Where are these SW99s coming from?

[MattB]

I've seen quite a few NIB two-tone .40 SW99s like the one pictured below around lately (both standard and compact), usually around $450-475. I don't recall SW99s ever being offered in a two-tone finish, and given that the SW99 has been discontinued for a while it's interesting that there are a bunch of these out there right now. Anyone know anything about them?

 

[MattB]

I've seen quite a few NIB two-tone .40 SW99s like the one pictured below around lately (both standard and compact), usually around $450-475. I don't recall SW99s ever being offered in a two-tone finish, and given that the SW99 has been discontinued for a while it's interesting that there are a bunch of these out there right now. Anyone know anything about them?

 

[torrejon224]

Read somewhere that they might be old Orange or Riverside County S.O. guns being traded in. Don't think that the QPQ finish was available to the public on the SW99s so they must be LE trades. Where you seeing them and in what caliber?

 

[Fastbolt]

Might've been from a LE contract where the agency ordered the guns with 'plain' stainless slides & barrels, sans the Melonite treatment. This would've cut the cost. Remember when Melonite was offered on the Sigma line early on, and then later slides & barrels were increasingly left in plain stainless?

I previously asked someone from S&W about the Melonite treatment on their SW99's and was told that they had the Melonite QP treatment. Apparently the Melonite treatment typically considered appropriate for stainless is the QP (Quench-Polish), while the QPQ (a second quench) is considered appropriate for carbon steel. The Walther P99 used to be advertised as having slides & barrels with the Tenifer QPQ treatment.

 

[makaadict]

are yall sure they discontinued them? I still see the SW990L in full size and compact on the catalogue

 

[TSQUARED]

For $450-$475 that would be a bargain price for a great gun. I purchased a S&W 99 in 9mm several years ago and it is truly a great gun - utterly reliable with a wide variety of factory ammo and handloads, great ergonomics, and surprisingly accurate for a short barreled pistol.

 

[MattB]

Originally posted by torrejon224:
Read somewhere that they might be old Orange or Riverside County S.O. guns being traded in. Don't think that the QPQ finish was available to the public on the SW99s so they must be LE trades. Where you seeing them and in what caliber?

I'm seeing them all over, at gun stores, at gun shows, and online. They all seem to be .40s with night sights and the Walther AS trigger system, and they are NIB so maybe they're from an LE contract that fell through or something.

Originally posted by TSQUARED:
For $450-$475 that would be a bargain price for a great gun. I purchased a S&W 99 in 9mm several years ago and it is truly a great gun - utterly reliable with a wide variety of factory ammo and handloads, great ergonomics, and surprisingly accurate for a short barreled pistol.

I considered picking one up yesterday but I already have an M&P40 and couldn't justify a second plastic pistol right now.

 

[SW99Fan]

I saw an auction on gunbroker just before I bought my SW99 with one stamped "CHPD" which is a LE agency in southern California... mine was LE but there were no stampings of such on mine, it has the holster wear and everything too, the LE mags, trijicon sights, etc. I'd love to know where mine came from, so I might call S&W about it.