Walther has been one of the most significant leaders of innovation in the terms of ergonomics, and overall versatility. The prime example would be the most common Walther pistol of the late 20th and early 21st century. What you are seeing is that the P99 pistol system as a whole has successfully served many law enforcement agencies. The P99 has seen a significant amount of change through the years to keep up with the demands of not only the LE market, but also the civilian market. Now I just want to start by saying that the PPQ is a P99. It is only in the US market that the P99 is called the PPQ. The P99 originally came as a DA/SA striker fired pistol, around the time when the market around the world was just starting to take in the Glock and accept the idea of polymer framed pistols as legitimate service pistols. The German police were the first ones to become enamored with the design, mostly because they wanted to replace their aging stock of P-38 derivatives, the P5 and P88. But for whatever reasons they ended up with these pistols, they have been very pleased with them. It has done very well to the point that numerous contracts have been renewed and other LE agencies in Europe and across the water in Canada have taken a liking to the pistol and all the variants that it offers. But as time goes on, Walther realized that this one design was not going to do it all for them. They needed a pistol that could serve the police and the civilian carry market as a slim, durable, and easy to use firearm for personal defense or as a backup weapon. Therefore they designed the PPS, or Police Pistol Slim. This pistol is still all the rage in the civilian carry market. With a couple of mild changes to asthetics to answer the requests of shooters, Walther released the second generation of the PPS, the M2. With this new design on the the market, I think Walther will successfully swoop up a larger base of the civilian market that are looking for a single stack pistol in 9mm or .40 Cal that shoots like a full sized pistol. Now let us enter the most recent entries by Walther into the civilian market. The CCP and then the PPX/Creed. The CCP, or Concealed Carry Pistol, was designed with the entire carry market in mind. Walther wanted to design a simple, affordable pistol that allowed shooters with conmpromised strength to still be able to have an option on the market that was not going to be punishing to shoot and operate. All this was to be done while keeping with the new standard that Walther firearms are expected to uphold such as ergonomics, accuracy, and ruggedly reliable pistols. The CCP was able to accomplish both of these goals by designing a pistol based around the all but forgotten gas-delayed blowback action. This system that Walther has revived and redesigned, allows the shooter to shoot the 9mm cartridge effectively and comfortable, while also not having to fight a heavy recoil spring to manipulate the slide. In fact I have found that the CCP, with its patented Soft Coil system, actually has less recoil when shooting +P ammunition. This is due to the fact that the system depends on the high pressure of the ammo to delay the cycling of the slide. The hotter the ammo, the longer the delay, to a certain point of course. The CCP was rushed to the market with a few issues that still plague the reputation of the platform. I am sure that Walther is actively seeking to correct these issues and refine it to the point of perfection. But this takes time. I have had a total of 5 problems between two of my CCP pistols. I have had 2 broken trigger springs, one magazine spring that was too weak, a deformed striker that was most likely shooter induced, and a broken striker retention plate. Of course Walther was there to help at a moments notice and there was very little dwell time between when the gun failed and when it was up and running again. All this was at no cost to me. This right here is one of the best examples of why I am very forgiving of these growing pains. ![]() When looking at reviews of this pistol, it draws alot of criticism from people who hate manual safeties. I can understand this if the trigger was more like a DAO where there is a relatively heavy pull every time you use the trigger. But on the CCP, the trigger is actually very light once you start shooting it, but it is long. But unlike the PPS series of pistols, this pistol does not have a trigger safety, so in order to help make the weapon safer to carry without losing functionality, they put on a low profile safety. I can attest to the fact that this safety is very much like a 1911 safety. It is positive, unobtrusive, but very functional and easy to use. Unlike alot of other manual safety systems out there, this one is easy to reach and rest your thumb on for leverage when firing. For this reason, I don't understand the issue people have with this system. Walther did a goo job of designing this system to be unobtrusive, but positively functional in nature. Now let us move on to the PPX and the Creed. These two pistols are darn near one in the same in concept, but different in aesthetics and delivery. The PPX, or Police Pistol Xtreme, was designed from the ground up to offer a full sized alternative to the classic premium Walther line that is usually out of normal buyer budgets by a couple hundred dollars. They were able to stay relatively close to the Walther standard as far as durability, but almost everything else was a complete separation from what the market has come to expect from Walther. Aside from these asthetic issues, the insides and how the operating system was designed is nothing short of being all the things people look for in modern pistol designs. The guts of the frame, and the firing group in the slide are all based on a chassis design, which simplified manufacturing. This ultimately brings costs down for the consumer, allowing you to get into the Walther market with confidence, at a price that you can live with. Now let us look at the Creed, which I have called the second generation of the PPX. This pistol is basically, a PPX with all the aesthetics and characteristics that we have come to expect in a Walther today. They have maintained the internal design with very little change, but have redesigned the look of the pistol to give it the same profile and feel of the much loved PPQ. The trigger on both the PPX and the Creed are basically the same idea as the H&K LEM trigger, which many people find to be a definite improvement over traditional double action or double action only. The trigger has a full length of travel which is uninterrupted by by a heavy trigger weight, and you are rewarded with a crisp break once you get to the wall. The exposed but low profile hammer is a nice touch and increases the life of the firearms ability to deliver hard strikes to the primer. Overall, I would say that Walther has done an excellent job of keeping the market satisfied, and the competition on it's toes. With these minor growing pains, Walther has proven that they are very receptive to feedback as to what the market is looking for, and finding ways to deliver. For that reason, I think Walther is going to hold its position in the ranks as one of the best brands of firearm innovators in the world. Just my two cents.
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