What's with all the bad press on the Walther P22?

RB101

RB101

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Can someone tell me what I am missing? I have seen 3 or 4 threads here in the last few weeks with people looking for help or advice on selecting a .22 pistol. Several people have (very specifically) stated to stay away from the Walther. I got one in a trade last week and had a blast breaking it in today! It ate everything I would feed it, 200+ rds. of 3 different brands, functioned 100%, and was relatively accurate for a 3.5" barrel .22.
What's up? Sure, it's not a carry gun. Sure it may feel somewhat cheap and plastic. But for $299 NEW, even less slightly used, it's a great Saturday afternoon plinker?
Is it just too early to tell it's a P-O-S, or what gives?
 
No idea... never shot one myself, but I've noticed the same thing all over the place online regarding the Mosquito... and that's a great little gun. *shrug* Maybe people expect something more than the .22 plinker they're meant to be?
 
I had one but sold it. I just didn't like the mag release as part of the trigger guard. I mostly bought it for my ex-GF and she kept accidentally dropping the mag when she was shooting. I couldn't reproduce it myself, think it had something to do with the way she was gripping the gun (maybe one of her thumbs?). The gun was too small for my hands and I already had lots of 22's that I shoot..... I didn't have any issues with it, but would put it down on my list of first 22's I would recommend for somebody.(small side, short short sight radius, not a great trigger etc), but it is a nice plinker.
 
It's a cheap plinker like the Mosquito, so it will be crappy. Or, you could luck out and get a decent one. They all break eventually, even the decent
ones. A friend of mine, we put 22,000 rounds or so through his, and then the slide cracked in half. S&W replaced the whole upper. Mind you, that particular gun has been to the factory 3 times during its lifetime, too.

A Ruger MKII/III (or the 22/45) or an SW22A is going to have a better overall track record with regards to reliability, and none of those will cost much more.

The only upshot to the P22 is that it is smaller and lighter.

-Mike
 
BossHarley said:
I had one but sold it. I just didn't like the mag release as part of the trigger guard. I mostly bought it for my ex-GF and she kept accidentally dropping the mag when she was shooting. I couldn't reproduce it myself, think it had something to do with the way she was gripping the gun (maybe one of her thumbs?).
Click to expand...

The problem with the P22 is the grip is so damn small that unless you have the hands of a 5 year old it won't fit anywhere near normally. Most people end up putting the pad of their finger past the trigger instead of putting the pad of the finger right on the trigger. When the finger overextends, it hits the mag release on the left side of the pistol. It also doesn't help that a mouse farting nearby will make the mag release. (it doesn't take much pressure to get it to release. )

-Mike
 
drgrant said:
It's a cheap plinker like the Mosquito, so it will be crappy. Or, you could luck out and get a decent one. They all break eventually, even the decent
ones. A friend of mine, we put 22,000 rounds or so through his, and then the slide cracked in half. S&W replaced the whole upper. Mind you, that particular gun has been to the factory 3 times during its lifetime, too.

A Ruger MKII/III (or the 22/45) or an SW22A is going to have a better overall track record with regards to reliability, and none of those will cost much more.

The only upshot to the P22 is that it is smaller and lighter.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Do I dare ask what it went back to S&W for during those 3 trips? I'd be happy with 22,000 rds. out of a P22.
 
When my Wife became interested in shooting I bought a new one for her to use. It jammed (FTF, FTE) continually on 5 different brands/types of ammo. I polished the feedramp and sold it here on NES (with full disclosure). New buyer initially had no problems with it and later re-sold it.

I had lots of practice clearing jams with it and it aggravated both my Wife and myself.

End of story.
 
I picked one up in a trade awhile back. Eats everything I feed it, as accurate as you'd expect that category of .22 to be and my kids can shoot it without having to wrestle with the thing.

My Sig Mosquito will probably be going up for sale soon.
 
RKBA Personal Safety said:
I have one too and I find it's a great gun for the money. Zero problems.
Click to expand...

+1

I'm very happy with mine.

Early models had a lot of trouble...most attributable troubad magazines, but I haven't seen trouble with newer models.

Three of us who shoot it, have never dropped a mag unintentionally.

It is what it is....a great fun gun for under $300.00.

It's cheap to add a laser, and you can easily mount a silencer, if so inclined.
 
Last edited:
I like mine, but its a toy...

About 5-10% of the time it will fail to feed - so often that I instinctively whack the rear of the slide to drive it in.

It's not terribly accurate either. So, provided your expectations and use of the gun are in fitting with this level of reliability, then enjoy. I would not carry this gun even if I got past the idea of relying on a 22LR as an SD round (yes, I know its illustrious and surprisingly effective history, BUT...)
 
I don't have one but I found one thing interesting about it is that it comes with a threaded barrel. So if you are in a free state, it's suppressor ready with a correct adapter.
 
cekim said:
I like mine, but its a toy...
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%. But strictly as a toy, I think the thing is a blast. Hell, I TRIED to get it to jam, fed it some real old green crap .22 ammo and it spit it all out the other side. Promising to see there are a few people out there that have had positive experiences and enjoy the thing!
 
RB101 said:
Do I dare ask what it went back to S&W for during those 3 trips? I'd be happy with 22,000 rds. out of a P22.
Click to expand...

One time it was the slide cracking, and the other two times were the safety activating itself during firing, and another time it was the roll pin near the safety kept drifting out during firing.

-Mike
 
RB101 said:
Agreed 100%. But strictly as a toy, I think the thing is a blast. Hell, I TRIED to get it to jam, fed it some real old green crap .22 ammo and it spit it all out the other side. Promising to see there are a few people out there that have had positive experiences and enjoy the thing!
Click to expand...

For whatever it is or isn't worth, when that gun is working it eats pretty much anything marked as high velocity.

One word of warning though, DO NOT feed it remington thunderbolts. Not sure if the newer guns are like this, but the rifling in the P22 is "sharp" and causes excessive leading with the excessively soft bullets in that ammo. The gun was gummed up (clogged barrel, bullets coming out sideways because of all the leading!) in like 150 rounds of that stuff. If you are a skinflint, Rem golden bullet is fine, if you can put up with the bang bang "BANG BANG pop BANG bang pop BANG" business and dud rounds. The Fed HV bulk pack they sell at walmart is probably the safest bet. (And, at $19 for 550 rounds, its still a good deal. )

-Mike
 
Another thing you should know about the P22...

ALWAYS carry the barrel wrench with you when you go to the range. It helps to snug up the barrel nut before an extended outing. It tends to work itself loose during intense firing, and when the nut gets loose, whatever accuracy the gun has will go completely to hell. (The nut basically holds the barrel in place and aligns it).

-Mike
 
RB101 said:
Can someone tell me what I am missing? {SNIP} Several people have (very specifically) stated to stay away from the Walther. {SNIP} What's up?
Click to expand...

I too had heard of some issues but bought a used one anyway. When I first took it to the range, it would fire maybe 3 in 10. Lot's of FTF, FTE, feed jams, etc. So I started researching. My Issues:
  • Jam on Loading
  • FTF - Light Firing Pin Strikes
  • FTE - Stove Pipes
  • Walking Manual Safety Level, shifting from Fire to Safe mid use
  • Fail to hold the magazine, engage the Mag Safety
  • Bent / broken firing pin return spring
  • Gouges on interior of the slide

Lot's of the issues are flat design and manufacturing problems with the pistol, but each is resolvable with a little patience and some basic tool skills. And once you sort them out, the P22 is fun little plinker / learner pistol.

I found the best info at "rimfire central" in a series of posts all about the 'P22 Bible'. One enthusiast / hobbyist gun smith that posts there has done lot's of work on the P22 and posted tons of good info with plenty of pictures. S&W customer service has heard all the complaints before and is generally very helpful with parts (Springs, etc).

First, I gave it a good cleaning, then I polished the feed ramp as LENS has posted. Then I pulled the firing block and safety and filed the safety pin flat, re-worked the detent for the safety arm ballbearing. That helped solve that issue.

Next, I pulled the firing pin and ground the flashing and sharp edges left from stamping process and beveled leading edges a tiny bit. Dry firing the P22 kinks the Firing Pin return spring pretty easily, that was at root of the Light Strikes - spring gets kinked/bent and wont return teh pin back far enough, hammer doesn't strike it cleanly, and kinked inner works drag on the pin in any case... I replaced mine, but a bit of stretching helped a bit until S&W sent me the new spring.

I also found the trigger bar "ears" lopsided on left side, tracking unevenly, and gouging the slide... polished those down and bent the trigger bar back to nice squared or parallel piece with even spacing on the ears. It's still eating the slide but more slowly than before. I also had to adjust the extractor - just brute forced it a tad but it works fine

It might sound like a lot, but a few days of research and couple nights with an hour or two of work and it runs anything i feed it. I have the longer barrel version - but I don't think it's really any more accurate. Not a "Target" pistol, but plenty of fun for plinking, or first handgun experiences.

Hope you get 1000's of rounds of fun with yours.
 
I had one and sold it. I had quite a few issues with feeding and extracting. But, I could have lived with that. The thing about it (to me ) was that it was just, cheap. It felt cheap. It felt more like a toy than a gun.
But, it just did not do anything particularly well. It was not extremely accurate. It really wasn't a target gun. and with it's feed and extraction issues, it was just not a keeper for me.
 
I want one too but I was at Four Seasons and the sight actually fell off one of their new ones in the case. I knew it was a low end plasticy pistol but that really turned me cold on the model. Plus there's rumors of a newer model being released.
 
My P22 has been flawless. I've never cleaned it, and at this point I'm almost afraid to for fear of messing it up [laugh] I've fed it whatever .22 ammo I've had around, including some Wildcat that has jammed in everything else I've ever tried it in, and never a FTF or FTE. I bought it used and the seller told me basically the same thing.

Yes, it has a small grip. My son loves it, and I can hold it comfortably as well.

The front sight does in fact suck, it is a piece if soft plastic that just presses lightly into a hole in the slide. Mine has never fallen out, but it isn't exactly snug in there. If it develops any problems, a small dab of glue should take care of it though.
 
drgrant said:
One time it was the slide cracking, and the other two times were the safety activating itself during firing, and another time it was the roll pin near the safety kept drifting out during firing.

-Mike
Click to expand...

One thing I've seen is slides cracking when the barrel extension is used. The barrel is extended with a fixed block in front of the normal slide.

As the slide cycles, it appears that the forward motion sometimes causes the slide to impact with the fixed extension. Over time, that can cause a barrel split.

I've never used the extension myself, so have had no problems at all with the slide.
 
I've seen several on the range at my club. They were simply unreliable. FTF, FTE, FTGB, etc. Why buy a P22 when a Ruger MKII or MKIII is so much more gun?
 
LenS said:
When my Wife became interested in shooting I bought a new one for her to use. It jammed (FTF, FTE) continually on 5 different brands/types of ammo. I polished the feedramp and sold it here on NES (with full disclosure). New buyer initially had no problems with it and later re-sold it.

I had lots of practice clearing jams with it and it aggravated both my Wife and myself.

End of story.
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same here, except for the part about his wife.
 
I had one. labelled it "The Worlds Most Inaccurate Handgun". I only had it for my wife and son to shoot. tried all kinds of ammo, followed the articles on rimfirecentral, used locktite to make sure parts did not come loose, fixed the wobbling safety, etc. When it still jammed, FTE or FTF once on every magazine, no one wanted to shoot it and I sold it for a loss. The gun is a turd.
 
Titan said:
One thing I've seen is slides cracking when the barrel extension is used. The barrel is extended with a fixed block in front of the normal slide.
Click to expand...

The gun in question was just bone stock 3.4?" inch barrel when the slide cracked. It eventually got a 5" kit but that was long after the slide broke.

-Mike
 
I had one and I found mine to be pretty accurate. Sometimes it would not feed properly but once it was broken in it worked pretty well. The thing that I didn't like was the overall quality, as someone else said it felt like a toy. I felt like one of the times shooting it that it was just going to break. The breakdown and reassembly was also a huge pain. I traded it in toward a Sig Mosquito which in my opinion is no better. I will probably be unloading that soon.
 

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