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Walther SSP at Munich World Cup 2005 |
Hmmmmmmmmmmm, are those vendor tents over there? Yes! Off we go...
Travelling from North America to coach at the Munich World Cup was a huge honour. The icing on the cake was to be surrounded by the vendors and all the equipment that was available. Prior to coming to Europe, I had heard of the SSP, the new standard pistol design from Walther. I shoot a GSP and wasn't sold on the GSP Expert design. It didn't seem like anything new. Upon arrival, we saw the Walther tent and the lineup to see the SSP. Eventually, I got over there and took a few pictures, as well as a few dry shots. The sales rep repeated promised that in an hour or two, they would be allowing people to fire the pistol. After 4 or 5 days, I stopped asking.
The pistol is a big departure from the GSP, with a relaxed grip. It points well. Feels balanced. The grip is NOT production. I was told that the gripmaker had done this mockup. Upon close inspection, it was noticed that the grip was made of plywood and had a black textured coating applied to it. There were a few questions on its contruction, but no obvious red flags. I didn't like the slide release, thinking it was somewhat awkward.
Of great interest is that the section of the frame, ahead of the trigger guard and under the Walther logo, is supposedly empty, to accept electronics for the eventual electronic trigger. This is indeed very cool. Without having fired the gun, I couldn't recommend or dissapprove the pistol. As of this writing (Aug. 2005), I think that it falls under the category of Wait and See. Let someone else buy it and find out how well it holds up. That is, if you're not a gambling man.
And no, the first picture (SPE_0011.JPG) is not of the Walther SSP, but the Pardini SP Electronic. This I would buy. I tried to out-squeeze the capacitor by dryfiring the gun as fast I could. Everytime it clicked: the solenoid is recharged incredibly fast. It feels like the SP New (grips interchangable) and points well. The electronic trigger, like the Morini 162EI air pistol, allows you to dryfire without interruption (to cock the gun). If you shoot sport pistol, standard pistol or rapidfire pistol, this multishot dryfire is important. As for precision, it matters too as the dryfiring is more realistic because the mechanism is identical. Please note that Pardini makes two variants of the SP Electronic: one for rapidfire, and one for standard/sport pistol. The difference is in barrel twist, bore diameter and weight of the bolt (I believe.) Nice gun.
Enjoy the pictures of the SSP. Any new gun is always appreciated!
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