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I am not afraid to admit it, one of the nicest triggers I’ve pulled has been attached to a high end air gun. The Daystate Airwolf has an electronic trigger that is silky smooth, producing repeatable sub-MOA targets. Our friends at the Rock Island Auction Company recently wrote about a very unique rimfire pistol with an electronic firing mechanism that is currently up for auction. The Walther FP gets its name from the 50 meter Free Pistol target event. From the description, the FP competition seems like a full on endurance challenge, with shooters standing locked in for hours on end.
Anyway, excerpts on the rare pistol are here, but head on over to the RIA Blog for the full read. It is worth your time.
Normally, beginning with a description of how the gun operates would be customary, but in this case displaying how one even grips the firearm would be helpful. If one were to simply try and grip the Walther FP like any other pistol, they may or may not be successful depending on the size of their mitts. There is an opening in the back that a shooter, if they’ve held any kind of handgun before, instinctively tries to wrap their hand around. However, there is an adjustable wedge on the grip and is one of the key features of the pistol. Using a large plastic knob on the left side of the grip, one can tighten or loosen the tension so that the wedge on the right side of the grip may be raised or lowered. Order of operation is: loosen, place hand inside, slide up the wedge, and tighten into place.
Once on the hand, a shooter is essentially wearing a wooden glove with a gun mounted on it. Such a mechanical reinforcement of proper grip not only feels surprisingly comfortable but also increases the likelihood of an accurate shot. The hand is no longer tasked with gripping the gun so it may now focus on other things such as stability, coordinating with the eye, and the minutia of the trigger pull. While discussing the grips, it should also be mentioned that the index finger is isolated from the others by use of a partition that flows in line with the bottom of the trigger guard, and the thumb is given a nice thumbhole on the left side in which to rest. Less observable is a pleasing palm swell which makes this Walther feel like it was custom made for your hand regardless of the user’s size.
Walther FP Electronic Firing System
To prevent this sounding like an “Electronics 101” class, I’ll keep this as brief and specific as possible. It bears mentioning that because the firing system on this Walther is electronic, it possesses the most unimaginable hair trigger. It is so sensitive, that it’s not hard to imagine an actual hair setting it off. That said, all necessary precautions must be taken to manipulate the gun as little as possible after it has been loaded, and the firing system activated. An accidental or negligent discharge is far too easy to imagine.
As mentioned, the trigger is electronic and micro-adjustable for length and weight of pull via two tiny screws located at each end of the trigger guard. The trigger itself is also little more than a screw which can be angled in any direction of the shooter’s preference.
