Half that box of WWB 9mm went through the PPX today with no stoppages, bringing the tally in my little notebook to 700. I let a certified HK junkie (and
FAST Wall denizen) pause his VP9 practice to put a half-dozen rounds through it. He had the same bemused expression I wind up with* after shooting it, and said nice things about the trigger.
*
I want to hate the gun. My inner gun snob want this sub-$400 pistol to just be a complete pulsating ball of suck and fail, but it keeps not being one. Anybody can make a crappy cheap gun, and lots of companies do, but making a good cheap gun is a trick that doesn't happen every day.
.
Sounds like you are trying NOT to Fall In Love with that Ugly Mutt that followed you home.
ReplyDeleteBut it's okay to keep it. Ugly Mutt Guns need Love to!
"The best is the enemy of good enough." Russian proverb.
ReplyDeleteI always heard that applied to Russian military hardware, but I suppose it could be true of less expensive plastic guns as well. Good enough is just that, if it works, it works.
Walther took to heart the complaints about the P99 being way too much buck for the bang.
ReplyDeleteMethinks we have a winner here. ( The PPQ ain't bad for people who insist on a fotay )
What is the model you have? (Corresponding to the mfr model numbers)
ReplyDelete##$$%^&$ Commifornia.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Alan Gura needs someone to do research or carry water in the lawsuit over the DoJ list of pistols for peons that is pending.
+1 for Og's query... I'm currently nineless and starting to be very much impressed.
ReplyDeleteOg,
ReplyDeleteBasic black 9mm, p/n 2790025.
Thanks. My local gunstore's website lists five possible variations of the same thing, I think their web designer needs to cut back on the caffeine. And I know there are five total, I mean five 16 round black 9's without the threaded barrels. Now I know exactly what to buy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm simply ignorant, but why SHOULD it cost a mint to make a decent firearm in this day of polymers, CAD/CAM, casting, etc? You've often written about the amount of machining that it used to take to make (for example) a 1911; those days are pretty much gone. I wonder if other companies are looking at the PPX and feeling a little... nervous? "Damn! We can't continue to charge $$$ for a 'quality' pistol now that Walther has this #^%$&$# sub-$400 PPX on the market AND IT WORKS."
ReplyDeleteI have to say that your continued posts about this pistol have gotten it on my list of Stuff I Want But Can't Afford. Never thought a Walther would be there (rather, I thought it would be on the list of Stuff I Simple Can't Afford So There's No Use Even Wanting It).
If something is designed to be inexpensive to mass produce from the very beginning it can be very good. Witness the VW Beetle and the Austin Mini. Where things go wrong is when after the initial design the bean counters come in and say 'those pieces are costly to machine and heat treat, we'll use cheaper processes and/or materials instead to meet our price point'.
ReplyDeleteAl_in_Ottawa