Why are Walthers not as popular?

[Onmilo]

S&W tried marketing the gun as the SW99 with very limited sales while Walther USA was pushing the P99 at the same time.

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the P99 other than the marketing strategies Walther employs.
They always seem to be a day late and a dollar short.

At the same time they were pushing the P99/SW99 there were a scadload of surplus 9mm pistols being marketed, Browning Hi-Powers, genuine ones, for $299, Walther surplus P-5s for $450 and P-1s in like new shape for as low as $199, used police Glocks in 9mm and ,40 caliber for as low as $300 each.

I am fairly certain they will not fare well with the PPS either as it is a scaled up copy of the P-22 and most people are well aware of how much of a dog that pistol can be.

Fact is Walther is not following the trends of the modern age as well as they should.
The XD, the New FN pistols, and the SIG polymer frame guns line are outselling and will continue to outsell anything that Walther has offered.

 

[schiesz]

From what i can tell, the PPS is not a scaled up copy of the P22. The PK380 is; but the PPS is more like a small, slim P99 isn't it? I don't own one, and have only held one in the store, but I saw nothing P22-ish about it. The PK380, however, is a big P22.

 

[modifiedbrowning]

I am fairly certain they will not fare well with the PPS either as it is a scaled up copy of the P-22 and most people are well aware of how much of a dog that pistol can be.

The PPS is in no way a scaled up version of the P-22. You must be thinking of the PK 380.
IMO the P99 is the best polymer pistol out there (I own three 1st gen pistols) with FN close behind. As far as popularity, as has been said Walther marketing is almost non-existant.

 

[lechiffre]

the pps seems to be doing ok. i wonder if the supply would dry up for about a year if s&w were to make a small single stack m&p. seems like something like that happened to the p99 around the time the m&p was introduced.

walther has some problems.

UMAREX owns walther. as of right now there are only two real walther pistols generally available in the us, the p99 and the pps. umarex does not seem to want to make or sell real walthers. umarex wants to make glorified air soft rimfire guns like the p22 and sp22 and rimfire copies of military weapons, like that .22 colt thing. umarex wants other companies to make copies of walthers like the smith and wesson ppk and feg ppk/e. sometimes umarex wants to make p99 frames/parts kits for other companies (sw99, rad99).

i don't know how much weaker walthers' marketing could be. it seems that umarex does not even care that a lot of americans think that smith and wesson owns, as well as produces, all walthers.


i don't know what to make of the pk380. maybe it is the first true umarex/walther. maybe it is just another umarex with walthers' name on it.


maybe someday walthers will walthers again. most likely umarex will continue ride walthers' name into the ground by stamping the walther name on umarex pistols and smith and wesson's name on walther pistols.

 

[legion3]

But even before SW and Umarex Walther never really did a good job in marketing new pistols in the US.

The PPK was well known from the war years and 007. The P38 and P1 ditto.

But the P5, P5 Compact never sold in large numbers (the HKp7 or Sig P6 either for that matter) until the German Police retired them and that drove the cost down. Many don't even know that Walther Made anything called a P4.

But the P88 was a Walther masterpiece, well made, excellent gun which after failing the XM9 tests, entered the civilian world and because of high cost never caught on. The P88C was supposed to be cheaper to make but arrived on the scene at the time of the Clinton 10 round mag ban, thus became almost a non-starter from the get go. And it too was way to costly.

I remember almost no marketing of the P88 and P88C except in a magazine or two. Not like Glock, HK, Smith and even Sig did back then. It took me a while to find one as many of the gunstores did not even know what they were.

The PPS may find its niche, as a slim "pocket" 9mm but we shall see. The PK380 seems like a awfully big 380 for the modern 380 carry world.

Walther has a prestigous name, and a longer pedigree than most of its competitors...yes, I know Beretta has been around since the middle ages or something like that, however, Walther's marketing sucks because they are often priced in the same range as Sig and HK and yet don't have nearly the sales or interest of those other German makers. So its not just price driving Walthers into the dustbin of firearms history. Which would be a shame.

 

[w_houle]

I would love one.
especially like this http://www.enemyforces.net/firearms/p99.jpg

 

[legion3]

This one is cool too. Not sure the Finns will let you have one

http://www.mil.fi/maavoimat/kalustoesittely/index.dsp?level=65&equipment=170

 

[Rawb77]

Well guys, its a done deal. Payday happened yesterday, and the end of the work day was met with much anticipation as I sped home at record speeds to pick up my P99.

Got it cleaned up and lubricated. Did some testing with snap caps and whatnot. Then loaded it with some Winchester Bonded Hollowpoints, slipped it in my Crossbreed Supertuck and headed off to the mall to get some food with a buddy, windowshop, and finish some Christmas shopping.

Loaded the gun is decently heavy. My previous gun was a S&W 642, which empty is only 15oz, just about 1LB when loaded. The P99 is of course much heavier, but those Crossbreed Holsters are just as comfy. It was very secured, very well concealed, and felt great.

Today I'm going to the walmart near work here where I saw they had many many boxes of 40 cal target ammunition. A box of 100 there cost about as much as a box of 50 at my LGS.

Other than that. Going to take it to the range...soon. Tonight or at least no later than this weekend. Figured I should take my brand new M1 Carbine along also and see how she fires as well and get it all done in one sweep.

Oh I'm psyched!

 

[psyopspec]

You're using it as a carry piece, and you haven't even tested it out yet?

That certainly says...something.

 

[Rawb77]

I'm going out this evening to the range. 24 hours after I got it. I was at the mall for all of an hour yesterday. Havent had it on me since then.

Mostly wanted to carry it to see how it felt with the holster and make sure its position and whatnot didnt cause printing.

Just picked up 200rnds of ammo at Wally World during my lunchbreak for when I do go to the range in a few hours.

Be quicker to judge next time could you?

 

[bob.a]

I like the German Walthers, but I don't care for the guns made under license in the US. Fit and finish and general quality is not up to German standards.

 

[Shipwreck]

I like the German Walthers, but I don't care for the guns made under license in the US. Fit and finish and general quality is not up to German standards.

The P99s have a S&W import mark, but are not made in the USA. The PPKs are, and I wouldn't buy one of those.

 

[mordechaianiliewicz]

It has already been said.... Walther's marketing is the issue. But, keep in mind, Walther's business is largely government contracts (police departments), and it has no problem with having an anemic share of the US pistol market.

That being said, it isn't like I can't get a Walther in my neck of the woods. And they are good handguns. It's just that there are plenty of pistols I'd rather buy.

 

[DAdams]

rawb77 which model did you select AS or QA?

I'm in the market for a P99 in .40, QA.

Of everything I tried out and put my hands on it was/is by far the most comfortable/handleable for me. The midsize S&W M&P 45 was next.

Looking forward to your range report.

This is one of the most replete and passionate reviews of the P99.

http://forum.pafoa.org/pistols-41/9149-walther-p99-review.html

At two to three hundred less than HK and SIG (the one mag company), perhaps less marketing/advertising equals better buy at $650?

Shipwreck glad to see you are still happy with the Walthers.

 

[Rawb77]

Range report in!

DAdams: I got the P99 AS model. I like the decocking feature that makes Concealed Carry much much safer. Find below my range report!

So like I said above, today I stopped in at walmart where I had seen the other day 100 round boxes of 40 cal target ammo. Today during my lunch break I picked up 2 boxes to pour through my new friend at the range.

Arrived at the range today after work and put up my target. Don't know what the name of style the target is, but its long and has 6 targets on it about 10" in diameter. Easy Peasy.

Loaded up my first 12 rounds, aimed at the target in the upper right at about 3 yards away and fired each shot in DA. Decocking the fire arm each time to get a good sense of how the longer trigger pull worked. It was a very smooth, yet somewhat stern pull the entire length, about what I would expect from a Double Action. The one thing I did notice that I really liked about the Double Action pull, unlike my previous S&W 642 revolver is that the trigger pull doesnt ease up at the end or get any stiffer before it goes bang. Its pretty consistent the entire length. Those first 12 slow shots all landed with in 2" or so. The first shot hitting the bottom right of the bullseye.

Needless to say those first 12 shots got me pretty giddy. I was hitting the target well (granted at about 10 feet) The recoil was nowhere near what I thought it would be. Very little kick, no pain or uncontrollable kick. Just nice and smooth with pretty quick recovery. (As to the person who replied to this thread that the kick on the 40 cal was painful...I dont see it at all, it was very nice)

From there I loaded 12 more rounds, this time firing the first shot in DA and the rest at SA. Quicker this time, yet taking a moment to aim. Those shots landed at about a 3" spread in the second target on the paper. hitting in a nice group that I felt pretty good about.

The rest of the night varied from 5 shot rapid fire, to 10-12 shot rapid fire at 10 and 25 foot increments. I did find that at the longer ranges, that my shots dropped either low or down and low to the right a bit. Which by that handgun target tutorial shows that I'm probably dropping my head (the low shots), breaking my wrist, and for the shots low to the right, that I'm tightening my grip. These low shots really only happened when I was firing faster. However, slow and steady won the race as I was shooting fairly tight when I paced myself better.

Sorry no pictures. I'm kinda a goober for it. But I put 200 rounds through a single piece of paper and that's a lot to track. I'm also not the most photogenic person either.

All in all. I am VERY pleased with this handgun. No jams or FTE's/FTL's on my first 200 rounds. Very nice trigger pull which will take some getting used too as others have said its different. And I'm very pleased with the recoil and how easy it is to recover for the next shot. I feel very confident in its shooting capabilities (as well as my own) to make this my Daily CC.

All in all, Happy Birthday Jesus, I got a new gun. Another gentleman who was back from Iraq saw my firearm and even squeezed off a few rounds. He rather enjoyed it himself and was pretty impressed with the Anti Stress function that the firearm has.

Thats about it. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Confessions?

 

[NWCP]

Walther pistols aren't unpopular as a whole. I own 4 Walther pistols, just none of the polycarbonate models. My newest is a P5 that I'm very fond of and frequently carry. It was manufactured in '87.

 

[legion3]

Walther's business is largely government contracts (police departments), and it has no problem with having an anemic share of the US pistol market.

This is true in Europe, where the gun is well above average in its popularity.
Not so much so in the States, not many US LEO's use them, what agencies do?
But even a little effort on their part might lift them up out of an anemic share of the US pistol market.

Walther pistols aren't unpopular as a whole.

Thats true, especially the older ones like you have, however, the newer models, which they need to sell to survive a crowded market, are not selling like they should. If the P99 is the flagship handgun of the company then they are having problems.
The P22 and PPS may sell a little better.

 

[Three Man]

I love my 9mm P99 its a newer gen pistol.
But like it's been posted here already they are just not that popular here in the U.S.
In Europe they are popular.

I pick up my Hi Cap Walther mags at Midway usa.

 

[Rawb77]

Three Man: Yeah it just surprises me that's all. Before I got it, I told several people that I know are gun enthusiasts that I was planning on getting this P99. It's like they almost looked at me like they didnt know what Walther was...or that I was crazy for not getting something more well known like this small Gun company (you may have heard of it) called "Glock".

Nice to know they are more popular in Europe. Like someone said earlier, that is probably due to the fact that it is (or at least has been) used for Law Enforcement. So the name may be more well known to the peoples there.

 

[DAdams]

I told several people that I know are gun enthusiasts that I was planning on getting this P99. It's like they almost looked at me like they didnt know what Walther was...or that I was crazy for not getting something more well known like this small Gun company (you may have heard of it) called "Glock".

:banghead:

LGS guys are going to promote what they have on hand and what they move in volume to get the best discounts and highest margins.

I have been calling around lately and only one in five dealers tried to convert me from the P99 to something else and in that one case a Glock, he was knowledgable in his pitch so I was ok with it and he even mentioned S&W M&P. Both which he had in stock. Well intended.

A bit off topic but what I find interesting in my local market (TN) is the reluctance to down right mild hostility in doing transfers from somewhere/other store.
In FL they were happy to take the $35. Sure they would rather sell something but it did ring the register and I usually bought something just to sweeten the days revenue.
I have one guy who tells me he only makes (marks up) $20 on a handgun then gets nasty about making $35 on a transfer if I get something shipped in, I think he is spoofing me. Rant off. Sorry about the derail.

 

[searcher451]

No doubt all the Walther fans here know about the Walther Forums, a good spot for disucssions regarding all things Walther and all Walther-related firearms:

www.waltherforums.com