[Que]

Lately the Walther P99 has become very hard to find around here, and the AS almost non-existant. There are Smiths to be had, but few Walthers. My home defense gun is a full size all German P99 AS or an SW99 in .45 (AS type trigger). For carry I wanted a P99C and ended up going with a 9mm QA as my only other choice (I wanted to buy locally) was a .40 AS and i wanted the 9. My preference was the AS but my thought was that for a defense gun the QA might be the better choice for me. I am a strong believer that one can train to be effective with most any gun if they drill enough. Few guns are perfecty suited to anyone and it is necessary to adapt to any gun, to varying degrees.

It took me some time to get to the range to spend some time with the Compact QA but I am quite pleased. As you know the pull on the QA is somewhat short but constant with a sudden break. Mine, a very slightly used gun, is smooth and constant all the way through the break. Dry firing at home the pull lenght seemed short. When I was at the range firing the first shots the pull seemed very long and a little heavy. The anticipation of the break and an actual bang rather than a click added to the perceived length of the pull, but as I shot the gun more the length of the pull of the initial shot seemed less long more in line of what I had experienced dry firing.

The real surprise came on follow-up shots. The follow-up shots seemed like a much shorter and lighter pull. I know that this is not actually the case as the length and weight of the pull remains constant from shot to shot, but the perception is very different. The length of the pull and weight seems to be about half of the initial shot when there is maybe a second or two (or less) betwen shots. I have heard others remark about this and found it to be startlingly true. For a lot of reasons I like this type of thing. It provides for what I would say is a more "deliberate" first shot and follow-ups that feel a lot more like I would experience with my AS. I don't see the longer heavier initial pull as adversely affecting accuracy all that much in a self defense situation. For range shooting I would choose the AS every time as one could use that trigger to greater advantage under the optimal conditions of a range, but in a self defense scenario I believe that I prefer the QA, and I would imagine the DA only as well. I know that most won't find this to be true, but once you have set the trigger with the AS the gun is much closer to discharge, and it takes very little to set the trigger to that point. And lets face it, more than likely your finger will be inside the trigger guard by the time you are making your very last final decision to shoot. With the QA I would argue that situation is potentially less precarious than with the AS (ie., an unexpected shove from behind).

The real downside to the QA is the lack of a follow-up in case of a FTE. It will require at the very least a very short (3/8") racking of the slide for a second strike at the primer. That takes time that can only partially be minimized with practice. Depending on how many shots were left and what was going down I might be inclined to just clear the round entirely. Although I'd hate lose the round entirely, the result of back to back FTFs could be fatal. With the AS there would be some savings of time by going for the second strike, but a second FTF could be just as deadly requing a third action taken in the form of a full racking of the slide to clear the bad round. In many situations I would consider a second strike on any gun a big gamble which puts the AS and QA on a more equal footing.

As the P99 AS remains somewhat hard to get you might consider the QA. If you can shoot one beforehand you might find a trigger system that gets a bad rap that may not be deserved when all things are considered.

 

[Jake Starr]

Nice report. Thanks.

 

[uncut]

The real downside to the QA is the lack of a follow-up in case of a FTE. It will require at the very least a very short (3/8") racking of the slide for a second strike at the primer. That takes time that can only partially be minimized with practice. Depending on how many shots were left and what was going down I might be inclined to just clear the round entirely. Although I'd hate lose the round entirely, the result of back to back FTFs could be fatal. With the AS there would be some savings of time by going for the second strike, but a second FTF could be just as deadly requing a third action taken in the form of a full racking of the slide to clear the bad round. In many situations I would consider a second strike on any gun a big gamble which puts the AS and QA on a more equal footing.

While I am a firm beliver in the second strike option on any gun, I also truly belive in the training of "tap, rack" and "bang" if needed
you never know how you will react should the need for deadly force arise and training that way is not bad for the "AS" as the "QA"

on another note, thanks for the nice writeup

 

[cahillxd]

My next pistol will be a P99c QA. We have plenty of AS models around here but I like the feel of the QA trigger.

 

[P99shooter86]

yeah i have a QA full size for my 1st gun and feel in love with the trigger pull

 

[sepolvora]

QA: my own view

Feankly the +thing I like the most about my P99 QA is this : is a Walther.
I mean, I shoot International and olympic pistol with Walthers for 18 years, my father in law has P38's and PPk's; so I wanted a Walther for carrry.

Then SW 99 arrived here, but they were not Real Walthers, a couple of my students showed with them but they were "almost" the real thing.

Then an importer brought a batch of P99 QA with the slide titanium coated, a friend and partner bought one of them at a very good price and then I bought mine.

The reason for the good price was the titanium coatring was peeling off in the rear end of the slide.
No big deal, my GSP shoot my best medals even when their blueing was gone long ago.

The first thing I did not like was the trigger: I love a light trigger for target or combat matches, but I would rather a heavier one for carry. The QA trigger was none of them, long and jerky, almost impossible to reset, even a good decent SW revolver trigger would be better.

But it is a Walther, and I bought it for that reason. I am not complaining, I could have bought a Glock (god forbids!) but I did not. My P99 looks awfully cool at the range, the magazine release is the best I have had, and it has never (never) jammed.
At first my thumb messed up with the slide stop so I had to learn to shoot thumb-down, but that's it.
The pastic rear sight is weak and if I were to carry for service duty I had them replaced with some metal, fixed one, but for the range is OK.

3 magazines won't hurt either, and when the titanium coating looks terrible, I will start to look what to do with it.
Up to this moment, I can attest is the sturdiest damn handgun I have ever had (please, don't ask my how do I know)

Only sad part of this story is nobody brings Compact P99s to this country, so I had to buy a Glock 26 to replace the sub compact I carry.

a Shame!

 

[techrep]

I just obtained a P99 QA in 9mm. Compared to my P99 AS the trigger, out of the box, was simply horrible. Gritty and changing in resistance as you pull. After a few 100 rds at the range the trigger improved tremendously. Then I did most of the 'fluff and buff' found here
http://www.waltherforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5574&highlight=trigger
and now it is super smooth and feels better than the normal SA trigger.
I think the second strike capability of AS and DAO is overrated. I used some cheap Gunshow rounds in my AS once and there were several that didn't go bang. I pulled the trigger at least 10 times to see if they would go off but none of them ever did. So if a round doesn't go off, it's gone, 2nd strike or not.

Fritz

 

[sepolvora]

WOW

It's is really a good job, and I don't believe I can try it.
I will give the striker a try, though..

Thanks very much

 

[Martini13]

Feankly the +thing I like the most about my P99 QA is this : is a Walther.
I mean, I shoot International and olympic pistol with Walthers for 18 years, my father in law has P38's and PPk's; so I wanted a Walther for carrry.

Then SW 99 arrived here, but they were not Real Walthers, a couple of my students showed with them but they were "almost" the real thing.

Then an importer brought a batch of P99 QA with the slide titanium coated, a friend and partner bought one of them at a very good price and then I bought mine.

The reason for the good price was the titanium coatring was peeling off in the rear end of the slide.
No big deal, my GSP shoot my best medals even when their blueing was gone long ago.

The first thing I did not like was the trigger: I love a light trigger for target or combat matches, but I would rather a heavier one for carry. The QA trigger was none of them, long and jerky, almost impossible to reset, even a good decent SW revolver trigger would be better.

But it is a Walther, and I bought it for that reason. I am not complaining, I could have bought a Glock (god forbids!) but I did not. My P99 looks awfully cool at the range, the magazine release is the best I have had, and it has never (never) jammed.
At first my thumb messed up with the slide stop so I had to learn to shoot thumb-down, but that's it.
The pastic rear sight is weak and if I were to carry for service duty I had them replaced with some metal, fixed one, but for the range is OK.

3 magazines won't hurt either, and when the titanium coating looks terrible, I will start to look what to do with it.
Up to this moment, I can attest is the sturdiest damn handgun I have ever had (please, don't ask my how do I know)

Only sad part of this story is nobody brings Compact P99s to this country, so I had to buy a Glock 26 to replace the sub compact I carry.

a Shame!

Note to Shipwreck: Here is another convert waiting for your guidence




Common Sense...The Rarest Of All Senses