Walther P99  The Walther P99 () is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market as a replacement for the Walther P5 and the P88. The P99 and its variants are also made under licence by Fabryka Broni Radom. Design work on this new generation sidearm began in 1994, and the handgun was presented in 1997 with series production commencing that same year. The weapon was first introduced chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum. The pistol is used by the German Police in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate and has been ordered by Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, the Polish Police and the Finnish Army's special forces and military police, where it carries the designation PIST 2003 ("Pistooli 2003"). The Walther P99Q was also chosen in 2012 to replace older pistols and revolvers of the Finnish Police, Customs and Border Guard. This gun has also been chosen to replace the Walther P5 of the Dutch Police in 2013. In 2014 the Walther P99Q was also chosen to replace the Makarov PM of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board. The Walther P99 was modified several times throughout its production history, as were the magazines. When the P99 was introduced the magazine capacities were 16 rounds for 9×19mm Parabellum and 12 rounds for .40 S&W. Magazines had witness holes on both sides. Later the magazine capacities were reduced to 15 rounds for 9×19mm Parabellum and 11 rounds for .40 S&W while witness holes were introduced at the rear of the magazine to view the loading condition. Walther presented a redesigned second generation P99 in 2004, incorporating a modified trigger guard that eliminated the "ski hump", which is clearly visible in the accompanying first generation images. This was done to address user comfort concerns regarding the previous style. The first generation P99 pistols had a slide release at the left side of the frame while second generation guns may have optional ambidextrous slide stop release levers. Walther also took the opportunity to redesign the slide so the user could grip it more easily, and notably, change the proprietary accessory rail to a Weaver type. Some models built in 2005 and all later models received one more design change, an elongated magazine release. The Walther P99 is a short recoil-operated locked breech semi-automatic pistol that uses a modified Browning cam-lock system adapted from the Hi-Power pistol.