Walther P99 Comes Home

Well, the 10-day wait is over and the Walther P99 is in my possession!



As I stated previously, it's a first generation 9mm P99 that was made in 2003. It has a black polymer frame with a titanium coated slide. It came with 3 backstraps (of which I'm currently using the smallest backstrap) and 4 10-round magazines. It's had about 1,500 rounds through it already, so there's probably no need for further break-in. The trigger is silky smooth and the barrel looks great. The only issue with the P99 is some black specking on the titanium finish. Per the WaltherForums, this is an issue with the titanium finish and the main reason why Walther discontinued it. The specks don't bother me as it has no impact on how the gun operates; however, I will keep my eye on it. If the specking develops elsewhere on the slide, I'll have to consider getting it refinished.

Anyways, getting the P99 was only the first step. Much like the rest of the country, ammunition has been hard to come by here in Los Angeles. When I picked up the P99, there was no 9mm on the shelf of the Turner's store where I did the private party transfer. I struck out at a few other stores as well such as Big 5 Sporting Goods and Walmart. I finally found a 50 round box of Federal Premium Tactical HST (at Martin Retting) to use as self defense ammo and a single box of Winchester White Box (at a Turner's) for the range. Hopefully, the WWB will be in supply soon as I plan on taking a few more of Greg Block's handgun courses using my P99 over the next few months.

One of the main items I liked about the P99 (besides its looks) is the Anti-Stress trigger system. It's quite unique and is a bit too complicated for me to explain properly. However, here's a helpful YouTube video that explains it quite nicely:

Walther P22 in My Possession!

Well, the 10-day waiting period is finally over and look at what I finally picked up!



That's right - the Walther P22 and all its goodies are finally in my possession! Here's what I got:

• A 'like new' Walther P22
• Walther Lasersight
• Walther Red Dot Scope Sight
• 4 magazines (each holding 10 rounds)
• Walther P22 Case
• Gun lock (not shown)

Here's a close-up of the P22.



As I stated before, this is my first handgun and hopefully not my last. I have my eye on the Walther P99 and figured the P22 would be a great first "training" gun. It feels good in my hand - not too big and not too small; the one magazine with the finger rest makes it even better. I'll have to see if I can get the finger rest plates for the other 3 magazines.

I plan to take a "Basic Handgun" course within the next few weeks to get the fundamentals down. Right now, I'm sitting on 450 rounds of .22lr for the P22 - 400 rounds of CCI Mini-Mag (for shooting at the range) and 50 rounds of CCI Stingers (for self defense). Of course, .22lr caliber doesn't have the "stopping power" that the bigger calibers do, but it will do...for now.

Future NRA Member (with a Walther P22)

As some of you may have read, I recently took the CA Handgun Safety Certification test in preparation of purchasing my first handgun. Well, I finally did it and purchased a Walther P22.

I decided on a .22LR semi-automatic pistol (rather than a bigger caliber, such as 9mm or .40 cal) as I wanted a smaller caliber pistol to learn the basics of safe shooting and marksmanship. The P22 felt good in my hand and would be something I could comfortably handle for long periods of time at the shooting range. It also helps that .22LR ammunition is less expensive than the other calibers; for example, a box of 100 high quality rounds of .22LR is approximately $6, while a box of 50 rounds of 9mm runs $13. This affords me more practice rounds to develop my shooting skills before moving up to the next level.

Here's a little preview of the P22:


I don't have the P22 yet as CA requires a 10-day waiting period before you can take any handgun home after purchase. However, I'm anxiously awaiting the pick-up date and have been busy looking at accessories for it. I'll definitely be getting extra magazines for the pistol, good ammo, a lockable gun case, and a cleaning kit.

I bought the P22 from a private party for $300 (plus $35 in transfer fees). It's basically a brand new gun and it came with the Walther laser and Walther scope. I got quite the deal as this entire package is over $540 new from the store.

I'll be sure to post pics when I finally get the P22 home.