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Old 01-21-2012, 02:58 PM
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Default SW99's pretty good?

Found a great price on the SW99 in 40cal($335) with night sights, 3/12 rnd. mags, think it's even NIB, anyway, are these pretty reliable, durable pistols? I'd like to try and get one when the Tax Return money hits if they're any count. Thanks.
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Old 01-21-2012, 03:51 PM
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I like the SW99s, I have a 9mm. I've had mine about a year a half, its a PD trade in, not in the best shape. I have not had a FTF or FTE yet with it, I've run all kinds of ammo through it, factory, reloads, 115gr and 124 gr. Its pretty much the same thing as the Walther P99. My only complaint is finding mags. There does seem to be more 40cal mags floating around (I know CDNN has them).
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Old 01-21-2012, 05:43 PM
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These have the standard button rifling in em', right? That way I can shoot home cast bullets and save a lot on ammo.
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Old 01-21-2012, 05:54 PM
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I like the SW99. It is a reliable pistol and is accurate for a combat length barrel. I also find it comfortable to shoot. The only thing to get used to is the Anti Stress trigger system. Its not quite like any other system out there, but it is the closest you can get to TDA in a striker fired pistol.
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Old 01-21-2012, 06:03 PM
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I have the S&W99 in 9mm which has proven to be totally reliable and surprisingly accurate for such a short barreled pistol. I actually prefer their unique ambidextrous mag release.
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Old 01-21-2012, 06:49 PM
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Decent guns. Everything except the (stripped) slide & barrel were made and provided by Walther.

I own a couple of them and I carried an issued one for some years, firing some thousands of rounds through them.

I know other guys who have fired even more rounds through them.

If you're looking at the full-size .40 version (SW9940), make sure the magazines are the revised ones. There should be a flattened spot in the mag body to the rear of the cutout for the slide stop lever tab.

This was a mag & follower revision necessary to prevent the recoil of the .40 cartridge from wiggling the rounds (sideways) in the mag so the bullet noses bumped against the slide stop lever and locked the slide back with rounds remaining in the mag.

If it's a LE trade-in it's probably got the revised mags, but it doesn't hurt to check.

The revised .40 mag & follower is the one on the left in this picture:


There were some ongoing improvements done by S&W in their barrels, too. The things I can think of seeing included some minor changes to the chamber mouth, feedramp, barrel tab finishing, muzzle crowns ... and an interesting modification to the bottom of the barrel. I don't have any pictures stored (and I don't have time to run out to the bench and take comparison pictures of some barrels), but at one point S&W engineers adopted a flat spot on the bottom of the barrel where the top of the recoil spring assembly rubbed during unlocking & locking. Kind of elegant and simple.

This flat spot changed in dimension over at least a couple of manufacturing runs (that I saw), but I was told it was intended to reduce contact (and friction) between the barrel and the top of the rear of the recoil spring curing cycling. (Ever see the rubbed spots and loose particles in another make of plastic gun when field-stripping it? )
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Old 01-21-2012, 07:00 PM
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Thanks for the info on the mags, I'll see if I can tell which ones it is by the pic on Mark's web site. Seems to be a pretty decent gun, should work well for HD and general plinking. Button Rifling, Right? I cast my own bullets to keep my handloading costs down to minimum and from all I've read Poly rifling doesn't do well with lead bullets.
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Old 01-21-2012, 07:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TNFrank View Post
Thanks for the info on the mags, I'll see if I can tell which ones it is by the pic on Mark's web site. Seems to be a pretty decent gun, should work well for HD and general plinking. Button Rifling, Right? I cast my own bullets to keep my handloading costs down to minimum and from all I've read Poly rifling doesn't do well with lead bullets.
You are correct it isn't polygonal rifling.
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Old 01-21-2012, 07:27 PM
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I regret selling mine.
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Old 01-21-2012, 08:52 PM
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I have the trifecta. German Walther P99 in 9 mm & 40 S&W and the SW99 in 0.45 ACP. Excellent guns and the 40 is very accurate. Dave_n
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Old 01-22-2012, 04:29 PM
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I have the 45ACP, full size 40 and compact 40 and like them all.
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Old 01-22-2012, 04:57 PM
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Saw your other thread which showed the magazines having the revised bodies.

Looks like whoever originally carried the gun had pretty large hands (since they had the large insert in the gun).

I wouldn't be surprised if S&W was willing to send you the small & medium inserts just for the asking (if you asked nicely), upon your explaining that it was a PD trade-in. (They still ought to have some laying around, somewhere.)

FWIW, their limited lifetime warranty is only for the original owner, although it wasn't uncommon for factory refurb LE trade-in guns and designated demo guns to be offered with the original warranty support remaining intact. S&W has been known to look at material defects and parts failures for subsequent owners in a generous, customer-oriented manner.

The thing with the SW99/990L's is that aside from the slide & barrels, the parts were (are, for repair) bought from Walther, and Walther parts aren't exactly inexpensive.

Pretty good guns, though (both the P99's and the licensed SW99's).

Congrats on the purchase. Enjoy.

FWIW, I have medium-to-large hands (depending on which glove manufacturer we're talking about ) and I've usually found the medium grip insert to work best for me. There have been some times, though, especially in hotter weather, when the smaller insert has worked better for me. (Maybe slight swelling of the hands in heat?)

PM or email me if you run into any trouble getting a pair of S/M grip inserts from S&W.
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