Re: Walther P99 - Difference between QA & AS?
I'm going to have to agree with doorkicker on this one. I would have described the Walther P99 as follows:
The P99 trigger system is the result of engineers believing their primary charge is one of providing a "hesitant" operator every feedback loop that unabashedly screams "Hey, Watch Out, Warning you are pulling the trigger! Watch it! Any further and I'm going to, Hey, I'm serious here! I'm going to fire..Somewhere right about now!"
The lightest trigger setting:
Pull the slide back and you are at the lightest trigger setting.
It is a light, metal rubbing through metal crisp single action. It is the kind of trigger one would use when one is ready to go.
Is it fast, yep. Is it clean, B+. Good for a precise shot, yep. Good for target work, yep. But...and here is the rub, as there are zero other safeties on the pistol, too crisp for rough housing around in a holster. If you are about anything other than taking the shot "right now" you will press the decocker and then doorkicker is right. By the way that transition from SA to DA is accompanied with a reasonably noisy "springkathump" that is not quiet enough. How quiet, think about it in terms of quietly but quickly breaking an icycle. That loud.
The decocked state, the DA (AS):
Awful, read the above paragraph for the "Hey, watch out!" feeling one is left with in double action. "AS" stands for anti-stress, in other words German engineering (surrounded by lawyers) designed their "you must be stressed out and unable to determine if you really, really, really mean to pull this trigger". It is, IMO, one of the worst double action triggers out there. If California could mandate a double action trigger, they would have the P99 trigger engineer sitting at the head of their table of "experts."
Getting from DA (or "AS") back to SA (single action).
One needs to grab the slide and pull it back ever so slightly. Just the littlest bit and the DA crap disappears and you are back to SA. But...click...thats right, it isnt silent. In other words if you need quiet, you are going live in the DA mode. Does it matter if your going to just start wailing? No. But if you need a precise shot..your back to "Sure? Now? Really? Now? "