[NineseveN]

Originally Posted by TonyF

Am I the only one that finds pressing the trigger in order to enable SA mode disconcerting?

Actually, no, you're not the only one. There are a number of people who opt for the QA (DAO) model for that very reason. And I would agree with them about it; if they don't feel comfortable with that option on the gun, I would absolutely advise against it.

Having said that, keep in mind that one does not need to set the trigger (an informal glance at polls on the Walther forums suggests that most don't carry this way, instead opting to leaving it in AS mode which is a long and light pull or decocking it for DA on the first shot). The option itself is only unsafe if the shooter is not safe, which is true of any firing mode or any other feature on a firearm. It would be nearly impossible for someone to accidentally engage the trigger when setting it into SA mode without extreme negligence or a malfunction of the firearm itself. It's terribly hard to describe in words because unlike most other trigger mechanisms, this one has no direct comparison except for target-style set triggers, which are pretty rare as I understand it and even still, they require a different motion to engage.

It isn't something that one would suggest during an adrenaline dump, nor would I think anyone would actually try doing this during one (though there are exceptions), it's an option to set the trigger to SA mode before you put it in your holster for the day. Can it be dangerous if the user is negligent? Sure can, but so can a lot of features or mechanisms on any handgun.

IMO a decocker that forces you to break your firing grip is also a bit of a concern.

That depends on your hand size and what thumb you decock with. Your weak hand thumb can engage the decocker quite easily for most people. However, again, this isn't like a slide stop/release where someone will be needing to do it in the middle of combat (arguably, one would always want SA over the DA pull in a firefight), it's a method to add an extra bit of idiot-proofness or carry comfort to the gun before holstering for the day. Doing it with the weak hand or with the strong hand once the gun is in the holster (the two ways I would normally do it) is trivial.

A few years ago we actually had a student in one of our classes with this pistol and he couldn't keep the manual of arms straight. IOW, there were too many options and in actual use he found it too complicated and switched to a glock after struggling with it through the first day and a half.

No offense meant to that person, but unless the instructors were demanding him use the gun in a certain way, I find that must have been a problem with the user. One needs not do anything to the gun any differently than the Glock, one need not use any of those options. With a Glock, you load the gun and holster it. There is no set of the trigger available, there is no decocker, and there is no safety. There is no need for the user to set the Walther trigger, it can be fired just by doing nothing more than loading the gun; same as a Glock (with a better, though longer trigger pull IMHO). There is no need to decock the gun, it's only there if one desires to use it (the P99 is no less safe when cocked than a Glock is sans decocker). If the instructors were demanding or training that this person must use the decock or the set trigger on the gun simply because they exist, IMHO, that's a problem with the training as well (the instructors being unfamiliar with the nuances of a different gun they may have had little to no experience with).

I've seen people in training have a hard time with the thumb safety on a 1911. They just couldn't get disengaging the safety down during drawing and firing for speed. That's not a slight on the 1911, it's a limitation of the user. Eventually they all pretty much got it down after a lot of instruction and practice, but that instruction came from people intimately familiar with the 1911 and how to overcome such seemingly small challenges.

The P99 probably isn't a gun for someone who won't take the time alone to get intimately familiar with how to operate it...but I would submit that such a person probably wouldn't be proficient with any other gun without a lot of programming coming in the form of instruction from people familiar with the specific gun or the manual of arms for that firearm type.

IMHO, if this pistol strikes your fancy, I'd strongly advise the QA model.

A lot of people get the QA and dislike it when they actually fire an AS model. My advice is to try and check one out at a gun shop or find someone who has an AS model and head to the range. It may not be for everyone. I bring mine along to the PAFOA shoots as an FYI.