Several months ago, back in early 2021, Walther released the new PDP, which stands for “Performance Duty Pistol.” The Walther PDP is marketed as a new duty gun for law enforcement or military type use. I picked one up in April of this year out of the second batch to hit the gun store I work in. We got that batch about two weeks after the gun was announced.
At the time, there were a number of folks from the online gun world who had test samples in their hands. I read what I could find, and watched a number of videos. Everything I was hearing about the guns was positive. They had a comfortable grip with good texturing, good ergonomics, very slip-proof serrations on the slide, optic ready right out of the box, and the best part, an absolutely fantastic trigger. And to be quite honest, I cannot argue with any of that.
After talking to a friend of mine (a guy most of you are familiar with who has a very large YouTube following) who had a couple of them for T&E purposes, he told me that from what he could tell, the PDP was more just an evolution of the PPQ than it was a whole new gun. Upon inspection, it would appear he is absolutely right. Not that that fact should detract from the gun at all. That is how guns are improved, hell that is how everything mechanical gets improved.
And to be frank, the PPQ is one hell of a starting point. While I was never a fan of the appearance of the PPQ, once they were in my hand and I was putting rounds down range, I stopped caring about the looks. They feel great, function excellent and like their PDP offspring, they have a fantastic trigger. So, looking at the lineage the PDP comes from, it has some very solid DNA.
The gun itself is available in two frame sizes and three different slide/barrel lengths. The Compact frame size has a magazine capacity of 15 rounds, while the mags for the full-size model hold 18. Both frame sizes can be had with a 4″, 4.5″ or 5″ slide and barrel. All of the PDP’s have the slide cut for an optic from the factory, and all of them have an accessory rail below the barrel, forward of the trigger guard.
Improvements – PDP over PPQ
Since I keep mentioning improvements, I suppose I should address some of those. Most immediately noticeable in my mind is the appearance. While the size and shape of the Walther PDP is not significantly different from the PPQ, something about the looks is just more visually appealing to me. While I never liked the looks of the PPQ, I do like the PDP.
Cosmetics aside, the shape of the grip has been changed slightly from the PPQ, and the PDP, no matter which size frame, fits more naturally in my hands. Granted, everyone’s hands are different and I have some oddly large hands with long, skinny fingers. That said, a bonus to working in a gun store, I see all sorts of people with all sorts of hand sizes, and not one person who has handled the PDP in the store has had anything but positive comments about the ergonomics of the PDP. Walther seems to have found a very good compromise in the grip shape and size with the PDP.
Something that seems like a small thing to some people, but is a huge thing to me, is that Walther made the decision to use “a very common sight pattern” (don’t sue us speak for Glock sights). To me, this is a brilliant move. Rather than having their own proprietary sights, the slide on the PDP will accept sights for any full-size Glock. This makes opens up the options for replacement sights to a huge variety, that are already in production and readily available. That is a huge plus for a gun that is optics ready, because most folks are going to want suppressor height sights if they install an optic.
Getting back to the ergonomics, the slide stop is ambidextrous and easy to use with out being ridiculously oversized, the mag release can be flipped to accommodate left or right handed shooters, and then there is that trigger…
Oooh, That PDP Trigger
The trigger, in one word, is stupendous. It has about 3/8″ of clean, fairly light take up and you hit a wall. From there, a few more pounds of pressure and about an 1/8″ more travel gives you a very clean break with almost no over travel. The reset is short, about 1/4″, and while not as positive as a Glock, it is plenty positive that you can both hear and feel it. Once reset, about 1/8″ of take up brings you right to the wall. The trigger is both consistent and predictable. This has to be one of, if not the best factory, duty/carry striker fired triggers I have ever used. Other than possibly changing the shape of the trigger shoe itself (I have a fondness for flat faced triggers), I cannot see much room for future improvement of the trigger.
Gripes
Now, with the positive stuff out of the way, let me throw out some gripes. Walther is marketing this gun as the “Performance Duty Pistol.” If you look at the Walther PDP webpage, it is abundantly clear they are marketing this gun to law enforcement. Seeing as that is my background, I might know a thing or two because I have seen a thing or two.
When you buy a new PDP, as I did, included in the box are only two magazines. As a cop, that leaves you immediately shopping for a third magazine, which is to put it bluntly, totally lame. Once you start shopping, you get the bad news – magazines are not available at all for the full-size model, not even directly from Walther, and if you opt for the compact size PDP, mags are far and few between. Then, if you can find them, they are not cheap.
Next, while the Walther PDP is technically “optic ready,” when you buy one you cannot just pick an optic and mount it. Walther does not include any optic mounting plates with the gun. They will send you one for free, after you fill out the form on their website, and shipping for mine was fairly quick at just over a week, but unlike Glock (king of the LE handgun market), you can’t buy the gun, the optic and be ready to go as you walk out the door of the gun store. Furthermore, you have to pick which pattern plate you want, as different optics use different bolt patterns, and you only get the one for free, so you better be pretty sure about which optic you plan on running.
And my last gripe, but a rather significant one. Safariland, the overwhelming king of law enforcement duty holsters, does not offer a single duty holster for the Walther PDP. I don’t mean they don’t offer one for a gun with one particular optic and some obscure weapon mounted light. They don’t offer any duty holsters for the PDP, at all.
How on earth did Walther not manage to get ahead of the curve on this and get Safariland on board before the gun hit the streets? In fact, as of this writing, which is a full six months after I purchased my PDP, there are only two duty type holsters available that I can find anywhere, and they are from holster companies whom I am unfamiliar (Dara Holsters and US Duty Gear). I am not knocking their products, I just don’t know them. To me, for a gun being marketed to law enforcement, the lack of a Safariland holster option is inconceivable.
PDP, Final Thoughts
I really do like, perhaps even love my Walther PDP. It is a phenomenal gun from a shooter/shooting standpoint. That said, until Walther addresses a couple significant oversights, like the lack of a 3rd magazine and no Safariland holster options, I cannot recommend it as a LE duty gun, which is sad because it would make a great sidearm in the LE environment.
