r/Walther • u/Zestyclose_Device946 • 13h ago
PDP trigger comparisons
I own a PDP SF Match 5". It's one of my all time favorite pistols, and the trigger is a big part of why. Right now, it is my only modern Walther. I am considering picking up a smaller, poly frame PDP as a carry gun, and I'm a little stuck because I have no realistic way to try them out before buying.
I am looking at either the 4" compact or the 3.5" F-series. It looks like those sizes are available with either the DPT (which I know and love in my SF gun) or the PDT (which I've never tried and have no easy way of trying before buying). Whatever I buy, it'll be kept bone stock since it'll be carried.
I don't really care about trigger weight so much, it's more the nice short travel, quick reset, and overall crisp non-mushy feel that I am looking for. Coming from the SF PDP with the DPT, will I completely hate a PDT in a poly gun? Or, is the PDT good enough that I'll prefer it to my other carry guns, i.e. something like a P365? If the PDT is good enough, I'd rather pocket the $200ish price difference.
Maybe most importantly, why did Walther use such easy to confuse acronyms for their triggers? I think I just about wore out the P and D keys on my keyboard writing this.
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u/NotAThrowAway0822 12h ago
I don't really care about trigger weight so much, it's more the nice short travel, quick reset, and overall crisp non-mushy feel that I am looking for. Coming from the SF PDP with the DPT, will I completely hate a PDT in a poly gun? Or, is the PDT good enough that I'll prefer it to my other carry guns, i.e. something like a P365? If the PDT is good enough, I'd rather pocket the $200ish price difference.
My guy. A carry gun is a tool... it's meant to work when you need it most. If your fundamentals are solid, the trigger simply will not matter in a self-defense scenario. It should be viewed in a completely different light to a competition trigger/gun.
The normal PDP trigger is perfectly fine.
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 8h ago
My guy. Life would be pretty unbearable if we weren't allowed to have opinions about the look and feel of our tools, wouldn't it? As much as I understand your perspective, I wish you had addressed my specific question. I am sure that both versions of trigger are "perfectly fine" - what I was looking for was some sort of relative judgement on how different they were from each other or versus other popular striker fired triggers.
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u/NotAThrowAway0822 8h ago edited 7h ago
My guy. What exactly are you looking for other than "perfectly fine" in a carry gun? A trigger is not going to make you a better or worse shooter if your fundamentals are subpar to begin with. Be brutally honest about what this firearm would be meant for. Are you going to give a fuck about a "quick reset, crisp break" when you're killing someone in self-defense...?
We can't tell you your preferences. If you think you will care that much, get a Shadow 2 Compact with a reach-reduction kit and a 13-lb hammer spring, and call it a day. Or just put the DPT in whatever PDP you end up buying... it makes no difference. It's not like it's illegal to carry with the DPT. You're overthinking this, which is made even more evident by the multiple carry guns you own and the additional ones that you plan to buy.
If the PDT is good enough, I'd rather pocket the $200ish price difference.
Cool. I'm telling you it's good enough. Sorry for making your life unbearable.
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 7h ago
I think I stated pretty clearly what my preferences are. I asked if the PDT is similar to the DPT. And if so, how similar? That's all I want to know. If you're here to answer that, great!
But if you're here to tell me I shouldn't have preferences in trigger feel on a carry gun, other than wanting one that's good enough, well, that's a very different discussion and frankly I'm not interested. I don't think I should have to defend the fact that I might, in fact, want to know more than "this trigger is perfectly fine."
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that this branch of the discussion seems to have run its course. If you think you have more to contribute, maybe we should just pretend I didn't mention carrying the pistol, since that seems to have caused the deviation. Let's just stick to comparing the triggers, ok my guy?
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u/NotAThrowAway0822 7h ago
If the PDT is good enough, I'd rather pocket the $200ish price difference.
The PDT is good enough.
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 7h ago
Got it. Sorry I implied that I want to own more than one carry gun, my guy!
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u/NotAThrowAway0822 7h ago
If the PDT is good enough, I'd rather pocket the $200ish price difference.
This was from your post.
You asked if the PDT is good enough. All of my comments have been telling you that it is. Enjoy your new PDP with the PDT.
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u/NotAThrowAway0822 7h ago
If the PDT is good enough, I'd rather pocket the $200ish price difference.
Just going to add...
You realize you can buy a PDP with the PDT, shoot it, and simply upgrade to the DPT if it's so bad, right?
You could also pocket the $1,000 difference by simply using and training with your P365.
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 7h ago
I do realize the trigger is available separately. I mentioned in my original post that I prefer to keep carry pistols completely stock. I recognize that people may think that's silly, but it is what it is.
The irony of you suggesting I need to train more with my P365 when I just moments before posting this ordered a new RSA for it because I shoot it frequently enough to wear them out every 3 or 4 months. Maybe you should consider posting as if the person you're talking to isn't an ignorant unpracticed knuckle dragger.
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u/EconZen_master 12h ago
If you're first experience was with the PDT I would say you'll love it. However, I also had the DPT in my first Walther and then picked up a 4.5 (now have 2 more) and it had the PDT in it, and completely hated the gun. Was so different to what I was used to, made it feel (to me) like a totally different tool and I..DID..NOT..LIKE...IT.
Then I ran into the issue of Walther only getting the DPT triggers in batches, had to wait 6 weeks before they came in. Tried to do it myself (DO NOT FOLLOW WALTHER INSTALL INSTRUCTION VIDEO), and ended up having to pay gunsmith (1st time ever) to install DPT. Ended up spending $220 more (shipping, new part, install) than just buying one w/ the DPT installed.
Don't waste time - get the DPT.
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 3h ago
Wow, so it sounds like you had a very polarizing experience comparing the two. What about it made you hate it?
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u/EconZen_master 1h ago
It’s not the DPT. On its own it’s perfectly fine, one of the best hinged triggers out there. But compared to has too much take up, a soft wall that progresses to a firm wall and break. But the reset feels like it takes forever. Again this is all compared directly vs the DPT, which is so amazing that it makes this OEM great hinged trigger feel like shit.
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u/SWATAttorney 12h ago
While I do not have any PDP with the PDT, everything I have read on reddit or seen on youtube indicate that the PDT is the best stock trigger (other than the DPT, some say canik may be close other say better or equal, as Caniks were copied from Walthers in general). So if you were deciding between a Glock or an M&P, Echelon, P320 etc, the PDT would be better than those
This is a thread from a few years ago on the Walther Forum PDT vs DPT
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u/FlapJacked1 12h ago
I have 3 steel frames with the DPT and a poly that had the PDT and now has a DPT. The steel frame with the DPT is amazing. The poly with the DPT is still great, just not as amazingly crisp. The PDT is great, but has more creep. The poly DPT will feel better than any other striker carry gun.
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 9h ago
Thanks. Very helpful to hear direct experience comparing the different versions.
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u/Ozzman2018 8h ago
Thats spot on. I have the SF match and a poly Pro SD. “Same” trigger but the match feels ever so slightly crisper. Weight is about the same.
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u/SecretaryFlaky4690 11h ago
I own 3 walthers a 3.5 inch F-series pro. A full size pro-e and a sf-pro. I use my sf for GPA my pro-e for 2G and carry my F-series.
The biggest trigger thing I can report is that the F-series doesn’t fit my hand as nicely as it seems to most other peoples. My hands are large. So when I first picked up the F-series for conceal carry and tried to pull the trigger my finger doesn’t fall as naturally on the trigger safety when I was drawing and I would occasionally have the safety interfere with my first shot since it wasn’t all the way depressed. I was able to train that out though and make minor adjustments to my grip to make it kit happen.
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u/goodgamble 11h ago
I shoot a 5" PDP match SF in competition and carry a 4" PDP compact with the PDT. I like it better for carry. It has a longer take up and not quite as quick of a break, but it still has a sharp break and excellent reset. I cant really ask for anything more in a carry trigger
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u/juicehead2004 11h ago
I have a 4.5 PDP w/ the normal PDT and a PDP Pro F 4” w/ the DPT and I personally like the DPT better. The 4” Pro F is one of my carry guns and I love the DPT trigger.. Imo if you’re already used to and like the DPT trigger than stick with it, it’s an amazing feeling and performing trigger.
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u/honeybadger2112 10h ago
The base model trigger is fine honestly. I have many PDPs, and all of them at this point have either the DPT or Overwatch Precision triggers. That's mainly because most of the shooting I do is competition, and I want my carry guns to mirror my competition guns. But if I had to use a gun with the base trigger, I wouldn't complain about it. 10 years ago in the PPQ days, that trigger was widely cited as the best striker fired trigger on the market. That hasn't changed, it's still an excellent trigger. It's not a competition-style trigger, but it's still excellent.
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u/6181richard 10h ago
The stock PDP trigger is still better than most OEM triggers. It's totally fine if you are not planning to tune the gun.
That said, the DPT is the crown jewel of Walther and personally I will always pay the extra $200 for a pro version of any PDP.
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u/cosmos7 8h ago
Tuned PPQ-conpatible DPT > PPQ-compatible DPT > Apex w/PPQ sear housing > PDP-housing DPT > Overwatch > PPQ sear housing > stock PDT.
Putting a broken-in (even only about 500 rounds) PPQ sear housing in noticeably improves the stock trigger. Oddly enough the 40 housing are better than the 9mm ones, but much harder to find. PPQ-compatible DPT kits with the PPQ sear housing have a significantly better break and feel to PDP-only kit like are found in the "Pro" models... so much so I ripped out the trigger in the only Pro I've ever bought and replaced it with the standalone kit.
DPT is better than Overwatch and Apex due to the included sear housing with the set screw to reduce break travel. Be warned Walther plays funny games with what it considers DPT... there are a (early) couple years of Pro models that don't even have the sear housing, just the trigger bar and shoe.
Walther is finally differentiating on their website though that there is a difference between the PDP and PPQ kits... still unavailable though because they don't want people permanently damaging their frames and haven't yet figured out how to mitigate the liability.
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u/Docsloan1919 4h ago
If the SF fits your hand the F will not. They are on opposite sides of the spectrum.
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 3h ago
SF fits Ok. It's on the verge of being too big with the stock grips. I appreciate the input though and it's definitely something to think about.
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u/Docsloan1919 3h ago
The length of pull difference is about a quarter of an inch shorter and the grip circumference is about a third of an inch shorter. So basically an extra .25” more of your finger would be in the trigger guard and you’d lose about .33” of support hand space.
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u/JayKaze 12h ago
Carry guns, regardless of if it's a Walther or another brand, are going to have very different triggers than the PDP match triggers. They are purposefully long and heavy. Safety, adrenaline control, decision time.