What’s up Squat Squad, and welcome to Slav Guns. This one is from my SHOT Show 2020 coverage, shot at Industry Day at the Range. Walther was one of the bigger companies that released more than one brand new gun at the show, so I caught up with Cody from Walther to talk about both of them: the Walther Q4 SF (Steel Frame) in 9mm and the Walther CCP M2 .380.
Quick note: this is a first look, a walkthrough with Walther plus a couple of magazines at Range Day. It is not a full range test and evaluation. Prices and ship dates below are what Walther quoted at SHOT Show 2020, so check current pricing before you buy.
TL;DR
- Walther Q4 SF: the Q5 Match Steel Frame’s performance shrunk down to a 4-inch carry and duty gun. Same magazines as the polymer frame version, with a beavertail reshaped for duty holsters.
- Q4 SF pricing: quoted at $1,299 for the iron sight version and $1,399 for the optics ready version, shipping around early February 2020.
- Walther CCP M2 .380: the gas piston, SoftCoil CCP now in .380 ACP. Very light recoil and an easy-to-rack slide. Already at dealers at SHOT, MSRP $469 with a lifetime warranty.
- Both are made in Germany: the Q4 SF in Ulm and the CCP M2 in Augsburg.
Walther Q4 SF (Steel Frame)
A lot of people know Walther as a concealed carry company. Honestly, to me Walther is the James Bond company. You have the PPK and PPK/S, and I picked up a wartime Walther PP that’s just a joy to shoot. The year before, Walther launched the Q5 Match Steel Frame, and that gun has been a hit, especially with USPSA shooters.
Cody explained that the Q4 SF takes everything that made the Q5 Match Steel Frame so good in competition and shrinks it down into a better carry and duty option. The feedback Walther got was that people loved the Q5 Match but felt it looked a little too competition, a little too “boy racer,” for what they needed. So the Q4 SF gets a 4-inch barrel, roughly the size of a PPQ M2 4-inch, and it takes the same magazines as the polymer frame version.
It keeps the beavertail from the Q5 Match Steel Frame, but Walther optimized it for duty use. When you drop it into a Level III Safariland holster and pull the hood over the top, the contour of the beavertail matches the curve of the hood. It’s also shaped so that when you bend over to pick something up, you don’t have a big pointy beavertail jabbing you in the ribs.
Walther also carried over the weight distribution work from the Q5 Match Steel Frame, with research and development on where the weight is machined into the gun to get the best recoil impulse they could. That’s always the debate with USPSA guys: do you want a heavier gun that soaks up recoil? Personally, sometimes I prefer a lighter gun and just get in the mindset of letting the recoil happen instead of fighting it. But I’d say the vast majority of gun owners would rather have less recoil than learn how to deal with it.
Cody described it as a high-class, high-performance carry gun for the person who wants the short split times and everything that makes a great competition gun, in something you carry. In a defensive situation, you want every advantage: draw fast, reload fast, shoot fast and shoot accurately.
It comes in two variants. Walther quoted an MSRP of $1,299 for the iron sight only version and $1,399 for the optics ready version, with shipping starting around early February 2020 through distributors. If you want one, support your local gun dealer and get your name on the list.
After a couple of mags at Range Day, my quick impression is that the Q4 steel frame feels really solid. One tip from shooting it: if you run a thumbs-forward grip on guns like HKs and Walthers with extended controls, you can end up riding them. So if the gun doesn’t lock back when you think it should, remember it’s most likely your grip, not the gun.
Walther CCP M2 .380
Releasing one gun is cool, but Walther doubled up. On January 1, 2020, they launched the CCP M2 .380. A few years earlier Walther launched the CCP in 9mm, a polymer frame pistol with a gas piston system, and nobody had really seen anything like it. Customers asked for a .380, which is already a light-shooting round. Combine that with Walther’s SoftCoil gas technology and Cody says the gun is an absolute blast on the range. People start giggling when they shoot it because the recoil is so light.
That same system also makes the slide really easy to rack. Cody said it’s his favorite frame Walther makes because it seems to fit everybody’s hand well. It’s built for concealed carry, but you can still get out to the range, practice, push yourself and not feel it at the end of the day.
That’s the most important part for me. A lot of people getting into concealed carry buy a gun and never train with it, because after 20 rounds out of a snappy little .380 their hands are done. You need to be able to shoot your carry gun comfortably so you’ll actually train with it. After shooting it at Range Day, I’ll say it: this is literally the nicest shooting .380 I’ve tried.
The CCP M2 .380 was already at dealers at SHOT Show with an MSRP of $469 and a lifetime warranty.
Where are Walthers made?
Walther is a German manufacturer, but it also has a facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas, so I asked where these guns are built. According to Cody, everything is still made in Germany. The Q4 and Q5 Match Steel Frame guns are made in Ulm, and the CCP M2 is made in Augsburg. At the time, the only guns being made at the Fort Smith plant were the PPK and PPK/S. Cody also teased that Walther had more new products coming that weren’t at the show yet.
Bottom line
Two very different guns from Walther. The Q4 SF is a steel frame, competition-bred pistol cut down for carry and duty, and the CCP M2 .380 is a soft-shooting, easy-to-rack carry gun that’s easy to actually train with. Both left me with a smile on my face at Range Day. If you’re shopping holsters, mags or range gear, check slav.li/amazon, and if you want to support the channel, join the channel.
Keep squatting.
Steel frame duty gun or soft-shooting .380 for carry? Which Walther would you pick? Let me know.
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