Opinions on Walther P22

[kermit315]

Hey guys,

my wife has decided that she wants a Walther P22. Does anybody have any input on them. Should I steer clear of them, or if I find a deal on it should I get it.

Thanks guys,

Jamie

[9x19]

I've had one since they were first introduced and it has performed well for me.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/pb9x19/P22.jpg

FWIW

[crew590]

I have had my P22 (5 inch version) since the middle of May and have run close to 1,200 rounds through it with almost no problems. Occasional failure to feed (No worse than any other gun IMO) but other than that I find it's a great performer.

Jay

[greener]

If she likes it, by all means, get one. I'd have her shoo one, if possible, and try out some others (Ruger, Buck Mark, 22A) in that price range. My guess is that you have about a 50-50 chance of getting a good one.


The positives:

Fun to shoot. Light.

The Negatives:

Accuracy: I don't shoot my P22 nearly as well as I do my other .22 handguns. S&W just replaced the barrel and it seems to shoot a bit better. I don't think the P22 is capable of the accuracy you will get with the others I mentioned.

Reliability: Mine went back to S&W after fewer than 900 rounds due to excessive slide wear. It was returned with a new barrel and work on the part that really wasn't causing the slide wear. I've since broken it down and done some polishing on the parts causing the wear.

Overall: poorer materials and design quality when compared to Ruger's, Buck Marks and the 22A.

The P22 wouldn't be my fires choice, or second for that matter. It has become a project gun. Still, it's loads of fun to shoot.

[tsidorus]

but if you get a ruger MK1/2/3, 22/45 or browning buckmark you can get one of these... http://www.gunblast.com/Cliploader.htm and go through 1200 rounds in about 3 hours. But you get single action only and no combat type sights.

UCL from zaliznock industries $21.95... Brick of cheap 22lr. 11.99....having absolutly no clue how much 22lr you have shot through your MKII govt--- priceless :D

-Tsi

[kermit315]

yeah, i am going to run in to the gun stores tomorrow and see what is out there, and if shooters paradise has one for a rental, i am going to get her in to shoot it

[aaronrkelly]

I think they are the GREATEST thing ever.....for one reason. My wife likes it and loves to go shooting with me because of this gun.

We shoot CCI Minimags in it with no problems. After about 300 rounds or so the feedramp will be fairly dirty and has caused a few feeding problems, you can reach in there with your finger and wipe it clean to solve the problem.

Love the gun.....

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/aaronsguns/All%20Guns/waltherp22.jpg

[kingpin008]

I have one, and enjoy it alot. There are a few things that bug people about it (a tendency to eject shells wherever it wants to being one of them) but they're usually very easily fixed.

If you end up buying one, PM me and I'll be glad to send you a .pdf file compiled by a user over on RimfireCentral that I've found to be incredibly helpful with the little tweaks/troubleshooting issues that may pop up.

[kermit315]

thanks kingpin, i will definately keep you in mind.

[TX1911fan]

Love mine. So do my son and daughter.

[kingpin008]

thanks kingpin, i will definately keep you in mind.

Sure thing man. I didn't write the thing, but it's a damn good resource to have around and I've been sharing it as much as I can.

[Dusey]

I think they are very neat looking little pistols. I was tempted to get one at one point, but the grip circumference is very small making it feel very awkard in my hand. I passed, but only because of that.

[MT GUNNY]

You may exp. some problems with ; sights, extracting of fired casing, Light double action hammer falls, some may disagre but if you limp rist this firearm
you will have failure to load.

I have ran into these problems and have fix them all except the sights cuz im still figuring what to do about it

Very high on the funometer Very low on accuracy a person could get flusterd
with this pistol witch could make for a bad range exp.

I have put a rubber wrapparound slip on grip on mine and it realy fills a mediam to large hand
CCI stingers work well in mine.

[tinygnat219]

I owned one, would not own another.

Mine was a jam happy misfiring monstrosity of a purchase. I tried 6 different kinds of .22 LR ammo in it and could never get through a magazine without 1-2 jams. Gunsmith said nothing was wrong with it. Got tired of dealing with jams and ammo finickiness. Sold it. Never looked back.

Just my .02 cents, but be forwarned that these are ammo finicky.

[FieroCDSP]

I like mine. It certainly is not the most accurate. For accuracy, pay the extra bucks and get a Ruger Mk III or a Buckmark. I got it mainly because I wanted something in a style similar to my other autos, to switch off with in defensive practice. The P22 seems to have a 1938 Russian feel to it, rather than the German precision we've come to expect. Parts seemed to be roughly machined and cheaply made. They don't necesarily fit perfect.

However, if you like to play ameteur gunsmith, you can fix most of those problems. Just be sure you wear a collared shirt and glasses when you shoot one. You have to do some work on the extractor to keep the cases from hitting you in the face.

Mine seems to only like plated bullets reliably. If I use bare lead, it'll jam. I haven't done any ramp work to it, so that's next on the list.

[Triple S]

While it's not the most accurate gun I own, it is the most fun! You will be hard pressed to find a pistol that is more fun to plink with at such a low cost. Mine has functioned flawlessly with all sorts of ammo. For around $250.00 bucks new, it is great for all around use. It is a "neat" little firearm that everyone will want to shoot!

[greener]

For accuracy, pay the extra bucks and get a Ruger Mk III or a Buckmark

Heck, my P22 was $60 more than my new MKIII 22/45 and $85 more than my new 22A. It was $20 less than my new Buck Mark. All of which beat the P22 hands down for accuracy and reliability.

Still, its fun to shoot.

[Peter M. Eick]

Its a reasonable gun. I had one, shot it and sold it when the safe got too full. Nothing wrong with it, but given the choice of a pre-war K22 revolver and a modern piece of plastic, steel and wood won every time.

[dhoomonyou]

I got mine october 2006, its ok, the only problem is cases eject in your face about 30% of the time.

S & W service says it "cant be fixed, but if its bad enough when they test it, they will send a new gun to my FFL".

which means I will have to pay the transfer fees.

I might send it back next week.

will let you know.

BTW I paid $280 NIB.

[FieroCDSP]

I think I paid $219 for mine before tax. Sounds about right, as the regular price label on the box says $259. I've only ever seen the MkIII's higher, but then again, after trying to put one back together a couple of times, I never went looking.

Upon reviewing the play, I found that my friend got the 678 model, which is the longer, fluted barrel, chromed, with wood grips, currently $409 at Buds. I see the blued MkIII's are cheaper than my P22, and hence my confusion.

[brett30030]

Not a bad pistol, but i wish i had never bought mine.

[PisnNapalm]

Fun to shoot, but I'd never buy one. My Ruger MKIII 22/45 is alot more accurate.

[SolaScriptura139]

I had one (had to sell it for financial reasons). It was a great little pistol. I even Open Carried it for a while (was the only gun I had, no flaming please). Fun to shoot, and accurate enough. They recommend you only use High Velocity ammunition for it though.

I did also notice that the expended cases did come back at me sometimes. Never did understand that.

[coyote_jr]

It is fun to shoot.

[ParChaser]

Problem 1. You can't buy to many mags.

Problem 2. You need to get someone to keep loading mags while you shoot cause they are a blast to shoot.

I bought the +3 followers so I wouldn't have to load as often. My mags hold 13 instead of 10 now.

[evan price]

I bought mine last year NIB, the 3.42" barrel model in black, for $229 IIRC. I have heard some people had serious problems with theirs but it seemed to me it was early models.

Mine has over 2000 rounds through it now. It is the one gun that is ALWAYS going to the range with me. No matter what else I shoot I always stick it in the bag because it is cheap to shoot and as much fun as a bucket of kittens.

The first 500 rounds or so it had a tendancy with a new, full mag, to not let the slide go into battery when I used the slide release to let the slide go forward. A round would sometimes stick on the ramp. If I slingshot the slide instead it would go right in. Now that the gun is loosened up and broken in that problem has gone away. The slide moves like greased glass.

I bought it as a teaching aide for new shooters and so far it has convinced three people that shooting guns is fun (besides me, I knew it already!) The interchangeable rear backstraps make it nice to tailor to small people or big people.

No, it's not the most accurate .22 I've shot. A Buckmark or a Woodsman or a Ruger Mark X will be more accurate if you are into high-accuracy shooting.
But this gun looks more like a real TACTICOOL gun than a SW22A or a Beretta Neos or other comparable guns. And it's a lot easier to field strip and put back together than those more accurate guns.
At 30 feet I keep it all on a standard NRA rimfire rifle target. Good enough for me, it's a plinker not a match pistol.

The model with the 5" barrel really doesn't give you anything extra except the faux compensator, which has to be disassembled to field strip the gun (more work).

Plus, California banned the gun due to a threaded barrel and HR1022 (if it never passes) specifically will ban it as well, for the same reason. (Wanna add a supressor??)

Plus, unlike a lot of .22 pistols, the safety blocks the hammer, so you can dry-fire it safely, which means lots of trigger practice.

The only problem I have with it now is that nobody makes a 50-round mag for it. I love to shoot it but stopping to reload every ten rounds... sigh.

[jlbraun]

I don't like it.

-The trigger pull in DA is loooong and heavy. SA is not much better.
-Many many many failures to extract or feed. Extraordinarily ammo picky. -There are certain serial number ranges that are "bad" - make sure you get one made after 2005.
-The sights suck. Not all that accurate.

The best thing going for it is that it looks tacticool and can be suppressed easily. Other than that, there's nothing else going for it. It's pretty much the bottom of the barrel as far as .22 pistols go. Pretty much any Ruger, Browning, CZ, or S&W would be better.