P99 .40s&w?

[MrUREasy]

Are there any problem areas with the Walther P99 in .40S&W?

[RyanSBHF]

The older magazines (with orange followers) had cases of premature slide lock back. The new ones with blue followers are much better.

[FineLine]

While practicing with my P99 today I experienced a catastrophic failure of a new .40 cal 10 rd magazine. I just loaded the magazine (10 rds) and after firing 3 rds, the plastic bottom separated, ejecting the spring and remaining ammunition. The magazine housing remained secured. I recovered the spring and bottom plastic retainer, blue follower, and spring. Upon inspection, I noticed that the black plastic portion of the magazine bottom was fractured where the magazine spring is captured. It appears to be defect in the magazine plastic or possibly where the bottom retainer is secured to the metal housing. I bought two 10 rd blue follower magazines because I too heard of feed problems with the orange ones, but this failure is very disturbing and I’m reluctant to use the other magazine. I carry my P99 for personal protection and now I’m deeply concerned about magazine reliability to the point that I’m considering selling my .40 P99. Has anyone else experienced a magazine failure and if so do you think the magazine can be reliably repaired?

Thanks

[G21forME]

Originally posted by RyanSBHF
The older magazines (with orange followers) had cases of premature slide lock back. The new ones with blue followers are much better.

Ok I have the orange followers so I might as well get the new ones. DO you have any idea who sells them, I looked around but couldn't find just the blue followers.

[GLD1980]

Hey man , I understand your problem but I dont agree that you should rush to the conclusion of just dumping your P99. Its one of the best personal protection handguns on the market today! Besides the point, Mec-gar makes the magazines not Walther America. Infact Mec-gar is said to be the best manufacturer of mags in the U.S. . Thats saying alot of a company, not just that they make mags for almost every handgun produced today. SO THE CHANCE OF THE SAME THING HAPPENING TO YOU WITH ANOTHER GUN IS THE SAME. On the better side of things Ive owned my P99 40S&W for almost 1 month and have fired 1100rds with no problems, infact, I just bought 2more blue follower mags.
Anyway sh-t happens , when you make that many mags, the chances are higher of a bad one getting out. Walther America has great cus service heres there link, they should replace it for free w/free shipping
http://www.waltheramerica.com

[ShipWreck]

There was flaws w/ early Walther mags. Call and tell them what happened. They will give U a new one...

[FineLine]

Thanks for the info! I'll find the phone number for them and certainly will call. I just hope my other magazines are not flawed,too! And that this mag failure is just an isolated case of a bad one getting past quality control,but if there is a history of certain lot #s or S/Ns failing, I'd like to know so I can check them out. Right now my confidence is low so I switched to my beretta PX4 9mm until I get some reassurance that this problem won't recur.

Thanks for the feedback!

[ShipWreck]

Well, from what I have heard, Walther USA/Smith and Wesson (since S&W imports them into the US), many people experienced this with some older Walther mags. People have claimed that S&W sent them new S&W mags - case solved...

[FineLine]

Just got off the phone with Walther concerning my magazine failure. What great customer service! They did confirm that there were quality problems with the mags with orange followers and butt plate cracking with some of the walther magazines. The rep suggested throwing away the ones with orange followers! He agreed to send two new (blue follower) replacement magazines and a new butt plate to repair the magazine that failed. Very fair. I hate to do it, but the two 10 rd orange mags that will go into the trash today. Hopefully the new mags will work well without problems.

[FineLine]

Another Magazine Failure! Ok...I threw away the orange follower mags and just now tried the new 10 rd 40 cal blue follower magazine Walther sent me. Imagine my surprise when the first test resulted in the magazine flying apart after four rounds. I was not able to retrieve the spring (in the snow somewhere), but the butt plate ears were sheared, fractured it seems, where the spring was attached. So frustrating!! Exactly like the original problem I posted a while back. So I'm wondering what to do next? Perhaps the cold weather today (about 12 degrees) had something to do with it, but it seems to me the magazines should be able to take the temp extremes. The P99 .40 shot fine before the magazine failed and I ran 20 rds through it after the magazine failed with not problems. I'm perplexed...Has anyone else experienced magazine failures following replacement of supposedly new magazines.. Is this problem particular to the 10rd magazines? I was using Remington "white box" ammo. Although I'm impressed with Walther customer service, I'm sort of reluctant to call them again complaining of the same problem. They were kind enough to send me two replacement magazines but not sure they will believe one of them failed the first time out of the box!! I'm wondering if there is something I'm doing wrong. I'm having serious doubts about carrying the P99 until I'm 100% SURE the mags will work when called upon. Fortunately, I have a Beratta PX4 that is reliable-no FTF after 1000 rds. Any ideas on what to do next?

[FineLine]

Another Magazine Failure! Ok...I threw away the orange follower mags and just now tried the new 10 rd 40 cal blue follower magazine Walther sent me. Imagine my surprise when the first test resulted in the magazine flying apart after four rounds. I was not able to retrieve the spring (in the snow somewhere), but the butt plate ears were sheared, fractured it seems, where the spring was attached. So frustrating!! Exactlt like the original problem I posted a while back. So I'm wondering what to do next? Perhaps the cold weather today (about 12 degrees) had something to do with it, but it seems to me the magazines should be able to take the temp extremes. The P99 .40 shot fine before the magazine failed and I ran 20 rds through it after the magazine failed with no problems. I'm perplexed...Has anyone else experienced magazine failures following replacement of supposedly new magazines.. Is this problem particular to the 10rd magazines? Although I'm impressed with Walther customer service, I'm sort of reluctant to call them again complaining of the same problem. They were kind enough to send me two replacement magazines but not sure they will believe one of them failed the first time out of the box!! I'm wondering if there is something I'm doing wrong. I'm having serious doubts about carrying the P99 until I'm 100% SURE the mags will work when called upon. Fortunately, I have a Beratta PX4 that is reliable-no FTF after 1000 rds. Any ideas on what to do next?

[ShipWreck]

Man, that sucks. W/ my 9mm mags, I have not had any problems. Although, I will admit that the baseplates for the COMPACT Walther/SW99 mags do not seem very sturdy.

[FineLine]

That's good to know. I hope the manufacturing/quality control problem is limited to the .40. I'm not sure how to solve this problem, but will post anything that sounds like a solution. I guess I should have bought the 9mm! Thanks for the reply!

[ShipWreck]

Yes. My fullsize 9mm mags seem rock solid. So, It must be limited to the .40. Sorry.

S&W should take care of you. So, call them again.

[Ronnie151]

I have 2 mags with the blue followers and 2 with the orange and ive never had any problems so far, 300 rounds no problems except tried that slamming the mags home to see if it would come out of battery which it did.

[Rockets]

I have heard of this problem many times. The color of the follower, (Orange) often resulted in a premature lockback of the slide while there were still rounds in the mag but your problem is not the color of the follower, it's a postban mag problem. The floorplate problem seems to extend to all postban 10 round mags (blue, orange, pink, plaid, magenta, whatever). It is not uncommon but to have it happen to you many times in a row I expect is a problem with the temp and the fact that the restricted baseplate (10 round mag baseplate) is a known problem area for cracking and sending things flying.

I agree with GLD1980, I have four P99's and all are flawless, two have seen 1000's of rounds. Don't trash the gun yet.

The hicaps are not known to have this problem, I expect because they have totally differnt baseplates. Get a new full size mag not the 10 rounders, make sure it is Walther/Megar and make sure it has the blue follower, if you end up with a orange one it may lock back the slide prematurely and the tube shape is slightly different so you can't throw a blue follower in there. Call Smith again and see if they will send you a few hicaps after you explain it happened again, it's a known issue, make sure to tell them about the temperature so they understand why it is happening so quickly over and over.

Iron this one out and you will love the gun. I would be shocked it you use a factory hi-cap and it ever happens again. These things are as flawless as a Glock. A couple 100 rounds with a factory hi-cap and your confidence in the gun will be fully restored.

Rockets Out....

[GLD1980]

In Michigan can you have 12 rd mags? Cause if you can thats the way to go. Just like Rocket I never had a problem! Never mind the mis-conceptions S&W will make over your problem. We know its genuine. If you need help just let us know.....we got your back! Like I orginally said, there cus serv. is great!

[Riggs23]

I have the SW99 version in 40 with the AS trigger. It's one of the finest firearms I own and very reliable. Believe it or not, the trigger is even smoother than my Walther P99 in 9mm.

[Rockets]

I bought six 40 mags from these folks a month ago. Price seems fair (for a Walther Factory Mag) and they shiped fairly fast.

http://onpointfirearms.com/item.asp?PID=32047

Rockets Out....

[FineLine]

Thanks to all of you who posted a response! I did email S&W last week explaining the second failure of the magazine. They did confirm a the recurring problem with new blue-follower magazine and stated they are receiving "a new batch" from Germany. I guess there have been recurring quality problems with the butt plates. They did not respond with anay info regarding the low temp, ammo, or any other design or mfg problem. However, theyo confirmed the problem was limited to the 10rd mags (old and some new versions)and offered once again to send replacement butt plates and a relacement spring. Very nice folks to deal with. However, they did not offer to send 12 rds as replacements. I suppose at this point after reading all your posts, I have nothing to lose by calling them and offering to send back my 10rd mags in exchange for 12 rds. I feel uncomfortable asking for mags without paying, but again it seems the quality problems that caused me not to have confidence in the gun is not entirely my fault either. I guess it can't hurt to ask.. If it comes to it, I'll just by a few 12rds from On-Point (Thx Rocket for the tip!) You all have convinced me to stick with the gun...I really LOVE the handling and accuracy of this .40 but I just won't feel comfortable with it until I try out 500 rds using the 12 rd mags. I just want the gun to respond reliably when called upon...not too much to ask for a fine pistol.Thanks again!

[ShipWreck]

I believe they offer lifetime warranty on their stuff. So, don't feel uncomfortable. Also, don't be surprised that they didn't offer it in their e-mail. U need to call and ASK for replacements.

[Rockets]

I had six of the old orange follower mags that were brand new. They did not do it very often but they would sometimes lock back the slide with rounds in the mag. Just like you I really lost confidence in the gun for carry. After I read on the Walther FAQ what the problem was I emailed them and ask them to replace all six with blue follower mags (these were all hi-caps). They ask me to return them to where I bought them which was out of business. I wrote a few more times telling them that it was a design flaw, the proof of the flaw was in the fact they both redesigned the follower and the tube, and asked if they stand behind their products. After the second return them where you bought them I ask them if Walther America would not stand behind their products could they give me contact info for someone who would. They send out 6 Blue mags the next day. I emailed the guy a few times asking where I could return the orange ones as I did not want them to think I was trying to pull something. He said twice to just keep them.

My thoughts here are… You have had problems with the 10 rounders, you gave them a chance to fix it once and it was not fixed. They admit it’s a quality control issue restricted only to 10 rounds magazines. None of this is your fault. I would simply ask them if you can return the mags and give them an extra $10.00 each for hi-cap replacements.

They really have two choices here and as business people you might have to wake them up a bit. They can leave you hanging and in a year I expect when your buddies ask about what you think about the gun you would till your story of woe like I would have and they would lose sales or they can do right with you as they did me and you can start bragging up the flawlessness of the firearm all over this group like many of us do. It’s really their choice as a business but from their end it’s a no brainer. Sometimes you just have to wake them up to what is good for business and what is not. It’s really a win for both of you, they fix a problem that is their fault and you become a defacto sales person for their product. As you say all you are asking for is what you paid for, reliability and you are being fair by offering them a extra few bucks to change to the non-problematic hi-caps.

Good Luck,

Rockets Out….

[condoor]

So I have an older p99 that I've been thinking of trading that has the orange followers in the mags. I've never had any problems with the mags, but have read in more than one place that they tend to cause the slide to lockback prematurely. So I called Walther this afternoon, and they are sending me two new mags no-charge. If there is anything that will win me over is good customer service. Anyway, I'm going to keep the gun - thought I'd share.

-chris

[mambro]

Gents,
You won't regret keeping them. The P99 .40 is a fine weapon. Here is a link to the P99 FAQ page about the different magazine BODY style (and related follower color) that dealt with the premature slide lockback that Rockets mentioned.

http://www.gunfaqs.org/P99FAQ/III/9.html

With the newer mag body came the updated color for the follower.

http://www.gunfaqs.org/P99FAQ/III/8.html

As has been previously mentioned, the mag floorplate failure has been limited to a manufacturing run of a batch of the 10 round mags. It is surprising that S&W sent somebody out another set of flawed mags. Perhaps it was a bigger batch than they thought.

I have personally had BOTH of the issues a while back and S&W sent along replacements just by giving them a call or email. On the orange 10 rounders, they sent me blue 12 rounders w/out me asking for the upgrade, and like others, didn't want the orange ones back. On the floorplate breakage on other 10 rounders (with blue followers) they simply sent along new floorplates.

That being said, if your state allows them, 12 round mags in a CCW situation will give you an extra level of assurance in your hardware.

:)

[Darkmage]

I've had a couple issues with my P99, but nothing major. I had a couple instances where follow-up shots were DA instead of SA, which was just freaky. Other than that, it's been a great gun.

I'm looking to upgrade to .45 though... I figured it would be better to standardize on one self defense caliber in the house. :)

[mambro]

The SW99 in .45 ACP is a nice combination if you like the controls of the P99 but want a larger caliber. They can be had pretty cheap "pre-owned" but be sure it fits your hand. It's a little larger than the 9/40 frame but enough to be a deal killer for some folks. :)

Curious on the P99 DA failure mentioned. Does your serial happen to start with "46"?

[Tang419]

This is a scary thread to read for someone who is about to trade for an older P99.

[mambro]

Well, the 40 cal magazine problems are easily corrected and "free" from S&W. I did not see a response back on the details of the "follow up shot" issue from Darkmage. Maybe it was a light primer strike on a reload? Did the striker not get pre-cocked? Don't know without the details.

For what it's worth, I haven't heard (or seen postings) of that issue before as attributed to this pistol, so that's what got me asking for more info.

:)