Today's gun is yet another one of the, well, different guns in the G. armory. I was chatting with Caleb in the Gunblogger Conspiracy forum, and he was talking about some of the possible handguns he'd like to get. One of them was the Walther version of this:
It's a Smith & Wesson Model SW99 compact model in 9mm. It's a striker-fired, DAO, double-stacked semi-automatic design with 10+1 round capacity, although it will take magazines for the full-sized frame versions. S&W paired with Walther to bring this gun to the US market, a direct copy of the Walther P99. The P99 was introduced in the early 1990s as a replacement for the P88, but never really caught on as an alternative to Gaston Glock's polymer wündernine.
Until I got my G30, this gun was my cold weather carry gun. It's a little thick to hide in the summer, but when I could get away with a sweater or a vest, it was the go-to CCW piece. It's relatively light (~ 24 ounces), shoots well, and has been utterly reliable - thousands of rounds, mostly cheap FMJ, and not a single failure of any kind.
Question for those in the know: Is this the kind of gun that would be good for something like IDPA? I feel bad because this is too good a gun to just languish in a safe, but if I want to shoot 9mm these days I've got the Sig P226. If this is something that would work for a shooting sport I'll hold onto it; otherwise it may find its way to the auction block to put some $$$ into the gun fund...
That is all.
Friday, January 23, 2009
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6 comments:
Why does that gun remind me of a Boxer? As in the breed of dog, not the "sport"?
Got it. It's short and stocky and has no nose.
Definitely suitable for IDPA. It would be in the SSP class (stock service pistol). You'd be competing primarrily against glocks and the occasional sig or taurus. Just have a decent holser, OWB preferred, IWB acceptable and also a minimum of 3 mags that aren't extended length, and you are good to go. IDPA is tailored to not penalize ban states or 10 rd mags, you'll have no issues there.
My range is about an hour north of you and will be running IDPA again in the spring.
If you're free Saturday, come on down to Harvard for the Nor'Easter IDPA match. That gun will do fine for IDPA, though you'd be competing against full size guns. The 5 IDPA divisions are basically:
SSP(DA/SA and DAO): Glock, Sig, M&P, Walther
ESP(SA <45): 9mm 1911s, Browning Hi-Powers, CZ-75
CDP: 45ACP 1911s
SSR: revolvers with speedloaders
ESR: revolvers with moonclips (165 power factor, so 40SW, 45ACP, 10MM, 357) the S&W 625 is 90% of what gets shot in ESR
wolfwalker,
Heh. It's a good little gun for what it's intended. It'd still be my carry gun if I hadn't found the G30...
Wally,
Thanks for the info. Might have to look into that - I've also got a full size SW99 in .40 S&W that could work. Hmmm...
Zeeke42,
I'll actually be busy tomorrow with two new shooters. I would be interested in attending a match or two, though, the next time there's an opening...
Sounds like I might have to buy a couple more S&W magazines for the full size SW99 .40, then. That might be a better fit from the way you're describing the class...
I've got an original Walther P99 40S&W I bought when they first hit the states. I didn't hesitate for a moment to pickup a bargain SW99 40S&W when I came across it.
The P99 is my carry gun of first choice and the SW99 is my range gun. I've got other guns that are more concealable/interesting, but I've got many thousands of rounds down the P99, so it's always my first choice.
Absolutely fantastic gun, IMHO, I love it. Guess I should buy some more factory 12 rounders while I still can...
Great article as for me. I'd like to read a bit more about that theme. Thanks for giving this information.
Joan Stepsen
Pharmaceutical tech
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