I wanted to find a .22 handgun that would be really fun to shoot.
I was willing to try revolvers and autos, and was actually leaning toward a revolver.
(I had a Ruger MK2, stainless that was a fine gun. But, I realized one day that I never took it out of the safe. For some unknown reason, it just really didn't "grab" me. )
I spent over an hour at the gunshop, with a 4" blue steel Taurus revolver, a stainless Browning Buckmark, and the short barrel Walther P22 on the counter in front of me.
I really liked the 9 shot Taurus, and will probably get one some day.
I kept going back to the P22 though.
It is just so cool looking! And, even though the grip is small, it feels really great in the hand.
I finally got the P22, and have three shooting sessions under my belt, and I have to give it very high marks.
Almost 500 rounds fired. Most has been Federal and Remington bulk pack, but I also shot 50 rounds of Winchester Wildcat lead nose, and 100 rounds of CCI Stinger jhp. ( I also tried some of the pre-fragmented QuickShok rounds, but they wouldn't cycle the action.)
Here are the results:
1. 1 empty lodged in the slide during the first 50 rounds. No jams of any kind after that.
2. Several times shooting the bulk ammo, I had light strikes.
(This also happened with the MKII.)
With the P22, pulling the trigger again resulted in a fired round 99% of the time. With the Remington ammo, I was getting as much as 10% light strikes.
Again, I think it was the ammo, not the gun.
3. All shooting was done off-hand, from 6, 12, and 15 yds. I did install the shorter front sight, as it was shooting a little low for all shooters.
All rounds grouped nicely at point-of-aim after that. (No bench shooting so far. I'll probably need to go out by myself to do that.)
4. 5 shooters other than myself really liked the gun. I was afraid I was going to have to frisk my father-in-law to get the gun back.
5. The gun has no recoil, is fun to shoot, feels good in the hand, is plenty "plinking accurate", and looks cool.
6. My oldest daughter has long fingernails, and may have been hitting the mag release lever. She popped the mag loose several times while shooting, but none of the other 5 shooters did this, nor did I.
7. The gun would not cycle the Quickshok rounds. These seem to be loaded light, as neither of my MKIIs, or my son's HP22 would cycle them either.
Takedown is straight forward, but reassembly could be easier. You need to use a small plastic dowel (included) to get the recoil spring back in the gun.
The gun does have a mag-disconnect safety, which I could do without, but that seems to be the wave of the lawyer-induced future.
Other than that, I can't think of anything bad to say about this gun.
I think it is a value at the $249 that I paid.
The gun comes with two mags, a wrench for removing the barrel, 2 extra front sights, one extra grip insert, the dowel for reassembly, and a key for locking the action.
So many .22 autos are picky about ammo, that is why I was looking at a revolver. I wanted to be able to spend $8 at WallyWorld, and spend the afternoon shooting.
I think I have found a winner in the "Fun Plinker" category.
I was willing to try revolvers and autos, and was actually leaning toward a revolver.
(I had a Ruger MK2, stainless that was a fine gun. But, I realized one day that I never took it out of the safe. For some unknown reason, it just really didn't "grab" me. )
I spent over an hour at the gunshop, with a 4" blue steel Taurus revolver, a stainless Browning Buckmark, and the short barrel Walther P22 on the counter in front of me.
I really liked the 9 shot Taurus, and will probably get one some day.
I kept going back to the P22 though.
It is just so cool looking! And, even though the grip is small, it feels really great in the hand.
I finally got the P22, and have three shooting sessions under my belt, and I have to give it very high marks.
Almost 500 rounds fired. Most has been Federal and Remington bulk pack, but I also shot 50 rounds of Winchester Wildcat lead nose, and 100 rounds of CCI Stinger jhp. ( I also tried some of the pre-fragmented QuickShok rounds, but they wouldn't cycle the action.)
Here are the results:
1. 1 empty lodged in the slide during the first 50 rounds. No jams of any kind after that.
2. Several times shooting the bulk ammo, I had light strikes.
(This also happened with the MKII.)
With the P22, pulling the trigger again resulted in a fired round 99% of the time. With the Remington ammo, I was getting as much as 10% light strikes.
Again, I think it was the ammo, not the gun.
3. All shooting was done off-hand, from 6, 12, and 15 yds. I did install the shorter front sight, as it was shooting a little low for all shooters.
All rounds grouped nicely at point-of-aim after that. (No bench shooting so far. I'll probably need to go out by myself to do that.)
4. 5 shooters other than myself really liked the gun. I was afraid I was going to have to frisk my father-in-law to get the gun back.
5. The gun has no recoil, is fun to shoot, feels good in the hand, is plenty "plinking accurate", and looks cool.
6. My oldest daughter has long fingernails, and may have been hitting the mag release lever. She popped the mag loose several times while shooting, but none of the other 5 shooters did this, nor did I.
7. The gun would not cycle the Quickshok rounds. These seem to be loaded light, as neither of my MKIIs, or my son's HP22 would cycle them either.
Takedown is straight forward, but reassembly could be easier. You need to use a small plastic dowel (included) to get the recoil spring back in the gun.
The gun does have a mag-disconnect safety, which I could do without, but that seems to be the wave of the lawyer-induced future.
Other than that, I can't think of anything bad to say about this gun.
I think it is a value at the $249 that I paid.
The gun comes with two mags, a wrench for removing the barrel, 2 extra front sights, one extra grip insert, the dowel for reassembly, and a key for locking the action.
So many .22 autos are picky about ammo, that is why I was looking at a revolver. I wanted to be able to spend $8 at WallyWorld, and spend the afternoon shooting.
I think I have found a winner in the "Fun Plinker" category.