Walther LP400 not for sale?

[zooma]

I have been told that the new Walther LP400 match pistol may not become available for sale due to some kind of dispute with Steyr over a patent.

This hardly seems possible, but the rumour in the UK has it that production will be ( or has been) stopped and even the pistols that have been sold have to be recalled.

Lets hope this is untrue or can be resolved soon. ( my guess is that it cannot be true, and will not need resolving).

Walther make good innovative products and it would be a sad loss to the shooting sport if this latest model should be prevented from being sold, or from being used at the London 2012 Olympic Games and other competitons this year.

The new LP400 ( especially the LP400 CARBON) is a great looking pistol, and I hope the sales will not be affected by this rumour and if anything it will bring this pistol to the attention of those that may not have previously been fully aware of it or not even considered it.

[The Doctor]

Given the price of the standard pistol with just one cylinder I can't see any amount of innovation is going to get many people buying it, especially given walther's tendency to treat there customers like turds on freshly produced vomit,

You can buy the lp400, I had the chance to get one - I passed ;-)

Lee

[zooma]

I don't know what the exact price of the LP400 Carbon was going to be in the UK, but I was advised that it could be similar to the new Morini Titan when both cylinders were added to the total - and if this was the case then the price would stand comparison.

Note - it now seems that the price is actually lower than the new Morini Titan !

Luckilly I have never had any reason to need Walther factory help or service so I can't comment on that, but we do have an exceptionally good Walther spares and service agent here in the UK - Bills Walther Spares and Repairs - so maybe things are no longer as bleak as you fear regarding Walther service.

[The Doctor]

For the spares side walther will no longer supply parts (inc o-rings) - if they need to be replaced its a back to the factory job (there is a thread on target talk about this very thing).

RRP for the standard pistol with one cylinder is £1595, with spare cylinders at about £200, and weights (not included) at £30 for a pair. You get the same (original) outfit from steyr for about a grand less !

There are other reasons why there aren't that many on the international circuit, but walther are well known for their inability to get stuff out and listen to customers - been their many years ago, and nothing has changed.

Lee

[zooma]

For the spares side walther will no longer supply parts (inc o-rings) - if they need to be replaced its a back to the factory job (there is a thread on target talk about this very thing).

RRP for the standard pistol with one cylinder is £1595, with spare cylinders at about £200, and weights (not included) at £30 for a pair. You get the same (original) outfit from steyr for about a grand less !

There are other reasons why there aren't that many on the international circuit, but walther are well known for their inability to get stuff out and listen to customers - been their many years ago, and nothing has changed.

Lee

I had no idea the UK prices would be so high as the LP400 Carbon can be bought for 1269 euros (including 19% vat) in Germany with spare cylinders for 139 euros (including 19% vat). I did not check the price of the weights to be fair, but if the UK prices were closer to the German prices then the LP400 price would not be so bad.

If Walther will not supply any spares then that is a big problem all by itself - but I very much doubt this is the case.

Maybe Walther only supply spare parts through their approved dealers and not direct?

The reason I suggest this is because I heard similar bad comments about the unavailability of spare parts for my LGR rifle's when I bought them, and yet everything I wanted was available from Bill Welsh immeadiately with no problems whatsoever.

[zooma]

Following on from the rumour that first attracted my attention to the Walther LP400 match air pistol, and then the follow-on comments about the very high UK prices I have made a few enquiries and it seems that these pistols are actually available from stock in Germany.

The rumours we have here in the UK do not seem to be well known in Germany (!!), and the prices of the new Walther LP400 seems to be very similar to the prices charged in Germany for the Steyr pistols, so these pistols are available to anyone that wants to buy one, and the prices are very comparable to its main rival manufacturers products.

Given this new information it does confirm that this new pistol could be a genuine competitor and is worthy of consideration.

[hwtyger]

Iirc, they're available in holland too. Had 1 in my hands maybe a year ago..

[The Doctor]

Following on from the rumour that first attracted my attention to the Walther LP400 match air pistol, and then the follow-on comments about the very high UK prices I have made a few enquiries and it seems that these pistols are actually available from stock in Germany.

The rumours we have here in the UK do not seem to be well known in Germany (!!), and the prices of the new Walther LP400 seems to be very similar to the prices charged in Germany for the Steyr pistols, so these pistols are available to anyone that wants to buy one, and the prices are very comparable to its main rival manufacturers products.

Given this new information it does confirm that this new pistol could be a genuine competitor and is worthy of consideration.

Given these glowing reports, why is no one using them at the national or international level ? I think they have missed the boat for 2012, no one this close to the Olympics would swap over to an untested pistol - particularly without the support from the manufacturer - morini and steyr have the lion share now, and you try to find a lp400 in the uk;-)

Lee

[RobinC]

Given these glowing reports, why is no one using them at the national or international level ? I think they have missed the boat for 2012, no one this close to the Olympics would swap over to an untested pistol - particularly without the support from the manufacturer - morini and steyr have the lion share now, and you try to find a lp400 in the uk;-)

Lee

Some of the Russians, seniors, juniors, and Ladies, a Mongolian Lady and a German Lady, all who are in with a shout at 2012 Gold are using them. Yes they are new, they were late into production and not a lot about, but the UK price and availability is down to the UK importers, there is nothing stopping them putting them in stock or making the same cut as the Germans do, German VAT is only 1% lower. Could it be that the German shops are ordering more and holding stock compared to the UK importers? We have new Walthers air and smallbore, nothing has gone wrong with these or our old ones, but the technical back up is superb, either through Bill or from the factory techs direct who come here for big meetings, they were at Bisley this year.
Yes Walther went through a bad patch but that was ten years ago!

PS There is thread on Targettalk, Olympic pistols, Pilkguns site, LP400 vs LP10.
Robin