Walther P22 Ammunition advice for another member?

Tx22

Would be cheaper, and easier to just buy some high velocity ammo.

I have several of the Ruger .22 handguns and they all run with standard .22 loads just fine. A Mk 4 and a Mk 2 (I believe) standard.

I guess to me what is high velocity 22lr. I probly wrong but some say use cci minimags in pistols only for consistent function. Aguila is said to be poor man's minimags that works too.

I use blazer, automatch and similar in mine and if that doesn't work I have no fun.

Made lots of mistakes for sure but when a pistol says (mosquito) change recoil spring for reliable operation just walk away.

My BERSA .22's do not function well on Standard Velocity ammunition. Load with High Velocity and they shoot perfectly. I have found the Ruger SR22, The S&W .22 Compact, and especially the Taurus TX22 work with pretty much anything. The Ruger MKII Target works best with High Velocity ammunition, but I have only had a few problems with Standard Velocity. The CZ Kadet Kit and the AA Kit on the G21 have had no problems with SV, In bulk ammunition the Blazer seems to work the best for me, with Thunderbolt the worst. CCI Mini-Mags and Golden Bullet have the best reliability I have found, but the Golden Bullet in the 100 round plastic packs is much better than the "Bucket of Bullets" kind.

In rimfire ammo and rimfire arms, there are just too many variables--at least to my experience.
There's not a "if x use y" sort of answer. Each arm pretty much, you need to get a pile of ammo and test through the lot of it to find what works "best" for that one arm. After that, you can buy by the brick.

My Tx22 has worked fine standard velocity and even slightly lower power rounds. Think Cci has some rounds in the 900 fps that cycled with Mt Tx22 great

It's nice not having to search for special or specific ammo like mini-mags though.

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Define special ammo. In my experience high velocity ammo is the norm. It is only expensive match grade ammo that is loaded slower than standard high velocity ammo. Mini-Mags are just standard velocity ammo. It is the slower stuff that is more expensive and harder to find.

Standard "High Velocity" ammo is about 1200 fps for 40 gr RN and about 1250 for 36 gr HP. Those speeds are pretty standard for all ammo makers. That should function in any pistol. It is the target loads that are closer to 1000 fps or less that cause issues.

There are a handful of faster 22 loads such as CCI Stingers which use a lighter 32 gr bullet in a slightly longer case to hold more powder. Those will get around 1600 fps but will not function in a lot of guns.

Do a quick Google search before you recommend or purchase a semi 22. If you see a review that says only works with mini mags, etc or you can use a different spring to function with sv stay away.

Nothing worse and more aggravating to me than having to buy "recommended ammunition".

Personal experience only my ruger mark I and ii, Browning buckmark and my tx22 all run just fine with automatch, blazer and federal champion which are the 3 most common 22lr I can get.

Solved the function problems with a P22 the old fashioned way; I got rid of it.
Twenty twos that run all the time; Rugers, TX-22s, G44s. I have a long suffering Hammerli Trailside that also runs on about anything...oddly, it is now marketed as a Walther.
For the OP, there were problems with a centerfire pistol as well, so there may be another issue too.
Moon

I have had a bunch of 22 semiauto pistols and sure they all eat CCI mini mags like candy, but the walthers all liked Aguila ammo of any flavor. Quiet would not cycle 100% of the time but it did about 80%. Usually 1 stoppage per mag.1 or 2 coils off of a dedicated recoil spring fixed that.

I use CCI Velocitors and CCI Mini Mags in my P 22. Both work flawlessly. I prefer to carry it loaded with the Velocitors.

jmr40 said:

Would be cheaper, and easier to just buy some high velocity ammo.

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Not when you have 1000 rounds of standard ammo.

WestKentucky said:

I have had a bunch of 22 semiauto pistols and sure they all eat CCI mini mags like candy, but the walthers all liked Aguila ammo of any flavor. Quiet would not cycle 100% of the time but it did about 80%. Usually 1 stoppage per mag.1 or 2 coils off of a dedicated recoil spring fixed that.

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Now we’re back to cutting springs which was the original thread that I posed my problem. 99% said don’t cut the springs. That said I repeat my question if anyone has a recommendation for standard 22 auto that handles regular ammo reliably. If not, I will will sell the gun and settle for another Glock 42. An no offense intended but I don’t want something that’s 80% reliable for my wife’s personal carry piece. I want 100%, and I suspect others feel the same.

jmr40 said:

Would be cheaper, and easier to just buy some high velocity ammo.

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Maybe, maybe not. I only have experience with one P22 but it didn’t like any ammunition,

It did do better with CCI mini mags, which meant 2-3 failures per magazine. to be fair this was over a decade ago and they may have worked some issues out, but it was by far the worst gun I’ve ever owned.

Jackiesman said:

Now we’re back to cutting springs which was the original thread that I posed my problem. 99% said don’t cut the springs. That said I repeat my question if anyone has a recommendation for standard 22 auto that handles regular ammo reliably. If not, I will will sell the gun and settle for another Glock 42. An no offense intended but I don’t want something that’s 80% reliable for my wife’s personal carry piece. I want 100%, and I suspect others feel the same.

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100% reliability and .22 L.R. pistols are two incompatible things. For this reason, a .22 L.R. pistol is not a good choice as a carry piece because while maybe the pistol is reliable, the ammunition is not, period.
Even the Glock 42 is not a pistol famous for being 100% reliable but if you already have one and trust it 100%, then get another one and give the already proven one to the wife.

5-SHOTS said:

100% reliability and .22 L.R. pistols are two incompatible things. For this reason, a .22 L.R. pistol is not a good choice as a carry piece because while maybe the pistol is reliable, the ammunition is not, period.
Even the Glock 42 is not a pistol famous for being 100% reliable but if you already have one and trust it 100%, then get another one and give the already proven one to the wife.

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Read what I wrote… use Aquila and see how it works out. It’s one of the more available brands around here. Seems very reliable for ignition too as opposed to some others. I would start with “super extra” and the try a couple other flavors but that worked in mine. The only reason I did anything to make quiets work is because I bought a whole bunch of them cheap and wanted to use them because they were pretty accurate.

The problem is that the standard for .22lr now for many decades has been High Velocity. Meaning; most of the .22lr pistols are engineered for the higher velocity/ higher energy ammunition.

I have several.22lr auto loaders, and I will venture that only the 1961 mfg Ruger RS-6 will reliably function with standard velocity ammunition.

I’ve got a GSG Firefly (same as Sig Mosquito) and a Ruger LCP that will only reliably function with some Remington Golden.22 HP’s. (Yeah, go figure!) They chronograph 50fps faster than any CCI MiniMags I have and 100fps faster than Winchester or Federals...

My Revolvers (that out number the autos!) shoot ANYTHING that’ll pop.

I suggest you sell (OR SWAP!) the SV and get some High Velocity ammo. Won’t be as hard as you think!

I keep plenty of the subsonic on hand as my CZ452 shoots 3/8” @50yds and is almost as quiet as a suppressed gun.
If I was close by, I’d swap with you. After the ObamaAmmoGheddon I stocked up, so have a comfortable reserve...

I had a P22 that a grandson now owns that has been reliable with high velocity ammo only and my current Ruger SR22 is the same. On the other hand My Ruger MK IV and MK III, GSG 1911-22, and a S&W 22a all function just fine and are more accurate with standard velocity ammo. All have the factory recoil spring. High velocity 22 ammo is not hard to find now. In fact it is the most plentiful of all the options and always has been. If you want to shoot SV go get a Phoenix as it is designed for that ammo.

Stingers worked better for the P22 I have, but no ammo works 100%

The Ruger Mk II though... you can feed it anything and it will fire. Revolver-esque reliability.