Range Report: Walther P22

[mini14jac]

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.

 

[Reason]

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.

You know, that's been happening to me (and I have short fingernails ). The mag just drops all the time, and I have no idea whether it's me or the gun. The frequency varies, but it happens anywhere from once per mag to 10 times per mag. Really odd.

Other than that, I'm enjoying mine too!

 

[10-Ring]

As more & more people start buying the little Walther, I'm realizing it'll prolly end up on my to get list. Congrats!

 

[Darrin]

Winchester Wildcat lead nose

I cannot use this ammo in my P22. 7/10 rounds get bent because they don't ride up the ramp very well.

Rem. Hi Vel or Thunderbolts & CCI seem to be the winners so far.

Enjoy your P22, I love mine.

 

[blue86buick]

wow...perfect timing. I went out to the range with some friends last night, and had a great time. I had a fresh box of Winchester Super X (i think) ammo...it's the grey/black box for 8 bucks at Wal-Mart. Over a couple hours, we must've shot 300 rounds of that stuff...not a single jam in my 22/45. Anyway, to get on topic with the thread, as we were getting ready to leave, someone showed up with a P22 3.4". I asked if I could shoot it, and put 26 rounds of the Winchester through it.

1) No jams. 1 failure to feed (empty chamber), but I hadn't "tapped" the mag to seat the rounds like you're supposed to.

2) Accurate enough for me. At ~40 feet, I hit a pop can 8/10 shots.

3) FUN!

I am DEFINITLY getting one of these now.

BTW, has anyone else looked at the mag, and thought that if you were to shorted the follower, that you could fit more than 10 rounds in? It seems awfully tall...

 

[firestar]

I don't get the draw of these guns. They are not very accurate and all the ones I have ever seen jammed like crazy! The owners still though they were great little guns even after having to clear jams 50% of the time. I have heard good and bad about these guns but I have only seen the bad.

They cost at least as much as a Ruger yet they can't match the preformance in any way. Sounds like Kel-Tec, people like them even if they jam and have problems.

 

[9x19]

firestar,

Some of us have P22s (and Kel-Tecs) that work just fine... no jams, no accuarcy issues, no other problems.

Its a shame you've had other than good performance from your guns, but perhaps you just suffer from bad kahrma!?

 

[Darrin]

My P22 is very accurate in my hands.

Now that the mags and recoil spring have been replaced and as long as I feed it good ammo, no burps.

I'm satisfied with that.

 

[firestar]

9x19,
If you want to carry a Kel-Tec for self defense that is fine with me, just don't pretend that it is anything more than a cheap toy. The P-32 is a joke and anyone that carries one for self defense is toying with karma!

What are you gonna do if if you ever REALLY need to use your P-32 and the trigger axis is broke?

---Excuse me Mr. Bad Guy but my P-32 seems to have broken. If you would be so kind as to put off beating me like a red headed step child for 4-6 weeks, Kel-Tec should have it fixed by then and I could defend myself from you.----

I hear Kel-Tec has great customer service. Wake up!

 

[firestar]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

 

[HankB]

The owners still though they were great little guns even after having to clear jams 50% of the time.

the mags and recoil spring have been replaced . . . I'm satisfied with that.

Ah, the mystique of the Valtha.

Some people tolerate Teutonic kit guns . . . or is it gun kits? To each his own. The Walthers I've seen greatly impress me with their "feel" . . . but their observed performance, especially reliability, is, well, less impressive.

 

[9x19]

firestar,

I've owned my P-32s for a good long while, and nothing has ever broken on them. The second (range) gun gets about 50-100 rounds per month, so its had about 1700-2000 rounds thru it.

Based on the performance of my own examples, I don't anticipate any problems should I need them to fire in defense of my self. IME, they are good solid pistols capable of good accuracy at speed, and the smallest, lightest guns in their class.

Again, I think it a shame you have such poor luck with firearms. I hope the Beretta serves you well.

 

[cool45auto]

My first .22 was a Beretta Neos although I had shot a Ruger on many occasions. I love the Neos and how fun and cheap it is to shoot. Its funny you give a range report on the P22 because I was just looking at one at a gun shop to join my Neos.

 

[mini14jac]

I believe Walther has modified the mags for the P22.
New mags have slots cut for the rims of the top few rounds.
Early mags did not have this, and it apparently made the guns prone to jams.

I don't want to slam firestar's choice of guns, by my experience has been different from his.
We have two P32s, that are several years old.
They needed some work early on, but have never "broke".
They are now as reliable as any Glock, Kimber, Sig, etc.

I had a really nice Ruger MKII, that would keep a Coke can dancing all day at 25 yards. The odd thing was, when you picked up the can, there were very few holes in it.
When I shot the gun on paper, it was about 2" low, and 2" left from point of aim. Ruger would probably have fixed it, but it would have cost me $30 shipping, and the gun just wasn't fun for me.

Does that mean I'm going to say all Rugers are inaccurate pieces of junk?
That would be kind of childish wouldn't it.
Not everyone has had a good experience with KelTecs.
Or Rugers. Or Glocks, or Smiths, ..............

I'm honest about my guns, but I'm realistic too.
I probably shoot my guns more than 95% of the people who own guns.
If you've had a gun for three years and shot 50 rounds through it, I'm not going to be too interested in your opinion of that gun.
Depending on the caliber, I will have shot 1000-2000 rounds or more in that period of time.
I'm sure that those of you who compete may shoot more, but most gun owners just don't shoot that much.

I wouldn't have given a good review to the P22 if it wasn't a fun, reliable gun.
I have experienced the same FTF rate with the bulk ammo in the P22 as I did with the MKII, so it is easy to see where the fault lies.
But, this particular P22 is more accurate than that particular MKII.
This gun easily gets 2" groups at point of aim, with bulk ammo, from 20 yards. My Ruger couldn't have touched that.

Your mileage may vary.

(firestar,
Best of luck with your Beretta. I had one guy tell me that he had two, and they were both junk. Hopefully, yours will be better. He may have just been seeing the ammo sensitivity that so many small .22s have. I didn't ask.
With the .32 Beretta, the manual specifically says not to carry with a round in the chamber. -no hammer-block safety- I was wondering if the .22 is the same way?)

 

[firestar]

"I don't want to slam firestar's choice of guns, by my experience has been different from his.
We have two P32s, that are several years old.
They needed some work early on, but have never "broke".
They are now as reliable as any Glock, Kimber, Sig, etc."

Yeah, I'm sure all Glocks and Sigs have to go back to the factory "early on".

You have a Walther P-22 that is more accurate than a Ruger MK II? You must have gotten the "upgraded" P-22, you know the one that can outshoot any other gun on the market.

You may shoot your guns more than 95% of the general gun owning population but I seriously doubt that you shoot them more than 95% of the people here. Most people here are avid shooters than know their stuff. Don't take what I say so personally, I am only talking about a gun, I am not trying to slight you personally.

BTW, the only reason I got the Beretta was because of how reliable the ones were that I had seen in action. I believe my own eyes first and then I take into consideration the views of the many. I have personal knowledge of only 5 Kel-Tecs but all of them except one P-32 have been jammers and problematic guns. These include a P-40, a P-11, and 3 P-32s. I only owned one of them but friends have owned the others and they have reported and I have seen that they would jam. I think I am the only one out of my friends that had one break but you don't have to go too far to find someone who isn't happy with their Kel-Tec product.

 

[mini14jac]

firestar,
I think you missed the point of my post.
(And no, I didn't take it personally.)

I have had Glocks, Smiths, Rugers, etc. that needed work when new, or with just a few rounds fired.
I still believe all of these are good guns.

I was trying to get across that I had one Ruger that was not accurate, but I wouldn't slam the brand. I feel that Ruger makes excellent guns.
It is a fact that this P22 is more accurate than that Ruger was.
I didn't imply that this gun was more accurate than any Ruger.
From what I have read, Ruger makes some of the most accurate .22s on the market.
I just happened to get one that slipped by the Q.C. department.


Most people on this board probably shoot more than me.
From the pictures posted, just about everybody has more guns than I do.

My point was, if I say a gun is good or bad, it is because I have spent a lot of time at the range with it, and fired a variety of ammo with it.

Many people buy a gun and one box of ammo. They shoot half of the box, then put the rest away as their self-defense stash.
I have a friend that totally jammed up a Taurus PT111 while trying to take it down for cleaning. He sent it back to the factory.
When he he got it back, he said he would never field strip it again.
There are guys at my club that shoot 50-100 rounds per week on the clay range, but they only shoot their pistols once or twice a year.
I'm just the opposite.

If you do a search of my posts, you will see that I have frequently said that KelTec could use better quality control.
I do feel it is unfair to imply that anyone carrying one a P32 is tempting fate.
Any gun can and will break.
Probably when you need it the most.
Spend some time reading www.1911forum.com.
And those guns cost way more than a P32.

If you don't have confidence in a KelTec, you shouldn't carry one.

I really do hope the Beretta works out.
A reliable firearm is truly a plesure to own.

 

[firestar]

I really do hope the Beretta works out.

Me too.

 

[varoadking]

This gun easily gets 2" groups at point of aim, with bulk ammo, from 20 yards.

I'd love to see any P22 that could do that. I'd also like to see pigs fly...