Congrats.
I bought one of the last SW999c's from what I was told was the last production run, ordering mine directly from the factory under the armorer purchase program.
While I own a standard (full-size) SW9940, and carried a similar one for a few years as an issued weapon, I tend to prefer the 99 series chambered in 9mm (much as I prefer the Glock chambered in 9mm).
The SW999c is a great compact pistol. It's a licensed copy of the Walther P999c. S&W made the slide and barrel, which are through-hardened stainless steel treated with the QP version of the Melonite molten salt bath ferritic nitrocarburizing treatment. The Walther models originally had the Tenifer QPQ nitrocarburizing hardening treatment, and then they used titanium nitride on the "Titanium" models. Dunno what they're using at the moment, though, since I stopped keeping current on the newer Walther models.
The frame, all frame parts and the assemblies in the slide (striker assembly, extractor & parts, end cap, decocker button & spring, sights) are supplied by Walther. S&W requested some minor changes to the frame design (cosmetics and subtle ergonomics) for their SW99 frames. (Some of them were eventually adopted in the revised Walther P99 frames as time passed, and Walther made some other revisions and refinements of their frame for their guns over time.)
The standard 9c uses the Anti-Stress (AS) sear housing block, which offers the user a decocked, double action initial trigger stroke. (Read the manual!)
I bought my own 999c after either my second or third armorer class for the SW99/P99 series, and it's become just about my favorite small 9mm for range training, practice and all-around shooting enjoyment (and I own a 3913, CS9, and a couple of G26's
).
While S&W's limited lifetime warranty is only intended to cover the original owner, they're usually pretty good about helping with minor repairs, should they be needed. (FWIW, the P99 series is only covered by a 1-year warranty to the original owner.)
Magazines are made by Mec-Gar (for both Walther and the licensed S&W copies), which means they're pretty pricey, but worth it. Originally S&W and Walther America recommended that magazines made for the two different company's models not be mixed. We were told it was because S&W requested some different springs in the mags for their models, with the springs being stronger, but you could hear different info from different sources. I can say that the mag springs have been revised, at least once, with the latest springs appearing a bit stronger. Not unusual among gun makers, though.
As I recall, the compact models in the SW99/990L line used the optional, heavier extractor spring (which is also the same spring used for the mag catch assembly), instead of the original standard extractor spring used in the first 9/.40 SW99's (and P99's). In the couple of SW99 & P99 9's which I've had brought to me for extraction issues, installing the optional/heavier spring resolved the problems.
Aside from an early tolerance issue with one of the Walther parts (trigger bar guide) which was resolved with the advice of a repair tech at the Walther America part of S&W, my SW999c has been used to fire more than 11,000 rounds of various factory 9mm loads. It's accurate, reliable, ammunition tolerant, lightweight, ergonomically pleasant and has a "lively" balance & feel when being fired.
The only real "weak point", as it were, is the original plastic rear sight base and the small steel plunger used to hold it in the dove tail. The "ears" of the plunger can be damaged/broken by impact. Trying to remove the sight base in the wrong direction can result in the base capturing the plunger underneath, which will then require removing the windage adjustment screw from the base (losing the zero) so the base can be removed and the plunger replaced. Also, if the front sight post is replaced with one of the available different height plastic posts, care must be taken not to 'over tighten' the metal screw, since it can easily be screwed up and right through the top of the soft plastic post. :banghead:
While S&W didn't include info in their owner safety manual about removal of the striker assembly for periodic cleaning, last time I looked it was still possible to find one of the older Walther P99 manuals online which contained the info. However, the decocking button and spring
will pop out of the slide during removal of the striker assembly, and the button & striker assembly have to be reinstalled in a specific order so the button is properly captured.
Detail disassembly of the frame is NOT something that should be attempted by someone who lacks the knowledge and experience.
A rolled steel pin is used to secure the locking block in the frame, and it's possible to damage the frame removing/installing it incorrectly. The slide stop lever spring is held in the fame by the locking block.
Do Not lift, pull, bend or otherwise damage the slide stop lever spring, which is hooked on the back end, and rests along the top edge of the slide stop lever, and can be unintentionally snagged with inattentive & sloppy cleaning practices. (This is one feature which is probably better in the Walther guns, since they use a shorter spring - although lighter tension - which has a closed loop on the back end which is probably less easily snagged.)
If the barrel lock plunger and its spring are installed incorrectly, the barrel lock plunger spring can be tweaked & damaged, and that's the part that holds the slide & barrel on the frame during shooting.
The sear housing block should not be disassembled, and S&W tells its armorers in the armorer manuals not to do so. However, removing it from the frame and tipping it onto its left side can cause the sear pin to often fall out of the frame, releasing the single action sear and its spring from the housing assembly.
Instructions are included in the armorer manuals to reinstall these parts, but it's not as simple as most people might wish.
The instructions did come in handy, though, the first time I received a replacement sear housing block and discovered that it has disassembled itself inside the shipping baggie (sear pin slipped out and released the SA sear & spring).
I liked how the compact 99 guns had the front frame rails incorporated into the locking block (unlike the standard size frames which had the front rail insert fixtures molded into the frames). The rear rails are still a molded fixture.
The ejectors are molded into the plastic sear housing block, so if one ever breaks the housing block has to be replaced ... which is a $100 part unless it's covered under warranty (Walther parts can be expensive). I can only think of 3 guns I've personally seen that ever experienced broken ejectors, though (out of more than 50-55 examples I've helped support over the years). One of them had only seen a few thousand rounds fired ... one had seen more than 50,000 rounds fired ... and the other one had seen several thousand rounds fired while it was using the
wrong caliber ejector/sear housing, presumably installed by mistake, before it finally broke. (That last one made me shudder just a bit, since the wrong caliber ejector in that case put the tip of the ejector closer to the primer cup than designed, but the instructor who used it as a loaner gun said he'd never had a problem until the tip broke off.)
All things considered, I think the SW99/P99 series of guns never received the attention and respect they really deserved. The 99 design is what I consider to be a refinement and further evolution of the plastic service pistol concept.
Although I'm also an owner and certified armorer for both Glock and the S&W M&P pistol series, I still like some of the features found in the 99 series, and I have no plans to get rid of my pair of SW99's ... especially the SW999c.
Sorry for the rambling. Just some various thoughts that came to mind after reading your posting.
Congrats, again.
