When makers introduce a product that is marketed toward women, most ladies yawn or turn the other way. Making a pistol pink doesn’t make it a woman’s dream. Some manufacturers have gotten it right. As an example, Gould and Goodrich was a leader in producing holsters with the correct cut and angle for female shooters.
The modern Smith & Wesson Ladysmith revolver featured a lighter trigger action. Most ‘lady’s guns’ are just fluff. Walther’s PDP F is a development of the successful PDP pistol. Walther tells us the PDP F series is engineered for the female hand structure. You could not do this as well with steel or aluminum.
Walther PDP F Features
The polymer-frame striker-fired Walther PDP F features a comfortable grip that doesn’t overly stretch the hand. My hands are average size, and I find the PDF F an exceptionally good fit. Walther also engineered the pistol to be an easy handgun to rack and make ready. The Performance Duty Pistol will be a welcome improvement to many shooters.
The pistol offers a well-designed grip with shorter trigger reach and already-excellent ergonomics. Walther touts the PDP as a front-runner for personal defense, police use, and many forms of competition. The smaller grip is nice and so is the trigger reach.
The pistol features what Walther calls Superterrain cocking serrations. The PDP F 9mm also features something called Performance Duty texturing. The balance of abrasion and adhesion is high with this grip texture. I cannot recall a better feeling grip frame.
When firing for accuracy, good sights and a good trigger action are important while. Handling is also important. This pistol is long on handling and ease of manipulation. Since there are no dimensional differences in the slide, the pistol fits standard PDP holsters. The pistol will be offered with both 3.5 and 4.0-inch barrel versions. My example is the four-inch barrel. Magazine capacity is 15 cartridges.
I am not certain whether I am among the demographic the designers were targeting. Just the same, I felt it was a good fit for my needs. I have fired the PPQ and other Walther variants and found them good. The PDP is the best of the group and the PDP F is even better!
I am not a big fan of the polygonal rifling used in the PDP. However, since I only use FMJ ammunition these days, I cannot complain. (Polygonal rifling is not friendly to lead bullets, as there is no room for lead fouling to accumulate in a polygonal rifled barrel.) Polygonal rifling may aid accuracy due to less bullet deformation and velocity is increased in some incidences.
The pistol is delivered with interchangeable grip straps to help morph the frame to the hand. This not only affects palm fit but how the trigger finger indexes. So, even if the pistol fits your hand at first try, it may be beneficial to change the grip inserts to isolate the best fit.
If you have tried the PPQ, you will like the hand fit of the PDP much better. The magazine release is positive in operation. The slide lock levers are ambidextrous and easily manipulated. The SuperTerrain cocking serrations make for excellent leverage.
The sights are the standard white dot type, while the rear sight is adjustable for windage. That’s ok, as the pistol is accurate enough for adjustable sights to be useful. However, I would prefer night sights.
Takedown is simple with pull-down levers in front of the trigger guard. The Performance Duty Trigger is among the best striker-fired triggers I have fired — perhaps the best. The trigger breaks at 5.1 pounds as issued. After several weeks of use, my example settled into 4.9 pounds. (Don’t forget to clean your new striker-fired pistol as it ‘cleans up’ the trigger. Often enough, packing or storage grease is present.)
The trigger is simply excellent. Add good sights and a grip frame that fits the hand well, and you’ll have superior accuracy potential. Compared to the PPQ, the PDP F’s trigger has less take-up. The trigger is the outstanding feature among outstanding features.
Range Time
I lubricated the long bearing surfaces, barrel hood, and cocking block before beginning. I scraped together a good mix of full metal jacketed ammunition, including Remington UMC 115-grain, ZSR 115-grain, and Federal American Eagle.
A word or two about recoil. As 9mm pistols go, this is a light kicker. Many of us like to say the 9mm doesn’t kick, or the .223 rifle doesn’t kick much. This is true. Just the same, if you are running a training course or competing, recoil adds up. When you are learning, you want a powerful defensive handgun but not one that pummels you like the San Andreas Fault slipping a disk.
Many years ago, when I wore a Stetson Open Road along with a badge and other gear, I dealt with a wife-beater who was on the dark side of deranged. I suppose you prevail when you live through something. The expensive Stetson was ruined. X-rays of my elbow looked like a bag of golf tees.
My recovery is complete — according to workman’s comp of the day — but occasionally I feel a sharp pain. Firing the .45 ACP or 10mm, I am good for 50–100 rounds depending on the weight of the pistol and the load. With the 9mm PDP, I feel that firing several hundred rounds isn’t out of the question.
The pistol is fast on target and fast to an accurate first shot hit. Recoil is easily handled, and trigger reset is rapid, very sharp, and very clean. The sights are good but will probably be replaced. The pistol stays on target during recoil, offering excellent hit potential. The trigger’s reset allows rapid follow-up shots. I ran a series of double taps, hammers, and controlled pairs with good results. The pistol is certainly combat-capable and reliable.
My son was home from active duty and we enjoyed some family time at the range. He hasn’t been to the range in some time and wanted to burn off some of his older ammunition. We ran a good bit of Federal 115-grain +P+ and other loads. All functioned well.
The Walther PDP F is a reliable handgun that handles all 9mm loads and is more accurate than most. The first time I fired the pistol for accuracy from a solid benchrest, I did not do as well as expected. I retired from the range and dry-fired the pistol for a few days.
Returning, I fired the Federal American FMJ and Federal 124-grain Hydra-Shok for accuracy. I fired five-shot groups at 25 yards. The American Eagle load went into 2.0 inches for five shots. The Hydra-Shok went into slightly less than two inches. I give the Walther PDP F a clean bill of health and a recommendation as being among the best polymer-frame pistols I have fired in some time.
Postscript
Since the PDP F has been added to my defensive carry battery, I added a set of XS F8 night sights. These sights use a large .160 front post for rapid sight acquisition. The rear notch is .0190 wide. The front sight used XS ember glow dot that absorbs light and will be visible in low light before the full benefits of the tritium dot are realized. This makes for a real 24-hour capability.
Is the Walther PDP F the gun women have been clamoring for? Is it the ideal family gun suitable for any shooter in the house? Share your review and answers in the comment section.
This Falco holster is at least 12 years old but still serviceable. It is a good match for the Walther. 
Add the Inforce combat light and you have a formidable home defender. 
The pistol’s sights are good examples of all around combat sights. 
Hand fit for a female shooter’s hands is excellent. However, in truth the gun fits a wide selection of hand sizes. The top mounting pate is easily removed with a star wrench to for your favorit red dot sight. 
XS sights are a good addition to any handgun. The PDP F offers good quality fit and finish, but the real story is the grip textures. Compared to the PPQ the PDP F offers a more comfortable grip. The front of the slide is beveled for easy insertion into a holster. The SuperTerrain cocking serrations offer the shooter a good hand purchase. 
Among the outstanding features of the PDP F is the grip treatment. 
Offering a good mix of adhesion and abrasion the PDP F grip is well designed. Walther quality is evident in the PDP F. The ergonomics set a new bar for Walther too. 
The Walther PDP F comes in a nice hard case.
I have a PPS M2 as my carry and absolutely love it. The only complaint is that I cannot find a good way to add optics. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I can’t say enough good things about Walther as a brand. This post reminded me , almost verbatim, of my posts when the PDP-F was first released. We tried the standard PDP and loved the overall ergonomics and trigger feel but when the “F” (Female) came, we were reluctant to consider it as a needed test subject.
Walther convinced us to give it a shot and so we got ahold of one and put it through the gambit.
The F-series in my opinion is better than it’s “male” counterpart. It runs the same of course but the grip rests in hand with perfect marriage to medium and even larger hands. It’s got a different grip texture and thinner wall on the grip which melds to the hand perfectly.
Recoil , trigger and aesthetics are very good. Quality is apparent but there is one negative. It appetite is for top branded ammunition like Rem white box and Hornady RP. It does not work reliably with lessor ammunition or remans and we’ve dug up some old tests done on the PPQ, PPK, PPS and the PK380 and found similar results throughout the spectrum of Walther firearms. They like clean new ball point rounds.
The PDP here had continuous light primer strikes on Capital and Freedom remans FP, RN and HP’s at 115 /147 grain.
Failure to go into battery and eject was noted and stove pipes were the days sour note.
Run basic Rem White box ammo and the pdp-f comes back to life without hiccup.
Stick to what runs well and you’ll get one of the best striker fire 9mm guns ever made.