Walther P22 bites the dust! :(

I can understand why people bought them. Because they look nice & it has the Walther name on it. To me Walther & quality mean the same thing. At least it used to.

Now I do not understand how Walther can put their name on something like this. With the experts & engineers they should have at their disposal, can they not figure out that guns should not be made from cheap components ?
 
I've owned 2 of these pistols. I took the first one (my first pistol) out to the range after a nice cleaning and whoops, It jammed every 5th round and didn't fire in double action! After 6 months at Walther north america it still wasn't fixed and I complained until they finally replaced it with a shiny new one and even upgraded it to the stainless version. The new one works shoots very well
but has the "stabilizer" offset so that it's not possible to hang stuff on the accessory rail! Not that I would anyway. Think I'll be keepin' a close eye on the frame/slide, thanks for the heads up.
 
I got a number of PMs about various parts of the P22, so I decided to put the whole thing up for sale in the EE to see if anyone wants to take the whole thing.

In playing around with the gun since the slide-throwing incident on the weekend, I now see how it happened. The slide must have cracked or been severely weakened (even compared to what had been happening the past few months) on the second last shot. Then on the last shot, after the bullet leaves the gun the slide moves backwards, but because the slide is cracked wide open it isn't rigid enough to push the hammer all the way down. It pushes the hammer back a bit but then the hammer pushes the slide up and over the barrel, and the recoil spring does the rest in throwing the slide right off the gun. I know this to be the case because the gun will do this very thing now if you try and cycle it by hand.

For the people that were mentioning the Ruger .22s. My girlfriend has a Ruger 22/45. It's pretty fun and accurate. I've shot it a bazillion times, just like the P22. I can't really see myself getting another Ruger as long as she has one.

The Beretta 87 Target is the one I am looking at right now. Either that or a Hammerli - or maybe even a S&W 617 if I can find one at a decent price. Still thinking. It took me a couple of days to decide not try and keep going with a P22.
 
I'm happy no one got hurt.

I have thought of buying a P22 or even the Sig Mosquito just for the looks and for a fun plinker but quality and other problems have stopped those ideas. I don't know why they couldn't use a stronger metal for the slides.

I saw it listed in the Pistol exchange but it seemed to have been moved to a forum I have no access to. Any idea why it was moved? I hadn't read the ad but I assume you listed it as "broken". Did they tell you why was it moved?


Fudd
 
Ive got a P22 and my wife has a berretta Neos 22 and a classic K22 Masterpiece, I love the semi autos for rapid plinking, but damn, there isn't anything on the range that can touch the K22 for looks (it has that deep almost black bluing) and performance, its a target gun for sure. Id like to get the newer 617 just for the 10 shot cylinder, but if I could have only one, it would be the K22. My P22 can hit the coke can at range, but the K22 you can hit the dash in Coca-Cola.
 
ElmerFudd said:
I'm happy no one got hurt.

I have thought of buying a P22 or even the Sig Mosquito just for the looks and for a fun plinker but quality and other problems have stopped those ideas. I don't know why they couldn't use a stronger metal for the slides.

I saw it listed in the Pistol exchange but it seemed to have been moved to a forum I have no access to. Any idea why it was moved? I hadn't read the ad but I assume you listed it as "broken". Did they tell you why was it moved?


Fudd
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It got punted because I didn't list a specific price - which is against EE rules. That was my goof. I accept that.

I'll put it back up in some form - I might try and sell the 4 mags and the barrel seperately in the Parts EE. I'll see.
 
Seeing stuff like that makes me think safety glasses are not enough! :runaway:
Too bad welding masks and motorcycle helmets would be too uncomfortable to shoot in :D
 
I've seen other stories+pics of the same thing happening,
the slide and sometimes the whole gun was replaced for FREE by walther, no matter how old it was or what modifications had been made.
if the gun hasn't been sold, you should contact walther USA, just send an email to them.

Its worth more if it works ;)
 
Couple of people above have made good suggestions. Get a steel gun !

Ruger MkII, Browning Challenger, Colt Woodsman, K-22, High Standard, etc.

The bonus is that if you can get a good one second-hand, it will always be worth what you paid for it. Won't break. Won't wear out.

If you think that these new 'space age' looking guns don't 'do it for me', you're right.

TJ
 
Older P22s were know for their weak alloy slide. A fellow shooter purchased
one which was "mildly" used from a retail gun store. The slide cracked
after his second trip to the range with the gun.

I advised him to take it back to the store, get a refund a buy a Ruger MKII.
They didn't give him any grief. He has been very happy since.

The other big problem with the P22 was the safety would engage by itself
after firing a few rounds.

I think Walther corrected both the problems. The P22 is a very popular plinker,
with strong worldwide sales.
 
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Just keep your P22 away from high and hyper velocity ammo. The slide simply cannot take the pounding. Use something like CCI Standard Velocity, and stick with that consistently. If you are using the hot ammo, I would expect that you will start experiencing problems at around 15,000 rounds.
 
Of all 22's I think Walther is the biggest attention getter at the range. I got one I think somewhere January, used one for just over 300$. Great plinker, never failed for over 3000 rounds or maybe it was 4000. I used everything, right now I am feeding it Wichester wildcat or whatever it is called bulk boxes and bulk federal. Biggest problem is collecting brass for I usually put 300-400 rounds in one session. I like Bucknmarks and S&W's and all even Rugers are Ok when I do not look at them. But Walther is best toy gun.
 
Use JB Weld :D

Seriously though, that's weird. I've got probably 10k rounds through my P22 and no problems what-so-ever. It's my favorite .22LR handgun and I wouldn't go back on my decision to buy it at all. I'd call Walther and see what they say about it..... or use JB Weld, up to you :D
 
silverado7 said:
I just got a p22 as my first handgun... Kinda nervous now after reading some of your posts!!!
Hope mine lasts :D
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I think if you stick with a standard velocity ammo - something around 1000 to 1100 fps (those ratings are clocked for a rifle barrel, but go with what it says on the box) the gun will last a long, long time. I had the dumb idea of using a lot of high and hyper velocity ammo... and the result was a gun that didn't last. I was shooting mine a TON and that didn't help either, I would suspect.

If you look at the CCI webpage it has good breakdowns on their products:

http://www.cci-ammunition.com/ballistics/rimfire.aspx

CCI Standard Velocity is a 40 grain bullet going 1070 fps (from a rifle) at the muzzle. With a 4-5 inch barrel it will be going sub-1000 fps. Green Tag is basically a more expensive version of the same thing (3 times as much IIRC). Supposedly it is more accurate, but you will need a target (competition-type) gun to really see the difference.

I used a lot of Stinger ammo, cuz it was really fun to shoot. It has a huge muzzle flash and it feels almost like a small centrefire handgun with Stingers. It's sort of the +P+ of the rimfire world.

Stinger is a 32 gr. bullet going a whopping 1640 fps at the muzzle. That is like 60% more velocity (although lower bullet weight). The "Segmented Hollow Point" is the same ballistics, its just a different bullet. Both use the longer casing. The Stinger has the silver looking case. SHP looks brass.

Velocitor is a 40 grain going 1435 at the muzzle.

Mini-Mag is a 40 grain going 1235 at the muzzle.

Mini-Mag HP is a 36 grain going 1260.

If personally would not go beyond the Mini-Mag type ammo with the P22 if I had one again. Actually, I would stick with Standard Velocity and enjoy my P22 for years to come. They are fun guns, but they are not built like a centrefire SIG, GLOCK, etc. Not at all. They will not take a serious pounding for very long. I was the big booster of the the P22 on this board for a long time. I was talking about how mine was "going as strong as ever". Then it started to have that issue where the slide wouldn't lock the hammer all the way back consistently, then it blew up when my friends wife was shooting it. That was it for me and the P22. I had my fill.
 
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