Walther P22

[gman1868]

I was wondering if any of you have abused one of these? How reliable or quirky is it? Please post your comments/reviews here, I'd appreciate it

I've read the few posts I can find and it doesn't seem promising... Does it matter now that S&W owns the Walther brand?

What are some alternatives that have a full slide? My wife wants a plinking gun that she can easily rack the slide and won't break the bank for ammo.

[DeanC]

My mom has one. It's a little chintzy. The muzzle brake isn't a muzzle brake, it's just a weight and it's held on with set screws.

I'd either get a BERSA Firestorm 22 or one of the 22 conversion kits for a 1911 or CZ.

[bstrawse]

I have a Sig Mosquito and a Walther P22 -- honestly, I think the P22 is a better built gun. I've had some issues with both of them.

I've had both on the bench for some adjustments and some spring work, even though the P22 was brand new when I got it.

I think they're both good training guns, but neither ran well for me out of the box.

b

[Holland&Holland]

Maybe just got a good one, or maybe jinxing myself by posting this but I have a p22 and have had no issues with it. Maybe 300 rounds through it now in about 3 range sessions and no malfunctions of any kind. I use remington golden packs as I have had good luck with these in semiauto rifles so...

[Bulldawg]

I worked the youth day event last fall at ERSC and the shooting bench I was operating had two P22's. One had the fake muzzle brake and the other did not (shorter barrel). We had close to 300 kids come through the event and each one that wanted to shoot the P22 was able to fire at least five rounds. When there wasn't a line we let them shoot more, must have gone through close to 2000 rounds that day. I started out using just the one with the fake muzzle brake because the barrel is a little longer and seemed to be a bit more accurate. I switched over to the shorter barrel model after a couple hours when the fake muzzle brake started to come loose and fall off. Both pistols worked worked quite well and there were very few cycling failures with them as long as you feed them high velocity ammo. They do seem to be somewhat cheaply built and I personally don't care for the mag release on them.

I'd either get a BERSA Firestorm 22 or one of the 22 conversion kits for a 1911 or CZ.

+1

I just bought a new Bersa Thunder 22 a month ago and am very happy with it. My wife really likes shooting it too. The accuracy seems better than that of the P22 (maybe just me) and they can be had for less than the P22 as well. I bought mine from the Gallery of Guns Gun Genie website for $239.00. You are welcome to shoot it sometime if you want.

My nephew has a Kimber .22 conversion for his 1911 and this is a great way to go too, if you have a 1911 already.

[onebohemian]

The older P22's had a design issue in the hammer, causing the hammer not to always reset when the slide would retract, especially with weaker ammo. This is why you see folks complaining about their P22s being finicky with ammo. There are also some stove bolts inside the gun that hold the critical pieces together, but those are known to come loose as the factory loctite was either weak or non-existent and their heads strip easily when being repaired. Some other screws in the older guns tend to loosen during shooting of these things too, again due to poor or no loctite. There's a DIY mod available online that requires grinding of the hammer/sear notch and hammer face, etc. to fix the failure to reset issue, and you can buy better stove bolts and blue loctite at a decent hardware store. S&W redesigned the hammer assembly though and that new part will fit in old guns.

Because the grip is very small, it's a nice entry level gun to teach kids on. The zinc slide and plastic frame are lightweight too, so it's not hard for kids to hold up on target. Trigger pull is obviously better than some revolver for kids too. Best advice though is to buy a newer one so you get the redesigned hammer already in the gun. Takes a lot of tinkering and fitment to make an older gun work 100% if you end up with one with a bad old designed hammer assembly.

Mark

[afossum]

A couple of months ago I picked up a ISSC M-22. They recommend using/breaking in with CCI mini mags or similar. At first using mini mags and a bunch of others I did have a few problems. But now with over 800 rounds through it, its worked great. Fun to shoot.

Al

[Squib Joe]

I have a new full-size EAA Witness 9mm with a 22LR conversion kit for under 500 bucks. Probably one of the nicest combo kits I've seen at the price. You would probably (with anything you choose) want to have her come in and try the slide first if you think it might be an issue.

[mnglocker]

Look for a Beretta 87 Cheetah.
http://www.berettausa.com/products/87-c ... eywords=87

[Erik_Pakieser]

Mine might be an anomaly, but it's got a couple of thousand rounds through it and works great. No broken parts and has proven very reliable.

[DeanC]

I have a new full-size EAA Witness 9mm with a 22LR conversion kit for under 500 bucks. Probably one of the nicest combo kits I've seen at the price. You would probably (with anything you choose) want to have her come in and try the slide first if you think it might be an issue.

Hand quivering towards credit card...

[gman1868]

Sounds like another trip to the gun store is in order to compare the guns you've all suggested.

Hopefully my better half will like one of them

[Erik_Pakieser]

Another option - a student in my last class brought a Ruger MkIII to qualify with. I liked that gun a lot, and might buy one if I can find one for a decent price. Definitely worth looking at.

For that matter, I'd say, based on my own experience, that the Ruger pistols are the best .22 pistol buy for the money.

I bought my P22 because it was dirt cheap ($179). I have not seen them since for that price.

[45Badger]

Have had P22 and Mosquito. Sold both for god reason. Have 3 rugers. They are reliable, accurate, and fun to shoot. I greatly prefer the mark 2s with bull or slab side barrels. Browning Buckmarks are also good and reasonably priced guns.

All you will ever need to know about making a P22 run-

http://www.spentbrass.com/pistol/walthe ... _bible.pdf

[GordyTheCook]

I love mine, I have had it a month and a half and put over 800 rounds threw it in that time. some issues with cheap ammo but I wouldn't give it up for the world.