Wonder why the P5

[GreyCoupe]

never gained the popularity of some other pistols...

The Browning HP, some of the Smiths, early SIGs all seem to have developed wide fan bases that continue today. The P5 is a great pistol that compares competitively if not favorably to these and other more popular pistols. I happened across mine when they were new, liked it and bought it.

Is the Walther name less respected? Is the higher price when new what held it back? Less advertising or marketing effort?

In my view, the P5 is a nifty gun that does everything well. It comes from a weapons heritage that is long and proud. It is simpler and easier to maintain than the Browning. In my hand at least, more accurate than many of the Smith semi autos, and as well built and reliable as any of the standard SIGs.

[searcher451]

We've talked many times on this forum about Walther's failure to market effectively in the USA. Were it not for the Bond films, for better or worse, the brand would get virtually no advertising/marketing support at all on this side of the pond. And, no doubt to the delight of all Umarex officials everywhere, they don't have to pay a single penny for that type of marketing.

All you have to do to become a fan or Walther, and especially to this pistol, is to shoot the P5. It's still my all-time favorite range gun, and in my view it's still Walther's finest achievement.

[mike9905]

I'm thinking timing and magazine capacity. The P5 was an improved P38. Meanwhile Beretta intoduced the 92 which became the global challenger of the Browning HP. Then SIG, the 226, and Glock 17. Walther came out with the 88 but the markets had spoken.

[MGMike]

Insofar as the consumer market is concerned, mike9905 hit it exactly.

But for the German police rearmament, with its special requirements, there would never have been a P5, or --for that matter-- a SIG/Sauer P6 or H&K P7. None of them sold particularly well on the consumer market. Single-stack magazines and high prices did not help.

M

[GreyCoupe]

I guess it's good; if had become more popular, prices today would be even higher...

[E.T.]

You might not like this but unfortunately here in Belgium and nearby Netherlands Walthers are NOT popular

The main reasons are that:

- in the Netherlands the P5 has been the standard police duty pistol for over 30 years and they have quite a record of accidental discharges and accidents (due to lack of proper training and safe handling). Plans are to switch to a new duty gun but after a painstaking procedure the SIG PPNL (a 250 version) was ultimately cancelled. They're still looking for another candidate but as I said, they just don't like Walthers
- the P99 suffers from the competition (Glock)
- nobody knows about the P88
- in Belgium, the Browning High Power still remains very popular (why settle for a Walther ?) By the way, the Belgian government just ordered 20,000 new Smith & Wesson MP9 to replace the Browning High Power (all worn to a thread).


Last month I wrote to about a dozen gun stores in Holland and Belgium to get a price for selling my (pristine) P5, P88 and P99; only one store was willing to buy them for 595 € (765 US$); that is for the three guns, not for each pistol !!!

I decided to keep them

[searcher451]

Originally Posted by E.T.

Last month I wrote to about a dozen gun stores in Holland and Belgium to get a price for selling my (pristine) P5, P88 and P99; only one store was willing to buy them for 595 € (765 US$); that is for the three guns, not for each pistol !!!

I decided to keep them

In a word or two, good grief!

And a batch of S&Ws besides? I can throw away my glasses because I've seen everything now ... again.

[Andyd_is_PzGren]

Originally Posted by MGMike

Insofar as the consumer market is concerned, mike9905 hit it exactly.

But for the German police rearmament, with its special requirements, there would never have been a P5, or --for that matter-- a SIG/Sauer P6 or H&K P7. None of them sold particularly well on the consumer market. Single-stack magazines and high prices did not help.

M

That is the exact reason, the Pflichtenheft that stated dimensions and mag capacity chopped the P220 to become the 225, led to the HK PSP, and the P5.

Actually the commission let several policemen try the different pistols and they all agreed that the P5 was the favorite and easiest to shoot.

[AoxoMoxoA]

Originally Posted by webspider

hello friends,
One is what I already mentioned with respect to some of the built-in
synths, which can indeed be fairly heavy CPU consumers. I'm mainly talking
about PSYNII and Dimension, though Dimension can vary wildly by the program
loaded from almost no load to very heavy load (e.g. in some of the
Dimensions programs). You might find that using those in SONAR would also
weigh the system down a fair amount, though, as I mentioned above, I do
think P5 uses more resource to do the same thing.
thanks

at least the post contains "P5..."

[searcher451]

Ditto ... and a PM sent.