Walther P-22

[Redneck with a 40]

I'm seriously considering buying one of these. If anyone here has experience with the P-22, is it reliable, and accurate? I really like the fact that it looks just like the P-99, only smaller. My local dealer has one for $279, I'm thinking about trading my 22/45 for the P-22. I figure the P-22 would be a good choice for a fun gun to shoot on the cheap, no reloading, ammo is dirt cheap. I could fire 100 rounds/week and not break the bank.

 

[scurtis_34471]

I have one and I really like it, but there are two things you need to know.

1. This gun does not like cheap ammo. It is flawless with Stingers and Mini-Mags, but is a jam-o-matic with standard velocity ammo. It doesn't even like all high velocity rounds. You need to just find what works and stick with it. For me, that's CCI Stingers or Mini-Mags.

2. This gun is no tack driver. It is accurate enough to practice defensive shooting. I can dump the entire magazine rapid fire through the head of a silouette at 15 yards, but forget about tight groups and ragged holes. If you want to shoot a nice ragged hole where the bullseye used to be, this s not the gun for you.

Having said that, its a cool little gun that is a lot of fun to shoot and very reliable with the right ammo.

 

[usp9]

Unlike scurtis_34471's experience, mine has been postive with cheap, bulk ammo. So far with Remmington and Federal bulk my P22 has not had a failure of any kind. It does like Mini Mag too. I've been very happy with this neat little gun. I paid $325 for the two barrel set, but I'd been happy with the short barrel only I think.

 

[marriedguy1]

My P22 is just like scurtis_34471's. I like to shoot though and will keep it for a long time. My wife likes to shoot it and I let her go to town with it at the range while I get to shoot my other stuff.

 

[scurtis_34471]

I've put nearly 1000 rounds through mine in the the four months I've owned it and every time I use bulk ammo, I have the same problems. The main issue is that the slide does not fully cycle. Sometimes that causes a failure to eject. Often times, it simply causes failure to load. Racking the slide after every few shots can get real old real fast. I tried to avoid this issue by using cheap high velocity bulk ammo and its better, but it still isn't 100%. The only stuff that works for me all the time is the good stuff.

 

[MT GUNNY]

Yes Stingers work great

It will not cycle if you limp rist it.
Failure to eject is caused by a
extractor that cannot grip rim of
shell. With a dremmel and the barrel
removed you can thin the area where the extractor sits,
you also have to shave exractor arm a little
wher it contacs the chamber.
That will allow positive grip of the cartrige.
The hammer is a little light which causes some miss
fires during double action firing.
Rear adjustible sight is allways loose,
Im still trying to figure out what to do about that?
Barrel nut always comes loose, try tightening it when its hot

Other than that I enjoy firing it

 

[brett30030]

It will not cycle if you limp rist it.

Wouldn't you have to try to limp wrist a .22 auto?

I bought one for $239 NIB. I have not had many issues with cheap ammo, other than having to bump it every once in a while to get the slide to close. And it tends to eject at an angle that always seems to lob a hot cartridge between by safety glasses and eyebrow once every trip to the range. I think that the main problem with them is the sights are not very good. I shoot it almost every time i go to the range (usually at least 250 rounds per trip with the gun). I don't hate the gun, but wish i had bought a ruger, and would not buy one again. They do look good though

 

[FieroCDSP]

I liked it. I got to fire a friend's p22 while mine is still in layaway. No jagged holes, but certainly good enough for practice or beginner learning. The one I fired was the 3 inch barrel. Can anyone report better accuracy with the 5 inch barrel?

 

[KINGMAX]

I own a P22

I own a P22. I really like it, except for putting it back together after cleaning. It has a little plastic rod and a spring that you have to line up that will slow you down. It is very accurate pistol. Be sure to load the magazine carefully sliding one round in on top of the previous one. Once loaded tap the mag on the heal of your hand to seat the rounds in the magazine. It seats the rounds nice and tight. It will reduced jams and misfeeds.

You can even get a 3.25 inch barrel. You can even get a 'Flash Suppessor that even acts as a slincer. All legal.

 

[markmc753]

I had a p22... fun to shoot, feeding problems, cheaply made. Traded it and got a Firestorm 22lr: similiar size, fun to shoot, reliable, well made, simply to clean

 

[AK103K]

Mine has been a fun little pistol so far. Plenty accurate at 15-20 yards, and mines been reliable.

Its fed everything I've put in it so far. I'm using the spring that came installed, which is the lighter one I believe. I mostly shoot the cheap stuff, a lot of which is some old Winchester Super X I have around, and I've shot Stingers and Mini Mags without a hitch.

Those of you having troubles with different ammo, have you tried it with the other spring?

 

[MartinBrody]

They very fun and mine is very reliable (it never jams!). Accuracy is not so hot, but why does it need to be as accurate as a boring Ruger or Buckmark.

These targets are from a Walther P22 and Sig Mosquito, 21 feet, 10 rounds of CCI Minimag. As you can see they are accurate enough to still be fun.

 

[C-grunt]

GOOD BUY

I broke mine in with CCI stingers (300 rnds) and now shoot only Federal bulk pack through it. Mine doesnt like Remington stuff. I shot it today and finally cleaned it after roughly 3000 rounds through it without cleaning. I experienced 5 malfunctions in that time. Im probably closing in on 10,000 rounds total since I bought it in 2004.

BAD:
If you are shooting fast and do a quick mag change, slapping to hard while seating the mag can cause the top round to stick up at an awkward angle causing a jam. The rear sight is always loose. Its not very accurate.

GOOD:
Lightweight and small. Very fun to shoot. Not very expensive. Threaded barrel if you want a suppressor. Reliable.

I would buy another in a heartbeat.

 

[evan price]

Paid $229 for mine brand new, heard all the horror stories about them being jamm-o-matics, needing Stingers to run right ,etc.

Well, I broke mine in with lubing and dry cycling the action a few dozen times and it quit feeling new and stiff and started feeling like smooth oily glass.

Then I shot an entire box of 550 "Golden Bullet" Wal*Mart $8.99 hollow points through it. Only problem I ever had was that if I put in a full mag and tried to release the slide by pushing down the slide release, it would sometimes jam the first bullet on the feed ramp. If I closed the slide by pulling it back and releasing it this would not happen. I think the hollow point bullet needed that extra shove from having the recoil spring compressed all the way. Some of the "Golden Bullet" hollowpoint noses are sort of dinged up from being bulk dumped in a box and I think that caused some of the trouble too.

Other than that I had zero problems with it, it was getting me 3-4" groups at 25' and was a lot of good cheap wholesome fun.

IMHO the 3.42" version (the standard one) is no less accurate than the 5" one with the Faux Compensator on it, the only difference is the Fauxpensator has to be removed to take it down for cleaning which is an extra annoying thing to deal with. Save the $40 and get a 3.42" version and never mind the 5" Fauxpensated one. And don't waste money on the laser either. The P22 isn't accurate enough to be making long range laser guided shots.

My advice is to not loose the little black plastic rod they give you to reassemble the recoil spring into the frame. The first time I took it apart I never read the Manual and did it by myself by hand and cussed for about ten minutes before I got it on. I thought the rod was a piece of excess sprue or some trash left in the box mistakenly. Whoops, glad I didn't throw it out. Much more easy when you do it the way Walther intended.

So, a good fun plinker, not so accurate that it will be stealing away competition trophies from a Ruger or a Buckmark. But inexpensive, fun, and feels like a "real" gun so great for training.

 

[usp9]

AK103K
Mine has been a fun little pistol so far. Plenty accurate at 15-20 yards, and mines been reliable.

Its fed everything I've put in it so far. I'm using the spring that came installed, which is the lighter one I believe. I mostly shoot the cheap stuff, a lot of which is some old Winchester Super X I have around, and I've shot Stingers and Mini Mags without a hitch.

Those of you having troubles with different ammo, have you tried it with the other spring?

What extra spring? Mine only came with one installed. Are there supposed to be two like in the Sig?

How do you use the little plastic rod to reinstall the recoil spring? The rod will not fit through the guide rod hole.

 

[AK103K]

The gun should have come with two springs, like the Mosquito.

My guide rod is metal, what plastic rod are you talking about?

 

[mfree]

Salient points on the P22

1. There are two points to check occasionally; Make sure both the barrel nut and the philips head screw in the side of the frame are tight.

2. There are directions out there on how to deal with a "saggy" safety.

3. Most P22s need better ammo to start and then loosen to the point where standard ammo works.

4. Some early P22s (like mine) have a sharp chamber edge that can catch and slice softer lead bullets. That could explain some feeding issues.

5. It's *FUN*. That makes up for nearly all of that junk.

And as for the recoil spring; here's how I do it. Take the spring and guide rod, and bunch the spring up on the rod with your fingers. Then insert the guide rod through the slide and grab it from the nose of the pistol and keep the spring compressed. Then mount the slide on the frame, and when it's about halfway on you can let go of the guide rod. You may need to wiggle it a little to get it to fall into the retention hole in the frame. Voila, done... and much faster than with the fiddly helper rod they include.

 

[Sniper X]

have one and love it. It is accurate for the cost, nice to look at, and cycles everything I have put through it almost flawlessly except that cheap WalMart Remington bulk pac. It does cycle any hot stuff perfectly and accurately and I have the short barrel one. I even carry it CCW when I am wearing something hard to hide a gun under. That and my 605.

 

[Zero_DgZ]

Mine worked just fine with any old cheap ammo I stuffed in there. Mostly Federal bulk pack but also Thunderbolts, Golden Bullets (ugh) and other odds and ends... even the Remington Subsonics.

Accuracy was about what you'd expect from an auto with a 2" barrel... Not laser accurate, but not minute-of-shotgun-blast, either.

 

[mfree]

Mine was an early one and hence was a labor of love... wouldn't feed right out of the box, turned out the chamber edge was razor sharp. After a few thousand rounds the safety loosened up and I deepened the detent holes to hold them in place.

After about the 5000 round mark and an ungodly amount of dry-fire practice, the trigger bar went out of spec and wouldn't fire on double action. S&W replaced it wholesale.

So... let's see how long the (free) new one runs