How would you rate this duty weapon & ammo?

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CA2005

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A buddy of mine just got hired on with a local PD. He was issued a NIB Smith & Wesson SW99 in .40, traditional double/single action along with Speer Gold Dot 165 gr. JHP.

Is this a good combo??
 
As berettashotgun pounds his chest and asserts his manliness. :p

If the combo works for him, then good. Today it is really hard to go wrong with any of the modern service pistols and service cartridges. And yes this includes the 9mm.
 
Can't go wrong with Speer Gold Dot's. The S&W 99 is pretty good the only thing I don't like about it is the location of the decock button (top of the slide). You cannot reach it with your shooting hand (must use two hands to decock). My department recently switched firearms (S&W4586DAO to Sig229DA/SA). We tested the S&W99 DAO & SA/DA, H&K P2000 DAO & DA/SA, and the Sig 229 DAK & DA/SA. The S&W 99 SA/DA placed second (after Sig) by our staff on the selection commity (They payed me to shoot guns all day :D ).
 
The S&W 99 is pretty good the only thing I don't like about it is the location of the decock button (top of the slide). You cannot reach it with your shooting hand (must use two hands to decock).
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Yes.

For a range gun or a game gun, this is not a problem. For a duty gun, where you might very well have to fire it and then go hands-on with someone, it is a liability. I know a couple of cops who shot someone and then had the suspect's friends and/or family members (who were not-shootable) start to interfere and/or "help" immediately after the shooting. They had to be physically restrained, and I would not want to have both hands tied up decocking my handgun when that happened, or worse- have one hand tied up with a suspect, one hand filled with gun, and be forced to reholster it in SA mode.

It is a flippin' retarded place to put the decocker. Whomever thought that up should be fired.

Mike
 
ditto middy, there are other weapons I'd rather use as a duty weapon. If he likes the SW99 then good for him, frankly I'd beg for something else to carry :D

But the Gold Dots are good ammo.
 
I agree with most of the others here that the SW99 is an O.K. weapon (I also questions the thought behind putting the decock lever on the slide) and I personally feel that the Speer Gold Dot 165 grain is THE best load in the .40S&W. That being said; I sold my .40 and now own a 9mm pistol. I much prefer the 9mm over the .40. :)
 
Not my personal choice, but I'd say if I was told to use this combo,I'd not be too unhappy.

I know of one local shooting where that Gold Dot load was effective. Also FWIW,I think it rates rather high with Marshall/Sanow.
 
165 Gold Dots are known for having very inconsistent performance through heavy clothing tests. 155 and 180 gr Gold Dots don't have this problem.
 
Maybe it's just me but I can decock the P99 with shooting hand's thumb as I tried it out, but CZ75B was cheaper
 
I've been carrying a SW99 .40 S&W as one of my issued weapons for the last few years, although I carry currently 165gr RA40TA ammunition (issued).

I remember when I was waiting to be issued one ...

I had just bought one of my own after going through my first SW99/P99 armorer's class, and I was approved to take it to a week long training class which included a fair amount of range time. I ran most of a case (450-ish) of 180gr ammunition through it without any problems ... which is more than I can say for a couple of cops from another agency who were carrying issued Glock .40's. One of the other guys from my agency attending it with me had already received his issued SW99 .40 S&W, and his pistol also functioned without problems ... as did the issued TDA S&W 9mm another of our guys carried, FWIW.

I took the expected amount of good-natured teasing by some of the other cops for carrying a S&W, of course. The interesting thing is that at one point one of the instructors overheard some of the ribbing, and casually made it a point to mention that in all his years of training other cops, and seeing all of the various handguns come through his classes, the one thing he could say about S&W pistols is that they had always functioned when observed in his classes. He didn't carry a S&W, BTW ...

The location of the decocking button is awkward for many folks, granted.

Naturally, there are numerous training & equipment issues to be considered in learning to use any issued handgun, including the design and model(s) of duty holster issued/approved, but that's for your friend's new agency to address.
 
Any modern service handgun will do, as long as he trains with it extensively. That includes learning to operate that decocker instinctively. With each type of firearm there's going to be a slightly different manual of arms, and it MUST be mastered. I cringe when I hear of people who carry a SIG but leave a 1911 in the nightstand and a Beretta in the car. If the you-know-what hits the fan are you going to instinctively remember which pistol is in your hand? Probably not!
 
Great post DSK.

Regarding the decocker placement of the SW99, I decock my P99AS with my left (weak) hand easily enough....training exclusively with that gun should help in quickly (and instinctively) decocking it when you are done firing the gun.
 
From a logistics standpoint it makes a lot of sense to have a weapon with interchangable backstraps to fit differant people and still be the same manual of arms, interchangable mags, etc. . .

I've never fired the gun, but I like 40 and the 165 gr is my favorite bullet weight in that caliber. Statisticly the round has almost nothing to do with the effectiveness of the weapon but finding a ballence of charactaristics can't hurt.

I like the 40s ballence of capacity and performance and CZ builds the platforms that work best for me.

I'd say it's a good choice for a duty weapon, but if I could carry anything, that wouldn't be it. :)
 
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