farewell to a legend.

https://productplacementblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Walther-P99-pistol-in-Tomorrow-Never-Dies-1997.jpg

https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/sites/default/files/styles/fancybox_popup/public/images/product/ga005-walther-p99-pierce-brosnan-collage.jpg?itok=1MZKWBVq

Not only was this gun the face of the 'modern Bond' but it was also quite significant to the history of pistol design.

It's the first pistol to employ removable backstraps as well as really advanced 'shaping' for hand ergonomics, both of which went on to become standard in modern pistol design.

boing

01-14-2023, 05:59 PM

At least some of their triggers seemed to fall weirdly between striker fired and DA, and may have turned some people off to the design. And the SW99 train wreck with NJSP may have tarnished the brand. It’s one of those “I wasn’t going to buy one, but I’m sad to see it go” kinda deals.

Le Français

01-14-2023, 06:30 PM

I saw one in a Quebec City officer’s holster last month.

Lex Luthier

01-14-2023, 11:13 PM

Several smaller militaries still issue variants including Finland, the Indonesian govt issues it for the national police force, the Polish govt makes a licensed version at Radom for their armed forces, and IIRC, the Dutch national police still issue a current variant of the QA model, of which early versions are being imported to the US as surplus.
The Italian Carabinieri had it as their issue pistol in .40 for at least a decade.
Supposedly at least two German states still issue it for their police forces, with multiple tens of thousands in service.

Still, it makes me sad to see them go. As a guy who cut his teeth on DA revolvers, it is the first modern polymer pistol I ever really got along with and I still think it’s one of the best designs of its type I have yet experienced.
In disclosure, I have a 2004 1st gen QA in .40 S&W as a carry gun.

Rick R

01-14-2023, 11:27 PM

My wife has/carries a P99c 9mm and shoots it extremely well, better than her G19.5. We looked for a full sized for range use and ended up with the Magnum Research variant with a Walther branded frame and an MR slide that somehow buggar’d the whole way the gun feels when you shoot it.

If I can find one of these actual Walther final edition guns at a reasonable price I’ll buy it for her.

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 12:47 AM

I shall hereby festoon this thread with P99 porn in honor of its passing...

100067100064100069100068100070

Luger

01-15-2023, 04:19 AM

Supposedly at least two German states still issue it for their police forces, with multiple tens of thousands in service.

North-Rine-Westphalia issues the P99 DAO.
Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Rhineland-Palatinate issue the P99Q.

revchuck38

01-15-2023, 07:21 AM

My P99Cs have pretty much supplanted my J frames when I need something small (I don't pocket carry). The sight radius is the same as on my full-size PX4s due to the slide design, which helps with the accuracy. It's also the closest you'll come to a "dressy" polymer gun. Mine aren't going anywhere.

BCG

01-15-2023, 07:39 AM

I shall hereby festoon this thread with P99 porn in honor of its passing...

When I sold my first P99 on Armslist a little over 10 years ago - * sigh *, where does the time go? - I printed some custom playing cards to include in one my ad's pictures.

100081

Evil_Ed

01-15-2023, 08:11 AM

Hmm...I might need to pick one of those up, just because.

100083

100082

Took a while for the P99c barrel to be made and delivered by Jarvis...haven't had a chance to get it to the range yet.

It's a really, really clean shooting suppressor host, too - that and a BHP are the only pistols I've ever put a can on that didn't spray me or my hands with carbon gunk, especially after a couple of mags.

Lex Luthier

01-15-2023, 09:49 AM

I shall hereby festoon this thread with P99 porn in honor of its passing...

100067100064100069100068100070

I really enjoyed your blog post on the P99, MattyD380.

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 02:37 PM

I really enjoyed your blog post on the P99, MattyD380.

Oh, thanks a lot!

I think the P99 occupies an interesting niche in gun history--where SFA was beginning to take center stage, but DA/SA was still the established norm. And I think it brilliantly combines the best of both those worlds. In a way, it offered a different path forward for the industry... which, unfortunately, led to... this premature celebration of life.

Sigh.

It just sucks that such an innovative and effective trigger system is going away. I still think P99's SA trigger is better than what you get on the PPQ (never tried a PDP). The reset is insanely short. And the DA is very shootable.

I would jump through hoops to finagle funds for a Q4SF with the P99 system--which I guess would be called the "Q4SF AS" in Walther parlance.

In any case...

Thanks :)

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 02:39 PM

When I sold my first P99 on Armslist a little over 10 years ago - * sigh *, where does the time go? - I printed some custom playing cards to include in one my ad's pictures.

100081

That is brilliant.

And Casino Royale was the last film where he carried the P99. Well played, sir.

revchuck38

01-15-2023, 03:06 PM

I really enjoyed your blog post on the P99, MattyD380.

Ditto!

P30

01-15-2023, 03:06 PM

North-Rine-Westphalia issues the P99 DAO.
Police NRW uses 42,000 P99 pistols. They decided to order the P99 in 2005 (when it was the current Bond pistol). Delivery began in 2008. (cf. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P99 (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P99))

I live in NRW and have not heard of any plan to replace the P99 here. So it seems, the P99 will be in business here still for several years. So to me, the video and the "final edition" thing seems a bit like the "final tour" of a rock band (you know, the tour before the second final tour).

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 03:11 PM

Ditto!

Gracias! Er... danke... :)

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 03:19 PM

Police NRW uses 42,000 P99 pistols. They decided to order the P99 in 2005. Delivery began in 2008. (cf. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P99 (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P99))

I live in NRW and have not heard of any plan to replace the P99 here. So it seems, the P99 will be in business here still for several years. So to me, the video and the "last edition" thing seems a bit like the "last tour" of a rock band (you know, the tour before the really last tour). ;)

Haha. Interesting. We have tons of P6s over here marked NW or NRW... I suppose we can thank the P99 :) Though my current P6 is BKA-marked.

Maybe the "Final Edition" business is just more of marketing gimmick. The P99 hasn't been a regular offering over here in quite a while, so it's not like much will change. Though we do see some random batches of P99s imported every few years. Hopefully it continues to exist/be supported in some capacity, for the agencies still use it. Though I get the sense that many of the P99 variants in Europe (P99Q, for example) are different that what we typically see here in the states.

I've spent some time in Dusseldorf. Visited the cathedral in Koln. Aachen is also lovely. Enjoyed my visits to Deutschland and NRW.

revchuck38

01-15-2023, 04:51 PM

Police NRW uses 42,000 P99 pistols. They decided to order the P99 in 2005 (when it was the current Bond pistol). Delivery began in 2008. (cf. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P99 (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_P99))

I live in NRW and have not heard of any plan to replace the P99 here. So it seems, the P99 will be in business here still for several years. So to me, the video and the "final edition" thing seems a bit like the "final tour" of a rock band (you know, the tour before the second final tour).

I'm looking forward to when they'll be replaced, so the surplus P99s can be sold over here. :)

P30

01-15-2023, 04:54 PM

Delivery began in 2008.
I tried to verify this and should have better written: Delivery took until 2008.

rp-online.de (https://rp-online.de/nrw/staedte/wesel/neue-pistole-fuer-die-polizei_aid-11811993) (newspaper article from March 2008, machine translation):

The talk is of the Wesel Police Department's new service weapon, the Walther P99 DAO. Recently, the last three copies were handed over to police officers Werner Kiewitz, Jürgen Schlechter and Dirk Bolland. [...] In 2006, the police in Wesel received the first weapons.

P30

01-15-2023, 05:13 PM

I'm looking forward to when they'll be replaced, so the surplus P99s can be sold over here. :)
Well, in a part of NRW (Cologne area) people say in their local dialect: "Me moss och jönne könne." Pretty hard to decode for people in the US, I suppose. Means something like: You should be able to not begrudge others things. But I also wish, German gun law would suck less. Then one P7 would not be in the US now but in my gun safe here in Germany. But there are still enough HK weapons in it, so I'm fine.

spyderco monkey

01-15-2023, 06:06 PM

I shall hereby festoon this thread with P99 porn in honor of its passing...

P99 porn contribution:

https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/sites/default/files/styles/fancybox_popup/public/images/product/ga005-walther-p99-se2.jpg?itok=tPtGa-AN

https://www.universalexports.net/Graphics/Gadgets/waltherp99.jpg

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/rsIAAOSwADRhBX0Q/s-l1600.jpg

https://i.redd.it/nxx9ckpps3k41.jpg

P30

01-15-2023, 06:15 PM

Picture from Polizei NRW (user with the most P99 pistols worldwide afaik, they bought 44,600 pieces according to the RP article linked above (https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?55772-The-Walther-P99-Has-Come-to-an-End&p=1441326&viewfull=1#post1441326)):

https://polizei.nrw/sites/default/files/styles/960x540/public/2016-11/P99_%C3%9Cbersicht_Koffer_960x640px.jpg

Source: polizei.nrw/medien/dienstpistolen-walther-p99-in-koffern (https://polizei.nrw/medien/dienstpistolen-walther-p99-in-koffern)

PS:
More from their equipment: polizei.nrw/ausstattung (https://polizei.nrw/ausstattung)
Cool examples:

With the AIRBUS H145 (https://polizei.nrw/artikel/modernster-hubschrauber-der-welt-alarmhubschrauber-h145), the state of North Rhine-Westphalia currently has the most modern police helicopter available on the world market. [...] Since 2017, the police aviation squadron has been using six AIRBUS H145 helicopters.

https://polizei.nrw/sites/default/files/styles/960x540/public/2020-08/Polizeifliegerstaffel_1.jpg

https://polizei.nrw/sites/default/files/styles/960x540/public/2018-12/_T1_8460.jpg

https://polizei.nrw/sites/default/files/styles/960x540/public/2016-10/img_8923_0.jpg

crosseyedshooter

01-15-2023, 06:22 PM

P99 porn contribution:

https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/sites/default/files/styles/fancybox_popup/public/images/product/ga005-walther-p99-se2.jpg?itok=tPtGa-AN

The Gen 1 P99 was one classy looking polymer pistol.

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 06:44 PM

This thread just crossed the threshold from "cool" to "glorious."

I agree... the first gen P99 is just awesome. There's something I really love about the finely cut / half-height serrations. Leaves a bit more negative space--doesn't look as "busy" to my eye. I also love the way the angle of the trigger guard picks up the angle of the muzzle cuts. Then the slightly rakish "chin" kinda completes the look.

100119

The 2nd gen doesn't look bad. But the first gen just looks... right.

BCG

01-15-2023, 06:46 PM

I shall hereby festoon this thread with P99 porn in honor of its passing...

Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost in the 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day

100116 (https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Die_Another_Day)

100117 (https://die-hard-scenario.fandom.com/wiki/Miranda_Frost)

Miranda Frost is a Harvard-educated, gold medal-winning Olympic fencer.

She is sent by M to work alongside Bond, but does not approve of Bond's methods. When caught by Mr. Kil and his minions, Miranda helps Bond keep incognito by kissing him. They later spend the night together in Miranda's suite to keep up the pretense that they are lovers.

James awakens and goes after Graves. Miranda pleads for him not to go, but he insists. When Bond finally confronts Gustav Graves it is revealed that she is the traitor who betrayed him in North Korea, which led to 14 months of incarceration and torture at the hands of the North Koreans. Bond attempts to kill her, but realizes that his weapon is empty. While in bed together, Frost had taken the opportunity to empty his Walther P99.

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 06:57 PM

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Dave Williams

01-15-2023, 07:11 PM

I was just saying today I don’t need anymore guns, but I’ve always liked the P99, and will probably pick one up.

Joe in PNG

01-15-2023, 07:17 PM

Don't forget Mireille Bouquet from "Noir"

100122

LockedBreech

01-15-2023, 08:41 PM

Irelander

01-15-2023, 08:42 PM

I remember being at a gun shop many years ago with a friend who spent the whole time there handling a P99AS. When I finally said it was time to go, he said "I don't think I can leave without this thing." Back then I was only 1911 minded so I tried to dissuade him. He bought the gun and I believe still has it. Very cool pistol.

Elwin

01-15-2023, 09:06 PM

I don't have either of my P99AS carry guns or my P99C anymore, but they served very well (aside from excessive dryfire breaking trigger and striker parts in my practice gun and sending it to the factory... twice). As mentioned in another thread these were my first "serious" carry guns that I really worked to be competent with (and got quality AIWB kydex for). Also unfortunately the only good pics I have show the guns in said kydex.

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4RNR

01-15-2023, 09:24 PM

That sucks. Coincidentally I was thinking about this the other day. Noticed that I haven't seen any in a while and it was a gun that was always in the back of my mind. Always ment to pick one up.

Does MR still make their copy?

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

WobblyPossum

01-15-2023, 09:51 PM

The P99 is a pistol I’ve always thought was pretty cool. I’ve never owned one. I can’t find this Final Edition set for sale anywhere. Have they hit dealers yet?

MattyD380

01-15-2023, 11:32 PM

The P99 is a pistol I’ve always thought was pretty cool. I’ve never owned one. I can’t find this Final Edition set for sale anywhere. Have they hit dealers yet?

I don’t think so.

Strangely, there are “normal” P99s (i.e., not the final edition) for sale all over GunBroker at the moment. But I think this is still from the batch that came over in 2022.

If one wanted a brand new P99… and didn’t care if it was the final edition… now would be a good time grab one.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/963652664

They all seem to be around that price.

Luger

01-16-2023, 11:00 AM

But I also wish, German gun law would suck less. Then one P7 would not be in the US now but in my gun safe here in Germany.

Amen.
Unfortunately most german police forces now destroy their old guns, instead of selling them.
What a shame...

Lex Luthier

01-16-2023, 11:50 PM

Amen.
Unfortunately most german police forces now destroy their old guns, instead of selling them.
What a shame...

That is a shame indeed.

It’s becoming more common in the Americas, too.

Kanye Wyoming

01-17-2023, 08:54 AM

I love my P99, probably more than any other, in good measure because apples-to-apples (no red dot) I shoot it the best. It’s not optimally concealable but it’s doable. And as I learned a few years ago, pressing the decocker is the functional equivalent of an SCD.

The perfect SHOT Show would be the SHOT show at which Walther introduces the P99 M2 OR — Same general idea and dimensions, decocker on the back (a la P30) or on the frame (a la Sig P2xx) or even on the slide, optics ready like the PDP, more aggressive texture on the grip, and the same size magazine but which takes 17 rounds.

I’d sell 4 pistols and buy 4 of those. Maybe 5. And a few more when they release the P99 Kompact M2 OR which holds 12 or 13 rounds.

That Guy

01-19-2023, 01:38 AM

The P99AS is one of the coolest-looking, vetted, respected, awesome guns there is.

Fortunately, I bought one back in 2017 and for my hand it was extremely uncomfortable. The lack of grip texture and the weird shaped butt made it feel like it was trying to escape my hand.

The grip does need some help. Since the grip is so narrow, I've used a Hogue grip sleeve intended for Glocks with mine. Cheap and readily available, and easily sized for the P99 grip with just a simple cut with a pair of scissors, although removing most of the finger grooves does take a bit more work.

Elwin

01-19-2023, 09:08 AM

I found mine easy to stipple, since there’s really not texture to speak of to remove first, and ended up doing that as well as sanding down some sharp edges on the frame. Also did a mild undercut and cut half the slide stop off. Lots of irreversible modification but I was very happy with the result and enjoyed doing the work. Other than all that all they needed was Dawson sights.

If nothing else it was a great learning experience that gave me the confidence to eventually take a similar approach to any other polymer guns I buy, if any. Which will probably be Glocks, HKs, or Smiths since Walther apparently has no remaining interest in making commercial guns that aren’t fully tensioned striker guns without manual safeties.

What I really want is a PPQ M1 or PDP with a PPS trigger and striker indicator. Basically a better P99QA.

arcticlightfighter

01-19-2023, 09:52 AM

Designed around 9mm the Walther version was excellent in my opinion

The SW99 in .40 was hot garbage especially as a duty pistol which I was issued briefly

They couldn’t make it through a day long shooting class with out breaking something , especially the sear housing

I would be completely comfortable with the Walther P99 in 9mm

I especially like the paddle style ambi mag release

Shipwreck

01-19-2023, 02:04 PM

Elwin

01-19-2023, 09:48 PM

Can you show up a picture?

After some more digging this is the best I've found, for now. Pictured with a similarly modified PPS I still have. I used to have better ones (like from when I listed one for sale here...), but I'm terrible about keeping a hold of digital photos.

Undercutting isn't shown well but it was a matter of using sandpaper so that the bottom edge of the trigger guard and the bottom edge of the paddles was one very, very smooth surface. The height difference between the two on a stock gun gave me Glock knuckle. Obviously the slide stop's not pictured at all but that was cutting off the "back half" of it and using a dremel to get a smooth surface.

100346

Shipwreck

01-19-2023, 10:04 PM

Thanks for the pic :)

That Guy

01-21-2023, 12:13 PM

Lex Luthier

01-21-2023, 03:19 PM

Since we're posting pictures, my cheap grip solution:

100402

These Trijicon sights were anything but inexpensive (the camera in my phone picks up the front sight quite a bit less well than my eyes):

100403

That is a good solution! Brother has one of those grip sleeves on his gen 2 Glock and it’s held up well for him.
I too have those Trijicons, but it’s time to re-lamp or change them out for something else.

CSW

01-22-2023, 07:49 AM

I carried a 99as in 9mm for several years. the decocker always made me feel safe carrying appendix.
I got out of the gun just about when the 2.0 compact was intro'd.
Shoulda kept it.

At one point I owned three 9mm full size, a compact, and an early P99 in 40, with a fitted Bar-sto .357sig barrel.