I was at one of my local gun/LE supply stores and I noted a Walther P99 on the Blue Label wall. I asked to see it, thinking I mistook it for a Walther PPQ. Lo and behold it was actually a Walther P99AS brand new with the box, and three magazines for just under $500. I was under the impression that this pistol was discontinued. Is it still being produced? I may convince myself that I need this.....

It's still present on the Walther USA site, though the P99/C seems to be absent

https://waltherarms.com/p99/

Deputy, if you’ve got the spare cash, I’d say you definitely need to check out the P99AS. I’m a big fan. It’s my bedside gun and I carry it during the cooler months.

It’s sort of like a striker fired DA/SA polymer gun. In my opinion it’s the best of all the polymer pistols, reliable, accurate (in my hands it’s more accurate and easier to shoot than Glocks). I was struggling trying to get the accuracy I wanted shooting Glocks when my gun dealer put the P99 in my hands. It’s been my favorite ever since.

Sean

I have both a full-size and compact 99AS and I love them. They never really caught on it seems, possibly because Walther in my opinion doesn’t do a great job of marketing to us and also it may have been a gun that was a little ahead of its time as far as being not as simple as a Glock. Regardless of my opinion on why they aren’t/weren’t more popular, they are great guns and I think you would be well served by it.

Like my P99AS quite a lot. Neither full size or compact was ever a great seller for us but those who've bought them have felt the same about them as I do. Ironic that the Canik copy has sold far better, with their buyers almost always crowing about how it's so like the P99 that they've never actually owned.

Can Walther fans clarify something for me about the original P99 vs the P99 AS regarding the trigger characteristics? I understand that "AS" stands for Anti Stress. What's Anti Stress? What makes the AS Anti Stress and the original not?

The original P99 - Racking the slide to load a round renders it in SA mode (lighter pull but still a long travel). If you don't want to carry in SA mode, just press the decocker on top of the slide to put it in the DA mode (heavy long pull).

The P99 AS - Same thing, right? Or, I must be missing something.

The AS action is basically....

Rack slide.
Striker fully cocks
Trigger sets very far forward but very light pull
Trigger can be pulled back a bit and lock into a full single action pull
Decock puts it into DA.

All that said I have always simply used them as pure simple DA/SA. I never saw the benefit to the AS mode/use.

^^^ The original does the same thing, doesn't it? So, which part that you described is Anti Stress??

The AS is basically DA/SA. The decocker is built into the slide. However, the gun can also be left and carried in SA mode (I never did) and there is a long, light take-up before hitting the wall followed by a very light, short SA release. This was in contrast to the QA (quick action) which lacked the decocker action, had a more forward-set wall and a slightly heavier release.

Not sure about the original release. The QA was basically DA only.

The AS part was the fact that the single action trigger basically had two positions. Think sort of like a set trigger I guess.

No guys, leave the QA out of this. It's just another variant not relevant to my question.

The original P99 has the decocker on top of the slide, just like the AS. I tried to find on-line explanations of the differences between the original and the AS, and found none to my satisfaction. They're all very nebulous hand waving type explanations.

Chris, I got it now. Reading your posts and watching YouTube at the same time cleared it up for me. Thanks!

The original DA/SA is the same as the AS, Q.

I had a pair of early P99s.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
No guys, leave the QA out of this. It's just another variant not relevant to my question.

The original P99 has the decocker on top of the slide, just like the AS. I tried to find on-line explanations of the differences between the original and the AS, and found none to my satisfaction. They're all very nebulous hand waving type explanations.

The AS is the exact same mechanism as the original P99 (of which I own two, and they are excellent). “Anti Stress” is basically a marketing moniker added later to distinguish the P99 from the discontinued P99QA. The P99AS striker can be fully cocked by cycling the slide without pulling the trigger. The trigger returns fully forward but the striker is fully cocked. This is what Walther calls “anti stress mode” because the trigger pull has double action length (ostensibly mitigating a negligent discharge in a stressful situation) combined with single action weight. Firing the gun or racking the slide with the trigger depressed leaves it in true single action mode, short pull and reduced weight. Pressing the decocking button puts it in true double action mode, striker decocked, long pull and increased trigger weight.

I don’t use AS mode for anything and just ignore it. The gun enters that mode when you chamber its first round. I always decock to double action mode before holstering. But you could carry in AS mode if you want a full length trigger pull and 4.5 lbs weight.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: eclayton,

I have one of the original P99 made in 2001 before Walther called it AS. It is a very well made DA auto for the time. If you like a DA plastic pistol, this is a good one.

eclayton, that is the clearest explanation I have read. Thank you. And thanks to everyone else.

I went ahead and emailed Walther about the production of this pistol and the response was:

The P99s are in a state of limited production, this means that they only produce a run or two max every year. The last run was earlier last year and is totally sold out, I would watch CDNN as they generally order a large amount of them when we do get them in. Germany does still produce parts for the pistol as well.

Thank you,
Customer Service
Walther Arms, Inc.


This is good enough for me. Well the fact that parts are still being produced and the fact that Vedder makes holsters for this pistol cinches it for me! I'm off to pick this sucker up tomorrow morning!

Thanks to everyone who posted information on this pistol. I will be sure to post a range report as soon as I have the chance to shoot it!

quote:

Thanks to everyone who posted information on this pistol. I will be sure to post a range report as soon as I have the chance to shoot it!

I think you will be happy it really is a fantastic pistol, I would argue one of the if not the best polymer pistols that has been made.

There's a rather cringeworthy promo video on the P99 that seems to have been commissioned by Walther:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50_q3iNGjfA&t=673s

I really liked my P99 AS and P99c AS. But left handed holsters are impossible to find, and the rail didn't fit many lights (TLR-7 is probably OK now but it didn't exist). I sold them to move to something more common, but in hindsight probably shouldn't have. The SA pulls were fantastic - almost like a two stage, the DA was pretty good, and the AS is sorta like an HK LEM long and light.

If they make a P99 with a PPQ grip I will get one. That would be almost ideal. I just grabbed a Q5 M1 in July because I've never seen one before, and probably won't see one again. I like paddles.