[Wolfierules907]

This seems much more real world type encounters your HD/SD pistol may experience, MAC is amusing but a bit on the extreme...

 

[JayBird]

H&K VP-9 vs. Walther PPQ M-2

My wife owns the H&K; and I own the Walther. Both firearms are well-built. I note that the H&K slide "rides" on steel tracks embedded within the polymer frame whereas the Walther's slide "rides" on little ledges which appear to be steel similarly embedded within the polymer frame. Will one design outlive the other? I don't know. What I do know is that the 5" barrel and the Walther slide design makes shooting my gun so much easier. The Walther seems better balanced (at least in my large hands); and the steel BT Guide Rod recently installed tames the muzzle flip when the gun is fired. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. I will never criticize any man's (or woman's) preference. I simply prefer the Walther hands down.

Also, with respect to unintentional magazine release, I used to have that same problem. The condition did not lie with the gun's design. The problem was the human wielding the gun. I love the location and ease of the magazine release button. Everything involving the PPQ can be accomplished with the same hand holding the firearm. I cannot say that about the CZ 75 SP-01 which requires me to use the hand not holding the gun to engage the magazine release button.

What I do regularly (e.g., while watching TV) -- after first insuring that the PPQ is empty and safe -- is simply hold the gun as though I intend to use same. Familiarity with your firearm is, in my opinion, critical to proper control of it. Hence, I make it a point to hold my finger, which will be used to squeeze the trigger, on the side of the gun well outside of the trigger guard because, among other reasons, carrying a gun with finger within the trigger guard will get you DQed in any IDPA or USPSA event. My late brother, a detective retired from the Elizabeth (New Jersey) Police Department, regularly said that "you must be one with the gun." That is to say, the firearm must be so familiar to you that it becomes "second nature" with your hand and eyes. The more I handle my PPQ, the more familiar and comfortable I am with it; and the more I am comfortable with the gun, the less mistakes I will make incidental to its use. This advise may seem too simplistic -- and I appreciate the numerous methods for aiming the gun to hit the target well -- but one must first walk before one can run (perhaps bad analogy but you get the point).

 

[Barbarian]

Jaybird: The unintentional magazine release had nothing to do with the human wielding of the gun. It had to do with a weak magazine button spring which Walther later replaced with a stronger stiffer one. After I replaced mine on my PPQ with a spring from the Wolff spring pack the problem vanished. Then Walther, without admitting fault, replaced their original magazine button spring. Walther's engineers are excellent - their management - well best left unsaid.

 

[JayBird]

Hey Barbarian -- thanks for the reply. When did Walther improve its magazine button spring?

 

[saym14]

20,000 rounds through my PPQQ5 match and have never experienced this

 

[Barbarian]

Hey Barbarian -- thanks for the reply. When did Walther improve its magazine button spring?

Jaybird: Not sure exactly when; but you can tell one of the old springs by carefully and slowly pressing down on the mag button and letting it up and if it sticks halfway in it is an old weak spring. The new spring will not allow this to happen. It is much stronger. There are probably a lot of older pistols out there with the weak mag spring.

 

[Barbarian]

20,000 rounds through my PPQQ5 match and have never experienced this

You never will it has the newer stronger mag button spring.

 

[SD_A4]

I had the same issue with the magazine dropping out during firing in my PPQ 45. At first I thought it was my grip, but it happened when others shot the pistol too. Called Walther and they sent me a new spring free of charge. Good customer service, it was an easy process. I installed the new spring and have had zero issues since (500+ rounds).
FWIW, they sent a "Heavy Mag Release Spring PPQ Creed," UPC code 2805642. Looked just like the original.

 

[Wolfierules907]

If you had paddles wouldn't have this problem

 

[agksimon]

I have a Q5 Match Poly, made about three years ago. I use it constantly in IDPA/USPSA type matches and in between for practice and have 6-7000 rounds through it. Never once have I come close to having a magazine drop out, but when I want it to, it comes out without having to stand on the button. I certainly do not want it any stronger. My thumb does not come close enough to touching the mag button to be a problem.

 

[bbstein2]

Copy that. Mag release on Q5 match works only when called upon and then very well. I know some folks like ‘em but generally Paddles are for canoes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jimmo952]

Hey Barbarian -- thanks for the reply. When did Walther improve its magazine button spring?

I have an early PPQ M2 in .40 S&W. It came with the weak spring. That was years ago though.

None of the PPQ 5" 9mms I've bought since have had the problem.

Maybe there was a bad run or something but as far as I know, the problem was identified and corrected years ago.

 

[Papersniper]

I bought a PPQ 22 long slide about March 2020. Unfortunately it also drops the magazines unintentionally quite often, like every 3rd-5th mag change. I discussed this with Walther Customer Service and was told there is no stiffer spring for the PPQ 22. I had a 9mm PPX a few years ago that had similar symptoms, but the stronger spring Walther sent fixed that. I have five other PPQs, all are CF, and none of them have this problem. I can only stop the inadvertent mag release by holding my left support hand in an unnatural position while I shoot. Someone suggested I might try swapping sides with the magazine release, and I will try that at some point.

Sorry if this was discussed before, but I was too lazy to skim 40 pages! But I did think it was worth posting in case someone else has this issue, or maybe someone else has found a solution with the PPQ 22.

 

[TXMaverick]

Actually it sticks up more than the Glock. The Glock Gen 4 is even with the grip. The Gen 3 is very small and even with the grip. Turn the pistols sideways and look at them. The PPQ grip is slightly indented before the mag release. The S&W M&P has a protrusion from its grip that protects the button.
Slowly press on the mag release your PPQ and see if it will stick halfway in. If it will then you may have a problem one day with the unintentional mag release. Now press on the Glock mag release and see if it will stick like this. It will not - the magazine drops.
I also shot mine at the range without a problem. Not really a test of usage. I also shot mine at several matches without a problem. Takes time and a lot of shooting for the problem to surface. You don't want that problem to suddenly surface in a dire situation.
If you are happy then don't bother to replace the springs continue to shoot and see if the problem surfaces. Good luck.

It has happened to me twice, I thought it was my fault. Tested it using what you described and sure enough, about 25% of the time it stuck. I'll be trying the spring replacement, just wish someone would come out with a package with just the PPQ-M2 spring so there is no chance of the gunsmith choosing the wrong one.

I will add that I don't think I've ever had this happen with 124 or 115 gr, just 147's. But since this is a suppressor-ready firearm Walther should be designing/testing with subs as well as supers. Other than this and the wrong return spring (Walther sent a replacement), the firearm is perfect and my favorite. Have never found anything I like better.

 

[wormraper]

another reason to stick with the M1 (classic) PPQ .

IF they would ever come back in stock