Practical and Impractical Handguns: Part 2

 

So, this is it; a Walther PPQ Q4/M1. I just bought one this week. My intention was to wait and pick one up later, but I found it on an auction site at a low price, so I went ahead and followed it thinking that it would certainly go up in price over the point which I was willing to pay, which is about the high $500s or possibly low $600s. 

These things are generally $699 as you can see, but the real issue isn't the price, it's the fact that they are difficult to find as the M1 or "Classic" version at any price. With the Covid/political issues this last year or so has made them even more difficult to find, but has inflated the price quite a bit (eg. typically in the $800-900 range). 

Back to the auction: when I came across it, there was almost a week left, and to make things worse, it was ending at a time when I would be tied up working and unable to bid! 

This is where friends come into play. I have a long-time friend who lives in another town and has had quite a bit of experience in dealing with auctions. So I contacted him, told him the situation and asked for help. I gave him my account info and he agree to bid for me. He made one offer to test the system, then placed an offer close to my max the day before. It was in the low $400s at that time and I thought; "there's no way it stays down that low". But as it got close to the time the auction was set to expire, it was still in the $400s. We texted back and forth excitedly, one of which had him saying that maybe it would stay under $500, to which I answered, that "I can't even bring myself to think that".

He turned out to be right! The auction completed at $499! It's like the one of the left, the M1 vs. the M2 on the right. Plus, since it's an older one instead of new, it comes with 3 RDS adapter plates in the box instead of having to contact Walther to get 1. I'm just a bit excited today waiting for it to arrive at my FFL. If all goes right, I should be able to pick it up, put my RDS on it and shoot it this weekend! 

Practical and Impractical Handguns: A Case for Both

So, I've reached that stage in life where eyesight is becoming an increasing issue. For reading, computer work and such, I have taken to keeping a pair of glasses that are my reading prescription only at my desk. They are way more comfortable to use in that type of work compared to trying to use the reading portion of a pair of bifocals. 

However, they don't help with this; trying to get a good "sight picture" while shooting my handguns! Last year, I installed a pair of higher profile tritium embedded "night-sights" and they help some, but by no means improve the fuzzy image my aging eyes give me. Therefore, I've been looking at using an "RDS" (Red Dot Sight) on my regular handgun (Walther PPQ). That's all fine and good (other than the cost of course), but you might be aware, that for us non-Glock users, there aren't a ton of options. For PPQ, users like me, those are as follows:

• Send your slide off to one of 2 companies that will do a "slide cut" on a Walther and buy a special plate to mount the RDS. That'll run around $300 when all is said-and-done, and that's not including buying the red dot, so we'll say $500 total.
• Or buy a PPQ Q4, which already has it's slide cut for an optic, comes with adapter plate(s) and have another handgun for around $600 plus the RDS.

I'm going to say that I was leaning toward the second option, and then this....... 

happened! If you haven't seen one of these before, it's a Brugger & Thomet (B&T) Universal Service Weapon (USW). Well, actually, it's a adapter chassis for a PPQ that transforms the Walther into the rough equivalent of the actual USW which is a Sphinx that's been modified to be like the above but actually sleeker since it's not a "chassis" that you have to put a handgun into. Never-the-less, I love the concept (which I'll get to later) and snapped it up as soon as I found it on a random website of a gun shop in North Carolina called Tar Heel Firearms. It was expensive (more than I originally paid for my PPQ), but is a precision Swiss made product machined out of aluminum. So, what is it and why did it cause me to engage in this bout of lunacy? 

The above images are only 2 of probably 10-15 different versions of the same concept generically known as "Carbine Conversion" kits. Basically the idea is to extend the range of a common pistol (Glock, S&W, Sig etc), out to 100 yards give or take. And they are generally effective in achieving this goal. But I'm certain that you've detected some issues here, right?

• They're kind of big and clunky making them no easier to conceal and carry than a short carbine.
• You're still saddled with the original pistol caliber with it's inherent limitations in range and effectiveness. 
• They are often expensive ranging from the $300s to the $500s and more when you add BUIS (back up iron sights), RDS (red dot sight), weapon lights and more.
• So are difficult and require tools to install the handgun.
• Limitations of models that they are designed to fit.

So, what am I doing talking about, and looking into them? Here's the thing: I'm not going to rationalize that it's a logical decision on my part. I will blame a number of factors that impact my personal weirdness that made me the way I am!

• I've always been a pistol guy, not completely certain why. I just like them way more than long guns, always have. The fact that I'm a cross-eyed dominant, meaning that I'm right-handed but see way better with my left eye, so that hampers my effectiveness with a rifle.
• I should have grown up with transformers, but I didn't. However, I still LOVE things that can be transformed from one application into another.
• I like the unusual. Like Volvo station wagons, mechanical cameras, and airplanes like the A10 Warthog and P38 Lightning.

So, when the original B&T USW-A1 came out, it was love at first sight! The only problem(s)? It's $2500, not including the NFA Form 1 tax stamp for it being a "short barreled rifle". Also, I'm kind of wedded to the Walther ecosystem and didn't want to buy into something that takes the CZ magazine etc. Why are we talking then? Well.... look at it! It's so "cool", and it offers the ability to extend the usable range beyond the normal handgun while still keeping it in a form that's NOT the size of a carbine. How does this affect my situation? 

My current PPQ is being turned into an SBR by eFiling a Form 1 with the ATF, so it can go into the USW chassis. But since I really don't want to take it in and out of the chassis, I'm going to bite the bullet and save up for a PPQ Q4/M1 that'll serve as my regular handgun. I'll mount a RDS to it's adapter plate and all will be well!