# Walther PPQ M2 9mm 4" or 5"



## HappyCycler (Mar 7, 2018)

Newbie question. Hoping to pick one of these up soon. Wondering if it's worth the extra to get the 5" barrel. This is my first handgun and will it be dual purpose, home protection, and range practice.

I was able to shot the the 4" model today.


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## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

I don't think that is a newbie question at all. It's a good question. I think it's a matter of preference. If it were going to be a pure competition gun, I'd probably opt for the 5"barrel. Otherwise, I'd go the 4" model and I did. I own a Walther PPQ M2 in 9mm and may buy the same gun in 45 ACP this year. As I got older, my 1911 handguns got heavier and heavier. After leaving the rehab nursing home a couple of years ago, I decided I needed a lighter weight, higher capacity defense pistol. I tested several guns for this job and narrowed the short list to a Sig P320 and the Walther PPQ. The PPQ won and it was not a mistake. I think it's the best multi purpose defensive, go to war pistol made. The grip ergonomics, balance, and trigger are without equal, IMO. I'm very accurate with it and can keep most rounds on a 4x6 inch notecard at 50 feet. I've got somewhere south of 4000 rounds through it and it's only failed one time and I think that was my fault. I'd dropped a 17 rd magazine on the range floor and didn't check it before insertion. It failed to feed the next round. Again, that's the only failure. 

You watch some of the online reviews and I concur. It's got the finest trigger of any striker fired pistol. As hickok45, Scootch and Nutnfancy said, it's hard to miss with a Walther PPQ. It's just that nice. You'd have to spend gunsmith money on a Glock to get close, but you'd never catch it. My Glock 19 feels like a Swingline staple gun in comparison and I'm done spending money on it. 

As far as the five inch barrel version goes, I've never tried it and probably will not. It came out well after the four inch version, and I'd not care to change the balance of that 4 inch model. It's about perfect as it is. Now, I am considering the new sub-compact PPQ, especially if it's made in 45 at some point, but for a first gun, get the standard Walther PPQ M2 with the 4 inch barrel and you'll be very happy. I promise. As you can tell, I love mine. 

Now, let me give you some advice if you buy that gun. Walther ships it from Germany gunked up with a lot of cosmoline type preservative. That stuff had a lot of grit mixed in from the factory milling processes, I would guess. I put around 100 rounds through it to break it in unclean. I usually do that, but the gun wasn't as sweet to shoot as I wanted when it was right out of the box. It was gritty, as expected. I then completely stripped it and cleaned it with G99 solvent, soaking some parts. Nitro solvent will break down that grease and remove it. After completely cleaning and drying. There will be no oil or grease on the parts at this point. I put a very thin layer of RIG grease on the rails and barrel lugs. On the rest, a very thin film of good synthetic motor oil like Mobile One. Before bed every night, I'd pull it out and rack the slide fifty or so times. I then shot another 300 or so rounds to fully break it in, lightly cleaned and relubricated, and it then had that Walther magic. This is my standard break-in procedure for any new gun and on this gun this worked especially well. I sometimes wonder if Walther, Sig and some others don't add a little jewelers grit to help with initial break-in. My Sig P220 came that way. 

Good luck and have fun. Train and practice good technique. Start fairly close like 7 yards and work your way out further and faster over time. Once you can keep most on that post card, it's time to move it out a little more. If you develop a flinch, and most of us do at some point, move it in and slow down to get back in the groove. I tape several cards to a blank sheet of paper sometimes.


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## denner12 (Oct 14, 2017)

HappyCycler said:


> Wondering if it's worth the extra to get the 5" barrel.


Generally, the longer barreled pistols are used for competition and may give you an advantage with it's slightly longer sight radius. Practically speaking however, and for reasons your using the pistol for, I'd go with the least expensive of the two. 1 inch in my opinion would practically make no difference.


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