Today I just wanted to do a quick video on one upgrade that I think is a must-do for anyone who owns a Walther PDP.
So what is this wonderous must have upgrade? Sights. Specifically, tall sights that allow a cowitness with an optic, or allow sighting over a suppressor. From the factory, the PDP comes with a set of sights that is relatively standard; they are able to be adjusted for windage and elevation, but are otherwise pretty unremarkable. This is even more obvious when taking into account that every PDP is optic-ready from the factory; the factory sights are nowhere near tall enough to be able to cowitness with an optic. As a result, the user is left with essentially no sighting system in the event that their mounted optic malfunctions.
Thankfully, the PDP was designed to work with Glock-style sights, so remedying this issue is cost effective and relatively simple. There are seemingly countless options for Glock style sights, so finding a set that is a taller height for the PDP is as easy as a trip to most sporting goods stores, or even a few minutes searching Amazon or Ebay. For the purposes of this article, I picked a set of Ameriglo GL-429s from Brownells.
These are XL height sights that are completely blacked out. The front sight is serrated for glare reduction, and the rear has no other markings. This is my preferred setup for cowitness sights, as it lets my brain more easily "ignore" the sights even though they are in my field of view. If you prefer a three dot or even night sight setup, again the options are out there for you; this is just my personal preference. These sights will give a very low cowitness with most optics, which is what I think most people are looking for, and why I chose this height. I personally prefer an absolute cowitness, and if you want that, you will want to pick up a set that is slightly taller than these. I will roll in the info for these sights from the Ameriglo website on screen here; MSRP is 60 dollars, but you can easily find these for around 50 bucks with a minimal amount of digging.
Mounting the Ameriglo sights is straightforward and can be done at home with the right tools. I can't show you the installation, but I can walk you through it for the most part. First though, you will need a few specialized tools to get this done. The first tool you'll need is a Glock front sight tool. While its technically possible to replace the front sight without it, having one makes it a million times easier. The other tool you'll need is a rear sight pusher tool. Some sights you can get away with using a punch and hammer to install them, but this combination is definitely NOT one of them. The Ameriglo rear sight is a VERY tight fit into the PDP dovetail, which makes this a necessity. Also make sure you invest and get a quality sight pusher too, as the cheap Amazon ones will likely break or damage your slide with the amount of force that is needed to get the sight in place.
With the tools taken care of, the first step is to break down the PDP and remove the barrel and recoil system, as you normally would for cleaning and maintenance.
For a quick refresher on that, you would first make sure that the weapon is clear of any ammo. Then point in a safe direction and pull the trigger. Then pull back slightly on the slide while pulling down on the takedown tabs on both sides of the frame. Release the slide and push it all the way forward and it will come off. The recoil system pulls out, and the barrel pulls out after that, and that is everything you need to do to break down the PDP for cleaning and maintenance.
The factory front sight unscrews and then lifts up off the slide, and the Ameriglo front sight is placed on the slide and then screwed in from the bottom. The rear sight is pressed out of its dovetail mount, and the Ameriglo rear sight is pressed into its place.
I have a few things to consider when mounting these sights, as well. In the front, this polymer spacer will need to be moved to gain access to the bottom of the sight mounting hole. I just grabbed it with my fingers and slid it back far enough to get my tool in there. Additionally, its always smart to use Loctite or threadlocker on that sight screw. Last, don't forget to take your PDP out to the range to verify that the sights are lined up and zeroed...there are precious few things less useful than a set of sights that aren't zeroed.
With the sights mounted up, I would say that my one biggest gripe about the PDP is taken care of. Not only do we have sights that cowitness with the optic, but they are also made of metal and offer a bit more durability. That's all I have for you this time, so until next time: Stay safe!