Walther P22

[minnesota oldie]

Just returned from my 3rd range trip with this little gun. Once I found out that it didn't like any ammo but CCI everything was fine until today when it stopped shooting. It apears that the firing pin might be broke since I see no strike mark of the brass. Tried recocking, the hammer falls but no boom, or should I say bang. This is after about 500 rounds. I'll send it back and see what happens. A fellow in the booth next to us had a new P22 also that he bought for his daughter and he must have run 500 straight through his about as fast as he could load and shoot and had no problems.
Any one else with good or bad things to say about this gun?

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I have a p22t (5") for my daughter. My experience is that once you get it broke in (about 1000 rnds) it is reliable and basically works. The only problems other then feeding is with the roll pin on the safety sliding out. One punch with a center punch finished that problem.

 

[Tropical Z]

Do these really have cast zinc slides?

 

[Mr. Mysterious]

I was thinking debating about getting a p22 or a u22 as a cheap shooter...but the p22 is beginning to scare me with all the reports on here. The u22, while I'm not fond of the design seems to be reliable. My only other real option then is the brownings or the rugers, and I don't like those designs either. So I guess that it is between the u22 and the lugers/brownings.

What do you think the problem is with the p22? A 22lr handgun or a rifle should be super reliable because of the number of rounds you'll be shooting through it. Problems under 10,000 rounds don't seem right.

 

[hksw]

The problem with my P22 had to do with the firing pin safety block and a small hump on the right upper side of the slide rail on the frame. The corner of the block would hit this little hump and slow down slide travel. This resulted in stovepipes. The slowing down of the slide, as best as I can deduce, is not only the block hitting the hump but also developing a burr where the two contacted and start to rub agains the slide. My solution was to srape a bevel on the hump to alow the block to travel without hitting. Scrape as in using a knife point to lightly whittle the corner. The frame metal is that soft that it is easily done with a knife. I don't think the slide is of zinc but the frame seems to be but I could be wrong. Difficult to do with a file due to the small area in concern. After this was done, the gun, at least mine, functions fine. No failures to eject/feed (except with Rem Thunderbolts whic fails to feed in a bunch of my .22 pistols and rifles).

It sounds as if the firing pin safety block is somehow not functioning properly.

 

[XLMiguel]

The P22 has been thoroughly discussed, try the search function and you will find all kinds of good, bad & ugly -

Tropical, the slide is indeed a zinc alloy (per S&W customer service), frame is polymer.

I've got about 750 rnds thru mine (3.4" bbl). I knew it preferred hi-velocity ammo, so I started with American Eagle HV, but it didn't have the beans to cycle reliably (25-30% FTE/FTF). Mine runs fine (100%) on CCI Mini Mags & Velocitors, PMC Zapper, and Winchester SuperX, didn't like Remington Viper (5-7% FTE/FTF), though it ran better on them than AE. The trigger has improved with use (was decent to begin with), and accuracy is good (3" @ 25') for a shorty. HTH

 

[hksw]

I meant the frame rails, not the frame.

 

[voodooman]

p22 test on the range

Hello all,

Its my first time posting, and it is on such a controversial gun! Took it for a spin today, shot about 350 rounds and had 6 failures to fire (no bang). However expection of these "no-bangers" DID have firing pin marks on them.

All shots were from Remington brass plated hollowpoints (value-pack). I have not tried mini-mags (CCI) yet, but will try later.

Otherwise, no jams, no stovepiping. 6 out of 350 shots = 98% which is fine, but from reading posts, it seems more problems MAY arise AFTER 500-1000 rounds. I will update as soon as I can with CCI.

I have to admit, i purchased this .22 version because of its looks...the other .22's are just so darn..... ugly , but just my opinion. hehe

 

[AK103K]

I got one of the 3.5" P22's a little while ago. Mine shoots and functions fine. At this point I've got about 500 rounds of regular Winchester LR's through it without a bobble. Feed's the mini mags fine too. I'm happy with mine, its a fun little pistol.

 

[Top_Notch]

I'm in the market for a fun 22. I've read a lot of reports about the P22 being unreliable and having problems. Bad roll pins on the safety, gouges, FTF's, firing pins, and others. I wouldn't mind if it took 500 rounds to break the gun in, but it seems to be it takes 500 rounds to break the gun. I'll be purchasing a Ruger. Sure, not the most elegant 22, but reliable.

 

[KLR]

I fired a P-22 at the range today - the shop owner took my wife and I to their indoor range and let us fire two magazines out of his personal P-22. I have looked at the previous threads on the P-22, it looks like from October 03 back there were a lot of problems. I would assume that a lot of them (magazines, roll pins, safety) have been resolved since then. What about the long-term durability. Any positive reports on recently purchased guns? My wife really liked the P-22, it is the first gun she has shown any interest in.

 

[minnesota oldie]

The P22 I bought for my wife now has well over 1500 rounds through it and is rapidly becoming my favorate .22 also. Once we got over the break in problems and feed it a steady diet of CCIs it continues to shoot well. I just put a red dot on it and my wife really likes it now.

 

[Scarface]

Hi minnesota oldie,

We bought our P22 about 9 months ago and have about 1,000 rounds through it. After our initial range visit, it became my Wife's pistol. Not my idea, hers. Guess who still gets to clean it?

We shoot Remington value packs through ours and have had zero problems, other than the roll pin backing out. When I sent it in for repair of the roll pin, S&W sent me back an extra magazine.

It's not a tack driver, at least when I shoot it, but it's a pretty accurate little shooter. I get about 2" groups at 10 yards.

I've heard of problems with them, but we like hers just fine.

Be well,

Scarfrace

 

[DougCxx]

Looks neato and is a handy little size-
-BUT-
I will not buy one until they drop the retail price to <$100, or until they start making them out of steel that you cannot (...ahem..) "carve with a pocket knife".

~

 

[jamz]

I will not buy one until they drop the retail price to <$100, or until they start making them out of steel that you cannot (...ahem..) "carve with a pocket knife".

What, just because it might melt if you leave it in a hot car?

I have one on layaway (Till my permit re-issuance comes in). It's one of the only .22lr autoloading pistols you are allowed to buy new here in MA.

-James

 

[Craig M. Arnold]

I bought a P22 when they first came out. I could not get a full magazine to fire without FTFs, FTEs, etc. I finally had to send the gun back to Smith & Wesson (at my expense). They did send me a new one. It functioned a little better than the first one, but not much. Smith &Wesson finally sent me a replacement magazine. After the second gun, a replacement magazine, hundreds of rounds of ammo and several months of frustration, the gun would shoot, most of the time provided that I used Winchester ammo. That was the only brand that it would work with. Even when the gun did work it was not very accurate. The P22 was the worst gun that I had ever had and I have had hundreds over the years. I finally got fed up and sold it. I have heard that the newer P22s are working better. I don't know. I just know that I will never have another one. Going to stick with my Browning Buckmark!

 

[KLR]

Wife and I went to the gun shop/range today and bought the P-22 (along with a new range bag, etc., etc.) The P-22 was kind of a mixed bag. She fired the first 70 or so rounds with only one CCI Mini-Mag that didn't go off. Fired on the second hit. As soon as she was sick of shooting, I took over and that is where the problems began. I had several more failures to fire. Each time it happened I automatically went into "Tap, Rack, etc." mode. When I did so, the extractor did not grab the unfired round in the chamber, allowing the next round to move up causing a double feed. It was a pain in the butt to get it out. I got to the point where if it failed to fire, I just pulled the trigger again which did fire the round, it ejected properly and stripped off the next round. I also had a few instances where the round went past the feed ramp and chamber and lodged against the top part of the barrel (right over the chamber). When I disassembled the gun, I found that the pin near the safety had drifted out preventing me from disengaging it. Using a wooden dowel I was able to drift it back in.

I also noticed that I couldn't engage the internal trigger lock unless the hammer was all the way down i.e. not at the little half cock notch.

I got a free 3-month membership at the range so I will probably be running a few more rounds through it. I'll probably try some different makes of .22 as well.

Wife did not like the Glock G-26 at all.