First up was the new PDP F 3.5” from Walther Arms. Also available with a 4-inch barrel, the PDP F is a re-imagining of the popular PDP series of pistols and was designed for shooters with smaller and/or weaker hands. The most obvious change is the redesigned grip that is slimmer and absent the palm swells on the sides while still retaining its 15-round capacity. Part of the re-design includes a reduced trigger reach to provide better leverage for those with smaller hands.
Soon to be found on all of Walther’s PDP pistols is the updated slide cut that includes several recoil bosses for a more robust red-dot mounting platform to protect against knocks and forces from all directions. Another change is a result of rethinking the operating system and allowing the force required to rack the slide to be reduced by up to 20%.
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All the other features of the standard PDP series are present including the SuperTerrain cocking serrations, Performance Duty Texture and Walther’s excellent Performance Duty Trigger. The general consensus was that the PDP F’s trigger was the best of all the compact pistols we evaluated. It had a super-clean take-up and a fairly crisp break at right around 4.25 pounds of pressure.
Almost everyone liked the PDP F’s grip better than the one on the standard PDP, and one evaluator commented that it fit his hands better than any other pistol he’s tried. The overall sentiment was quite good as well. The PDP F was accurate, had a nice recoil impulse and ticked all the feature boxes for a stock striker-fired, self-defense pistol. One southpaw in our group liked the feel of the controls, especially the elongated slide stop.
The only real chink in the PDP F’s armor was the sight package. Not one person in our test group liked the sights. A white, three-dot variety with an adjustable rear sight, they were very pedestrian in quality and quite small and narrow. Thankfully, the PDP F is compatible with Glock sights, and there’s a wide variety of aftermarket sights available to bring the PDP F a step closer to perfection.
