TargetTalk

Does anyone know of any guides for the maintenance of Walther LP400 pistols?

In particular the replacement of seal(s).

My LP400 Carbon is away at the gunsmith's for the second time in the 12 months since I bought it.

It first failed after about 5,000 shots; initially sounding 'different' and shooting low, but then exhausting the contents of the air cylinder via the barrel.

It went to away to a gunsmith for the relevant seal replacing; but after another 3,000 shots it began acting up once again, so I sent it away prior to failing this time.

Does anyone out there know which seal is likely to have failed and whether there are any user instructions available for the replacement of this seal?

I got in touch with Walther in Germany regarding my problem and asked two questions:

How frequently should an LP400's seals fail? To which they replied "It depends on how you look after the pistol". Not exactly definitive, plus other than treating it like a precious thing of mechanical beauty (which I do) I wasn't aware I was supposed to do anything to 'maintain' it?

Are seals user replaceable and how would I access replacement seals? To which they replied "It depends on how clumsy you are. We will post a seal to your address".

So just in case the seal arrives minus instructions... and I use 'the Force' to disassemble my Walther, I thought I would seek some guidance from the mass intellect of the TargetTalk forum :)

Thanks

If it is a early model LP400 then there is a seal design change update with a different seal assy to fit.
Check the Walther sight for the parts drawings.

David M wrote:If it is a early model LP400 then there is a seal design change update with a different seal assy to fit.
Check the Walther sight for the parts drawings.

I purchased it in Feb 2013, so it should be a later revision, but when I get it back from the gunsmith I plan to check its serial number with Walther just to make sure.

Thanks for the info though

Well the seal (x2) arrived this morning, minus any instructions, but with the encouraging message "Good luck for the exchance of the o-ring".

The o-ring has the part number 2490021, which equates to item no. 163 on the attached exploded diagram.

Any ideas on which part of my pistol I should start and disassemble first?

Cheers

Zeddsded wrote:...minus any instructions, but with the encouraging message "Good luck for the exchance of the o-ring".

Could you possibly mail me the exact name/address, who sent this encouraging message?

Ulrich
head of press & pr Walther
press@carl-walther.de

Ulrich Eichstädt wrote:

Zeddsded wrote:...minus any instructions, but with the encouraging message "Good luck for the exchance of the o-ring".

Could you possibly mail me the exact name/address, who sent this encouraging message?

Ulrich
head of press & pr Walther
press@carl-walther.de

Many thanks for your interest Ulrich. I've emailed as much detail as I have to your press@carl-walther.de email address.

Jon

1. Give lubricating oil on the metal parts the trigger. I watched my trigger belongs lp400 never opened due to rust and oil. It should match the weapon is already expensive maintenance free.

2. not too often turning the bolt next to the grip. Can quickly wear out and the gun becomes solid in place (except Walther had already improved by replacing the larger bolt and screw deeper grooves)

Good to see Ulrich's reply. I was thinking and am still thinking I would never buy a Walther after getting a response like that. That person should be without a job because depending on how many people like me have seen or will see the comments (remember this stuff is out there forever), the amount of money Walther will loose can't be measured.

I must add (after checking the details of this case with my colleagues in Ulm), that this "good luck" phrase was written by someone who doesn't speak english/"americanish" very well. It was done in a hurry and not on his computer (other mails from him show the typical company signature with - of course! - his name etc).

It's a typical german saying, in the meaning of "you're welcome" (which no german understands vice versa in it's meaning of "thank you"). So, believe me or not, I think that there was no pun intended (even when I myself thought that at first, at least an imprudent remark.

We have a small funny book here in germany with these typical germ-english words and phrases, it's called "English for Runaways" because that is the direct (and wrong) translation of Fortgeschrittene ("advanced")...

Can we just drop the "case" at this point? ;)
(at least Zeddsded received his seals...)

Sounds more like a regulator issue to me than a pure seal issue.

As for the "good luck" comment I have many German friends that use that phrase and it's not done in the sarcastic manner that we attribute to it here in North America.

Seals should not go that quickly, especially multiple times.

Is "it depends on how clumsy you are" one of those English Runaways? I found the first part of the conversation insulting and not so much the goodluck part. Too bad the gun isn't holding up as well as the other recent poster who just had his gun serviced for the first time in 14 or 16 years?

I have Walthers and have had good connections with Ulm including the technical staff for many years and find the comments totaly out of charactor, I fully understand Ulrichs explanation and believe that the clumsy phrase was also a misunderstanding and was meant to express a quuery of how technically competent the person was, its not changed my view of an excellent company.

Translations, pronunciation is as bad, my wife is still traumatised after wishing a German competitor alongside her on the range at a match "Gut Scheissen" and that was 30 years ago!

RobinC wrote:wishing a German competitor alongside her on the range at a match "Gut Scheissen" and that was 30 years ago!

from the biological point of view that's also okay, as long as you don't have shitters instead of shooters ;)

As the original poster I thought I would re-join the discussion with the email that I sent in response to Ulrich's request for more info:

Hello Ulrich,

Many thanks for taking the time to respond to my concerns personally.

Please be assured that I hadn't taken the original reply as sarcastic, but merely a supportive response from a German speaker writing in English... my attempt to have responded in German would have been far less intelligible.

The pistol is currently away at a gunsmith having the seal replaced for the second time within the first year.

I guess my biggest disappointment was that a £1,500 pistol should suffer such regular maintenance requirements. Indeed I have just purchased a Steyr LP10E as a back-up pistol, an expense that I didn't really want to incur, but as I shoot competitions on a fortnightly basis I can't afford to be without a pistol if the LP400 is going to continue to be so fragile.

I love the look and feel of the LP400 Carbon, so I just hope that it settles down so I can shoot it with confidence and not be listening for any subtle changes in the shot sound that might indicate a forthcoming seal problem.

Regards,

Jon

------------------

The LP400 returned from the gunsmith's yesterday and I've spent the intervening time trying to get it to feel more like the Steyr...

I've added the barrel weights as the LP400 Carbon is significantly lighter than the LP10E. The trickier bit is definitely going to be getting the trigger feel closer to that of the Steyr... It's a pity there's no "Restore Factory Settings" button so that I can take the Walther back to square one :)

My final dilemma will be deciding which pistol is to take on the role of my primary weapon, and which will be there for when it's buddy blows a gasket.

Ahhh, the joys of shooting ;)

Ok I'm a Steyr guy but why buy a Walther then try to make it just like a Steyr?

The way you wrote Walther's response as well as your statement afterwards made it sound like you took it as sarcastic. I think most of us on here took it as sarcastic. Sure you aren't looking at it differently now that you have had a proper response? If I had to answer in German, I too would not have done so well.

Still not sure what it says to have to buy a $2500 Steyr as a backup to a $2000 Walther. I haven't even as much as changed the batteries in my 2 year old Morini. Maybe you just happened to get a bad one. These guns we use are so precise in the way they work that it's not impossible to get a problem gun every now and then. We should all be so lucky to get a gun that goes 14 years like the recent poster about his LP1.

Good luck with the new guns. Give the Pardini a try if those don't work out. It seems to be an upgrade to the guns that have came before it. I guess future medal counts will answer that question.

USMC0802 wrote:The way you wrote Walther's response as well as your statement afterwards made it sound like you took it as sarcastic. I think most of us on here took it as sarcastic.

I never thought for a second that it was sarcastic, but I was sure that it would have been interpreted that way by most of the English speakers. Living in Germany as an Italian and having lived for years in London, i realized that the straight translation of a very frequent expression in German to wish well, would have caused misunderstanding.

Richard H wrote:Ok I'm a Steyr guy but why buy a Walther then try to make it just like a Steyr?

I'd bought the Walther as my first proper pistol and shot it for the best part of a year so I was familiar and comfortable with its characteristics, but now having shot the Steyr for a month I actually prefer the extra weight (which was easy enough to replicate on the Walther).

I appreciate that the trigger mechanisms are two completely different animals, but I'd just like to achieve a cleaner release on the Walther. Currently it feels ever so slightly vague, if you know what I mean.

Hi,

May I ask your experience with the LP400 and Steyr?

I also had problems with my LP400 after one year. The first time the winding inside the cartridge broke and I could not screw it to the pistol anymore!

After the repair it was working fine for a while, but then I noticed the cartridge was losing air while shooting and by itself. I filled it in after training and next day I realized I did not have air anymore! I sent it to Walther for a second time to repair and after two weeks they told they did not find any fault.

Now I have the problem again, although the cartridge did not break yet but it is more dificcult to screw it. I sent this time the pistol together with the cartridge to Walther to repair.

I am actually quite disappointed with the fact after one year I had to sent the cartridge and now the pistol to repair the same problem!

If I did not have a custom grip I would be thinking of selling it and buying a Steyr.

It is actually a shame, because I find the LP400 Carbon very nice and light, but the reliability is very important when you use it very often.

I would appreciate your comments regarding your experience.

Pablo,
I have tried the LP400 for a couple of weeks. The cylinder was loosing air. I left it charged, and after a few days it lost most of the pressure.
I love the feeling of the gun in the hand, i love the weight distribution, I love the recoil absorber, but the trigger is the worst I have tried.

If you go for Steyr, I would not advice you to take the Lp10e, which I have. The electronic in the grip does not allow you to personalize the grip to the need of any hand. So if you have a slim hand with long fingers like mine DO NOT BUY it.
Also, every adjustment requires removing the electronics. I thought it would be ok, but it isn't and after a bit you prefer not to adjust just for the sake of not removing the electronics.
The electronic trigger is made of plastic. So when you reach the end of the first stage you don't get that nice feeling of metal touching metal and if you set the release force at minimum, as I have, it is easy to shoot early or to bee too cautious in moving the finger.
On Monday I have tried the Pardini K 12. Even with a very low second stage force, you get the "warning " of metal against metal " that you have reached end of stage one.

Finally, my trigger after just about 2500 shots, is giving me troubles. If I try to increase the force of the first stage, I have to pull the trigger twice to release air (the electronic click goes every time, though) . I try to take it back and still does not work properly. I play up and down, and then magically after a while it starts shooting again every single trigger release.