The Walther P99 is a completely new design that demonstrates the benefits of solid research. The light weight requirement for the Walther P99 dictated a polymer frame, but the Walther design team wanted more than a pistol with just another polymer frame, and they also wanted an exlusive trigger action that was not the duplicate of a well-known plastic frame pistol made in Austria (Glock).

The action of the Walther P99 is a recoil operated, Browning style, dropping barrel design. The pistol operates like a traditional double action/single action pistol, but with some major differences. The first is there are no levers, and there is definitely no slide mounted safety/decocking lever. There is a flush mounted decocking panel mounted on the top left side of the slide, and there is a slide release tab to allow the locked-open slide to close after insertion of a loaded magazine.

The P99 has four independently working safeties: the trigger safety, the internal striker safety, the decocking safety and the drop safety. The decocking safety, as previously mentioned, is NOT a lever, but a plate in the top of the slide. An indicator protrudes from the back of the slide when the striker is cocked and pressing down on this plate in the top of the slide will decock the pistol. The cocking indicator will disappear.

The Walther P99 also has a loaded-chamber indicator that works with the extractor. When the chamber is empty, the extractor is flush with the slide. When the chamber is loaded, a red mark is exposed and the extractor is noticeably back from the outside shape of the slide. At night or in a dark room, the shooter's fingers can discern this difference and tell the shooter the condition of the chamber on his Walther P99.

When pulling the trigger for the first shot on the Walther P99, the trigger travel is loooooong. It takes a while before it gets there, but the Walther design team felt this extra length on the first shot added to the overall safety of the pistol and made it less prone to a negligent discharge.

The first Walther P99 is chambered for 9mm, but models are planned for .40S&W, .45ACP and .380. Available now are models for law enforcement with double action only trigger and 16-shot magazine (US civilian 10-shot only).

The long first shot, double action trigger pull takes some getting used to, but the subsequent single action trigger is short with absolutely no take-up. Additionally, it is smooth. This system makes for an extremely easy pistol to fire accurately. The single action pull is, without question, one of the best to be found on any factory pistol out there. The inherent accuracy of the P99 would appear from Frank James' (Combat Handguns Magazine) 250-round test session to do justice to the legacy of the Walther P-38, which he has found to be an extremely accurate 9mm pistol.

The magazine, of course, holds only ten rounds for those pistols destined for sale to civilians in the United States, but for law enforcement and foreign sales a sixteen-round capacity mag is available.

The grip features a changeable backstrap. The guns in your local gunshop will probably have the small backstrap, but also available as an option will be the medium and large backstrap inserts.

The finish on the slide and other metal parts is Tenifer, and it is extremely corrosion resistant. Glock uses the same process, but unlike the Glock the Walther P99 is not parkerized after the Tenifer treatment. The Walther P99 sports a dull black finish.

For sights the Walther P99 is equipped with an abbreviated ramped rear sight featuring two white dots. It is adjustable for windage only. The front sight is equipped with a single white dot, but each Walther P99 will be shipped with three extra front sight blades. The shooter can easily interchange sight blades to adjust his sight height for zeroing with his ammunition.