Walther PPS Trigger

B

Brownstone322

New member
Anecdote followed by a question. Please bear with me.

Yesterday I was out for a five-mile walk, and when I got back to my car (parked in a public place), there was a guy parked directly next to me. Turns out he was a German-car enthusiast and was investigating my 29-year-old BMW E30. Fair enough. But when he stepped out of his car, I noticed that he was carrying openly, so I had to ask what he was carrying. Walther PPS M2.

So the conversation rotated from cars to handguns, and he removed the firearm from his holster and removed the mag, then set it down on the hood of his car and said I was free to handle it. So I safety-checked it and proceeded to dry-fire it (with his permission).

This was my initial perspective:

• I don't own any single-stack subcompacts and haven't shot them much.

• My striker-fired guns are Glocks, but I'm openminded on the matter.

• I don't know much about Walther other than the legendary PP, PPK and PPK/S, which have essentially nothing to with modern polymer-frame, striker-fired handguns.

Then this: In my estimation, the trigger was phenomenal for a striker-fired pistol! If a trigger break were a sound, this thing breaks with a definitive "THUMP" — solid yet soft and absolutely unambiguous. I cannot relate how impressed I was.

Meanwhile, I am very familiar with Glock triggers, and I can live with them, especially Gen 5 triggers. This guy said he had also considered an S&W M&P Shield, and he thought the M&P's trigger break "felt like a twig snapping." (I liked that metaphor, 'cause I think it captures the feel of Glock triggers as well.)

So a question: Do all striker-fired Walthers have triggers this good?
 
Mostly yes. Walther is well known for competition guns that require fine accuracy and trigger feel. It seems clear to me that the American market has very little interest in target competition because the USA Walther website doesn't even show the Walther/Hammerli sport pistols. Still, it's in the dna of their ancient Walther ancestors.

https://www.carl-walther.com/products/sporting-arms/target-pistols.html

A nice Hammerli .22 might start out at $1800 if you can get a screaming deal on it and consider a competition class pistol might run more than double that.

That might seem like a lot, but I learned that a nice set of golf clubs can run $2,500. Golf clubs. What a world. I don't golf so I could just as well use a $5 set from a yard sale. If you shoot bullseye league for a few years, you will appreciate why someone might spend $3,000 on a fine target pistol.
 
The PPS trigger is similar to other striker triggers.

The Walther P99/PPQ is far superior to the PPS. :)

None rival the P99/PPQ triggers. Some are close, none are better.


Yes-Walther triggers are the best feeling out there. It has to do with the sear of how the Walther trigger is just superior and different than others.

Great read that will make you smarter than most on triggers:

https://lanzerbot.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/case-study-ppq-vs-vp9-trigger/

"We have a striker at 7.5lb but at the sear, only 2.5lb of force is being applied, and assuming a friction coefficient of 0.16 for a lubricated polished steel surface**, the force it takes to move the sear’s lever is about 0.4lb"

No other manufacture's design achieves this.
 
He was open carrying with an empty chamber, or did you clear that round? I’m not trying to derail this, that’s just a pretty bizarre encounter to me. I can imagine when I would remove my firearm, disarm myself, and hand that firearm to someone I just met in a public

All the Walthers I have owned had very good triggers. I always shot other pistols better, but it wasn’t because the trigger was lacking, to be sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Crisp break, but long re-set. With the 7 round or 8 round mag, it shoots like a bigger gun since you can get a firm handle. With the 6 round flush mag, your pinky is off the grip. I find myself carrying it with the 8 round mag + 1. It’s slim and conceals just fine with the larger 8 round mag.

I’ve probably got 750 rounds on mine with no malfunctions. A mix of various 115 grain FMJ and JHP’s.

You can find them online for $299. All in all, a very good deal.
 
TunnelRat said:
He was open carrying with an empty chamber, or did you clear that round?
Click to expand...

Jeez, I just knew that was coming, but I didn't see the point of getting into it. He was carrying with an empty chamber (or so he assured me). Once he removed the mag and set the gun down, I safety-checked it anyway.

Nothing complicated or controversial about it.
 
I don’t believe I said it was controversial. To me the whole interaction is just odd, and I’ll leave it at that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'll give you this part: He was kind of a weird dude (one of these guys who vapes), and I thought the encounter was kinda odd too. When I first asked him what he was carrying (which is a reasonable question in my world), I was kinda shocked when he said, "You can handle it if you want." Really?

'Course he had the ammo, not me. While the particulars of the social interaction were a first for me (in public, anyway, outside of a supervised range), I wanted to emphasize that neither of us did anything dangerous.

Ironically, all this occurred in a Wells Fargo Bank parking lot. :)
 
I own the original Walther PPS and the trigger is nice crisp, about 6 pounds but I would not call it phenomenal. My Walther PPQ has a little better trigger break wise but a couple pounds lighter. I much prefer my PPS trigger for CCW. That said I find the factory trigger on my Gen 2 Glock 19 that I bough new in the early 90s plenty good too again at about 6 pounds and I can shoot it at least as well as my PPQ. Should not be too hard to find a Walther PPS (normally anyhow) to handle and dry fire at a gun store.
 
It sounds like you definitely did the full safety process so good on you. And if it introduced you to a new pistol you might like then all the better.

To a point made above, the PPS M2 can be found for very good prices online if you’re interested.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The PPS-M2 is a pistol that I have liked since the first time I picked one up, and I haven’t or wouldn’t make one change to the one I’ve had for four years now.
 
The PPS trigger is good. The PPQ trigger is better. The P99 trigger in single action is best.

The P99 is really interesting because it's essentially DA/SA with a striker. The double action is decent and has a distinctive feel versus hammer-fired guns. The single action is delightful and has a wonderfully short reset. The ergonomics are nice. The paddle release and decocker design make it very low-snag. It's also relatively compact for a full-sized gun. Taking all of that together, it remains one of the best full-sized CCW options on the market.
 
I have experience with only the CCP and PPS, and I preferred the PPS.
For a striker-fired gun, the PPS I tested had a rally nice trigger, and that's from the perspective of someone who prefers a nice, single action trigger (I bought a SIG P938 and had a trigger job done).
 
Walthers are great. I sold my PPS M1 as soon as the M2 became available and now I have two of the M2s. One has a red dot and I was just dry firing it a few minutes ago, alongside the PPQ Match.

The PPS has a heavier trigger than any PPQ and that is well and good. I want a heavier trigger on a small self-defense gun, so that stressful use of it is a bit safer.

The PPQ Match trigger is a bit better than the regular PPQ models, but not by much. It seems just a bit lighter but that may be the different shape of the trigger giving me a different feeling on my finger pad.

I have owned several P99 versions and liked them quite a bit. But I didn't like the paddle mag release. So the PPQs replaced them.

Yeah, I like the Walthers.

Bart Noir
 
Bart Noir said:
.... I have owned several P99 versions and liked them quite a bit. But I didn't like the paddle mag release. So the PPQs replaced them...
Click to expand...

I love the paddle release. Sure, it's different. It also has a few advantages. Actuating it with my trigger finger is easier than using most button releases. It's more flush than your average button. It's also better protected while riding in a holster. It may be rare but I've actually depressed the button release on a holstered gun by pressing into a kitchen counter. :eek:
 
Beretta Pico and Kel Tec P17 are sporting paddle releases.


I'm not sure the paddle mag release is going to stay only with Walther/HK. Here's hoping it goes more mainstream.
 
• I don't know much about Walther other than the legendary PP, PPK and PPK/S, which have essentially nothing to with modern polymer-frame, striker-fired handguns.
Click to expand...

Walther's first polymer pistol was introduced in 1997-98. This was the P99. I bought one in 99 or so. It was and continues to be a very good line of pistols.

The P99 was the first gun to feature interchangeable back straps on the grips. This feature that has become standard for poly guns.

It introduced the ambidextrous paddle mag release. A feature that some like and others not but it put pressure for other makers to come up with ambi mag releases.

It had a decocker on the slide. An unusual feature for a striker fired pistol.

The trigger was good for any pistol of the day.

Walther has been innovative in their poly gun designs since then. In fact they still are. They are not as attractive as some other poly guns out their, at least to me, but they more than make up for that once in the hand and shooting.

tipoc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top