Walther PPS range report

[A-R]

Well, I finally succumbed to my wants/needs/desires and bought a Walther PPS 9mm today. GT Distributors in Austin has them well below $600, but with only one mag included with gun I was holding off on a purchase until I could find additional mags. Found a 6-rounder at McBride's (who didn't have the gun in stock, which they normally sell for $640), then went to GT and bought the gun and some ammo (good ammo deals there - FMJ for $10; JHP 50-round packs for less than $25).

If y'all don't hear from me for a while, it will be because the wife finds the charges on the credit card bill before I have a chance to explain, and I'm in the hospital

Anyway, took the gun immediately to Red's Indoor Range in Pflugerville to break it in. Swabbed out the bore, lubed the 6 places mentioned in the manual, but didn't clean it first. Probably should've cleaned out the small amounts of "packing" grease/preservative from the slide etc first, but I was too anxious to start shooting.

Gun performed flawlessly. Not a single jam, FTF, or hiccup of any kind. Just bang bang bang ...

To answer two recurring "issues" I hear about this gun:

1. "It doesn't fit my hand" ... fit mine well. Didn't notice a huge difference between the two backstraps, but will likely use the larger one as it feels just a bit more stable in my hands. But if you have very large hands, this may not be the gun for you even with the larger backstrap. My hands fit a standard Glock and a standard 1911 grip equally well if that helps (yeah, I know, that's like being an Aggie & a Longhorn at the same time).

2. "The trigger sucks" ... I fired a rented PPS with a slightly sub-par trigger last week, so knew to be on the lookout for this issue. So I dry-fired the triggers in all three PPS 9mm in stock at GT's and selected the one that felt best to me. It shot well, with a relatively smooth pull for a new gun. Not as smooth or light as a Glock (especialy a Glock with some "work" done - connector, etc), but it's the closest thing I've felt to a Glock trigger in a slim single-stack firearm (others being Kahr & Taurus). The take up is short, the break not as crisp as a good Glock trigger, but managable. HOWEVER, what surprised me was the gritty, hard release back to the break point for follow up shots. This made double-taps more difficult. I was concerned about this problem at the range ("oh boy, here we go ..."), but once I got the gun home and thoroughly cleaned it and lubed it, I practiced some resets (dry fire, hold trigger back, rack slide, then release trigger back to set point for next dry fire shot) and it felt MUCH smoother. Did a lot of exploring with a flashlight into the trigger mechanisms in the frame and put some CLP oil in two different rub points between the trigger bar and connector. This seemed to help a bunch, but I'm going to keep an eye on it.

Anyway, here are some of my new baby's first targets:

Put 100 rounds of Remington 115 grain FMJ through it to start. First 50 just casually shooting @ 7 yards at the standard 18x24-inch silhouette target.

Then 50 rounds replicating the CHL shooting test 20 rounds @ 3 yards; 20 rounds @ 7 yards; 10 rounds at 15 yards. Scored a 247, exactly the same score as my first CHL renewal (my first time using my Glock 23) and two points worse than my most recent renewal.

Then started trying out different defensive loads - 5 shots each from each of these @ 7 yards

* Hornady Critical Defense 115 gr FTX - 1140 fps/332 ft. lbs. (muzzle)
* Speer Gold Dot Duty Ammunition 124 gr GDHP - 1150 fps/364 ft. lbs. (muzzle)
* Federal Premium Law Enforcement 135 gr +P Tactical Bonded HP - 1060 fps/335 ft. lbs. (muzzle) ... I didn't even realize these were +P rounds until I looked at the casings (says nothing about +P on the box), especially because the ballistics data is actually WEAKER than the other two loads. Not sure I like these loads anyway, see results below:

Also, just to try something in a heavier bullet, shot some Speer Lawman 147 gr FMJ

The Hornady performed best (including a 1/2-inch 3-shot group on other target), with both Speer loads performing well. The Federal load was a bit scattered. Perhaps the +P was harder for me to handle? I didn't notice anything all that different while shooting, they just didn't go where I was aiming as well as the others.

By the way, missing down and to the left is a pattern with me as a shooter, especially first few times with a new gun. Not saying the gun had nothing to do with this, and I will likely try to drift the rear sight slightly if this continues, but a lot of this issue falls with me as a shooter ... I'm a "trigger jerker" apparently ... http://www.outdoorchannel.com/downloads ... nRight.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[A-R]

So I detail cleaned my new PPS and have been dry-firing the heck out of it to loosen up the trigger (at recommendation of some folks at http://ppstalk.com/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). Trigger is really starting to feel right, like a new standard Glock trigger, perhaps a tad heavier (which would make sense as this is supposed to be a 6.5-lb trigger compared to standard Glock is 5.5-lbs, IIRC).

Anyway, the reset problem is still there but is relatively minor at this point. I think I may have detected a slight metal bur on the trigger bar where it slides across the disconnector. Not quite brave enough yet to disassemble the frame/trigger hardware just yet. Apparently it is very tight and a bit more difficult to do than a detailed breakdown of a Glock. If I get up the nerve, I'll likely try to polish out the imperfection. But for now, just going to keep dry firing and live shooting and try to wear it in naturally. Did polish a few other parts (point where firing pin arm meets trigger bar arm, trigger spring etc).

Anyway, I've now put 300 rounds through this gun in less than a week and I'm nearly confident enough to carry it. Probably just need some more personal defense rounds through it to be completely comfortable. Shooting has improved from first day with all the cleaning, polishing, tweaking and a slight change in my trigger finger position to give me a more stable pull.

Target from today. This "splatter" target was left on my stand when I got there, and only had 5 or six holes in the black. I happened to have a bunch of the little black "cover stickers" in my range bag, so just covered the existing holes and reused the target (I'm a cheapskate, I guess). 30 rounds, just left of bullseye (may drift the rear site next time) with only flyer at about 6:30 position. All the other little holes are .22 holes from previous shooter.

The attachment 090905 walther pps second outing 1.jpg is no longer available

[GlockFan]

I have been thinking about one of these for the wife.
She has a hard time with my Glocks and XDs.. the grips
being kind of fat for her.Great range report!!

[NcongruNt]

All that and no pictures of the new gun?

[casingpoint]

The PPS is an excellent pistol, but Walther should have kept the option for an AS trigger with decocker. I'm really surprised at Walther's concession to Glock on the QA trigger issue. The AS trigger/decocker design has been a proven asset both in combat and European police work for decades.

[A-R]

All that and no pictures of the new gun?

Been shootin' her so much, she's been kinda dirty. But I cleaned her up this morning so she could pose for her first photo ...

[A-R]

The PPS is an excellent pistol, but Walther should have kept the option for an AS trigger with decocker. I'm really surprised at Walther's concession to Glock on the QA trigger issue. The AS trigger/decocker design has been a proven asset both in combat and European police work for decades.

The inner workings of this pistol are already so tight, would they have room for the AS trigger? I know the "decocker" on the P99 is set flat into the slide, but still seems like a lot of extra working parts for such a small pistol.

Personally, I'm much more of a Glock fan and definitely a proponent of the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid), so I like the Glock-like mechanisms. Caveat being that I've never actually shot the P99 AS, so have no frame of reference. It could be the greatest trigger system of all time and I wouldn't know. Would like the opportunity to shoot it some time if I can find a range that rents them or someone who is opening to "sharing".

[casingpoint]

I have a WWII era Walther PPK with the whole nine yards. Decocker, long hard first trigger pull, then a 1911 trigger. If it was good back in the day, it's good today. Plaxico Burress should have had one instead of that Glock which ruined his career.

[A-R]

Plaxico Burress should have had one instead of that Glock which ruined his career.

Plaxico should've had a HOLSTER! then the type of trigger on his chosen gun would have been irrelevant.

[YabuUS]

Casingpoint wrote "Plaxico Burress should have had one instead of that Glock which ruined his career."

What Plaxico Burress really needed was a working brain!