The First: P99 Final Edition

Mass1632 said:

Seems like it may have mostly been a transitional thing. Contracts in europe or else where possibly made them continue to produce them for europe. The p99 had really evolved from there to the p99q, which was marketed in the US as the ppq. With them introducing the ppq to the US, they werent going to then introduce another transitional p99. They just continued to trickle out the same generation as what had been previously released here.
This is all pretty much conjecture.

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I've never heard a reason why they only imported the single-sided slide release lever model to the US, but it seems like the US was the only market that they continued producing that model for. It seems like every time a member of this forum from another country posted a picture of their P99 (after 2004 when the ambidextrous slide release models were released), it had the ambidextrous levers. Why they would continue to use two different molds for two different P99 frames rather than just going with the ambidextrous model will remain a mystery to me until someone from Walther can explain this to me.

I think it should be noted that I've yet to hear of a single contract received for the AS model of the P99. The P99 was made to compete for German police contracts, and there are parameters that must be met to compete, including one for a long enough length of trigger reset distance, that I believe the P99 would not meet with its short reset. All of the contracts I've heard of the P99 receiving were for either the DAO or QA models. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. This is also the reason why the P99Q is not the same pistol as the PPQ. It uses a different fire control group. The P99Q has a Glock-like partially cocked striker with a double-strike capability. The lesser known P99D is a DAO pistol. The only contract I've heard of the PPQ receiving was for the Taiwan police, where they adopted the PPQ M2, but with the paddle mag release, just to add another question mark out there.

Mass1632 said:

Yep. Poland had 100,000 P99 AS in service as of 2014. Others with the AS are South Africa, Italy, Mexico, Malaysia, Portugal, and Thuringer. There are some others that do not list with model of P99 and other that only list P99c like Irelands plain clothes police.

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Interesting.

I never really looked into it outside of Germany being that this is where the P99 was made. I believe Poland started producing their own 99-series pistols under liscense at one point at the FB Radom plant, but I didn't know they used the AS model pistols.

Mass1632 said:

In non-USA countries, the PPQ was designated as the P99Q. Contracts for those are Rheinland Pfalz, Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Netherlands, Finland, and Estonia. As far as I know anyways. There are possibly more.

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The PPQ and P99Q are two different pistols, with two completely different fire control groups.

The PPQ is a SAO pistol where a pull of the trigger only releases the striker. The P99Q is a partially cocked DA pistol, where the trigger pull finishes cocking, and then releasing the striker. If the P99Q fails to fire with the initial trigger pull, it also has a double-strike capability, where if the striker is at rest, the trigger pull cocks and releases the striker the same as a DAO pistol. There was also a P99D, that was a P99Q but with a DAO trigger pull.

The PPQ never won a contract for a German police pistol for the same reason or reasons that the P99 AS never did. The trigger characteristics do not fit the parameters of what is required for a police pistol there. All of the P99 pistols used in Germany were either the DAO or QA models. I remember a thread (more than likely on this forum) over a decade ago where the P99 QSA (prototype of the QA) was discussed, and information of what was/is required for police pistols in Germany was mentioned there.

Atlantis Arms said:

Am I the only one who is a little disappointed with the "beautiful/durable weather-proof case" (Walther's words on their website) that the Final Edition comes in?

It all looks a little cheap to me. I know I'm being nit-picky, and I'm still going to pick one up.

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I'm not sure of the quality of the case, but all these extras that manufacturers try to entice people with by putting them in the box other than extra mags or night sights are practically useless to me. I don't see the purpose of a challenge coin or case. I'm not sure where or why I would ever use them.

I'd rather they sold these pistols with no sights and extra mags, since even on pistols that come with factory night sights, I usually change them out for something that fits my preferences better. The only exceptions from pistols I've purchased in the past that I recall were the FN FNX with the V-notch steel sights (excellent steel sights in my opinion) and the Sig P226 SAO Legion with the X-Ray sights (excellent night sights in my opinion). The only positives I see for pistols that come with polymer sights are for first time pistol purchasers who don't have other pistols available to carry until aftermarket sights are purchased, or people who haven't shot the pistol before purchasing, trying the pistol out first before deciding on carrying it and purchasing night sights at that point. It would be like a manufacturer installing a red dot sight that was proven to be the least durable red dot available that was known to fail if impacted.

If you have interest in this pistol as a defensive pistol, my suggestion would be purchase non-click-adjustable night sights and extra mags, and forget whatever else comes with this pistol.

Atlantis Arms said:

The pistol should either be a pure collectible, in a nice wooden display case with a glass top lid and velvet interior. Modeled exactly like a Generation 1 P99.

OR a usable tool, in which case the challenge coin and "Final Edition" marking on the slide are pointless. Though I understand this is something that Walther has set a precedent for in the past.

As it stands, all of these First Edition and Final Edition handguns are in a gray area, so to speak. It's a quasi-collectible package, but they just feel a little half assed.

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I agree with you to a point. I'm speaking only for myself here, but I have a hard time seeing any polymer pistol as a collector's piece. I'm sure others will completely disagree, and I can respect that.

The purpose of polymer pistols, to me, is for a lighter weight pistol that is (for the manufacturer) cheaper to mass produce in order for the pistol to be (for the end user) easier to carry and (for the manufacturer) easier to win agency contracts or get sales with. This goes beyond anything I would consider to be collectible for any reasonable length of time. For that matter, I never saw the purpose of the P99 LaChasse or the HMSS P99 either. But, I'm not a collector, and I see pistols the same way I see tools in a toolbox. If I were to purchase one of these Final Edition pistols, the only purpose I would see these pistols fulfilling, would be a carry gun or home defense gun. It would be like gold plating a Toyota Tercel. I understand that there is a purpose for a product that serves a purpose that is mass produced, but "beautifying" it does nothing for me, and especially not if the price goes up.

If I wanted a P99, and I wanted one that was new, I would have no problem purchasing one of these, even for the increase in price, but my only point here is that the "extras" included with the Final Edition pistols hold no appeal to me. Unless I'm buying one these to actually use, in the way that the original P99 pistols were meant to be used, I don't see the point. Feel free to disagree.