Walther P22: Love, tolerate, sell

greener · Post by **greener** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:14 pm

In March 2007 I bought a Walther P22 (SN *******). I think there are 3 kinds of P22 owners: absolute fanatics about the pistol, those who tolerate and enjoy them and former owners.

Positives:
Small (3/4 scale P99) and light, very easy to carry.
DA/SA pistol (great for training)
Relatively insensitive to ammo
Threaded barrel (unless you live in CA), easy to mount suppressors.
Cute and cool looks

Comes with three front sights of different heights. The rear site can be adjusted for windage, but no click detent and not very precise.

Negatives:
Materials of construction. The zinc allow slide is susceptible to wear. The trigger bar is stamped and the ears can have sharp edges. The slide rides on the ears and can be rapidly worn. At 600 rounds this one had metal flakes in the action and the slide was obviously being worn by the trigger bar ears. I sent it back to S&W and they said the wear was normal. They replaced the barrel for some reason and either did a bit of polishing on the slide or sent another, used slide back. I've polished the trigger bar ears and the problem vanished (must do, IMO).

The old series (A?) magazines have a tendency not to feed some rounds. Mine may or may not feed the second round. Seems to feed the rest without problems.

The extractor is poor, resulting in casings either bubbling up from the pistol about six inches or going back toward the shooter's face. It is a good idea with mine to wear a hat, glasses and button your shirt at the neck. There is a newer extractor and I believe VQ has one out or in the process of marketing one.

The size and weight along with the short site radius will find shooting flaws and exaggerate them.

Must Read if you own one

1911M on RFC has done an excellent job of dissecting the pistol and coming up with fixes. http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/fo ... y.php?f=48. Also see his P22 Bible: http://www.freespeech.com/1917-1911M_P22_bible.pdf

My opinion of the P22 puts me in the second category of owners (tolerate and enjoy). It is definitely a fun shooter. I've also decided to keep it until I learn to shoot it consistently and well and then decide if I'm a cat 1 or cat 3 owner.

Post by **Bullseye** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:34 am

I haven't had any experiences with the P22. Looking at that detailed stripping process I see lots of things that would steer me away from owning one. The do look interesting but durability is an issue I see looming out in the distance. Right off I noticed the dent on top of the firing pin disconnector bump, that is a big turn off for me on the P22.

R,
Bullseye

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:36 pm

I've shot a couple of these pistols. In fact, the P22 was the first .22 pistol I ever shot. When the extractor actually manage, to keep hold of a case, it would fly straight back and hit me square in the forehead; however, most of the time the extractor lost hold of the case.

I shot one not long ago and now that I have progressed a bit in skill, I feel it has some. I'm not spot on at calling my shots but these were way off!

I do think it is a fun pistol though. I enjoy shooting it -- as long is it extracts OK.

Geezer · Post by **Geezer** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:10 pm

I'm a former owner.......'nuff said.

bigfatdave · Post by **bigfatdave** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:54 pm

I tolerate ours, for a number of reasons:
1-makes a good trainer for my PPS (similar layout/size)
2-makes a good point-shooting trainer (it will shoot hundreds of rounds rapid-fire when we practice point-shooting)
3-eats cheap (federal 550) ammo happily (eats CCI minimags better, but I'm actually looking for the occasional malf.)
4-was MrsBFD's first gun, so it isn't going away
5-is easy to clean
6-makes a good malfunction trainer if I feed it really crummy ammo or slack off on cleaning
7-seemingly it gets more accurate the more I shoot it, this may be due to not running a metallic brush down the bore for the last 2000 rounds or so (it has well over 5000, probably past 8000)
8-it remains fun to shoot, and good for new shooters
9-it is the yang to the yin of my Ruger "mark two and a quarter" pistols
10-it doesn't take up much space in the safe

Yleefox · Post by **Yleefox** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:50 am

Former, one time, owner....

Funnyrunner · Post by **Funnyrunner** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:40 pm

I looked at the Walther when I was hunting a .22 but it just didn't look like it would be up to substantial usage. Decided on the Ruger 22/45 and absolutely love it. The Walter just doesn't look like it'll last.