[madecov]

My slide is deeply engraved Smith & Wesson with the city and state. I know this is also the ATF required importer stamp

But who made the slide ? Both barrel and slide have proof marks.
The Walther banner does not appear to be roll marked, but looks like it is just screened on . Don't get me wrong, I really like the gun even though I have not shot it yet. But damn I want it to be an all German Walther made gun

 

[walrus]

Well some of it is at least German made.  Anything that has a proof mark is.  It would help if you mentioned the caliber and type of trigger along with the date code if you want someone to tell you more.

 

[Nocturnal]

Could you perhaps post a picture?

 

[madecov]

No camera
my scanner is down for now

date code AD
slide and barrel are proofed
40 S&W. AS trigger. double action with pre cock feature

 

[WaltherP99]

my understanding is that 40sw slide are made in US. all Walther frames are made in Germany, that's why the Germany markings.

but all that aside, it's said all the parts are assembled in the US to save the firearm importation tax.

 

[stunksinatl]

I'm not sure that's entirely correct.  True, S&W did make some .40 slides for Walther, but the serial numbers for that lot started with serial number 46XXXX, or somthing.  (Got that off of Lunde's P99 FAQ)

It is my understanding that anything proofed with the eagle over "N" mark was made and proofed in Germany.  So, your frame is german made, your slide and barell are german made.  So, you got yerself an all German P99.

My P99 shares that same description (AD, .40, all proofmarked).  It seems strange, tho, that Walther would build a gun, test fire it, disassemble it, send it over to Smith and Wesson for reassembly....  Seems like a pain the in the butt!  Think of all the unnessesary packaging.  Could you really save money on an importation tax going this route?  Maybe someone else can chime in here.  Now I'm worried!!!  hehe

-stunks

P.S. Wasn't there a thread about this not too long ago? Didn't we get an official response from Walther Germany?

 

[stunksinatl]

Gotta love the search function on the boards here. I found this letter from a head honcho at Walther Germany. He was responding to a thread from some of our members here.

Dear Sir,

In the year 2001 there was produced a limited quantity Walther P99 cal. .40 for which slide and barrel were produced and sold by Smith & Wesson. This was a one-off action at that time.

Apart from that all other Walther P99 pistols caliber 9 mm and .40 S&W were and are produced 100 % by Walther-Germany. All other inconsistent statements are wrong! You can identify the German made P99 by the proof marks on slide and barrel.

Owing to the BATF import laws, however, the name of the importer must be engraved on the weapon. Since Smith & Wesson is the exclusive distributor for Walther handguns, all Walther weapons show also the name of Smith & Wesson.

Best regards,

Carl Walther GmbH
Karl-Heinz Luther
-Vice President-

Hope this helps, but it doesn't answer our question as to if the pistols are disassembled, shipped, and reassembled here. I think that would still be more of a hassle than just paying the importation tax....

-stunks

 

[P88]

If the slide and barrel have the proof marks, then it is German made. There were about 2000 .40 P99's that were made by S&W.

Now of interesting note, I've heard that Walther is shipping the P99 to S&W in pieces and thus avoiding some tax that our gubberment sticks on to imported weapons. By shipping the P99 in its variouse pieces, they are classified as parts and avoid the tax.

 

[stunksinatl]

hmm, customs is a fishy business. Wish there was some way to get a definitive answer on this.

Interestingly, if this is indeed true, when did they begin doing this. madecov, here has an 03 (as do I). Perhaps they started this in 04? I don't know....

-stunks

 

[P88]

Don't know when they started, or if it's even true. However it makes more sense then a lot of the other rumors I've heard.

As far as I've seen, each P99 still comes with a test target and each one is signed with a German name, so they had to have been built and assembled in Germany, then probably disassembled and shipped to the States.

 

[madecov]

If an item is not assembled overseas it is only taxed on the value of the parts. The "added" value (labor) for assembly isn't taxed as it wasn't added to the item.

Years ago I was in manufacturing and had a factory I owned off shore. Items were assembled using US made components and as such only the foreign labor was taxed. same principal in reverse

 

[stunksinatl]

I suppose it could be worse. We could have S&W slides, but we do not!

-stunks

 

[WaltherP99]

I believe it is 17% exercise tax on firearm importation, and that is a sizeable chunk. if there is savings to be had assembling and disassembling P99 I'm sure Walther/S&W is doing it. I'm sure they don't have to strip it down to tiny parts, maybe just the slide off frame, then small parts off the frame. As long as frame can't function readily as firearm, it'll be okay.

That said, would anyone want this job of assemblying P99 all day?

 

[cigarman]

Quote[/b] (stunksinatl @ April 03 2005,9:49)]I suppose it could be worse.  We could have S&W slides, but we do not!

-stunks

I have two P99 pistols and one of them is a 46XXX with a S&W slide/barrel.  I can't tell it from the other in terms of appearance or accuracy except the German one is roll-marked and the S&W is laser-etched.

My Bar-Sto 357 SIG barrel fits in both (it is from the original Bar-Sto order here on the Forum), but the newer 9mm barrel will not fit the older one (all German, Interarms import).  I believe that the difference in the barrels is that the first was a drop-in order and the second mistakenly was  sent to me as a semi-finished barrel. I had to send it back to be refinished and no additional metal wwas removed from the outside when it was hand-finsihed to fit a P99 that belonged to one of the guys at Bar-Sto.  In any event, the actual measurements of the slides differ at least in terms of barrel clearance and the opening at barrel-end.

This may be a change that has taken place in all P99 slides--I can't say.  However I would not be at all hesitant to purchase another P99 with the S&W slide/barrel.

BTW, the 357 SIG and 9mm barrels function flawlessly and are more accurate than the original barrels.  The fact that I purchsed .40 P99 was a bonus because I have the capacity to shoot all three calibers from the same pistol by changing barrels.  Much less than the cost of two P99 pistols in different calibers.

 

[P88]

cigarman,

Have you had or noticed any problems shooting the 9mm with the heavier slide that comes with the .40?

 

[cigarman]

I only have a couple hundred rounds through it, but have had no problems. When i called Bar-Sto to ask about the 9mm barrel, they told me that one of the guys there has one and never had anly problems with the original spring.

BTW, I use the 9mm factory mags in it, bothe 10 and 15 rounders with no problems. I thought of tweaking one of the .40 mags as i have done with my CZs, but have not tried that.

 

[Stoping Power]

all the 05 walthers p 99 have the S & W printed in the slide?