[Ecko]

Well I just received my pistol license a week ago and my first purchase was a Walther P99 QA 9mm.

This is my first gun and I wanted to know what ammo should I buy. I've heard that certain brands like Wolf suck so I need a little help in this department. I'm also not too clear on what the differences in grain equate to.

I basically want to know exactly what to ask for when I walk in the store.

 

[Phelptwan]

Well...mine has shot everything but Sellier & Bellot Range Safe.

So that leaves you with:
Winchester White Box
Winchester White Box JHP
Winchester Ranger Frangible
Winchester Ranger T's
Corbon DPX
Corbon JHP +p
CCI Blazer Brass
CCI Blazer
Remington err...bargain whatever
Sellier & Bellot (green box...not range safe)
Speer Lawman

And those are just the ammo I've tried.

 

[uncut]

I would stay away from anything that is steel cased....Wolf comes to mind as you mentioned
there is plenty of "no name" ammo that is out there to buy that will do fine on the range. Independence comes to mind which is a brand we sell.
Magtech ammo is also good, which is sold at sportsmans warehouse in a shooters pack of 250 rounds....

 

[Jake Starr]

I assume you live somewhere here in the states? So if it is convenient, simply go to a Walmart and purchase at least 3 boxes (5 would be better) of Winchester 115 gr FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) 9mm in the white box of 100 rds. On the forums these are called WWB.

Make sure you give your pistol a visual inspection and a cleaning first just to remove any storage junk. I doubt you will have any on you new P99 but it is always better to be safe now than sorry later.

500 rds is the going number that most would tell you is the least amount of rds you need to shoot just to make sure your pistol is functioning properly. After this you can do a search of which ammo is best for self-defense. But be prepared to wade through a bunch of threads and opinions. FWIW, I like Speer Gold Dot 124 gr HP +P.

I believe you will enjoy your new Walther. Welcome to the family. I think that you will also find this forum helpful with any other questions that you may have.

PS. If you are interested I have a file of some very good advice for new shooters/CCW holders written by one of our forum members that I could forward you if you would like. Just send me a PM.

 

[Deputy]

Which ammo to buy and use is about as controversial as what caliber of handgun is the most effective

Uncut is right about steel-cased ammo. Wolf and S&B "Range Safe" ammo are the only two I am aware of that are steel cased. Stay away from them. Walmart is an excellent source for inexpensive FMJ blaster ammo. Some ammo deposits more crud in guns than others. But even then, it seems to vary from shooter to shooter and ammo to ammo.

As far as what ammo to use for defensive purposes...I won't even make a recommendation there. It's guaranteed to lead to a lot of arguing and it has been argued over and over on a thousand different forums and tests. And nobody has been able to land on ONE ammo as the best of any available. You'll have to just evaluate each test and opinion on it's own merit and decide from there. Trust me...EVERYONE on this forum is going to have their own personal preference and recommendation.

Dep

 

[Bluefool]

I'm going to second the recomendation of winchester white box 115. This is fairly cheap but still of very good quality, and its easy to find. I'm also going to second the part about putting at least 500 rounds down range with it before you start to think of it as broken in.

My QA (in .40) had some issues before it has started to settle in around 700 rounds now; I'm real interested in hearing how things go at the range for you!

 

[Ogie]

I would recommend CCI Blazer Brass, WWB and/or Speer Lawman 124 gr. I use the Speer Lawman as my practice round for my Walther P99.

 

[jimmythebrain]

I have heard that the first several hundred rounds of 9 MM that you put through a new Walther P99 should be NATO style ammunition. That is 124 grain round nose FMJ bullets. Some people have problems with failure to feed, extract, etc. for the first few hundred rounds on a Walther (so I am told, my three have run flawlessly, but only two were NIB, one was used when I got it.). The response I have seen to these people is to break the gun in with 200-300 rounds of 124 grain, then switch to whatever you want.

I do not really have an opinion about this. All of my guns have run fine with the 115 gr. WWB, but I like the recoil better of Remington UMC 115 grain.

Just thought I would share this piece of propaganda going around. You can choose to do with it what you want.

 

[Ecko]

This is exactly what I needed, thanks a lot for the info guys it was a big help. I'm going to head over to Walmart in the morning and see if they have any WWB.

 

[Jake Starr]

I have heard that the first several hundred rounds of 9 MM that you put through a new Walther P99 should be NATO style ammunition. That is 124 grain round nose FMJ bullets. Some people have problems with failure to feed, extract, etc.

This is true of the early model P99s. For the post '04s this should not be an issue. I have an early, split-trigger, Interarms import that I needed to break in with the 124gr. But I have two post 04 models and they have and still shoot anything that I feed them....

 

[Deputy]

This is true of the early model P99s. For the post '04s this should not be an issue. I have an early, split-trigger, Interarms import that I needed to break in with the 124gr. But I have two post 04 models and they have and still shoot anything that I feed them....

This also seems to be true of many semi-autos, especially the ones with steel slides and frames. Also for target versions that have a very tight slide-frame fit.

 

[MGMike]

Whether quite intending to or not, Jimmythebrain's post correctly characterized the alleged necessity for a "break-in" period as "propaganda."

Leave aside accurized target guns (they are a different breed of cat, built to perform to a different standard). If a production gun designed for service use will not reliably function straight of out the box with the ammo it was designed to use, somebody at the factory didn't do their job. The idea that it needs to be "broken in" is a rationalization for poor workmanship. What "breaking in" really means is to wear off the burrs that should have been tumbled, or stoned off by a fitter, or never raised in the first place if the cutter had been kept sharp, or to force parts to mate that are slightly misfitted because the tolerances were not maintained.

I have two VERY early P99s that were correctly made and fitted and neither of them needed to be pampered with any particular ammo. Walthers and other high-grade guns are test-fired at the factory. What kind of reliance could be placed on such a factory test under an assumption that there would be malfunctions that (maybe) would later go away? Why bother?

The caveat, of course, is that the ammo chosen by the purchaser ought to be reasonably similar to that used by the factory, which presumably knows what ammo the gun is designed for. I don't know what Walther uses today, but nothing in their manuals or any factory specifications that I have come across suggests that any standard 115 or 125 gr. load should be regarded as unreliable.

M

 

[Deputy]

MGMike: Interesting opinion...but there aren't many gun pros that agree with you. Even gun makers like Wilson, STI and Ed Brown recommend a break-in period before any gun is sent back as defective. Expecting ultra-precision manufacturing of ANY item nowadays is pretty much wishful thinking. The days of the handbuilt Colt Pythons are long gone. Even the handbuilt and assembled guns that still exist (and are pretty pricey to reflect that hand-building) require a break-in period. Even new cars require a break-in before you beat the crap out of them. Why wouldn't a firearm also require that break-in?
Yes, some guns are test fired at the factory. Looking at S&W revolvers, it looks like in a six shooter they fire a round out of every other cylinder. I have NO idea how many rounds, other than the one they now include with the gun, are fired out of S&W autos. If the government didn't force gun makers to include that one round, I doubt very much they would test fire at all.
If you expect gun makers to fine tune and precision fit EVERY single handgun they produce, then you are living on Fantasy Island. They are NOT going to go to that much effort for the price they are selling guns at.

Dep

 

[Montana Slim]

I have heard that the first several hundred rounds of 9 MM that you put through a new Walther P99 should be NATO style ammunition. That is 124 grain round nose FMJ bullets.

I have heard that as well, but my 3 P99s are all pre-2004 and never had a problem shooting 115 gr rnds. My first P99 started out with CCI Blazer Aluminum 115 gr and the only time it ever malfunctioned was when using crappy Pro Mag magazines. My other two P99s were started out with WWB 115 gr and I haven't had any problems.

 

[Ogie]

I only had one handgun that did not work correctly out of the box, it was a SIG GSR and it is long gone. There is no need for a break-in period. It does make sense to fire your pistol enough to know if it will be reliable or not. If it isn't it needs to be sent back for repair or a refund.

 

[MGMike]

MGMike: Interesting opinion...but there aren't many gun pros that agree with you. Dep

"Gun pros"? You must be referring to those whores who write for gun magazines, and are compelled to find some excuse for the malfunctions they encounter, or their editors would soon find somebody else to write about their advertisers' products.

M

 

[Deputy]

"Gun pros"? You must be referring to those whores who write for gun magazines, and are compelled to find some excuse for the malfunctions they encounter, or their editors would soon find somebody else to write about their advertisers' products.

M

If I listed those who advocate breaking in a handgun, I think you would take back that comment. The malfunctions ENDED after the break-in period. So what's the big deal????? Rather than making some kind of blanket statement like you have, why not e-mail the handgun makers like Springfield, Colt, S&W, etc and ASK them if their handguns should be broken in. Again, I still see it as much ado about nothing. If you can't get the pistol to work right, send it back to the manufacturer for repairs.