Walther has been pushing the PDP line hard, and I’m happy for them. I’m a Walther fan, but I feel that in the USA, they never put their back into their products. With the PDP, they’ve gone hogwild. This has translated into a good bit of success for Walther. Domestic law enforcement agencies have adopted the PDP, has had a good showing on the competition circuit. This success has given us numerous incarnations of the PDP with one of the latest being the Pro-E.
Walther PDP Pro-E
Live Inventory Price Checker
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Walther PDP Pro-E OR 9mm 4" 18rd Compact Pistol, Black - 2884976 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 899.00 $ 769.99 |
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Walther PDP Pro-E OR 9mm 4" 18rd Compact Pistol, Black - 2884976 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 947.99 $ 700.99 |
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Pdp Pro-E Compact 9mm Luger Semi-Auto Handgun - Pdp Pro-E Compact 9mm Luger 4.0'''' Bbl (3)18rd Mags Black | Brownells.com | $ 699.00 |
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Pdp Pro-E Full-Size 9mm Luger Semi-Auto Handgun - Pdp Pro-E Full-Size 9mm Luger 4.5'''' Bbl (3)20rd Mags Black | Brownells.com | $ 699.00 |
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It’s built on the full-size or compact PDP platform and comes with three magazines. The PDP Pro-E strikes a balance between a weapon well suited for competition shooting, duty use, and home defense. I’d liken it to a top-of-the-line vehicle trim. It’s not radically different, but those who appreciate the nicer things will appreciate the effort.
Like every PDP, it’s a 9mm striker-fired pistol with all the modern fixings. The gun comes with a fairly large case that holds the handgun, three spare magazines, a magazine loader, a manual, a lock, etc. The MSRP is $779, but the retail price seems to be closer to $700 flat.
Features and Specifications of the Pro-E
The PDP Pro-E features a redesigned flat-face polymer trigger. The idea is to provide an even more consistent trigger than the original PDP, which, from my experience, was already fantastic. The gun comes with an aluminum magazine well and three magazines topped with aluminum base plates. Each magazine holds 20 rounds.
Walther built the PDP series with optics in mind. The PDP series comes with an optics cut and uses a plate-style system to accommodate different optics. Holosun and CHPWS make optics that will directly mount to the PDP plate cut. We get the standard Picatinny rail for accessories.
The PDP Pro-E is full-size, with a 4.5-inch barrel and an overall length of 8 inches. It weighs 26.8 ounces and is 1.34 inches wide.
Ergonomics
Walther includes three grip inserts to adjust the size of the grip. Wrong-handed users can swap the magazine release from left to right, and the slide lock is ambidextrous. We have three controls: the magazine release, slide release, and trigger. The magazine release and the slide lock are placed perfectly for easy engagement. My thumb can jump from each control and activate it without compromising my firing grip.
The PDP grip and grip texture are fantastic. Walther has always done a fantastic job in the ergonomics department. The texture is aggressive and grips your hand. This interchangeable palm swell allows for a high and comfy grip. Overall, I have one big complaint: where the grip meets the trigger guard.
My middle finger just doesn’t interact well with it. The portion where the trigger guard meets the grip flares out and is wider than most guns. This causes the portion of my finger south of my second knuckle to push into it, and when the gun recoils, it rubs. I seem to be the only one this happens to. I’ve been to two classes with PDPs being the loaner guns, and I was the only one it bothered.
To be clear, while it was annoying, I got used to it, and it didn’t affect my shooting.
At the Range
I love taking a handgun out to 25 yards and firing a five-round group as my first shots. I did just that with the PDP Pro-E. My group hit way high and way right, but it was fairly small. The PDP has adjustable sights, and I noticed they were maxed out to cause right and high hits. The included tool and manual made adjustments easy.
I centered the rear adjustable sight. Bam, five shots fired on a B8 and five shots dang close to the bull’s eye. I need to push the rear sight left just a hair. I’m happy with the gun’s accuracy at 25 yards. I went back to fifty yards, and my front sight covered the entire IPSC target, but I hit it three out of five times. An optic would clean up that long-range accuracy.
We have a fantastic trigger with the Pro-E series. The flat-faced design allows for a consistent and smooth trigger pull, and Walther has always done a great job with their triggers. The Walther PDP Pro-E trigger is a step ahead of the original PDP, which already had an impressive trigger.
Going Fast
Next, I fired the 10-10-10 drill. It’s ten shots at ten yards within ten seconds on a B8. I passed with flying colors and a 5.5 score on the first try. I fired it a few more times, trying to get below 5 seconds, but never quite broke the five-second mark. With practice I did secure a nice 5.05, which, in hindsight, was a nice improvement, but at the moment, it infuriated me! I was so close!
The PDP got me close, and it’s a gun that’s super easy to control. The recoil is fairly mild, and the muzzle rise is controllable. It’s fairly typical of a full-sized 9mm handgun. The front sight is easy to track, and you can put rounds where you want them quite quickly.
I fired a full magazine of doubles and was able to keep them right on top of each other. It was downright amusing and ego-stroking at times. The PDP Pro-E handles like a race car at times. That extends to reloads. The aluminum baseplates drive those magazines out quickly. That extra weight ensures those mags fly out of the gun. The metal magwell helps funnel the magazine into the gun and makes for a quick reload.
The Pro-E
The PDP Pro-E series of handguns are easy to shoot, accurate, and reliable. The PDP had to choke through 350 steel-cased Monarch rounds and another 300 brass-cased 115-grain rounds. It did so without faltering. Most of the magazines are now gritty and dirty due to reloads and hitting the soft, white sand that makes up my range. The Pro-E series doesn’t care. It eats, shoots, and works without complaint.
Walther continues to push the PDP series forward. It’s become their flagship gun in the modern era, and it’s easy to see why. It offers a dependable, accurate, and capable handgun. It offers refinement in a sea of good but plain guns. The Pro-E pushes that refinement forward just a bit more.
About Travis Pike
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner, a lifelong firearms enthusiast, and now a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is the world’s Okayest firearm’s instructor.
Muskets, back in 1775 had FLAT triggers, what’s the big deal? gimmick?
Does anyone have a recent PPK or PPK/S? Any thoughts?