Walther Q5 Match SF Pro: Reader’s Choice ‘Best Full-Sized Semi-Auto'

Best Full-Sized Pistol 2019, test fire, 9mm handgun

And here we are with the fourth winner in our Ballistic Best Reader’s Choice Awards. The other winners can be found below, but today we move onto the “Best Full-Sized Semi-Auto Pistol” category.

Our “Best Full-Sized Semi-Auto Pistol” category featured eight different pistols in all, ranging in price from a little more than $300 to almost $2,000. There was everything from full-blown competition guns to duty weapons, and even something for the budget-conscious shooter. It was truly a cornucopia of full-sized “pew pew” in the greatest of ways imaginable.

The nominees in our Reader’s Choice voting poll for the “Best Full-Sized Semi-Auto Pistol” category were as follows:

Beretta 92X (Tactical Life review)
Canik TP9 Elite Combat Executive
CZ Shadow 2 Orange
SIG Sauer P320 XFIVE Legion (Tactical Life review)
Springfield XD-M OSP
Taurus G3 (Personal Defense World review)
Walther Q5 Match SF Pro
ZEV Technologies OZ9 (Ballistic review)

Before we get to the winner, here’s a look at the other categories voted on and the winners to this point in time:

Compact semi-auto handguns (non-1911s) — WINNER: SIG P320 XCompact
Revolvers — WINNER: Colt King Cobra
1911s — WINNER: Wilson Combat EDC X9L
Full-sized semi-auto handguns (non-1911s)
Semi-auto shotguns — WINNER: Benelli M4 H20 Tactical
Bolt-action rifles — WINNER: Barrett MRAD
Semi-auto rifles — WINNER: SIG M400 Tread

We saw 7,289 votes from our readers in the “Best Full-Sized Semi-Auto Pistol” category. Receiving a total of 2,106 votes (28.89 percent), the winner is the Walther Q5 Match SF Pro.

Walther Q5 Match SF Pro Details

The following was written by contributor Garrett Lucas as a part of the 2019 Ballistic’s Best issue. Want to find out the winners our staff chose? Grab digital and/or physical copies of “Ballistic’s Best 2019” at OutdoorGroupStore.com.

Another full-sized contender dressed to the nines was the Walther Q5 Match Steel Frame (SF) Pro. Taking the original Q5 Match to the next level, the SF model adds the recoil-mitigating weight of a steel frame for better control and faster follow-up shots. The Pro version also throws in a Carl Walther Performance mag well along with two “+2” aluminum baseplates for the magazines.

Like the ZEV OZ9, the Q5 Match SF Pro is a striker-fired platform, and it incorporates the fantastic ergonomics and trigger system of the PPQ series. With its wraparound grips and easy trigger reach, the Q5 Match SF Pro felt as if it had been molded especially for my hand. With extra clearance in the oversized triggerguard, a reversible magazine release, an ambidextrous slide stop, a Picatinny rail and controls that are insanely easy to operate (and God love ’em, a button-style mag release), this competition blaster seems just as ready for patrol as it is for the next shooting match.

The Tenifer-treated slide has lightening cuts to reduce weight and serrations on top to reduce glare. Aside from having a red fiber-optic front sight (a green insert is optional) and a fully adjustable, serrated rear sight, the slide is also pre-milled to accept miniature reflex sights. This seems to be more and more common these days, though not with every pistol in this club. For more information, please visit WaltherArms.com.