We all have a neighbor who makes us cringe. Well Delaware, this week you’re that neighbor. It may be hard to believe, but their legislature came up with a big idea on how to reduce gun violence – by redefining what is a firearm. If we define anything that shoots a projectile and then regulate it, that should stop the bad guys in their tracks, right? Frankly, that’s just not smart.
If you read their legislation that Governor Carney signed on Monday, it’s pretty bad. As an example, a common staple gun is now a firearm. Yes, if you live in Delaware, it may be possible that you’ll have to have a background check to buy one. I wish I was making this up, but even Delaware Public Media seems to have a hard time with this one. Well, the Delaware Senate thought it was a fine idea, and so did Carney. Link: Delaware Senate to consider legally changing the state’s definition of a firearm | Delaware First Media (delawarepublic.org)
The new Walther PDP is out and in circulation. Back in February I mentioned that I wanted to get my hands on the same Walther pistol that the State Police have been buying. A couple of months ago I learned that I qualified to obtain the same 4.5″ barreled model but without the PSP logo on it. This past weekend I put some rounds through it, and here’s what I learned.
First, I field stripped the pistol so I could clean and oil it. Honestly, it had about the simplest handgun field stripping procedure I’ve seen. Where there would normally be a takedown lever – a rotating knob that allowed for the slide to go forward and be removed, or in some guns, needing to be removed altogether. There are two sliding pieces on both sides of the frame that are pushed down. This part is not unlike Glock’s concept of a moving release on both sides, but amazingly, once pushed downwards, I only needed to push the slide assembly forward and off of the frame. No slight rearward movements first (like Glock), no additional metal releases in the action to poke downward (like S&W), just push and it’s off. Removing the recoil spring and barrel took no time at all. I didn’t time myself, but it was so fast it was noticeable.
It came with three 18-round magazines that instantly detach when the magazine release button is pushed. This speeds up emergency reloads. What is an emergency reload? Take the NRA CCW class and we’ll show you all about that!
This pistol already had the Aimpoint Acro-2 red dot sight installed. The sight has a simple control set, with a “+” button on the left side for turning it on or making the red dot brighter, or a “-” button under the other button to turn the brightness down or off. The standard tritium sights were still on the gun, permitting a co-witness capability – being able to put the red dot in line with the sight set.
The trigger assembly was smooth and really didn’t need any breaking in or modifying like so many other striker-fired pistols these days. It was really going well, up until the point I realized that my rounds were impacting rather low at 7 yards. No problem, I thought, I’ll just adjust the red dot like I have on a Trijicon SRO sight. Great idea but difficult to accomplish without Aimpoint’s special sight tool. A quick search of the pistol box didn’t turn up the tool, so I decided to concentrate on the non-optical sight set. Still shooting low, I noticed that the more rounds I shot, the better the grouping. That’s pretty standard for a brand-new gun, but not 4 inches low. I typically only shoot Federal 115 grain full metal jacketed factory ammo as I find it very reliable. Likewise, the gun was also reliably grouping, but low.
I came home and ordered the Aimpoint tool. $14 for the thing plus $7 shipping, and I’ll have it next week. I won’t be shooting it this 4th of July weekend, and a bit let down that I couldn’t finish my assessment of the gun.
My goal will be to compare the Walther PDP to the S&W M&P Competitor 9mm pistol. That one sports an SRO red dot sight which most owners add, and it’s very accurate. In fact, it’s like a sewing machine, capable of stitching shots exactly where you want them to go. However, after shooting a few boxes of ammo with the Competitor, the frame and slide begin to heat up to the point that you really have to either wear gloves (like Mr. Slick below) or put it down to cool off before continuing. You have to make sure that the gun is cooled before putting it back into its case or you will melt the container’s styrofoam; I’m sure this will be a similar issue with the PDP.
Some good news. We have a Keystone member who works for one of Pennsylvania’s most interesting gun manufacturers and has offered to submit some articles for our Bulletin. Stay tuned!
Please tell your shooting buddies to make sure they are registered to vote in the General Election in November. As we found out in the last U.S. Senate race, every vote matters. If 150,000 gun owners voted for someone other than the now-junior Senator from our state, the election outcome would have been quite different.
Todd Ellis – President