Never owned a Walther. Happened to pick up a Walther PDP compact at the shop. Felt pretty good. Smooth. Nice trigger. Pointed pretty good for me. They had a rental, but it was out and I was pressed for time. Will go back and give it a try. Not crazy price. Reviews seem good.
I have a Shadow MR920 and just went all in on a tricked out glock 48, both with dots. Not sure what nitch it would fit for me.
Would mean more holsters/magazines.

Any input?

They do have great reputations and get good reviews. Walther just came out with their new "PDP F Series". It has a 3.5" barrel and is supposed to be slimmer in the grip. Not sure when they will become available but it looks promising.

Can anybody school me on the differences between the PDP and the PPQ? I have a buddy who bought a PPQ a few years back as his first handgun, and I got to shoot it. I did some research with him before he bought it, and read some rave reviews, but when I actually got to shoot it, it was kinda "meh". People kept telling me that it had the best trigger of any striker-fired handgun, but I didn't think it held a candle to a P320, and wasn't really any better than my Glock with Ghost Rocket connector installed. The grip and ergos were funky, too.

He likes it, so that's what matters, and since it seems like a perfectly reliable pistol that will serve his needs, I didn't express my opinion to him. He bought it for him, not for me. That said, I just don't get the hype on the PPQ. I'm curious what changes they've made with the PDP to set it apart, as I'm hearing a lot of positive feedback off the web but have yet to have the opportunity to try one in person.

There are several feature differences, but the most important one to me is the grip. The PPQ's grip sucks in terms of providing good traction for me. The PDP's grip, from what I've read, is very grippy, and that's what I like.

The PDP is a product improved PPQ. Same basic trigger with some of the same nuances. One concern with it is that if you try to pull the trigger while the gun is out of battery, the sear will disengage and the trigger will be dead. There is concerned for what would happen in an entangled fight.

Otherwise, the PDP uses the same magazine geometry, although the frame design necessitates a specific magazine, so a full-size PDP mag will fit in a PPQ, but a PPQ mag will not fit in a PDP. I believe that on compact frames they are cross-compatible. The PDP also uses Glock dimension sights which is brilliant on the part of Walther. The grip texture is fairly aggressive for a factory gun. The cocking serrations mean business. The overall controls and ergos are good.

I've got a 5" model that I just had to have, but I've shot it twice and struggle to find a place for it in my line up. I like the handling of the Q5SF better.

quote:

Originally posted by kaschi:
They do have great reputations and get good reviews. Walther just came out with their new "PDP F Series". It has a 3.5" barrel and is supposed to be slimmer in the grip. Not sure when they will become available but it looks promising.

The PDP F Series is shipping now.

I picked one up recently, haven't shot it yet, but I'd be willing to put the stock trigger up against any stock striker fired pistol out there. I'm impressed.

I have one I purchased about a year ago. It is an excellent shooter, with an excellent trigger, and good ergonomic tactile grips!

I have the original PPQ, later to be rebranded the PPQ Classic (and aka the PPQ M1 in some circles). It's the generation that uses the paddle level magazine catch and shares mag compatibility with the P99 series. Never could convince myself to step into the M2, even though the Q-series guns were based on the button mag catch. I also have a longslide PDP full-size. The PDP is a chunkier-looking gun, but it weighs nearly the same as my PPQ.

Over the years of working at the shop, what I found is that the PPQ trigger quality does tend to vary quite a bit. The trigger action on my pre-Classic is superb as strikers go (and compared to the single action of certain DA/SA model that I have that carry the word 'EXETER' on them). However with later Classic builds and well into the M2 runs it was hard coming across examples that matched that trigger, even among the supposedly upgraded and upmarket Q4 and Q5 polymer and especially the more pricy metal frame pistols. There were more than a couple of occasions that for that picky customer where we had to cherry-pick among the steel-framed Q-series backstock to find an example whose trigger came close in action and feel to the plain original PPQ that they already owned. I never sampled any of the PPQ Meister series builds but one would HOPE that for that kind of cash outlay, the triggers on those would be supremely tuned and more importantly, consistent from pistol to pistol. Not that many of those would likely ever be fired.

The PDP supposedly brings more consistency to the build, among the other physical developments and general improvements that it offers over the PPQ design. The first batch of PDPs we received from Walther was 7 or 8 examples in the three initial sizes; trigger-wise I found it hard to tell the difference from one gun to the next. They were all similar to a well-done PPQ trigger, though supposedly with slightly less travel and takeup and with better tactile feedback. I would still say that MY PPQ's trigger is a tad nicer, but it also has a healthy sum of rounds through it as well. Neither my PPQ's or the PDP's triggers are what I'd consider THE best within the current state of things in the striker world; that honor if it were up to me belongs to the Canik TP9SF series, with a close nod to Walther and maybe the SIG P320. And yeah, my otherwise precious (precocious?) Glocks would be down towards the bottom without any aftermarket aid.

I never bought the 5" version of the PPQ Classic, which was finally brought to market years after the 5" M2 was released and as a result almost seemed like a token afterthought on Walther's part. But I never did stop wanting a 5" barreled upper PPQ. So I made up for it instead with the 5" PDP full-size. I won't say that it has everything anyone ever would want in a striker-based pistol. Its trigger action is much the same as what I remembered the first PDPs as being. The slide is definitely more optic-friendly than the PPQ's slide with its tapering cross-section, which I guess is fine if I ever remember to send in for the plate I need. However I admit that almost right away I shoot it better with more consistent results than I do my G34, my first-gen M&P9 Pro 5" or my 5" VP9 Tactical. But I shoot my Caniks a bit better.

Other notable updates I do generally like include the PDP's Q-series inspired grip texture over the earlier, much simpler PPQ texture; definitely more available grip traction to prevent slipping in hand. I like the PDP's more aggressive slide serrations as well. The refined grip shape is okay; the ergonomics for either PPQ or PDP still seem like a straight HK P30 rip-off and honestly, grabbing and handling a "2x4" inspired grip ain't no big thang to me. It's why I like the slabby X-series P320s over the original rounded style grip modules.

But what I don't care much for is the PDP's rather sloppy slide-to-frame play. While it doesn't seem to affect MY accuracy with the gun (which I'd say is about as good as I am with the PPQ), it still perturbs me just knowing how much of that "jiggle" is there. Glocks used to get railed upon for their 'loose fit' between upper and lower compared to their contemporaries at those times, yet I can honestly say that I have no Glock that comes anywhere close to having this sort of generous fit tolerance that my PDP (and almost every other example I've handled) has. My predecessor PPQ doesn't have this sort of disorienting play; I was truly surprised that it's a thing on the PDP. I'm not expecting a hard-fit 1911 here, but c'mon. If a Taurus G3 were this loose, most would say "Typical, 'cause it's a Taurus". I guess I would've expected better out of a vaunted German gunmaker, even if they ARE owned by Umarex.

How any of this translates to the PDP Compact? It'll more than likely be a good pistol. As long as it doesn't start peening and shedding steel like certain recent past Ulm pistols (PPQ 45, PPS M2). Or that has a rather notable amount of slide to frame play that annoys at least one particularly finicky SIGforum member (hand raised).

The PPQ is a lineal descendant of the P99; so much so, that you can actually swap the slides between a first generation P99 and a PPQ. I know this, because I've done it. Of course, the DA mode won't work when you put a P99 slide on a PPQ, because the trigger mechanism won't allow for it, nor will the DA mode of a P99 work when it has a PPQ slide in place. Also, P99 magazines are identical to PPQ M1 (aka the PPQ Classic), with the exception of the finish of the magazine body, the marking on the floorplate and the color of the mag follower.

I wonder if the PDP continues this degree of similarity. My feeling has been that the PDP is unnecessary if it's mainly comprised of cosmetic changes. Why not just update the PPQ in that case? Walther did this with the P99, making significant changes to the frame of the pistol, and they changed the frame of the PPQ as well, from paddle release magazines, to button release.

I agree that the PPQ would benefit from a more aggressive grip texture. There are grip tapes, such as Talon Grip (which I use on all of my business Glocks) to address this, and while it would be better to have the texture incorporated to the grip, I don't see why Walther simply didn't update the PPQ. After all, Glock has done this.

The PPQ has a graceful tapered slide. The PDP slide looks cheaper to me, something that Taurus might offer.

I have a Walther PDP. The grip really fits my hand well. I've shot a couple hundred rounds through it without a malfunction. Mine is a full-size 4.5 inch barrel. I've topped it with a Holosun 507k sight and this thing is unbelievably accurate.

I have one of the earliest PPQs (a First Edition brought in through S&W), and I think it still has a better trigger than all of the “Glock killers” that came along after it. But I am tempted to trade it for a PDP because the frame does feel grippier to me, and it comes optic-ready.

Those Walther pistols are world class. Easily as good or better than anything from Sig, Glock, or Beretta. Better trigger, fantastic ergo's, 100% reliable.

They should be way more popular than they are but not a lot of people know anything about them.

I had bought a Walther Creed (hammer fired) and it uses Walter PPX M1/Creed magazines.

PPX/Creed magazines aren't compatible to the PDP.

I don't know if that magazine is the same as the PPQ.

I have shot maybe 200 rounds and had no failures from the Creed.

I would definitely agree Walthers are great but nobody seems to be buying them.

I ordered one.

I like their video. Kinda alludes to the fact that they will be used to kill bad guys. Ballsy in this day and age.

I was just thinking that Walther offers (or has offered) in the past a model called the PPQ SC which has a really chopped grip. You don't hear anything about it anymore. But if it's no longer available, that PDP F Series looks like a good candidate for shortening the grip. If Walther does, hope it will be one finger longer than the PPQ SC.

Ya'll are killing me. I saw a full size a couple months ago and liked the grip.

My local guy, had one. I had to ask. He's got one less now. I'll shoot it next week, but the grip is very much to my liking.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmo952:

quote:

Originally posted by kaschi:
They do have great reputations and get good reviews. Walther just came out with their new "PDP F Series". It has a 3.5" barrel and is supposed to be slimmer in the grip. Not sure when they will become available but it looks promising.

The PDP F Series is shipping now.

Um...I handled one @ a local shop and I'm having my guy order me one.
It feels like a significantly slimmer grip than the PDP. Think P365XL with just a slightly larger circumfrance and much better grip texture. A tad thicker, but that works for me.

Feels really really good.

Do you think the F is smaller grip wise than the PDP compact?
I put the small backstrap on, but smaller would be better.

What barrel length did you order on the F?

quote:

Originally posted by mike56:
Do you think the F is smaller grip wise than the PDP compact?
I put the small backstrap on, but smaller would be better.

What barrel length did you order on the F?

Yes. The F grip is smaller.