You may have seen the new handgun series that Walther released a few months ago. With the Walther PDP F series, the company has re-engineered the PDP (striker-fired 9mm Performance Duty Pistol) specifically for the female end-user.
One of the major characteristics of the average female hand is that it is smaller in size, compared to the average male hand. So, Walther engineers incorporated new ergonomic features accordingly. These changes include a reduced trigger reach, redesigned slide serrations for easier manipulation, a reduction in the force necessary to rack the slide, and reduced grip circumference. With the dramatic increase in female gun ownership over the past few years, this is a very smart move on Walther’s part.
But….can men use it too?
That’s what Jeremy wanted to find out when he took both models from the series out to the range for a test drive.
Now, as you’ve probably already gathered, the F in F-Series stands for Female. But, is there any real reason that these handguns can only be used by women? Jeremy opts to change the F to “I don’t F-Series care, because I like it.” The gun works well for him, fits nicely in the palm of his hand, and he likes shooting it. “This handgun works exceptionally well for anyone who is of average size.”
As noted in the image above, there are currently two models available in the F-Series, a 3.5″ and a 4″ barrel.
F-Series Features
The trigger, first and foremost, is ambidextrous. The only thing that’s not inherently ambidextrous is the mag release, which is only on the left side and not on the right. But that can be switched around, so if you’re a lefty like Jeremy, you would switch it around to the other side making it a little bit easier for you to use your secondary hand. But, he says it’s not hard to get it there with your finger anyway.
It has a slide release on both sides. It’s got an optics plate at the top, and more specifically, a very interesting design on the iron sights.
Jeremy also points out that the grip texture is not too grippy that it’ll scratch your hand but it’s grippy enough that you won’t lose positive control of it. It also goes up relatively high compared to other grips, so wherever your thumb placement is, it’s going to be a little extra grippy.
So what makes it an F Series? Why is it Female?
The pistol has a few features that are specially designed for the female hand. For instance, the grip is a little slimmer which makes it a little easier for smaller-ish hands to grab onto. It does have a hump in the backstrap.
Another interesting feature that Jeremy can’t quite show us is the 20% reduced recoil. Jeremy says, “That’s the claim. It definitely feels like there’s not a lot of recoil to this despite it being a slimmer grip.” But it’s a proprietary design, super Top Secret, which was confirmed by the average sammich enjoyer at Walther.
Jeremy goes on, “I don’t know exactly how they do it. All I am is a little bit jealous because I’d like that. Why does it have to be in the Female series? Why is it that the old folks and the females get the 20% reduced recoil? I want that. I think it would be great for just about anybody.”
To put the size of the gun in perspective, Jeremy uses his own hands as an example. As he puts it, he has extremely large tiny hands. He did some research and found that the average male hand length is 7.6 inches.
The 4″ model fits his hand very well, but the PDP-F might not be the right gun for large guys. Though, it absolutely can be. If you’re used to large grips and you pick up a gun with a thin grip, you might think, “Man I can control this recoil better.”
The Big Question
Jeremy only has one question about this pistol: Can it kill monsters?
Why, yes. Yes, it can.
Jeremy does some shooting with the Walther PDP F. Throughout his shooting tests, experiments, tryouts, whatever you want to call it, the pistol had no issues whatsoever with the different types of ammo he used.
All in all, Jeremy likes the Walther PDP F Series pistol a lot. If he were to give it a rating, he would give it 4.5 bags of popcorn and probably a large soda. Maybe a medium soda.
To all the guys out there who are not afraid to have a Female series handgun, Jeremy says, “It’s not pink. It’s not in any way, shape, or form feminine. I would say that the vast majority of this is for people that are of medium to average size.”
And the giant guys? “This will work for ya. With the backstrap on there, it’s got the little extra hump. you’re going to enjoy it. Especially, too, with the grip texture up high.”
This is a solidly designed pistol from Walther. “I haven’t picked up a Walther pistol that didn’t feel good, that didn’t [function] well, that I didn’t enjoy holding with every fiber of my being and every pump of the heart on the inside”
Oh, and the Walther PDP F Series has other nice features too, like the rail on the bottom, and it takes PPQ M2 mags. “Everything I need to have a good time. Keep my family safe. Keep everyone safe around me.”
