Hello Brother and Sister P99 Shooters! I am new to this wonderful forum (and to Walther handguns) which you may have gleaned from other posts I've left already. I recently acquired my first Walther, a P99 AS in 9mm, and last evening it had it's coming out party. I'd like to share my experience with it, and hopefully elicit some coaching from this seasoned group. Before I do I'd like to give background as to "why a P99?"
I am a recreational shooter who doesn't (yet) CC, but keeps a handgun at-the-ready in the home for, God forbid, a situation where it is needed. I have been around firearms (mostly shotguns) since teenage, and I am in my early 50's now. About 15 years ago I acquired a Glock 17 which served for the above uses. However the handgun bug has bit me and in the last two years I've added several more to my collection. After shooting and comparing all of them it became obvious to me that I shoot the Glock more poorly than any of the others. I shoot my 1911s and Beretta M9 the best, as you might guess with their single actions systems. But while they are fun (and effective) at the silhouette range, I am reluctant to use them for home defense. I am not trained in combat and I predict that if ever the situation arises where I need to use a weapon in self defense, my nerves will be working against me. Assuming that will be the case, I'd like a weapon with as many rounds as possible (leaving the 1911 out of the mix), but one with a safe yet easy to shoot action (eliminating the M9 which while easy to shoot due to its light SA trigger, lacks a manual safety and seems dangerous to move through a home with). I'd also like one that I can shoot often so as to master it as much as possible. Enter the P99 in 9mm with its anti stress action.
Whew, if you're still with me, here's what I experienced last evening:
Simply put, I love the AS action (although I quickly learned to keep my finger out of the trigger guard when decocking it!) I shot the Glock side-by-side for comparison, and my group sizes were night and day apart. In my normal fashion, the Glock's were sprayed on the target, while the P99's more or less created one large hole. Now they landed in approximately the same place, that being high and left of the point of aim, which is because I believe I was anticipating recoil, which leads me to my first concern...
...I was surprised at the amount of felt recoil. It was sharp, compared to my other handguns, including an M&P 40 cal that I had for a while, and the Glock. I was shooting Winchester "White Box" in 124 grains as recommended by Earl's Repair Service during the recoil spring break-in period of about 300 rounds. For more info about this see this link:
http://www.praxagora.com/lunde/WaltherP99FAQ/X/1.html
I switched over to some 115 grain Remington UMC for a few rounds and it reduced the recoil more than I would have estimated a mere 9 grains would. But still it was less comfortable than the Glock. But still I shot the P99 better. However, after the first 100 rounds, I developed a pain in my right hand below the base of my thumb. Could it be the shape of the backstrap? I was using the one that came installed on it, the medium which has a rather pronounced bulge to it at just about the spot where my pain developed. While I have larger than average hands, I may try the small backstrap. Comments?
Once I began concentrating on eliminating the flinch, the groups got smaller and POI got closer to POA. But when I stopped flinching, I started noticing the gritty trigger that folks talk about. Once I eliminated the flinch, I felt my accuracy was then only limited by the trigger. I've read comments that the trigger gets real smooth after 500-1000 rounds. I've even heard it compared to a 1911 trigger. Do I indeed have this to look forward to? Any suggestions?
The only other concern worthy of mention was something troubling that happened about three times. While "cocking" the striker, I ejected a round. While I can do this operation flawlessly in my house while practicing with the gun unloaded, the stress on my hands/nerves after repeated firing made me less than nimble when cocking the gun. In fact once it caused a failure to feed the next round after the one that escaped. I had to clear that one to return to battery. Now the stress of a self defense situation will make the stress of repeated firing pale in comparison, so it tells me that I should keep the weapon at home either without a round in the chamber, and rack one when needed, or keep one in and the weapon cocked. Comments? Does the cocking operation "smooth out" as the gun breaks in?
OK, thanks for listening, and thanks for your advice. If I could get use to the recoil, I'm really going to like this gun!!!
I am a recreational shooter who doesn't (yet) CC, but keeps a handgun at-the-ready in the home for, God forbid, a situation where it is needed. I have been around firearms (mostly shotguns) since teenage, and I am in my early 50's now. About 15 years ago I acquired a Glock 17 which served for the above uses. However the handgun bug has bit me and in the last two years I've added several more to my collection. After shooting and comparing all of them it became obvious to me that I shoot the Glock more poorly than any of the others. I shoot my 1911s and Beretta M9 the best, as you might guess with their single actions systems. But while they are fun (and effective) at the silhouette range, I am reluctant to use them for home defense. I am not trained in combat and I predict that if ever the situation arises where I need to use a weapon in self defense, my nerves will be working against me. Assuming that will be the case, I'd like a weapon with as many rounds as possible (leaving the 1911 out of the mix), but one with a safe yet easy to shoot action (eliminating the M9 which while easy to shoot due to its light SA trigger, lacks a manual safety and seems dangerous to move through a home with). I'd also like one that I can shoot often so as to master it as much as possible. Enter the P99 in 9mm with its anti stress action.
Whew, if you're still with me, here's what I experienced last evening:
Simply put, I love the AS action (although I quickly learned to keep my finger out of the trigger guard when decocking it!) I shot the Glock side-by-side for comparison, and my group sizes were night and day apart. In my normal fashion, the Glock's were sprayed on the target, while the P99's more or less created one large hole. Now they landed in approximately the same place, that being high and left of the point of aim, which is because I believe I was anticipating recoil, which leads me to my first concern...
...I was surprised at the amount of felt recoil. It was sharp, compared to my other handguns, including an M&P 40 cal that I had for a while, and the Glock. I was shooting Winchester "White Box" in 124 grains as recommended by Earl's Repair Service during the recoil spring break-in period of about 300 rounds. For more info about this see this link:
http://www.praxagora.com/lunde/WaltherP99FAQ/X/1.html
I switched over to some 115 grain Remington UMC for a few rounds and it reduced the recoil more than I would have estimated a mere 9 grains would. But still it was less comfortable than the Glock. But still I shot the P99 better. However, after the first 100 rounds, I developed a pain in my right hand below the base of my thumb. Could it be the shape of the backstrap? I was using the one that came installed on it, the medium which has a rather pronounced bulge to it at just about the spot where my pain developed. While I have larger than average hands, I may try the small backstrap. Comments?
Once I began concentrating on eliminating the flinch, the groups got smaller and POI got closer to POA. But when I stopped flinching, I started noticing the gritty trigger that folks talk about. Once I eliminated the flinch, I felt my accuracy was then only limited by the trigger. I've read comments that the trigger gets real smooth after 500-1000 rounds. I've even heard it compared to a 1911 trigger. Do I indeed have this to look forward to? Any suggestions?
The only other concern worthy of mention was something troubling that happened about three times. While "cocking" the striker, I ejected a round. While I can do this operation flawlessly in my house while practicing with the gun unloaded, the stress on my hands/nerves after repeated firing made me less than nimble when cocking the gun. In fact once it caused a failure to feed the next round after the one that escaped. I had to clear that one to return to battery. Now the stress of a self defense situation will make the stress of repeated firing pale in comparison, so it tells me that I should keep the weapon at home either without a round in the chamber, and rack one when needed, or keep one in and the weapon cocked. Comments? Does the cocking operation "smooth out" as the gun breaks in?
OK, thanks for listening, and thanks for your advice. If I could get use to the recoil, I'm really going to like this gun!!!
