Dry-Spell Broken: Walther PDP

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  • Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
    It had been well over a year since I bought a new handgun. I did pick-up a lightly-used, 1991-vintage West German Sig P220 back in May but, I hadn't purchased anything new-new since June 2020. That's a record dry spell for me but, going to gun shops in 2020 (and most 2021), seeing all the long lines, panic-buying, price-gouging, lack of inventory and no ammo on the shelves pretty much sucked all the fun out of it.

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    And handgun-wise, there just didn't seem to be much going-on, either. The factories were all backlogged on a year's-worth of production and the priority for them was (and still is) optics-ready-everything. Walther released the PDP back in February to great industry fanfare and claims of being the greatest thing since sliced bread but I already had a PPQ 45 and a 5" PPQ 9mm. The last thing I really needed in my collection was another 9mm with a voracious appetite, yet, I always wondered how good the PPQ could've been if Walther had paid as much attention to making the rest of the gun as great as its trigger?

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    Enter the PDP - Performance Duty Pistol. So its basically the next generation of PPQ with some significant upgrades in grip texturing, slide serrations and fully-adjustable iron sights. It's optics-ready (but the mounting plate isn't included) and the trigger is supposed to be slightly improved. Honestly, I can't tell if it is? I won't get to shoot it until next weekend but, just dry-firing it a few times it feels exactly like my PPQ's, which is to say, it's outstanding. Full-size models come with two 18 round mags but, its available with 10-rounders for poor unfortunate schmucks who live in states like Maryland.

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    Couldn't find a PDP locally but Euro Optic has been my go-to for just about everything lately and they shipped it free to my FFL. I don't think I really overpaid hideously: $599 + tax seems to be the going price for Walther PDP's in any configuration right now.

    Walther provides potential buyers a lot of choices. The PDP comes in two frame sizes (full-size and compact) and three barrel lengths (4, 4.5 and 5"). There is quite a bit of backward compatibility with the PPQ. It uses the same mags and the PDP's slide can be made to work on the PPQ's frame.

    The biggest appeal of the PDP is probably its optic-readiness (to an extent). Walther will provide owners with one free optic mounting plate for their new PDP's. All you have to do is let them know what optic you're gonna use. I hear that turnaround time from Walther is 2-3 weeks right now? I'm leaning hard towards a Holosun 507/508 but need to look at others to compare.
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
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    Just got back from the range and honestly, the PDP didn't knock my socks off. Love the trigger and the full-size grip. They're huge improvements but, otherwise, it's not all that dissimilar from my PPQ. I expect that'll change once I mount an optic on the PDP, though.

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    I don't usually shoot steel plates without first putting a new pistol on paper to determine POA/POI but, this is a Walther. I knew it would be pretty close straight out of the box. Hitting 6" plates at 10 yards was fast and easy even with the super-lame factory iron sights. When I moved over to the 3" plates on the tree, though, I experienced several misses but started getting into a groove after 20 rounds or so. This is where a proper sight-in would've made a big difference. Those 3" leaves on the tree look even smaller when they're painted green.

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    But if Walther knows how to do anything, they know how to put the very best possible trigger in their pistols. This thing is unreal. I can say without any reservations that the PDP's trigger is better than my PPQ's. It's lighter, crisper and has a more tactile feel on reset. The full-size grip with the new texture is a huge improvement over the PPQ. I don't have excessively large hands but, I didn't pinch my shooting hand even once when changing mags. Love it!

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    I'm very satisfied with the PDP but, clearly, it was designed for a red dot sight. To that end, I've settled on a Holosun 507 that I'll order in the next couple of weeks after I order the mounting plate for it from Walther.

    So, the question remains: if you already have a PPQ, is there any reason to run right out and buy a PDP? Well, yes and no. Walther has given it just enough upgrades to make it something that PPQ owners will appreciate and desire but I sure wouldn't sell a PPQ just to replace it with a PDP. If your PPQ is primarily for home defense and range fun, get a PDP and order an optic for it. Keep your PPQ. It's too good to sacrifice.
     
    Last edited:

    fidelity

    piled higher and deeper
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 15, 2012
    22,400
    Frederick County
    Great photos, Z. Appreciate the comprehensive range report. I love the look of the slide on the PDP. Surprised that the irons aren't the same as with the PPQ. Very curious what your group will look like when you move to shooting paper.
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
    Great photos, Z. Appreciate the comprehensive range report. I love the look of the slide on the PDP. Surprised that the irons aren't the same as with the PPQ. Very curious what your group will look like when you move to shooting paper.

    Me too! I think I was missing most shots low and left. The irons are fully adjustable for windage and elevation, though.
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
    Great photos and info, thanks. I never got into the PPQ game so this might be worth picking up in a 4 inch barrel compact.

    You're welcome! The PDP is one of many great choices and the 4" compact would've been my second pick if the full-size 4.5" hadn't been available.
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
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    Here's hoping you had a great Labor Day and were able to celebrate it with either friends, family or several of your favorite firearms. If you did all three, you did it right!

    I'm at the point now where I feel like I can afford to dip-into my 9mm stash a little and burn a few boxes without feeling dirty the next day. Price and supply seem to be stabilizing, at least, until the next panic hits. I'd have probably felt more dirty if I hadn't taken advantage of the beautiful weather this morning. Damn, it was nice at the range.

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    Also brought along a PPQ 22 to evaluate for a friend. I shot it for the first stage of the NRA Distinguished Marksman match a few weeks ago and it probably wasn't the best choice for that. While it replicates a standard 9mm PPQ in just about every way, the trigger break is hard to predict and that made it difficult to be consistently accurate. Plus, I had never shot it before. Its trigger is a lot like a PPQ's but much lighter and no obvious wall before breaking. POI was waaay-off too. I ran Eley Target, SK Standard Plus and CCI Standard Velocity and the POI was about 3" high and 2" left. So, yesterday, I took it along for the ride with a couple boxes of Norma Match and Eley Force: two loads that never perform all that great in my rifles but worked just fine in the PPQ 22. One minor adjustment to elevation was really all it took to get it right.

    Conversely, the first time I shot the PDP last week, it was averaging approximately 2" low and 2" left using Geco GTX 115gr, Speer Lawman 124gr and MagTech 124gr FMJ. Yeah, it was close enough to hit 6" steel plates at 10 yards but, nowhere near close enough for the three-inchers on the shooting tree. I had a heckuva time trying to hit them the first time out.

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    Started with the PDP and since it comes already equipped with fully-adjustable sights from Walther, it only took 20 rounds to zero-it on a freshly painted steel plate with a 1" orange dot in the center. Distance: 10 yards. Once that was completed, the tree was no match for the PDP at that distance. It was one hit after another. Walther attributes that kind of consistency in accuracy and POI to the PDP's stepped chamber.



    Is it me or has Larry Vickers dropped a few pounds? Wow!

    I thought it sounded suspiciously like marketing hype but, after personally experiencing the benefits of a stepped chamber, what surprised me most was the lack of deviation in POI between the three brands of ammo I took the range: Winchester White Box 115gr FMJ, Geco GTX 115gr FMJ and Winchester White Box NATO 124gr FMJ. POI was pretty much the same for all three brands.

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    And last but not least, this Canik TP9 Pro Mag performed way above my expectations. It didn't want to lock the slide back after the last round of WWB 115gr for some reason but it sure worked fine with the Geco GTX and WWB NATO.

    YMMV.
     
    Last edited:

    fidelity

    piled higher and deeper
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 15, 2012
    22,400
    Frederick County
    Good to hear that the aiming issues were solved and the positive assessment of the PDP (which is seriously good-looking). Not as easy on steel to make the sight adjustments. Which other 9mm pistols utilize the stepped chamber?
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
    Good to hear that the aiming issues were solved and the positive assessment of the PDP (which is seriously good-looking). Not as easy on steel to make the sight adjustments. Which other 9mm pistols utilize the stepped chamber?

    That's a really good question. Often, more expensive 9mm pistols (think German) have stepped chambers. The 9mm pistol chambers you see today in many pistols, like CZ and others, are not stepped but merely tapered. It's less work and less expensive to produce a tapered chamber than it is to produce a stepped chamber. I'm not sure who else but both HK and Walther use stepped chambers in their 9mm pistols.
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
    Thanks for the background.

    You're welcome. I didn't know the difference between stepped and tapered chambers and the video from Vickers Tactical did a good job of explaining it in < two minutes.

    The PPQ is the one gun I own that I really want to like but for whatever reason can't shoot worth a damn. It torments me.

    The most difficult thing for me to do, at first, was to cycle the trigger without shifting my point-of-aim. I'll admit, I had to practice that a lot but now it seems pretty natural thanks to Blaster229's pointers at the range. I had to significantly change how I gripped a polymer/striker pistol from the way I gripped my steel/hammer-fired pistols. Once I learned proper grip mechanics, I started shooting them a lot better. Stick with it and don't give-up! :party29:
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
    I know that holes on paper are about as interesting as watching paint dry but, had to share this one.

    Curiosity finally got the best of me after doing everything bassackwards with the Walther PDP from the start. Most 'normal' gun owners take their new pistols to the range and shoot them at paper targets before shooting anything else. That's what I had always done. The main benefit of that being optimal sight alignment. Today I was able to sneak-out to the range and finally see exactly where it was hitting with range ammo and my typical 10-yard standing, offhand position.

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    I stopped after 20 rounds of Geco DTX 115gr FMJ. No sense in wasting ammo when it's that darn close. The low-left impacts are probably more to do with my grip than with the gun itself. I was also shooting too fast, trying to get back from lunch before anyone noticed I was MIA/AFK. It was close!
     

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