Sig Mosquito vs. Walther p22

After a single tear down on my Mosquito for trigger work, pull weight is finally "acceptable". Nothing target weight like my Ruger, or plain nice as the P22, but it mimicks a full size duty weapon nicely. Sadly , no clean break still, just lighter pull.

And yes I too lost a spring on tear down and rebuild. And I was careful to not let any launch. Just magically disappeared off my bench.

But just as HarleyRanger said, each pistol is different and stick to what it likes and hopefully it fits your .22 shooting bill.


Justin

Recent info.
Still made from plastic and zinc.
Still junk.
Nothing else to see here. Move along.

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Bias opinion, or fact? Curious because I am looking around for my first 22 and I have heard this before, but so many people seem to praise it. I don't want to get anything that is junk. Who would?

::yes, quote was posted about a year ago by Atblis, but I am still curious!::

What do I not like about the P22?

Putting it back together after cleaning (which I do after each range session, because that's how I care for all my guns).

Talk about Rube Goldberg.

A special tool just to get it back together is silly.

Yeah it jams from time to time with crappy Federal bulk ammo. Clear and move on. It's not a combat gun, its a cheap, fun range plinker.

YMMV.

Lumbergh

What do I not like about the P22?

Putting it back together after cleaning (which I do after each range session, because that's how I care for all my guns).

Talk about Rube Goldberg.

A special tool just to get it back together is silly.

Yeah it jams from time to time with crappy Federal bulk ammo.

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OMG that was the most annoying thing ever when I had my P22. It was a fun little gun but wasn't majorly accurate and the reassembly was (insert words that THR won't let me type) beyond all necessity. Still though...fun gun.

I shoot Sigs mostly and would rather train with what I plan on shooting. If you're a Sig shooter then I'd suggest the Sig but if you shoot something else I'd buy close to that or get a conversion kit.

Lol. I forgot about that tool. I haven't used one on reassembly in years. You can get the guide rod into the hole just by angling the slide nose down on reassembly. But I'm sure some springs are more reluctant than other.

Justin

I have both and am quite happy.

No complaints except the mosquito will sometimes not lock back on an empty magazine when dirty (+100 rounds) without a quick wipe down.

I recently picked up the P22 as it came factory threaded to go along with a suppressor I have pending on a form four.

Eventually I might suppress the mosquito if I can get a threaded barrel for it.

Bias opinion, or fact? Curious because I am looking around for my first 22 and I have heard this before, but so many people seem to praise it. I don't want to get anything that is junk. Who would?

::yes, quote was posted about a year ago by Atblis, but I am still curious!::

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Little of both probably. It is probably 50/50 at best for those who praise it/ bag on it. It does seem like there are a few people who have them, and have received what they consider to be good service from them.

To provide some context for my opinion, it is based on having shot three different P22s, and all of them did not provide what I considered to be acceptable reliability and accuracy. People claim that I am expecting too much from a little plinker 22. The problem I have with this is that every other 22 pistol I have ever shot (well except an RG10), has been superior.

One of the P22s I used to shoot split the slide in half and struck my friend in the face below his eye. He was not wearing safety glasses at the time, but I believe he does now.

A guy I used to shoot with on a weekly basis, went through I think three of them at the last count (maybe four!). The last one he got back from S&W as a replacement was the best in terms of performance up until it cracked the slide. S&W is refusing to service it under warranty at this point, but will sell him a new slide. He isn't bothering to buy a new slide if that tells you anything. He doesn't really care because he bought a Browning Buckmark and does not miss the P22 one bit.

There are other pistols that are much much better.
-Ruger MkII or even MkIII
-CZ kadet. This is the pistol to get if you want a trainer pistol that resembles a full-size pistol. Even though they are technically a conversion kit for the CZ75B, as a 22 pistol itself they are superb. Unfortunately, prices are way up on these. I paid $289 for my Kadet pistol NIB (whole pistol not the kit).
-Browning Buckmark
-Trailside. I have some reservations about these. The magazines are horrible. They also have some durability issues too. They shoot darn well though.

And regarding Zinc. There is absolutely no way of equivocating about the use of Zinc as major component in a pistol. The only reason to use Zinc is if you want to make it as cheap as possible with no regard for performance (especially durability). I can't think of a single quality pistol that uses zinc.

Zinc = junk. No way around that. It's been proven over and over.

Yeah, I shot the Mosquito again the other day, and it refused to kick out the brass all the way out of the chamber, but I went and talked to this guy and he was telling me that there is a specific brand of 22 ammo that it takes, it's like $10 for a box, so for now I am skipping over it. And I was shooting a MarkIII and it was amazing, I loved it. And the CZ Kadet you spoke of, tried it too, and it is in the collection now. I had the CZ before the Kadet but, it was great to switch it up! I don't think I have ever heard of a Trailslide. I will have to find some threads, I like anything that shoots well, well... okay not completely true, but shooting well is def something that makes me like a gun, ha! I am sure that is true of most people. Although, I have seen people buy guns that are crazy old and have a lot of value that they probably won't shoot. So it is a moot issue to them.

I did some reading up about Zinc in a pistol, I understand what you mean. Which just makes it a shame cause the Mosquito felt so nice in my hand

As regards to your friend and his eye, I hope he wears safety glasses now! Ouch, but lucky it didn't hit him in the eye. I had a 22 brass kick up in my hoodie, and burned my neck. learning the hard way!

hey guys sorry to dredge this thread up again but I wanted to give everyone a report on a brand new Mosquito purchased today. I shot approx. 250 rounds through it today with 0 FTE, FTF, FTRTB, or any other kind of malfunction. The DA trigger is def different from what I am used to with Sig but still manageable. Cant wait to try to get my local gunsmith to do a trigger job on this gun.

if ur looking for a 22 thats gonna be performance wise like a larger caliber u wont want the ruger it operates different and the p22 is harder to dissassemble than the sig the only thing with the sig is use cci mini mag ammo and ull love it

My buddy bought a mosquito. It's very picky about ammo and jams constantly with any ammo it doesn't like. It does feel nice to shoot though.

I bought a ruger 22/45. It doesn't give a flying rat's ass what ammo I put through it. Definitely a better choice than the sig, in my opinion.

hey guys sorry to dredge this thread up again but I wanted to give everyone a report on a brand new Mosquito purchased today. I shot approx. 250 rounds through it today with 0 FTE, FTF, FTRTB, or any other kind of malfunction. The DA trigger is def different from what I am used to with Sig but still manageable. Cant wait to try to get my local gunsmith to do a trigger job on this gun.

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In the interest of full disclosure, what kind of ammo were you running through your Sig?

If you have some mechanical ability, there is tutorials (with great pictures) out there on doing the trigger yourself. I'm happy with my first (mild) attempt. Definitely way better than stock.

Justin

I loved my P22, I really have no idea why people complain about the assembly...it is very simple, and I even had the 5" version with the fake compensator on it with those microscopic screws. I am still angry at myself for selling it, I needed money to put towards a different gun....I really miss it.

Do-it-yourself Trigger Job on a Mosquito?

Roccobro: any idea where to find info on a trigger job for the Mosquito? If it can be fine tuned I'd like to try as thats the biggest downside to the gun.

I bought a new one yesterday and it came with two recoil springs, one softer, for use with with milder ammo. Manual says the stronger one is in the gun. It handled Feferal bult nicely and accuracy seemed fine, although I've not had time to put much thru it. The two springs interest me as my P22 doesn't like standard or non-high velocity ammo. Time will tell on the Mosq and i'll report when I've done more testing.

I use only the softer spring and still have trouble with anything less than hyper velocity stuff in the Mosq.

Funny, I just dug the link up for another forum this week as well. Enjoy.
Sigforum thread that should be a sticky!

Justin

Another thing to consider about .22s is they like to be soaked in oil. Just keep your bottle of CLP in your range bag and every few mags just put a drop on either side of the slide. keeps it slick and it will eject those lower velocity rounds better.

Roccobro: outstanding info on the Mosq. Be nice if they'd make a sticky. How about it mods?

edited: whoops, just noticed its on the Sig forum. Roccobro, did your trigger job consist mainly of buffling/polishing?

Holo- That is NOT true of the P22. It is a zinc slide and alum frame. A DRY lube is needed or the grit from oil and unfired powder wear exponentially faster on the parts. I use Otis dry lube spray.

Ulyflyer- I used a little stoning in the polishing of parts on top of buffing. I think the trigger bar is credited for most of the gritty feeling. So heavy stoning/polish of both sides of that go a long way to improving fee. I don't remember how much I took off the sear contacts. Just remember I squared them up.

Justin

@Roccobro - When at the range and it is hanging up, CLP wont hurt it excessively, but that is also why i suggested CLP because it has teflon particles suspended in the oil which work great once it dries. I do not have a p22 (rather a 22a) i still spray on CLP after the post-range cleaning and let it sit on a towel for about an hour to dry to let those teflon particles coat all the metal.

I had all sorts of issues with my sig mosquito until I switched to hyper velocity ammo (aguila, cci, brand doesn't seem to matter), and I greased (not rem oil) the snot out of it with TW-25. Now it never misfeeds or jams. It went from a gun I wanted to sell, to one I love shooting.

Just got thru running a couple hundred mixed variety thru the Mosq I bought last Sunday.
Also figured out that it has the soft spring, rather than hard one in it. Tried the hard spring and it handled CCI Mini's well, but not Federal bulk, Fiochi, or X-pert. The soft spring did extremely well with CCi' Mini's, Blazers, Federal Bulk, Fiochi; a number of hangups with Win Xpert, and lots of hangups with Rem Golden. Overall, Blazers seemed more accurate with Fed and Fiochi running a close second.

Since I have a P22 and read that parts for the Mosq are hard to come by, I tried the P22 recoil spring in the Mosq. Weirdly enough it handled the Rem Golden well, but not the Win Xpert. Federals worked fine too. So, If any of you get in a pinch, you can always find a P22 spring.

@Roccobro - When at the range and it is hanging up, CLP wont hurt it excessively, but that is also why i suggested CLP because it has teflon particles suspended in the oil which work great once it dries. I do not have a p22 (rather a 22a) i still spray on CLP after the post-range cleaning and let it sit on a towel for about an hour to dry to let those teflon particles coat all the metal.

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The P22 is "special" in that it uses such soft metals for a working firearm. As long as your not a heavy user any lube would work. Some 'heavy users" have seen failure and heavy wear at 10k rounds when using regular lube like CLP. After factory replacement they got 25k+ rounds through it with minimal wear by using dry lubes. Anything wet attracts and holds the grit that comes from shooting .22's.

Since I have a P22 and read that parts for the Mosq are hard to come by, I tried the P22 recoil spring in the Mosq. Weirdly enough it handled the Rem Golden well, but not the Win Xpert. Federals worked fine too. So, If any of you get in a pinch, you can always find a P22 spring.

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Now that is some interesting stuff! I'm going to try swapping spring next trip. Would be cool to get both guns working flawless on the same bulk ammo. Rem Golden Bullets work awesome in my P22 but lack oomph to cycle the Sig with soft spring ( which has less than 500 rounds of HV ammo under it's belt so far).

Justin

Sig Mosquito

recently purchased the Mosquito, fired 1500 round this month with CCI Mini Mag ammo (non HV) no FTF or FTE issues what-so-ever....the firearm has been a pleasure to shoot and light on the wallet.

I've had a Mosquito for about a year now, and it's a pretty mixed bag. It works almost ok if you feed it the ammo it likes (hyper velocity or CCI), but the trigger is awful even after a trigger job, and the accuracy sucks no matter what I've done or fed the gun.

I thought the Sig would be a good gun, and I suppose it's an ok trainer for low-cost, high-volume training. I just have a hard time really enjoying the gun because it's so hard to keep it shooting reliably and to know if shooting errors are the gun or me. I think I'm going to get rid of mine and get a CZ Kadet

Never shot a sig, but the p22 was my first handgun. I have never had any problem of any kind. Made in germany, life time warranty. After a hundred rounds I shot less than 3in groups at 25 yards with the 3.4 in barrel.