new guy, got a SW99 with ?s

[condor86]

Hello, this is my first post!

I am a newbie, in fact i have nine days left until i can pick up my new SW99 .45 cal. (no flames people!). Anyway i am excited. The shop i purchased my weapon at was not too interested in selling me accessories, so i am here asking for advice on a few things....

1) i wold like to buy a flahlight/laser combo for it, i have seen the BLAST 2 series, they look nice. any thoughts? Other suggestions? Do these really work or are they more like toys/gimmicks? (that is ok i like gimmicks)

2) reccomendations on ammo to keep with me in case of emergency use (home/property defense)

3) reccomendations on cleaning supplies, what to get, where to purchase etc.

And any other thoughts you all might want to share...
Anyone else own this handgun? Any idiosyncracies about it?

Thank you all....hope to have something meaningful to add here in the future!

[Combat Kenny]

Hi Condor

Can't help you on the light/laser, I don't have any.

As for ammo, my 5 cent worth is for you to call your local police and ask, what kind of ammo do they use? It helps on that, what if happens and the DA or somebody tries to sue you and tries to brand you as a crazy killer, using special man killer ammo.

As for cleaning kit, just go to Walmart or Kmart and pick up a .45 ACP cleaning kit. Don't forget to clean it before you start shooting it. My advice. As for patches, Walmart do have some cheap patches or old T-shirts would do fine.

As for the lock that comes with it. I'll spend that 10/15 bucks and get a combo trigger lock. And for storage, I'll get a small closet safe. Again, I picked mine at Walmart. It was inexpensive and safe. But don't forget to screw it down, wall and shelf. Get a rug or case for transporting it from and to the range. The original case is nice but I hate advertising for the company. Big S & W. :D I hope that I helped.

By the way, I have a SW99 compact .40. I like it.

Good luck and good shooting

[N.H. Yankee]

I had the exact same gun, hate to say this as I don't like to rain on ones parade, but I had problems with the recoil spring rubbing on the barrel on my S&W99 45acp and I bought the gun NIB. I tore the gun down after about 100 rounds and noticed a grey flaking, I then noticed the flat coil recoil spring was rubbing on the barrel. I called the gunshop they said keep shooting it and see what happens. I shot about 500 more rounds tearing it down and cleaning after every 100 but the problem persisited, The gun was sent back to S&W and they replaced the spring and guess what, same probelm I shot the gun until the spring was almost 25% gone in the front ( about500+ rounds ) and returned the gun for refund. I hope it was a fluke for your sake. The other used S&W 99's in 9mm didnt exhibit this but then again the barrel is smaller, the shop didn't have another 45 to compare it to. I dont believe Walther made the 99 in 45acp, but S&W did and I wonder if it is a design flaw as the gun wasn't originally designed for 45acp. Please keep an eye out for this especially using the gun as a defense piece and hopefully I just got a fluke and your experience will be a more pleasant one than mine. I did enjoy the gun's feel and the mechanical design, also the gun should come with extra front sight posts for adjusting your point of impact and extra grip inserts. I may very well buy another in 9mm as there are a few good used S&W 99 9mm guns in my local shop right now.

[9mm1033]

Welcome to the forum. You shouldn't have problems with your new purchase of the SW99. I've got the simular Walther P99, only in 9mm, and I'm very pleased with the accuracy and reliability.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/OH25shooter/DSCN1027.jpg
Regarding accessories, I have none. Simply stock. Nothing fancy. For practice ammo I've used Winchester, Remington, and CCI Blazer. For self defense ammo I like Federal Hydra-Shok. In cleaning supplies you don't need anything fancy. Just get some patches, Hoppe's no. 9 solvent, rod, brass brushes, and oil. You can find the starter cleaning kits at Wal-Mart. Safe shooting.

[condor86]

thank you to all, i cant wait, seven more days!