Question about the wifes walther P22

[kermit315]

Hey guys,

I have a question about my wifes P22. sometimes when she racks the slide back on a magazine, and lets it come back under the power of the recoil spring, the hammer will follow it down to half cock. I am pretty confident it isnt supposed to do this. doesnt happen if it locks back and you put a new mag in and drop the slide release, but does happen if it is a fresh mag and you manually rack the slide.

Any ideas guys. Is this thing worn out or am I missing something. I just took it apart and cleaned it. Didnt see anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks,

Jamie

 

[FieroCDSP]

It's not supposed to do that. Let me get mine out and see if I can't figure out what might be going on.

 

[FieroCDSP]

Okay...first, do you have a copy of the "P22 Bible" pdf? If not, PM me with your Email and I'll send it to you. THis is an invaluable thing to have as it shows, in decent detail, how the thing is put together, and a lot of fixes to common wear and feeding issues. Even if you're not a minor-league gunsmith, it's interesting reading.

Second... How long has she had it, and is it second hand or purchased new?

Third, I'm not an armorer, so what I say is not the last word

 

[lt1aggie]

Fiero - I sent you a pm.

 

[kermit315]

bought new in August. about 1300 rounds through it with no other problems than this and occasionally the slide wont lock back on last round, but i attribute that to dirty mags and I havent figured out how to take them apart to properly clean them, so I am thinking I am going to blast them with gun scrubber and a light dab of clp and call it good.


PM inbound, and thanks for the help.

Jamie

 

[FieroCDSP]

okay, mags come apart from the bottom. Use a punch and push in on the button in the base-plate bottom. The plate slides off towards the front of the mag. Just make sure you put the spring in the same side up as you take it out.

Now, one possible issue with the half cock is your sear could be worn or chipped, resulting in the hammer slipping. The hammer notch for full-cock could also be worn or chipped, since this is the most common firing position. Page 18 of the bible has a good pict of the relationship of these parts. You shouldn't see that kind of wear after that few rounds, but these are not exactly a Smith & Wesson here.

The other issue I can possible image is the trigger-bar being forced by something under the ear, but the trigger would have to be pulled slightly to release the sear enough to let it slip.

I'm betting on wear to the hammer or sear. WIth the picts in the bible, you might be able to find what exactly is wrong, but with the gun being that young, you might just call Smith & Wesson customer service and see what they can do for you since they're the importer.

 

[FieroCDSP]

Look for rounding on the contact surface of the sear and the hammer. You should be able to see this with just the slide off, but if you want to fully disassemble it,that's your call. Have a plastic bag handy, as you'll probably want to take the internals apart in that, as the springs can possibly take a hike somewhere. Should you lose one, especially into carpet, use a large speaker magnet.


Also, you might look carefully at teh sear spring and make sure it's not broken or installed wrong. If it's broke, it could be failing to drop into place on occasion.

 

[kermit315]

thanks for the info. I am getting ready to head to bed for the night (damn early morning is coming). I will do this after work tomorrow and get back to you with what I find.

Thanks,

Jamie

 

[kermit315]

Been busy at work, so I didnt get to work on it till tonight.

I stripped it down to parade rest and found a bunch of gunk between the sides of the hammer and both sides of the reciever clamshell. Not to mention random gunk throughout the rest of the gun. I had never stripped the gun down that far before, and it looked like factory stuff.

Seems to be working good now, I am going to the range this weekend to run some rounds through it and the rifle, so I will let you know what I find.