SimonRL
Hellcat
As mentioned on another post I added a PDP Compact 5 to my burgeoning collection of guns from the Fatherland. I finally got a chance to get to the range late Sunday and the PDP performed exactly as advertised.
The Problem is I also took along one of my VP9s which also performed as advertised - which is to say, better. The PDP has a 5 in barrel and a shorter compact grip which takes 15 rd mags out of the box, but also takes the 17rd PPQ mags I run in my Q5 SF. I put a green Holosun SCS on because it direct mounts and also because the body of the SCS is molded to match the extremely aggressive slide serrations of the PDP and looks pretty damn cool. There is no question the PDP Comp 5 is a looker in a kind of chunky, brutalist way, but the SCS is as bright as a lighthouse and cannot be turned down (I’ve made it no secret that I’m not a fan of the SCS because of this) but I thought green might solve the problem. It doesn’t. In broad daylight the SCS is pretty nice but in the neutral lighting of an indoor range it dials itself up to 11 and creates a ridiculous starburst that all but obscures the 4 inch splatterburst targets I prefer at 10 yds - and that is just the 3 moa dot. With the dot/circle reticle it is exactly the same size as the target and you just have to assume you are on target because you can’t see the target at all. I guess for A zone shooting that’s ok, but when you’re used to picking which ventricle you’re going to hit, not so much so. I actually made a little cover out of painters tape to fool the sensor on the optic.
Not pretty but it worked. That being said my first 10 shots through the PDP were very good with a 4 shot group that was inside an inch.
All in all I shot two groups of 25 Top and Bottom. Target on right - VP9) that are very respectable that I think could have been tighter with a better optic.
The Stock trigger is not bad, about 5lbs, and I expect will get better with more rounds, but I hear a lot of talk about best trigger on a striker based gun and IMO that is not the case. The best trigger is on the other gun I brought - the H&K VP9. Now mine has had a trigger job, but out of the box I give the edge to the VP9. And the ergos on the PDP are pretty nice particularly if you change the backstrap to match your grip, which I did, but guess what? That’s right, the VP9 has significantly better ergos and shot tighter groups - which I’ll put down to the Viridian RX-35 (SRO clone) green dot I have installed on it. So what’s my problem? I don’t really have one other than I am totally smitten with my VP9s.
Perhaps with a dot with an RMR footprint and some mileage the PDP will give me warm fuzzies like the VPs and at $449 from Family Firearms I can afford for it to be just ok. The other bad news: My Gen 2 Archon Type B returns from a warranty stay at PTR on Monday and that’s the striker fired gun that makes me think maybe I don’t need so many VP9s!
Perhaps with a dot with an RMR footprint and some mileage the PDP will give me warm fuzzies like the VPs and at $449 from Family Firearms I can afford for it to be just ok. The other bad news: My Gen 2 Archon Type B returns from a warranty stay at PTR on Monday and that’s the striker fired gun that makes me think maybe I don’t need so many VP9s!
). I had to have a look into them and was kind of tempted, but the adult in me reminded me that I haven't even paid off the Echelon yet (I can be such a child sometimes), so it will sit on a wish list.