Thought I'd let all the potential Walther P22 buyers know about my experience. 2 weeks ago I picked up a blued Walther P22 with an 04 manufacture date (bought new in a store). I'd been debating between a Ruger 22/45 with a 4.5" barrel, a Buckmark standard with URX grips, a Beretta Neos, and the P22. I chose the P22 because it fit my hands well and I liked the full-length slide with SA/DA trigger. I took it home, cleaned it and had nothing but good things to say about fit and finish. Then I made the mistake of taking it to the range (just kidding... but not).
The first range trip was uneventful, I put a little over 700 rounds through it and had no FTF's or FTE's. Extraction was a little wonky though. It would extract a bit to the right, some left, some up, some forward, some right back at me but the gun was new and it really wasn't too bad and most went right. I was beginning to think that they hype about the P22 being crap was a joke. Then I decided to take it to the range again (ok, this was mistake
). The second go with it I put about 200 rounds in it. I would have shot more but I had a LOT of ejections towards my face. I got hit quite a few too many times. The gun didn't jam but the extraction could only be described as erratic . I came home pretty ticked off that I had what was virtually a brand new gun that was useless to me.
Long story short I took it back to the store, who thankfully gave me a refund. I promptly spent the refund on a Ruger 22/45.
So, there is the change that my Walther was one of the bad ones and that many others are just fine (I assume this is the case). There is also the chance that they really aren't all that good. I paid $490, including tax, for the gun which I was willing to do for a good gun. I suppose that I could have attempted the extractor fixes from Rimfirecentral.com or sent it away to the factory for repair but I wasn't prepared to do so. If I wanted a project gun I would have bought a norinco I was looking for a trouble-free .22 that I could just shoot and not worry about.
*Not a Walther bash, I'm sure that there are a ton of happy P22 owners, I'm just not one of them. If I had more time/money to spend on shipping guns off for repair or trying to fix them myself then I'd probably buy another one.
The first range trip was uneventful, I put a little over 700 rounds through it and had no FTF's or FTE's. Extraction was a little wonky though. It would extract a bit to the right, some left, some up, some forward, some right back at me but the gun was new and it really wasn't too bad and most went right. I was beginning to think that they hype about the P22 being crap was a joke. Then I decided to take it to the range again (ok, this was mistake
). The second go with it I put about 200 rounds in it. I would have shot more but I had a LOT of ejections towards my face. I got hit quite a few too many times. The gun didn't jam but the extraction could only be described as erratic . I came home pretty ticked off that I had what was virtually a brand new gun that was useless to me.Long story short I took it back to the store, who thankfully gave me a refund. I promptly spent the refund on a Ruger 22/45.
So, there is the change that my Walther was one of the bad ones and that many others are just fine (I assume this is the case). There is also the chance that they really aren't all that good. I paid $490, including tax, for the gun which I was willing to do for a good gun. I suppose that I could have attempted the extractor fixes from Rimfirecentral.com or sent it away to the factory for repair but I wasn't prepared to do so. If I wanted a project gun I would have bought a norinco
I was looking for a trouble-free .22 that I could just shoot and not worry about.*Not a Walther bash, I'm sure that there are a ton of happy P22 owners, I'm just not one of them. If I had more time/money to spend on shipping guns off for repair or trying to fix them myself then I'd probably buy another one.
