Why didn't the SW99 sell better?

[MattB]

Originally posted by Mr. Wonderful:
Hello friends,

I have a S&W99 compact .40 as my carry pistol. I absolutely love it. The trigger pull is surprisingly smooth, and the ergonomics are the best of any auto I've ever carried. When I came across a second NIB piece at a local gun show for $400 a while back, I went for that too.

Later, I bought a full-sized Walther P99 in .40 for my house gun just because I got such a good deal on it.

Maybe not sexy, maybe not pretty... but a GREAT gun. I'm fine with everybody passing them by... better for me.

Best wishes,

Roger a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful

How do you find the recoil on the P99 in .40? I've heard that it's heavy compared to other .40s.

 

[clang444]

I bought a P99 9mm back in 2000 and still own it. It was one of those guns I just had to have, and I have been completely happy with it from day one (unlike some other had to have purchases I have made).

I think that one of the key reasons the SW99 never caught on big is because it had little or no "Lust Value". It just wasn't a gun somebody had to have like the P99 was, even though functionally it was very similar.

I remember when the SW99 was introduced and all I could think is why would someone want a SW99 when they could have an original P99. P99's were scarce (or at lleast you had to go looking for them), so it was almost like you were settling for a SW99 because you couldn't get the gun you really wanted.

The SW99 is a fine weapon and there are some great values out there on the market right now. But James Bond had a P99, not a SW99....

 

[MattB]

Originally posted by clang444:
I bought a P99 9mm back in 2000 and still own it. It was one of those guns I just had to have, and I have been completely happy with it from day one (unlike some other had to have purchases I have made).

I think that one of the key reasons the SW99 never caught on big is because it had little or no "Lust Value". It just wasn't a gun somebody had to have like the P99 was, even though functionally it was very similar.

I remember when the SW99 was introduced and all I could think is why would someone want a SW99 when they could have an original P99. P99's were scarce (or at lleast you had to go looking for them), so it was almost like you were settling for a SW99 because you couldn't get the gun you really wanted.

The SW99 is a fine weapon and there are some great values out there on the market right now. But James Bond had a P99, not a SW99....

They look similar enough to eachother...but I do agree that there was no "gotta have it" factor with the SW99. I looked at SW99 police trade-ins at a gun show recently, and wasn't really impressed. I've also heard of some reliability issues with the SW99s, though I can't see why they'd be any less reliable than their Walther twins.

 

[cd228]

My local PD (100-200 officers) selct the SW99 in .40 over the HK USP when they transitioned from the 5906. They had a lot of problems with the SW99s. My friend was one of their firearms trainers, his SW99 stopped working on the range. The armorers could't figure it out, and Smith just took it back and replaced it. The replacement ceased working as well. Same deal, S&W replaced it. Other pistols had similar problems Last time I was home on leave i found out that S&W had given the Dept a great deal on M&Ps (pistols and rifles). The Dept did not spec any changes to the stock SW99s. I don't know exactly what the problem was, they never figured it out.

 

[NRA-Life-Member]

Originally posted by cd228:
My local PD (100-200 officers) selct the SW99 in .40 over the HK USP when they transitioned from the 5906. They had a lot of problems with the SW99s. My friend was one of their firearms trainers, his SW99 stopped working on the range. The armorers could't figure it out, and Smith just took it back and replaced it. The replacement ceased working as well. Same deal, S&W replaced it. Other pistols had similar problems Last time I was home on leave i found out that S&W had given the Dept a great deal on M&Ps (pistols and rifles). The Dept did not spec any changes to the stock SW99s. I don't know exactly what the problem was, they never figured it out.

That's not good. Problem's happen - but when nobody tells us why - it's hard to want to use something that may not work.

If problems are identified, at least we can check to see if there is a problem. This helps us achieve a vote of confidence and most important 100% functionality!

 

[MattB]

From what I've been reading the SW99 is superior to the P99 in .40. Apparently the SW99 was designed with the .40 in mind wheras it was an afterthought on the Walther.