Walther SSP should I or should I not

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:41 am

There is another issue, which hasn't been brought up. Walther is notorious for not supporting older pistols. Once they come out with a new model, they make NO apparent attempt to lay in a supply of parts for the discontinued model to support existing guns for any period of time.

Walther's attitude is that you should buy a new pistol from them whenever they don't want to support an older model. The pistol coach at MIT was told as much by the factory. I'm sorry, I don't have pockets that deep, and even if I did, I won't buy from a company that treats its customers that way. I personally know of 4 different older models of Walther pistols that are now scrap metal because critical parts aren't available.

Hammerli was famous for still having parts for free pistols they made 50 years ago. I suspect that won't be the case for long now that they are owned by Walther. If you check out threads on getting Hammerlis repaired, parts for their airguns can take forever to get, and the only way to fix the older ones is to upgrade them to the latest valve design.

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:12 am

Gwhite I'm sure one is the Walther FP, which they no longer support because they didn't make the electrical board which is the source of the failure. The company that made the electronics went out of business and the pistol became an orphan. Walther still supports many pistol that are 50+ years old. Companies do have to draw a line with regards to support, there business is really about selling firearms not selling 5 dollar parts.

Unfortunately contrary to target shooters beliefs the target firearms business is a very tiny part of the firearms industry so they don't attract many third parties that can provide aftermarket support.

I do have a Walther FP that works, I do know people that have made replacement boards but in reality , I'm not going to pay $500 to fix an old pistol I'll buy a new one.

Unfortunately you'll find this with almost all target firearms, any manufacture that has been around for a long time has models that they can't support. The longer the company has been around and the more models they made will dictate the size of the list.

Just to name a few Unique, Sako, SAM, Walther, FWB, Anschutz, and Steyr all have models that they won't, don't and can't support.

I don't think it was mentioned in this thread because it's not overly germane to the discussion of the SSP. I'm not concerned that they will stop supporting the SSP in lets say the next 10 years or so years.

But if that is a concern to you than use it while choosing your purchase, the only ones that I see that i think you will never have a problem with in the normal span of a lifetime are 1911's and Ruger's, mainly because there is a large after market business it parts for both.

It's also a very good reason to purchase spare parts for regular items that may wear or fail over time.

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:55 am

It's one thing to call the factory and hear "I'm terribly sorry, that pistol has been out of production for (T > 10 years) and we've run out of that part. Here are some dealers & gunsmiths you could contact who might have some parts left."

It's very different to be told "We don't have that part. You should buy our new pistol." after the pistol was off the market for only a few years.

In the case of the MIT pistols, it was a pair of original GSPs bought in the mid-to-late 1970's when collegiate shooting went international. There was a design flaw, and the same piece broke in both pistols. They re-designed the pistol, and apparently made no attempt to stock up on the known bad part. By ~ 1982 they were wall-hangers.

I agree that stocking up on spare parts is a really good idea., no matter what you buy. The trick is figuring out what is likely to break, which is one of the great things about this forum.

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 1:15 pm

That does kind of suck, but whatever they changed in the subsequent GSP's certainly fixed the reliability problem.

Was it the cracking issue in the frame or something? Remember hearing something about early problems but that was before my time.

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:10 pm

I don't think it was the frame. The coach showed me at the time, and it looked like a small cast/machined part. I think it was a block with various protuberances & holes. It was a very long time ago. It was certainly intricate enough that it didn't look like it would be easy to make replacements.

jbshooter · Post by **jbshooter** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 5:45 pm

Here is a question about the SSP which I'd be interested on getting clarification about:

The Operating Instruction booklet opens with a copy of the ISSF letter that approves the SSP for ISSF matches with the following condition:

"the piece in front of the muzzle must not be changed in any way not (nor?) the length of the barrel shortened to make this front piece longer "

Did the committee think the front piece was acting as a compensator?

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 6:53 pm

Well if you shorten then barrel and leave the shroud, you'd have the makings of a compensator. In that configuration I doubt it would be effective but ...

jipe · Post by **jipe** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:10 am

Gwhite wrote:I don't think it was the frame. The coach showed me at the time, and it looked like a small cast/machined part. I think it was a block with various protuberances & holes. It was a very long time ago. It was certainly intricate enough that it didn't look like it would be easy to make replacements.

I never heard of any GSP that couldn't be repaired.

What happened is that the trigger assembly was completely redesigned and a new one was introduced (it is removable in the GSP, there were two types, one with 1kg for the .22lr SP and one with 1.34kg for center fire, changing the trigger assembly was part of the conversion from .22 to .32. I guess that this second one is obsolete now that CF went to 1kg too). This new design is still used in the GSP Expert.

The first version was indeed fragile and after the redesign, once it broke, wasn't repaired but replaced by the new model.

The other part that isn't exchangeable is the grip, current GSP grip cannot be mounted on (very) old GSP but old type can still be bought (from Rink for instance).

Now, it is also a known fact that Walther after sales in most countries is not very supportive.

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:50 am

Jipe the triggers are actual the same it's just where they were set upon shipping so existing CF triggers can be set to 1kg.

SMBeyer · Post by **SMBeyer** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:29 pm

So I got my new SSP today! All I can say is WOW! If this thing shoots as good as it feels and looks I am in for a treat.

Played with it a little tonight just getting a feel for things but wasn't planning on shooting it. First thing I did was take the plastic trigger out and replace it with the metal one. Played with the sights a little and wish the rear gap would open a little wider but I can get used to it.

I have a couple of question for you guys though:

1. Is it OK to dry fire as long as the blue plastic chamber "plug" that came with it is in?

2. I wanted to load the clip and chamber a round just to see if I did it right since apparently there is a wrong way. Loaded it fine, the cases were stagered, put the clip in, let the slide go forward and all worked fine. Wanted to eject the loaded round but the loaded round wouldn't come back far enough to eject so I had to shoot the clip empty. Is this right? What if I had a misfire how would you get it out if you can't eject a loaded round? Or...am I just an idiot?

Other than that the thing feels great in my wrong (right) hand. Can't wait to get my left hand Rink grip to see what it will feel like in my correct hand.

Any help would be much appreciated, Scott.

Also I hope I can bug you guys again when it comes time to adjust the trigger.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:53 am

No reason for the slide to not go far enough to eject a full round.
As for mag loading, you should have the new style mags that have cured the issue.

johny_r · Post by **johny_r** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:50 am

Hello everyone,
I am just thinking of buying a secondhand SSP (approx. 9000 rounds shot) and I have some questions.
1. What should I look for to see if the gun has some problem?
2. What is the factory setting of the trigger weight? Is it possible to change it from 1000 to 1360g without changing the spring?
3. Is it difficult to finetune the trigger? From the manual it seems like something that requires two university degrees :-).

Thanks very much.

ghostrip · Post by **ghostrip** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:18 am

From what i have seen from my club SSP and from other you should check
1. you have the latest style magazines.
2. that the striker makes clean hits
3. that the pistons inside are in good shape (in our SSP the piston broke due to material defect)

trigger should go 1360 easily but there is no need for that.
the english translation of the manual is not the very best. if you have knowledge of german trigger adjustment should be more easy.

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 4:22 pm

SMBeyer wrote: I wanted to load the clip and chamber a round just to see if I did it right since apparently there is a wrong way. Loaded it fine, the cases were stagered, put the clip in, let the slide go forward and all worked fine. Wanted to eject the loaded round but the loaded round wouldn't come back far enough to eject so I had to shoot the clip empty. Is this right? What if I had a misfire how would you get it out if you can't eject a loaded round? Or...am I just an idiot?

I have experienced the same "problem" with my the Pardini SP. I haven't verified this, but here's what I think is going on:

The ejector (which is a tab that sticks up on the magazine) is far enough forward that a loaded round can't be ejected. The bullet is still partially in the chamber when the rim hits the ejector, and it can't pivot out of the pistol.

The solution is simple enough: remove that magazine first. Then the slide can pull the cartridge fully out of the chamber. The downside is that there is no ejector to flip the cartridge out, so it will either fall out the magazine well, or stay with the slide, in which case you have to reach in & pop it out.

johny_r · Post by **johny_r** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 4:59 pm

ghostrip: thanks, but how do I recognize the latest style magazines? Are there some photos somewhere to see the difference? What problems do the older magazines cause?

Thanks a lot.

deadeyedick · Post by **deadeyedick** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:02 pm

From what i have seen from my club SSP and from other you should check
1. you have the latest style magazines.

I have contacted the Australian mporters of Walther and asked about the "new" style magazines. They are unaware of any changes to the magazines. If anyone has updated information, or pictures regarding any changes, I would be grateful to hear/see more.

Bob-Riegl · Post by **Bob-Riegl** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:32 pm

Putting your egos aside neither the MG2 and SSP have had really sterling reputations since they began their sorry existence. Both are rather complicated ventures and their "over engineering" has been the downfall of these two marques. The tendency of the Germans to over engineer was their ultimate WW II downfall, and Cesare's madness expressed in the MG2. I personally have fired the SSP and find it is almost magic in it's recoil control, but the owner of this gun says it can be a madhouse to deal with on occasion. With Walther's penultimate failure to deal with problems, on a humane basis, with their customers adds to the feeling of uncertainty. I would commend Match Guns on their eventual willingness to admit they had a flaming disaster on their hands and work with the owners. I have also fired a more recent MG2 as well and it is everything I saw in my early model. Including a real mess with jams that STILL persist even in a 2009 model. My words to the original question, starting this thread, is No definitely not, a Pardini would be your best choice IMHO.....and I am definitely not interested in hearing defenses of both SSP and MG2.....my mind was made a while ago----"Doc"

ghostrip · Post by **ghostrip** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:37 pm

the latest style magazines i think have the plastic insert raised in the middle a litle bit to help correct ammo loading. walther mentions in the manual that the bullets must be loaded in a double stack formation. http://www.carl-walther.de/files/pdf/SS ... 759985.pdf

Makris D. G. · Post by **Makris D. G.** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 8:24 pm

A club mate had his mags swapped with the new style last January in Munich.
The new style mag has a slightly larger diameter spring and a small rod inside the spring to prevent kinking. Also, a small notch at the rear of the follower to accept the rim of the first round in the mag and give it a slight nose up attitute, which apparently helps the following rounds to align properly.

deadeyedick · Post by **deadeyedick** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 3:57 am

A club mate had his mags swapped with the new style last January in Munich.
The new style mag has a slightly larger diameter spring and a small rod inside the spring to prevent kinking. Also, a small notch at the rear of the follower to accept the rim of the first round in the mag and give it a slight nose up attitute, which apparently helps the following rounds to align properly

Thanks Makris D.G. and Ghostrip.....your description exactly fits that of my magazines which are 18 months old, and however longer from the point that Walther manufactured the pistol. I was of the impression that the mags had been changed within the last 12 months.
Also, a previous poster stated that he removed the plastic trigger that came with the gun and installed the metal one. Now, my SSP came with two triggers also, [ a long, and a short one] but neither is metal. Does anyone have any further info on this, as the Australian importer has not heard of the metal trigger as well.
Pictures of magazines/trigger blades from recent purchasers would be appreciated.

TargetTalk

Walther SSP should I or should I not

Off on a tangent now with the SSP