walther ppq 45 m2

FOG HORN June, 2016

Twobirds Flying Publication

Copyright 2016, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

Walther Arms PPQ .45 ACP

The crown jewel of polymer frame 45s

WALTHER ARMS PPQ .45 ACP - The crown jewel of polymer frame 45s 2016

Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

WALTHER ARMS PPQ .45 ACP - The crown jewel of polymer frame 45s

By: Sal Palma

My first exposure to Walther’s latest addition to

their PPQ line, the PPQ 45, was at Shot Show

2016, in Las Vegas. I distinctly remember

standing in line at the range wondering whether

it was worth the wait but Walther’s name and

reputation for exceptional firearms kept me

interested, and I’m glad it did. This was my

inaugural experience with the first .45 ACP in

Walther’s 150 year history and I walked away

from the demo thinking, WOW, what a great

shooter! So, when Walther Arms presented me

with the opportunity to review the pistol, I was

stoked.

Great shooting pistols are like a well-mixed

cocktail or excellent blended wine, they are the

sum of its parts, and if any part falls short the

gun falls short; an inescapable fact of firearms.

In writing this review what I learned about

Walther’s 45 ACP is that it is nothing short of

excellence throughout. With that thought in

mind, I’ll take you through the PPQ 45, part by

part, to support my assertion that it’s a must

have pistol.

After our test sample arrived, I spent a

considerable amount of time touching, feeling,

massaging and breaking the pistol down before

conducting any live fire testing. I probably dry

fired it 500 times just to get comfortable with

its amazing trigger.

Readers familiar with my preferences know that

I place the pistol-shooter interface above any

other attribute. Pistols are no different than

running shoes; if you want to run well, your

running shoes must fit well and it’s this

interface that creates the necessary conditions

for consistency and consistency is the key to

good shooting. So, I start my review with the

PPQ’s grip.

Walther understands the anatomical

characteristics of the human hand better than

any of its competitors. That knowledge is

demonstrated across the PPQ line and its .45

ACP is no exception.

I want to start with the grip’s rake because it is

noticeably different from any of the competing

offerings.

To understand its effect, extend your strong

arm, make a fist and hold your clenched fist so



that you’re not pulling up or pushing down with

your wrist. You’ll know your there when your

wrist feels relaxed. Now note the angle created

by the phalanges (these are the finger bones

connecting to your knuckles), it exactly matches

the rake on the PPQ’s grip.

The PPQ grip has no flat squared off surfaces;

instead it features rounded contoured surfaces

that closely resemble the palmar surface of the

human hand. I’m impressed with how

anatomically correct the PPQ grip is; eliminating

shooter fatigue and enhancing control.

Walther made a marketing decision a few years

ago to abandon the European style trigger

guard magazine release, designated M1, for a

grip centric pushbutton style mag release

designated M2.

I prefer the M1 style magazine release over the

M2 for a couple of reasons. First, it reduces the

possibility of an unintended magazine release.

Second, and more important to me than the

latter, the M1 trigger guard mag release can be

operated with a heavily gloved hand, a task that

is much more difficult with the M2. However,

the M2 magazine release is by far the more

popular style in the U.S. market. Walther made

the M2 mag release fully ambidextrous and

provides the appropriate button for left-handed

shooters. The extended slide lock is also fully

ambidextrous so our southpaw brethren are in

Fat City with Walther’s PPQ .45.

In addition to elements of grip geometry,

Walther textured the grip using what the

company describes as a non-slip cross-

directional surface to enhance shooter control.

Interestingly enough this is an area that has

drawn some criticism with 50% of reviewers

saying that it’s too subdued and the remaining

50% saying that it’s just right. My own

preference lies with the camp that likes a bit

more aggressive texturing. I have clunky

calloused hands so I like the feel of a more

aggressive texturing “a la” Glock Gen 4.

Walther has also provided interchangeable

backstraps, in medium and large sizes, to

customize the PPQ grip to the shooter. Installing

the backstrap is a very straight forward

procedure, you simply push out a single roll pin

using a 4mm punch and you’re in the money.

A final point to touch on is the extended grip

foot which functions to streamline the grip with

the magazine’s floor plate. I found this feature

very useful in performing magazine changes

especially while performing a tactical reload. It

seems to work extremely well as a guide similar

to beveled magazine wells.



Breaking down the PPQ is Glock like with one

exception. Rather than using a tinny take down

catch like the Glock pistols, Walther took a

much more shooter friendly approach

accommodating all hand sizes and a gloved

hand. The pictures below clearly illustrate those

differences.

Like the Glock, taking down the PPQ requires

that you drop the striker on an empty chamber

in order to separate the slide from the frame,

and like all Glocks, ensure that your pistol is

clear before performing the take down

procedure.

The recoil spring is captive and rides on a

polymer guide rod. There are also very few

parts and consequently nothing to lose.

Transitioning from the Glock to a Walther PPQ

requires platform familiarization and nothing

more.

The PPQ 45 features a 4.25” polygonal rifling

barrel that accounts for much of the pistol’s

impressive accuracy. A visual inspection reveals

a nicely polished feed ramp and beveled

chamber throat making this pistol not a finicky

eater. Most .45 ACP pistols exhibit some degree

of ammunition sensitivity this is not the case

with Walther’s 45 ACP, the pistol will feed

everything from 230gr military ball to the very

aggressive hollow point defensive loads from

Winchester, Federal, Liberty Ammo and others.



It’s been difficult for me to pin down just one

feature on the PPQ 45 that I like above all

others; however, forced to do so, I’d have to go

with the trigger. Walther has done a

tremendous job in delivering what I consider to

be the best trigger in a polymer production

pistol.

When the T&E pistol arrived, I spent quite a bit

of time dry firing. After that exercise, I took

several measurements to verify the factory

data. Trigger take up was .36 inches; trigger pull

weight averaged 3.75 lbs. +/- .166 and trigger

reset was .12 inches. I then compared the

trigger pull weight of the PPQ 45 with the G17;

documenting my results in the table below.

PPQ 45 sd G17 sd

3.75

5.8 3.75

5.5

3.75

6 3.5

5.75

4

5.5 3.75

6

4

5 3.75

5.6

3.5

5.5 3.75

5.25

3.751 0.166667 5.59 0.315172

The PPQ 45 averaged 3.75 +/- .166 pounds

while the Glock averaged 5.59 +/- .315 pounds.

The Glock trigger had virtually no trigger take

up and a slightly longer trigger reset than the

PPQ. I have to reflect on what virtually all Glock

shooters do to their new Glock pistol – they

replace the trigger connector and striker spring

to lighten trigger pull to that “magical” 3.5 lbs.

With the PPQ 45 you’re already there straight

from the factory. Walther publishes a trigger

1 Trigger pull measured after ~500 dry fires.

pull weight of 4.8 – 5.6 lbs.; however, I was

never able to duplicate those numbers in my

test sample, even with outlier measurements –

absolutely acceptable to me.

Shooting the PPQ 45 is equivalent to driving a

high performance European sports car. After

the initial trigger travel or take up, depending

on what part of the country you’re from, the

trigger hits a wall followed by a crisp break and

an extremely short trigger reset. If you are used

to carrying or shooting a factory Glock you’ll

want to spend some time adjusting muscle

memory to the PPQ’s 45 trigger. The cardinal

rules apply, never place your finger on the

trigger until you are ready to shoot; not as you

come out of your holster or as you extend.

The Walther slide, like the barrel and internal

action parts, is Tenifer coated for corrosion

resistance and features serrations at the front

and rear. Operating the PPQ 45 slide is

exceptional and the front serrations make a

press check very smooth.

The PPQ 45 ships with a polymer sight set

zeroed at 15 meters. The rear sight is adjustable

for wind; however, elevation changes require a

front sight post swap. A steel sight set is also

available from Walther. The sight radius is 6.5

inches and Walther included serrations along

top of the slide to eliminate glare and draw the

shooter’s eye to the front sight post. Finally, the

rear sight height allows for one handed slide

manipulation.



Before getting into shooting impressions, I’d like

to address what I feel is a compromise Walther

had to make in order to limit the pistol’s overall

length.

The PPQ 45 overall length is about ½ to ¾

inches shorter than your typical large full-sized

pistol and the combination of accommodating a

large trigger guard, for a heavily gloved hand,

with a slightly shorter Picatinny accessory rail

limits your choice of weapon mounted

accessories. The PPQ 45 was made for

Streamlight’s TLR-4 or TLR-4G and the Crimson

Trace Rail Master Pro. Full sized rail mounted

accessories place the accessory well forward of

the muzzle; therefore, reaching the operating

controls requires that you shift your support

hand. Shooters with long fingers will find this

limitation inconsequential.

Shooting the Walther PPQ 45 M2 was in every

way as I had experienced in Boulder City, simply

awesome. It’s truly great shooting pistol. All of

its excellent features, like the grip, trigger and

large trigger guard contribute to what I will call

an exceptional shooting experience; although

not a target pistol, the PPQ 45 more than

carried its own weight when it comes to

accuracy and performance. I shot 5-shot groups

of white box 230 grain military ball at 16 yards

(15 meters), unsupported, producing

respectable groups.

My best results came from the Federal Hydra

Shock .45 ACP. As I mentioned previously, the

PPQ is not a target pistol, nor was it intended as

such, but as a tactical/ military/police pistol it is

a stellar performer.

Recoil was what one would expect from a .45

ACP, very snappy, but at no time during my live

fire testing did I feel that I was losing control; in

fact, quite the opposite.

As part of my testing, I ran through 3 shots in

rapid succession, performed a tactical reload

and fired another 3 shots without an issue. That

brief drill reaffirmed my belief that the

extended grip foot works extremely well as a

magazine guide. The empty magazine dropped

free cleanly, a new magazine load without an

issue or having to slam the floorplate, the

ambidextrous slide lock was easy to operate

and the slide chambered a round cleanly and

without issue. Every aspect of its operation

worked flawlessly.

I experienced no problems with the ejection

cycle; in fact, I even used some dinged up brass

just to see if I could produce a failure to eject.

No problems encountered, and with the

expanded ejection port there were no stove

pipes, which is not unheard of with other .45

pistols.



In closing, I’ll simply say that if you’re looking

for something other than a 1911 .45 then the

Walther PPQ 45 M2 deserves top billing on your

list. Nothing is extraneous or stylistic; it’s all

functional and everything on this pistol

performs dependably well. The PPQ 45 M2 is a

great carry or tactical .45 that you can count on,

and just as importantly it carries a very modest

$699 M.S.R.P. Walther’s PPQ 45 is without

question a tremendous value for what is the

Patek Philippe of polymer .45 pistols. Get one!

-SP

Manufacturer Specifications

walther ppq 45 m2

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