Walther P22 - Ditching the Slide Stop Spring

[JollyMon]

I have been having issues with my Walther P22 lately. Mostly the Slide Stop Spring keeps coming loose from under the slide stop. Has anyone removed this spring permanently? If so, has it affected the last-round-hold-open functionality? I have only been able to find one website that talks about the removal of the spring, and they reported that they had no issues after removal, as they claimed the mag spring was strong enough to lock the slide back. Just wondering if anyone else has removed the spring and their results.

Thanks.

 

[rcmodel]

The slide stop spring doesn't lock the slide open. The magazine spring and follower push the side stop up against the spring tension to lock it open.

The slide stop spring pushs it down so it automatacally pops down out of the way when shooting.

I think removing it would be a bad idea, as the slide stop would then be free to bounce around and lock the slide open anythime it wanted too. It could result in damage to the cast zink alloy slide where the slide stop notch is located.

Surely there is a way to stake the spring in place with a small punch, or glue it in place with a drop of lock-tight. I haven't the time to take mine apart so see how it is attached right now, so.

Mine has never moved out of place in all the years I have owned it, so there is some way to fasten it where it needs to be.

rc

 

[BCRider]

The slide stop spring also clicks into a notch in the pin to retain the slide stop in the gun as well as providing a light downward torque. So removing it is not a good idea. Doing so would allow the slide stop to not only float up and down but also to float side to side. If it should jump sideways as the placement gate in the slide is lined up correctly it will wear at the slide in that manner as well or possibly jam it altogether.

Likely the spring was staked in place at some point. This operation involves mashing a small divot of the frame metal out of place to retain the spring. If it isn't done right the chip of displaced metal can fracture and go away. Likely that is what happened to your gun. If you study the location of the spring likely you'll see something of the sort. If so just degrease the area and smear on a small bit of RTV silicone caulk to seal that point of the spring in place.

Rcmodel, because the spring retention point is exposed to too much air the RTV would be better than a threadlocker which only cures correctly due to an absence of air.