bigfatdave
Member
We went to our somewhat local gun shop which has a range and rental program to research SD/HD handguns, and had about given up on getting to rent a 9mm handgun that would be a good fit to MrsBFD's hands [tiny] and usable for my hands [yeti].
So after some renting and shooting [SIG226, Glock17, S&W M&P [in .40] we took a break and were browsing the used/new handguns looking for a better fit, and hoping to find then as a rental elsewhere or in the future.
After some digging through the overloaded used gun section, I spotted something odd in the back, tag obscured, no visible markings, "lugeresque" profile. Turns out it was a Walther P1 made in 1979 and refurbished sometime since then. Appeared to have been refurbished and then not used much, as it was cosmetically in pretty good condition. MrsBFD liked the grip and action, as did I, so we inquired on the possibility of firing it.
This local shop will let you shoot their used handguns on their range with their ammo. No range fee, but if you don't buy, there is a $20 cleaning fee.
We were sure to buy this gun assuming it didn't malfunction ... but I admit that the $20 cleaning fee was probably a subconscious factor in the shop's favor.
So we ran 50 rounds through it, no problems except a failure to lock open with an after-market magazine twice in 5-6 attempts [we tried to replicate with single round in the mag, and of course it laughed off our troubleshooting by functioning perfectly]
It is a breeze to strip, I had it figured out with only a basic glance at the manual online, and could do it without reference material after one run-through. After my Ruger MKIII, a gun that needs no tools to strip is a nice change. In fact, the only gun I have stripped that was simpler is MrsBFD's P22 after we converted it to short barrel.
I have some questions on the gun, perhaps better suited to their own threads, but I'll drop them here and see what happens.
1-Hopefully we got a reasonable deal on our new toy. Is paying $319 for a good condition refurb P1, 2 magazines, and a decent case [Doskocil] from '79 too much?
2-I know that it can't handle the higher power 9mm, does anyone recommend any particular ammo brand or load?
3-Is there any chance of this being a CCW handgun? If you didn't guess from the screen name, I'm fairly large at 6'3" and 325#, so there's a lot of room to conceal all kinds of things, but the shape/length of the P1 seems to not lend itself to a concealable holster.
4-Where would be good for getting magazines? Walther certainly doesn't have them any more, they don't even have a manual online [I found one elsewhere in PDF]
5-Any other tips/tricks/must-have-accessories for the P1? We are novice shooters, so advice would be appreciated.
I'll get some pictures tacked on tonight. Pix were taken, but quality is low.
Hopefully I can get my camera to focus on small, close things.
So after some renting and shooting [SIG226, Glock17, S&W M&P [in .40] we took a break and were browsing the used/new handguns looking for a better fit, and hoping to find then as a rental elsewhere or in the future.
After some digging through the overloaded used gun section, I spotted something odd in the back, tag obscured, no visible markings, "lugeresque" profile. Turns out it was a Walther P1 made in 1979 and refurbished sometime since then. Appeared to have been refurbished and then not used much, as it was cosmetically in pretty good condition. MrsBFD liked the grip and action, as did I, so we inquired on the possibility of firing it.
This local shop will let you shoot their used handguns on their range with their ammo. No range fee, but if you don't buy, there is a $20 cleaning fee.
We were sure to buy this gun assuming it didn't malfunction ... but I admit that the $20 cleaning fee was probably a subconscious factor in the shop's favor.
So we ran 50 rounds through it, no problems except a failure to lock open with an after-market magazine twice in 5-6 attempts [we tried to replicate with single round in the mag, and of course it laughed off our troubleshooting by functioning perfectly]
It is a breeze to strip, I had it figured out with only a basic glance at the manual online, and could do it without reference material after one run-through. After my Ruger MKIII, a gun that needs no tools to strip is a nice change. In fact, the only gun I have stripped that was simpler is MrsBFD's P22 after we converted it to short barrel.
I have some questions on the gun, perhaps better suited to their own threads, but I'll drop them here and see what happens.
1-Hopefully we got a reasonable deal on our new toy. Is paying $319 for a good condition refurb P1, 2 magazines, and a decent case [Doskocil] from '79 too much?
2-I know that it can't handle the higher power 9mm, does anyone recommend any particular ammo brand or load?
3-Is there any chance of this being a CCW handgun? If you didn't guess from the screen name, I'm fairly large at 6'3" and 325#, so there's a lot of room to conceal all kinds of things, but the shape/length of the P1 seems to not lend itself to a concealable holster.
4-Where would be good for getting magazines? Walther certainly doesn't have them any more, they don't even have a manual online [I found one elsewhere in PDF]
5-Any other tips/tricks/must-have-accessories for the P1? We are novice shooters, so advice would be appreciated.
I'll get some pictures tacked on tonight. Pix were taken, but quality is low.
Hopefully I can get my camera to focus on small, close things.