[Barg]

I've been lurking around here for a month or so, and finally came up with a few questions I'd like some insight/advice on. First off, this is more of a general question, I was wondering about keeping a magazine at full capacity over extended periods of time. Does anyone know how that affects the spring in the magazine? Could mis-feeding ever occur from a mag that was stored at full capacity for while (constant tension on spring)? I'm sure most of us keep a few mags w/ defensive loads ready in the drawer w/o ever using them. My second question is how difficult is it to install Trijicon night sights on the P99? Does it require professional installation to get an accurate mount? Or can anyone more or less install one (good price at ultout.com - saw them for $78.49)? I would assume Trijicon is one of the more popular manufacturers out there, are any of the other makers just as good or better (Meprolight, etc)? If Trijicon's have an average of 12 years life expectancy, is there a possibility that you can recieve a set of sights that have been sitting around for 5 years, thus only providing 7 years of service? Do night sights come with manufacture date? Last, I know there was a thread before on sprinco's, but it seemed to end without much feedback. Anyone ever install a sprinco recoil reducer on a P99 9mm? Felt any difference? easy to install? This should be a follow up on that post, but I wrote S&W regarding the steel guide rods and they answered back with a "we never offered steel guide rods for the P99"...odd. All that being said, I have one item of insight that I never saw much information on...Promags. They do not seem all too great for Walther P99's. Since they were such inexpensive alternatives to Mecgars, I thought I'd pick up a bunch for the shooting range. I immediately noticed harder mag release pressure (even on empty mags, forget full cap mags), and for some odd reason after the 7th round, if you shake the Promag it makes strange rattling noises. If it's empty, or has 6 rounds or less, it won't rattle. I'm dumping my Promags and sticking to strictly Mecgars. Anyway, thanks in advance for reading the post!

 

[kbc]

Hi,
Can't answer the mag spring question by experience, but I expect that over a period of 6 mths to a year that the compressed spring could develop spring "memory" and become weaker.  That being said, rotating full mags out, by emptying the full one and loading an empty standby mag, periodically would do the trick.

RE: night sites for the P99, go here for an interesting page...

http://www.jimcostanza.com/home.night_sights.html

I only use MEC-GAR mags in my P99 9mm, 2 X 10 cap, 2 X 16 Pre-Bans.

FYI, IMO, Now that the manufacturing issues have been cleared up, the P22 is a great companion piece!  Just got mine.

 

[extremist]

Get the Meprolights. It will take you 20 minutes the first time you install a set, by being careful. After that, your next set will take you 10 minutes or less

Just use the yellow punch that comes with your P99 to depress the plunger to remove the standard sights.

The instructions are very good with the Mepro sights. You can get them from Arizona Gun Runners for $65 plus shipping.

They are big, bright and steel. They work excellently. Have have 5 sets on my P99s.

Also, stick with Walther/MecGar factory mags. Nothing else is worth the trouble.

Regards,
James

 

[308fan]

I would say that if you chose to keep a Magazine loaded, do what I do..... on the first of every month,  change mags.
 So if you have 2 mags, put a small paint mark on one of 'em to tell them apart, and then just unload/reload the mag at the beginning/end of the month.  I've done this with my HD gun for the last 5 years and have not had a mag problem yet...

Good luck.

 

[NM_P99]

Here is what Wolff Gunspings has to say about magazine springs.
http://www.gunsprings.com/resources/FAQ.htm#5

 

[RCK]

Barq, until we are a large enough community to warrant a Walther/Smith factory representative to hang on the boards here, let me take a shot:

Magazine loading: I don't believe that the issue here is any different for the P99 as it is for any other gun, although the link from Wolff is interesting information. I was told that it's generally better to NOT use the magazine regularly. That the magazine, once loaded, should stay that way, because it's the constant compression and relaxation of the spring that causes fatigue in the metal, much in the way a coat hanger will break, if you bend it back and forth too many times. Granted, YMMV, but don't take it to an extreme... I tend to feel more comfortable if I check the functioning of my home defense magazine at least a few times per year, to 'blow the cobwebs out'.

Trijicon sites: Installation is very simple, although you might have to search a bit for a nut driver, or socket, that has a thin enough wall for the front site screw. The back site slides in without any problem, by compressing the spring/pin underneath it. Check my personal web page, and the recent thread about night sights, for a few closeup photos.

Guide Rods: I have no experience, so I can't offer any insight, but if anyone else has additional information, please share it here!!!

Regards,
RK

 

[Johnny Rad]

Barg - I've got a Sprinco recoil reducer for my 9mm P99. Though it works as advertised (maintained reliability and reduced felt recoil), I don't seem to use it much at all. I got all excited and just had to have it, but found out after a few hunderd rounds that it's no really no big deal with or without it. Call me paranoid, but I stay stock OEM when I carry my P99.

NM_P99 - Nice link on springs. Thanks!