New Walther P-22 - Ammo Question.

[egyas]

Hi guys. I just bought a new Walther P-22 for plinking and to teach my kids proper firearm safety and shooting.

My question is What kind of .22lr ammo can it shoot? The manual says nothing on the subject (other than .22lr), but I was wondering about more specifics. I was hoping that some other P-22 owners had experience in this area.

1) How well does it handle the subsonic (like Thunderbolt subsonic) ammo? Are they too weak to cycle it properly?

2) Will it handle 22 mag ammo?

3) Will it feed .22lr hollow-points or do they tend to jam? My friends Ruger 22 match pistol tends to jam them on the feed ramp.

4) Recommendations for specific brands or anything?

5) Thoughts?

 

[rcmodel]

Mine would not cycle at first with anything except Hi-Velocity or Hi-Speed.
I would at least shoot a brick of CCI or Winchester Hi-Velocity to break it in.
After that, you can try cheap Wallyworld bulk-pack ammo if you must.

I might avoid CCI Stingers, or other ultra hi velocity light bullet loads.

.22 Mag is a totally different caliber then .22 LR.

Mine works fine with either solids or hollow-points.

rc

 

[egyas]

Thanks for the advise rcmodel!

 

[rcmodel]

Little more advice.

Don't lose the little wrench used to tighten the muzzle collar up every time it works loose while shooting.

Or the plastic guide rod you have to use to put it back together after you take the slide off to clean it.

Oh! And never ever try to use the built-in gun lock.

If you even look at it squinty-eyed while it is locked, it will take an act of god and Mr. Walther his self to get it unlocked again!

rc

 

[Jim NE]

Boy, those P22's really feel good. I don't own one, haven't shot one, but held one at the gun store. The price on it was great, but I was surprised to hear of some issues that the guns generally had when I investigated online. That it was very particular as to ammo. Would you say it's MORE picky about ammo than the standard good quality .22 semi-auto? RCModel has kind of said it likes certain ammo best, but would you call the gun picky or finicky?

Also, I heard something about some of the parts that were made from sort of zinc alloy being less durable and more prone to fractures...any truth to this? Or just internet talk?

The price on a new one was only $249, for goodness sake. That seems like a steal. And it was so small and cool. I'd sure like to have one, but I'm trying to get a sense of it's reliability and durability.

 

[EAJ]

Enjoy! You'll find an excellent resource for the P-22 here.

 

[rcmodel]

The Walther P-22 started out life as a Umarex Airsoft gun.
Or at least the airsoft gun was first on the market.
http://www.umarexusa.com/product/Walther-P22-Airsoft,88,67.htm

Walther doesn't actually make the P-22.
Umarex makes the P-22 for Walther.

And yes, the slide is a zinc alloy casting with a steel breach-block pinned in place with a roll pin.

rc

 

[ulflyer]

I started mine off with about half doz brands of ammo. It wouldnt handle Rem Goldens at all, didn't like Win superX, and couple others. It did perfect with CCI Mini-mags but they are a bit pricy. Fiochi worked good, and Walmart bulk federals did pretty good. CCI Blazers worked best, next to Mini-mags. I have two other 22's that also like Blazers; Beretta Unos and Kimber 1911. The Beretta digests anything, the Kimber just about and has best sights, but the P22 after breakin and doing some mods, is simply more fun. BTW, most of these newer 22's have a lot of alloy/zinc, not just the P22.

Some were more accurate than others. I never tried HP as I have no need for them.

Might pay you to buy a box of several brands and see what yours like. They're not all the same.

 

[gofastman]

Here is my $.02 based on my experience with my .22
.22's are notoriously idiosyncratic so your mileage may vary, a lot.
If you want reliability: 40gr solid CCI mini mags.
If you want cheep plinking: Rem. Golden Bullets.
If you want a big boom and lots of muzzle flash: CCI Stingers.
If you want it for defence :banghead: Aguila Interceptors.

 

[Bmac9]

Mine needed hyper velocity ammo to start but now shoots most anything. Some thing in the 1200 range works great. The only problems feeding are the Yellow Jackets and that is only occasionally.

If you are starting your kids out with this pistol that laser sight will really show them how the pistol is moving around and help them learn to steady it before the shot.

Good luck.

 

[FCastle88]

Boy, those P22's really feel good. I don't own one, haven't shot one, but held one at the gun store. The price on it was great, but I was surprised to hear of some issues that the guns generally had when I investigated online. That it was very particular as to ammo. Would you say it's MORE picky about ammo than the standard good quality .22 semi-auto? RCModel has kind of said it likes certain ammo best, but would you call the gun picky or finicky?

Also, I heard something about some of the parts that were made from sort of zinc alloy being less durable and more prone to fractures...any truth to this? Or just internet talk?

The price on a new one was only $249, for goodness sake. That seems like a steal. And it was so small and cool. I'd sure like to have one, but I'm trying to get a sense of it's reliability and durability.

The slide is made of zinc, and has been known to crack, same with the Sig Mosquito. From posts on various sites they seem to be much more ammo picky than a Ruger or Browning .22. That is a very good price if it is indeed new, the cheapest I've seen online is $300, usually they go for $350-$400. Walther is supposed to have made some improvements to the design, so if you do get one I'd make sure to get a recent production model.

 

[Cokeman]

Little more advice.

Don't lose the little wrench used to tighten the muzzle collar up every time it works loose while shooting.

Or the plastic guide rod you have to use to put it back together after you take the slide off to clean it.

Oh! And never ever try to use the built-in gun lock.

If you even look at it squinty-eyed while it is locked, it will take an act of god and Mr. Walther his self to get it unlocked again!

rc

Mine never had the collar loosen. I've never used the plastic guide rod. I'm not sure if I even have it. You can take this gun apart yourself and fix it. It's really easy. Use this. P22 Bible I only shoot the cheap stuff.

 

[KIX]

My collar has loosened up, no big deal. Never had it pop out during a shooting session. This is my sons (he's 13) favorite pistol so far. LOVES it. He can shoot 350 rounds at a clip and it still works just fine.

Was fussy with ammo initially as many have stated. (I bought mine used for about a hundred bucks off the new price). Seems the previous owner never really broke it in when they returned it. Now, no problem, not really fussy with ammo either (except some hollow points pose some problems).

As discussed earlier, I also try to shoot 1200+ FPS ammo.

Also, I had more issues with the goofy guide rod extension. Don't use it now, don't even know where it is. Just put the spring on the guide rod. Compress it and put the guide rod on the slide. Now grab the guide rod from the front of the slide and continue to put the slide back on as required. Works just fine and I can't believe I wasted my time with that goofy guide rod extension in the first place.

When I teach classes, that little sucker is still extremely popular. I don't have a new model either, like 5 years old at least.

Jonathan

 

[Sky]

Broke mine in with Federal bulk ammo and liberal amounts of Breakfree CL. First two or three 100 rounds there were a few FTE or feed issues but now seems to work fine.
I have personally seen the top of the frame cracked on one and on another completely broken off at the gun range. I would be thoughtful before I used anything more than the CCI 36 gr 1260fps and even then I would inspect and clean thoroughly.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=583214 look at post #2 in particular.

 

[Rmiller31]

The p22 seems to like higher velocity ammo. For my guns that like high velocity stuff I use either 40gr cci mini mags or federal bulk pack the 333 or 555 stuff. I've yet to try too much else because those 2 brands have been excellent for me.

 

[dec41971]

Loads of fun shooting the P22. Mine is 12,000 rounds and counting. Occasional FTF but mostly reliable. Likes CCI mini mags.