[WaltherP99]

I recently purchased a 2003 (AD?) P99 and it's fast becoming my favorite pistol. I do have to say after pricing the Walther guns I found them very good buys. And also I like the old look better than the "Smitherized" version.

I got the gun's used but it was well cared for. The original owner got the Metropro TruDot night sights on. Is it true the OEM sights are plastic, are they durable? Is it high contast? The TruDot are metal but for daytime use I am considering getting the OEM back on. Is it hard to change sights?

This is one thing that's bothering me, the reoil guide rod appears to protrude from the gun. I took the gun apart following the manual but the rod goes back to flush when the gun's apart, but as soon as I have slide back on, it is forced forward again, by 1/16", but very visible. Is there something wrong there, or was it not assembled correctly? I did notice the plastic guide rod is rather bent when I took it out. Is there a metal replacement available and is it better?

And finally it's the trigger pull. This is an original P99 SA/DA version. When I first squeeze the trigger, the trigger does not seem to move anything, except for a stub of plastic strut that's right behind and recessed in the trigger. I am wondering if there's a purpose of that part, and if its' durable, or adjustable. I'm thinking that if there's no plastic stub, wouldn't the trigger be closer to grip and make the grip more comfortable as well as shortening the pull?

 

[RyanSBHF]

This should answer most of your questions:
http://www.praxagora.com/lunde/WaltherP99FAQ/

 

[stunksinatl]

Hmmm,

I'm not the expert here, but I'll try to answer your questions.

As far as the sights:  There is a small detent in the right side of the rear sight that must be pushed down before the rear sight can be removed, not too hard, just be careful of the little spring, I think.  The front sight can be changed by removing the small allen screw (VERY SMALL) after you field disassemble the pistol (under the barell).

I haven't had any durability problems with my factory sights, but my pistol is a baby (300 rounds or so).  Perhaps someone else can post on sight durability.

As far as the recoil rod:  It's normal on the 9mm for the recoil rod to protrude slightly.  This is not a problem on the .40 because the slide is slightly longer, yet they use the same recoil spring assembly.  The plastic rod shouldn't pose a problem, and mine is also bent slightly upon reassembly.  When you put the sucker back together, everything straightens out real nice!

As far as the trigger:  I think that has to do with the striker safety, which keeps the gun from firing unless the trigger is actuated.  It takes a bit to get accustomed to the trigger pulls of the DA/SA (now called AS).  Hang in there, the trigger gets better with use.  I dry fire constantly, and my trigger pull seems to have improved from the factory.  Since yours is used, do you know how many rounds have been fired beforehand?

If the grip is uncomfortable, you might want to try replacing the backstrap of the grip by tapping out the roll pin near the bottom of the grip with a punch, and replacing with a smaller (or larger) one.

I hope I've been accurate in answering your questions.  As I said, I'm not an expert, but someone please correct me if I've said anything incorrectly...  By the way, I have gained much of my knowledge of the P99, and pistols in general right here on this board, with all of it's great members, and of course from Dr. Lunde's FAQ at:

Walther P99 FAQ

it's an invaluable resource for the discerning P99 owner.  Thanks Dr. for the wonderful FAQ!

Congratulations on your purchase, and safe shooting.

-stunks

 

[MLB]

I was looking at the construction of the trigger as well. I'm not sure why it was designed that way. Almost looks like an XD type trigger safety thing, but not quite. I'd appreciate any enlightenment on this issue too.

 

[stunksinatl]

You beat me to it, RyanSBHF! Heheh

-stunks

 

[WaltherP99]

Awesome FAQ! I really get lots of useful info out of it, thank you so much for the pointing me to right direction, and also for answering it here.

I do wish the rod doesn't protrude so obviously however. Is there a reason for it? It just does not seem to be correct to have a part this way. It seems like the part is "out of spec". I can't imagine it being a "feature" or does the protrusion actually serve a purpose? From what I can see, it's the rod that's slightly longer than it should be. It gets pushed by the ledge on the frame, so the tip get pushed out of the slide when fully assembled. I have a Beretta 96 that has a plastic rod that I changed to steel. I wish there's an aftermarket steel part for P99.

Thanks for the sights info, I think I'm stuck with it for now until I get tired of it or it dims.

The FAQ said dryfiring doesn't hurt the gun. Is there any reasoning behind this? Is striker fired guns not suceptable to damages normall associated with dryfiring firingpin?

The trigger is still "spongy", and is it CORRECT for it NOT to retract closer to grip? Normal SA/DA guns do this such as my Sig or Beretta. But with P99, the trigger stays at same location, UNTIL I pull it back, and then halfway to firing it gets past a "click" and it would stay put there. Is this normal too?

I'm thinking of clipping off the spring like the other thread talked aobut ot smoothout the trigger. I don't know how many rounds thru this, probably less than 500 since the gun and barrel look very new. For the record, I got about $300 in this gun so i think I got a good deal despite some quirks.

 

[P88]

Quote[/b] (WaltherP99 @ Mar. 18 2005,9:37)]I do wish the rod doesn't protrude so obviously however.  Is there a reason for it?  It just does not seem to be correct to have a part this way.  It seems like the part is "out of spec".  

The FAQ said dryfiring doesn't hurt the gun.  Is there any reasoning behind this?  Is striker fired guns not suceptable to damages normall associated with dryfiring firingpin?  

But with P99, the trigger stays at same location, UNTIL I pull it back, and then halfway to firing it gets past a "click" and it would stay put there.  Is this normal too?

The spring rod is normal to all 9mm P99's. Don't know why it protrudes like that, but it does.

I dry fire my P99's all the time with out any problems. I do use snap caps most of the time however.

The "traditional" trigger on the P99 actually has three different trigger pulls. What you are seeing is the 2nd type that is basically a long, light single action. When you pull the slide back to chamber a round, the striker is cocked at the same time, but the trigger stays forward. This is to give you a "light long single action" trigger pull. If you want it to be in traditional DA "long and heavy trigger, you simply push the decock button on top of the slide. (this is the first trigger pull)

The third trigger pull is of coarse trigger back single action.

The reasoning for the "long light single action" trigger pull was for safety reasons. Walther came up with it so that a person under stress would have that extra bit of length of pull in the single action mode before the audible click and placement of the trigger into the single action mode. This to make doubly sure that you really wanted to fire. Also single action shooting can give a person better accuracy than double action.

The FAQ site should be able to answer the trigger question better for you. I hope that I have not confused you more.

 

[j_ratliffe]

my older P99 i bought had non glowing night sights on it . i ordered a complete sight set from smith and walther. the sent me the set that had six front sights, (two were for the smith 45acp), and the hex head set screw with the hex wrench. it cost me $4.00. the stock rear sight was $35.00. call customer service. you can get the number from waltheramerica.com. they are easy to replace. takes about 5 minutes after you get the after market front sight off. becarful not to round the nut off on the underneath of the front night sight.

 

[WaltherP99]

are the Smith/Walther sights plastic or steel? I just rubbs me in a wrong way to think think they're plastic, but then again, I really shouldn't worry since most of the gun is plastic.

 

[Navy87Guy]

Quote[/b] (P88 @ Mar. 18 2005,11:50)] If you want it to be in traditional DA "long and heavy trigger, you simply push the decock button on top of the slide.  (this is the first trigger pull)

Except, the next shot will be the long SA pull -- there's no way to "deactivate" the anti-stress feature. Subsequent shots are normal SA, but the first SA is always anti-stress, no matter what you do.

 

[gmchenry]

If you keep the trigger pulled as the pistol cycles and don't let the trigger return all the way forward, you should have the short SA pull after the first DA pull.

 

[Navy87Guy]

You'd still have to let the trigger go forward enough to reset...seems like the effort you'd make to only go far enough to reset and not engage the AS feature (which is about half way) would be more distracting (and time consuming) than just taking the AS shot.

But everybody is different...

 

[WaltherP99]

yes, the AS feature will be less distracting than trying to guess where reset distance is and holding back the trigger. I suppose if you want to deactivate AS, you can pull the trigger just past the AS point, so it'll stay back, and then it'd be in short stroke SA mode.

 

[Navy87Guy]

Quote[/b] (WaltherP99 @ Mar. 19 2005,6:50)]yes, the AS feature will be less distracting than trying to guess where reset distance is and holding back the trigger.  I suppose if you want to deactivate AS, you can pull the trigger just past the AS point, so it'll stay back, and then it'd be in short stroke SA mode.

If you dry fire it, you'll feel the "click" when you reach the AS point. The trigger will then stay "staged" in that position -- in effect, acting as a normal SA shot (so I guess I just proved myself wrong -- you CAN disable the AS feature!) Dry firing is actually the only time I notice the AS feature. When I'm at the range, I never notice the longer pull for the first SA shot. It really makes me wonder if it actually would mean anything in a tactical situation -- it's not enough of a pause to overcome the adrenaline that would be pumping!

 

[j_ratliffe]

Quote[/b] (WaltherP99 @ Mar. 19 2005,12:20)]are the Smith/Walther sights plastic or steel?  I just rubbs me in a wrong way to think think they're plastic, but then again, I really shouldn't worry since most of the gun is plastic.

yes they are plastic. nothin' wrong with that. it just makes them cheaper to replace if somthing happens to them.

 

[Unjoiner]

WaltherP99:  Good to see you got steered to Ken Lunde's P99 FAQ, that is an excellent resource... one I read many times before I picked up my P99 a few years ago.

As for the guide rod protruding, I don't think it is a problem, but I will deviate slightly from the responses you have seen so far.

Now the center of a new guide rod will bulge out slightly from the slide, but I've found that the edges will generally be flush with the slide.  I noticed that for my P99, the guide rod later protruded out slightly after a few thousand rounds of use.

I think this protrusion is an early indication of recoil spring wear.  When I read the FAQ's about this issue, I remember looking over my new P99 closely and didn't see the little gap between the guide rod and slide.

However, after a few thousand rounds of shooting and reading the guide rod questions come up from time to time on this board, I remember looking back at my guide rod and noticed that it now stuck out very slightly (less than a millimeter).

About that time, the AWB ended and I had ordered some 16 round magazines, magazine followers, magazine springs, and recoil guide rods.  I replaced the guide rod and noticed the protrusion/gap went away.

I don't think the slight protrusion is a problem, as my P99 had always functioned with unrelenting reliability.  I don't know how far this protrusion can grow, nor at what point it might contribute to malfunctions, but I do think you tend to see this issue come up when guide rods get broken in.

I noticed you bought your P99 used... it would be interesting to see if my observations have also been noticed by other P99 users when changing to new recoil springs, or if I'm totally off base on this one. I know I will be keeping an eye on the guide rod as I continue shooting... I'm curious more than anything else.

 

[WaltherP99]

Thank you unjoiner, your response is very good to know. I am trying to figure out what would cause the guide rod to protrude. It is perfectly recessed/normal position when I have the slide out of frame. This just does not seem how it should be, nor would Walther design it this way unless there's a purpose by it, and if so, they'd have changed the spec to cover for this.

Essentially, the only way for the rod to protrude is that the flat end of the rod is resting against the flat plate in the frame, and when you have the gun assembled, the rod has no where to go but forward. So this shows me that either the rod itself is too long, or that the location of the stub in frame that pushes against rod is too forward. It has to be one of them, and I'm not sure how the spring power would affect it. If nothing else, it is there to push against slide and rod end that holds up the spring, thereby making the rod flush with the front end.

The piece I got is definitely used and the barrel shows nearly no wear, only indication is slightly on the barrel, which leads me to think no more than 100-200 fired. It would also interesting to know if any new guns exhibit this problem. I do consider it a problem even though it's not functionally impairing, but this surely could not have been a design "feature".

 

[MLB]

It may not be a "feature", but I don't see it as a problem either. I beleive the .40cal rods and the .9mm rods to be identical (different springs perhaps). With the shorter length of the 9mm slide, the rod protrudes a bit. Probably just a decision based on economy. They need to make only 1 type of rod rather than 2.

 

[New P99]

I found that when shooting my SA, if my first shot was DA, I just naturally kept the trigger from going forward far enough to make it the "long single action" pull. I'm curious why, for some of you, the second shot goes to long single action but the third, fouth, fifth, etc. don't.

 

[Navy87Guy]

Quote[/b] (New P99 @ Mar. 26 2005,6:03)]I found that when shooting my SA, if my first shot was DA, I just naturally kept the trigger from going forward far enough to make it the "long single action" pull.  I'm curious why, for some of you, the second shot goes to long single action but the third, fouth, fifth, etc. don't.

That's the way the system is designed. If you ride the trigger, then you can prevent the full reset ("long" SA shot) but the following shots will all have the short travel. If you look on the Walther web site, they have a graph that shows the travel vs. trigger pull for each shot. I don't know how they physically implement it in the gun, but the system is designed so that only one shot will be AS and the rest will be "normal".