SW99 mags in the P99

7534 Views 20 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Nocturnal, Nov 21, 2004

Sacluded

Discussion Starter · Aug 2, 2004

Hi all. I just bought a .40 P99QA. I'm still waiting out the California 10 day requirement, but I've been shopping around for extra magazines. I've seen some places have SW99 mags at a cheaper price then the P99 mags. Are they compatible?

I've also seen ProMags for less money but the one or two reviews I've seen of them were negative. Anybody have any positive reviews of tis mag?

Any other suggestions on magazine sources would greatly appreciated.

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

extremist

· #2 · Aug 2, 2004

Let me introduce you to the P99 FAQ:

P99 FAQ Answer

Here are the two links to the FAQ:

Gunfaqs.org P99 FAQ

Walther P99 FAQ Primary

Regards,
James

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Sacluded

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 3, 2004

So why would the SW99 mags be cheaper? Here is my examples:

SW99 at Natchez for $33.73 marked down to $28.86

P99 at Natchez for $37.48

I can't find the original site where I noticed the price difference, but the P99 was about $35 and the SW99 was about $25.

I knew about that faq, infact I quoted it to soebody else earlier. I skipped right over that some how. Thanks.

Your site BTW, is what sold me on the P99. I had been shopping around but after going through your site and the faq, and then holding the P99 at a local store, I was sold. Even though it was more expensive then the othe guns I was looking at (sigs).

Sacluded

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 3, 2004

After going through your faq again, I followed the link to CDNN. There they sell the P99 magazine for $29.99 and the SW99 Magazine for $22.99.

They also have the promag listed under SW99 and P99 for 9mm, but only under SW99 in the .40 version. The ProMag being half the price at $11.99.

Are ProMags poor quality?

extremist

· #5 · Aug 3, 2004

I wouldn't buy Promags for my P99s

As far as why the S&W mags are cheaper than the Walther mags when they are virtually identical? Just because of the Walther name.

There is no other reason. They are identical, made by MecGar, except for the markings.

James

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Sacluded

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 3, 2004

Thankls for the quick reply. Think I'll buy the S&W.

NM_P99

· #7 · Aug 3, 2004

Actually S&W specifies a slightly different spring in their mags than Walther does.
"Fastbolt" here on the forums and on THR and GT can give you more info on the differences.
"Fastbolt" you wanna chime in here?

Harry Arthur

· #8 · Aug 13, 2004

Sacluded
Just read you inquiry about the P99 magazines. I guess by now your 10 day wait is over and you should be having fun shootin' the 99. Well get ready for a few minor inconveniences with those Walther mags. I bought my P99 in May and had nothing but trouble with the mags. The gun is an excellent shooter don't get me worng here. After about 200 or so rounds of Winchester 180 grn FMJ my first mag had all the bullets on the floor. Yeah! the floor plate came apart and the rounds fell out of the mag. I used mag #2 and after another 300 or so that mag came apart too. The fault lies in Mecgar construction practices. The floor plates were breaking all over the world and they couldn't figure out why. I guess by now someone has finally figured a new blend of epoxies and resins to make the mags more secure. The real kicker here is that when I was shootin' my .40 S&W Walther P99 I never loaded more then 5 rounds in the mags. Yeah! not even loading them full. Well I called S&W and got hold of a techie person and he sent me 10 more floor plates. You guessed it, I broke all them too. At the time I had probably shot no more them 1200 rounds through the gun. Now I was really pissed so I called and bitched and they sent me 5 S&W floor plates. I gave 2 to my shootin' partner and have not had a problem since I put them on my mags. When I was having all those problems I also bought 2 Promags and haven't had a bit of trouble with them, so as a backup for the mags buy 1 or 2 Promags just to keep you shootin'. If your having trouble sighting in that gun you might want to replace the rear sight, I did so with an adjustable I bought from Earl's repair service. Made a world of difference for me as far as accuracy is concerned. If you look very closely at the front sight you'll see a small number inprinted on it. When I changed the rear sight I also put on the next largest number front sight. Don't be discouraged if the mags fall apart, press the S&W people to send you their S&W floor plates. Hope your having fun shootin' the P99. Regards Harry

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Sacluded

Discussion Starter · #9 · Aug 13, 2004

I've gone through about 300 rounds now with no problems, and with the mags fully stacked.

Unjoiner

· #10 · Sep 23, 2004

I know this thread is a little old, and the FAQ's listed above say they are identical, but are the magazines for the P99 and SW99 really the same?

The reason I'm asking is that I've called both Walther America and Smith&Wesson, and both places told me that they don't recommend mixing magazines between the P99 and SW99, as they can't guarantee reliable feeding.

stevehf48

· #11 · Sep 23, 2004

I have been an active target shooter for 45 years and formerly a Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor and would be glad to share with you my experiences with the Pro Mags that I purchased. I ended up giving one away, as I could not in good conscience take even a penny for them, and the others that I could not give away, I tossed in the trash (where they belonged). They performed poorly. However, just a visual inspection showed that they were of poor quality materials and shoddy construction. I would not personally even recommend them for target practice as inserting a poor quality mag into a fine firearm like a Walther P99 does not make sense to me.
My P99 is a 9mm and have not experienced the problems that some discuss with the 40 cal floor plates. However, I would still tend to think it wise to deal with S&W/Walther to resolve the issue rather than deal with an outfit like Promag. I would recommend that you do you own comparison though and make your own decisions as different people have different needs and priorities. I would just urge caution in placing a poor quality mag or other part into a well designed and well manufactured firearm like the P99.

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MLB

· #12 · Sep 23, 2004

I'd agree with your overall statements about not using junk parts, but I'd say the better quality mags are the ones that held together, as opposed to the oem (Meg-Gar) mags of which several spewed their parts all over the range floor after only a box of ammo. I just can't trust them.

I wish I could find all steel mags for the P99.

DoctorV

· #13 · Sep 24, 2004

I had a bad experience with ALL 4 Promags I have. I didn't drop them in a trash bin, but they are not used any more. First of all, they all prevent my p99 9mm to lock back when empty. Secondly, they cause FTFs. When it happened for the first time, I couldn't forget my feelings because I already trusted and liked my p99 (sorry for the Kodak moment here

). Good people at this forum straightened things up for me, I traced the problem to my brand new Promags and all the problems are gone. Short of one problem during 2 years I have the gun (a round wasn't seated in the chamber completely), and after 3000 rounds, it's flawless. Avoid aftermarket mags!!

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stevehf48

· #14 · Sep 24, 2004

DoctorV, I agree with you completely. Another interesting point that I wanted to mention is that it seems it is very often the case when looking at aftermarket mags that manufacturers do not stamp the name of their company on the mags; really have to think about how reputable a company is if they will not even identify themself by stamping their name on their parts.

blueiron

· #15 · Sep 25, 2004

Poor quality magazines have a useful purpose. I use them to instruct new shooters about malfunctions and how many automatic pistol problems are caused by magazines.

Many shooters are more than willing to give away a problem magazine and I willingly take one or two. Just clearly mark them as training mags.

MLB

· #16 · Sep 25, 2004

I'm not all that thrilled with the Promags either, I've had failures to lock the slide back at the end as well. This is not as big a problem as a busted floorplate though. Just picking the better of two bad situations.

SPYDER

· #17 · Sep 30, 2004

I wish I'd seen this forum before buying my PROMAG....also had the failure to lock the slide situation....they sent me new springs but they last maybe a box and a half of ammo before they quit. PROMAG says they will replace it for me if I send the mag back to them....but freight from Canada and all the hassles with customs pretty much rules that option out. My 2 oem MEC-GARS have not given me any problems (100 rds a week) I guess you get what you pay for.

excitable boy

· #18 · Nov 20, 2004

I'm ready to buy some SW99 high cap. magazines. What's the consensus on using SW99 magazines in the P99? Will they work?

farranger

· #19 · Nov 21, 2004

Excitable boy, they will work in 9mm. I indiscriminately mix sw mags and walther mags during classes and they all fire. Kyle

excitable boy

· #20 · Nov 21, 2004

Thanks for the reply. It seems SW99 high cap. mags. are a little easier found. I think I will go that route.

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