P99--To Buy or not To Buy?

[hipower]

I have a question for a short discussion. What's so great about the P99? Is it really better than a PPQ? Or just hype?

Not sure if I'm looking to be talked into or out of buying a P99 from Classic Firearms. I'm really happy with my PPQ M2, but always hear that the P99 was and is the standard for the Walther lineup. Never shot, nor even held a P99.

What say you?

[Grunt67]

I've had both. My first Walther was a P99, really good gun, made a mental error & traded for a Glock. Also, recently had a PPQ M1, 40 S&W. Excellent trigger, great gun. Also, have owned PPS M2 & PPS M2 RSMc.

To answer your question, my experience, the PPQ is the better of the two.  As I said the trigger is second to none, the grip is better.

 The reason I got rid of my PPQ, was I no longer need that large of a gun & traded it for a S&W light weight for the missus.

Different strokes for different folks, but that would clearly be my choice.

Good luck, you won't be in the hole either way........

[FUJIMO]

I've had a P99 since 1996 which was the first year. Yet to find anything it wont feed reliably and to this day it still sits loaded in the safe with a hicap loaded and ready. It's the AS model with 2 stage trigger and slide mounted push button decocker. Never had a PPQ but i think everyone should have a p99 in their stable.

[hipower]

44 minutes ago, Grunt67 said:

I've had both. My first Walther was a P99, really good gun, made a mental error & traded for a Glock. Also, recently had a PPQ M1, 40 S&W. Excellent trigger, great gun. Also, have owned PPS M2 & PPS M2 RSMc.

To answer your question, my experience, the PPQ is the better of the two.  As I said the trigger is second to none, the grip is better.

 The reason I got rid of my PPQ, was I no longer need that large of a gun & traded it for a S&W light weight for the missus.

Different strokes for different folks, but that would clearly be my choice.

Good luck, you won't be in the hole either way........

Thanks. I never got a PPQ M1, for some reason. lol 

Yes, I love the trigger and short, audible reset.  The grip fits me perfectly. I'm just one of those that like the "finger grove" style. Missed out on getting a 40 version recently and I do sort of regret it. Never liked the PPS. Just me.

Yes again, the PPQ is a large gun, but I really didn't see the value in getting the "compact" model. Maybe someday.

What you think of the PPQ in 45?

[hipower]

19 minutes ago, FUJIMO said:

I've had a P99 since 1996 which was the first year. Yet to find anything it wont feed reliably and to this day it still sits loaded in the safe with a hicap loaded and ready. It's the AS model with 2 stage trigger and slide mounted push button decocker. Never had a PPQ but i think everyone should have a p99 in their stable.

Does the 2 stage trigger "feel" different? Never shot anything like that.

CF is offering the AS and the DOA models. I'm leaning toward the AS. In reality, I don't think there would be much against the DOA, but not sure.

[MacGyver]

The 2 stage trigger on the P99 AS was ahead of its time and was and is a truly great trigger. 

[ken_mays]

I've had several, all in .40.   They are well made, accurate and reliable, not to mention iconic and innovative.

They are one of the easier service pistols to work on.   However, they can suffer from a trigger issue where the double action pull does not adequately catch and pull the striker back all the way.   I think part of it is that the striker corner gets rounded off by the trigger bar, so it's something you will tend to see in pistols that have seen a fair amount of use.

2 of my 3 P99s have had this problem.   It isn't something that will interfere with normal use of the gun, since the only way to use the DA pull is to decock the cocked striker.   If you're just loading mags and shooting in SA mode, it's not something you might ever notice.  Later models had an adjustable trigger bar guide which can fix this problem, but mine have all been earlier ones with a fixed trigger bar guide. 

Parts for the P99 are getting hard to come by, so you're pretty much at the mercy of whatever Walther agrees to do to fix your gun.   I think the right way to fix this issue is to replace the striker, but they seem to be unobtainable on the current market.

Unless you really just want a P99 for some reason, I strongly suggest going with the PPQ instead, which I prefer over the P99 due to ergonomic reasons.   The two things the PPQ needs are a stronger mag catch spring and a lighter recoil spring.   The mag catch spring can be replaced with a Wolff 1911 plunger spring, and a couple of aftermarket outfits sell a lighter PPQ recoil spring which will tend to tame the excessive muzzle flip on these guns.

Edited March 9, 2020 by ken_mays

[ken_mays]

4 hours ago, hipower said:

Does the 2 stage trigger "feel" different? Never shot anything like that.

CF is offering the AS and the DOA models. I'm leaning toward the AS. In reality, I don't think there would be much against the DOA, but not sure.

It's not really 2-stage but can sort of be compared to one.   There is basically the DA pull and the SA pull.   When the slide is racked, the striker is caught by the SA sear.  The trigger is fully forward on that first shot, but a very light pull will move it halfway back to SA mode, where it stops; and another 1/2" or so of travel will fire it.

Every shot then will be in SA mode, which is what you want.   The DA pull only comes into play after you decock the cocked striker, or if you need a second strike on a balky primer.   And it's a heavy pull, especially with a newish gun, and it's something you want to avoid, so a DAO model would be of little interest to me, especially since everything bad about the P99 trigger makes itself worse with the DA pull (IMHO).

[hipower]

Thank you, Macguyver and ken_mays, I appreciate the information. You've given me more to digest on the P99. I don't know if I'm going to chance it.

Problems, or potential problems I wasn't aware of.

I've passed on a couple of PPQ models in the last year, thinking I really didn't need another. Perhaps I won't do that again.

Looking closely, sometimes a really good price comes up on the used market. If nothing else, it's a parts gun. lol Like I have the reasonable belief I'll wear one out. And as much as I've shot in the last few years, not likely to abuse one to the point of breakage. My body is breaking down much faster than I ever believed would happen.

I'll be 68 this month. Where the heck have the years gone? 

Yes, there's always the possibility of it, but I've been exceptionally lucky with my firearms and had only 2 or 3 times I had to resort to factory service on one.

So, I'll keep watching, listening to all the guys here who know much more than me, and then decide.

Thank you.

[Steves2]

I’m sorry I’m coming late to this discussion.

i have two P99s and I really like them. It seems a very innovative design, a striker gun that is DA/SA. The decocker is very interesting, and I find the trigger pretty good.

For me, it would come to price, and what you’re willing to pay for an innovative, very good German made gun.

[Quavodus]

Yeah, if the price right . Go for it on a good gun.