Review: Walther PPQ

After putting hundreds of rounds through other guns I am still completely floored when I go back to shooting a PPQ. From there it’s right back to needing just that teeny bit of encouragement to fire again. The reset is so short that by the time you can think about it the darn thing’s already clicked Walther PPQ M2 back into place with a tactile and audible report. There’s some easy take-up before it reaches a notable stop then it’s just a little bit further to the break. It is what every striker-fired pistol strives to b


He schooled me on the proper way to operate the Walther's unusual magazine release by using the middle finger of my shooting hand. Using your trigger finger to drop the mag, because of the angle, results in your finger pressing against the side of the trigger as well as the magazine release—very not good. Unlike traditional American designs, the PPQ's magazine release is a sizable ambidextrous lever on either side of the trigger guard. I obtained a 9mm model, which comes with two 15-round magazines and three sizes of interchangeable backstraps, with the medium-size one installed on the gun at the factory. One final point of consideration is how well these pistols will hold up with time, use, and exposure to the elements. There’s the PPQ M1, or what they now call the PPQ Classic, which uses a European style paddle magazine release that’s fully ambidextrous right out of the bo


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Nothing is perfect and the PPQ does have its share of ‘ehs,’ but it’s not a big list and it’s mostly matters of personal preference. There’s also a pistol called the ‘Creed’ which has similar frame ergonomics to the PPQ, but it is a completely different breed. The Sub-Compact holds 10 rounds in a flush fit mag but will accept any of the larger capacity mags. The PPQ 22 can be had with 10 or 12 round mags, both flush-fitting. They can be had with 4″ or 5″ barrels (4.2″ for the .40 models and 4.25″ for the .45) or a 4.6″ threaded barrel. There’s the PPQ SC, their sub-compact model with a greatly reduced grip length and half an inch shaved off of the standard 4″ barrel


To use your shooting hand thumb you have to turn the gun completely sideways in your hand, almost pointing the muzzle back at yourself—not good. The ambidextrous slide release is surprisingly long but not overly bulky. The front of the square trigger guard has similar horizontal serrations, and the top of the slide is serrated to reduce glar

Walther PPQ pros and cons
It really is quite easy, even if you try to remove the sight from the wrong direction like I had. The front can be replaced with a Glock front sight hex driver while the back can be swapped out with a small screwdriver. To me the polymer ones feel flimsy and I do question their long term reliability. I’m not a big fan of the captive polymer recoil spring.
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Then there are the polymer sights which come standard on most of the models. Last is the Q5 Match, a slightly tweaked 5″ barreled model which also has adjustable sights and is optic ready and features a distinct blue trigger and lightening cuts within the slide. If there’s a problem, I’ll inform you but I’m Walther PPQ M2 not evaluating these guns for extreme accuracy. With a lot of our time spent in a saltwater environment we discovered the sights would rust. The polymer pistol I carried in the field had one small Achilles heel that we quickly discovered. Because of its high-quality Walther barrel and the ultra-smooth Quick Defense Trigger this pistol most definitely does not lack accurac


My test pistol had the same excellent trigger as the one I tried at the gun store. Unfortunately, the engineers at Walther took a page out of the Glock design book, as the PPQ comes with polymer 3-dot sights. The ergonomics and controls are all the same, but the 22 model does not have a removable back panel. The point of impact is above the front sight on the .22 model, a matter which has thrown me for quite the loop for the first couple of range sessions. There’s a spring-loaded plunger and a small click-adjustable screw for windage and the rear sight falls right out.
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Whatever engineering feat Walther undertook to create this trigger had been worth the trouble. But there is so much more to this gun than looking incredible in a mirror. Something which was comfortable, easy to use, not too expensive, and (this is a big thing for me and my budding OCD-ness here) had symmetrical controls. Get the top Handguns stories delivered right to your inbox. Federal's new.30 Super Carry pistol cartridge offers the equivalent of 9mm Luger performance with recoil and muzzle blast com Springfield's XD-M Elite 3.8 Compact OSP 10mm pistol is the perfect carry companion whether you're facing two- Walther PPQ M2 or four-legg