Walther P22

[1hickey]

OK, I am admittedly a long gun kind of person, and being military too- never much liked the idea of an enemy getting close enough to warrant using a pistol.  I prefer to shoot them at distance with the Ma Deuce or the 25 mike-mike on a Bradley.   Anyway...I finally went and got my Nebraska handgun permit and put some money down on a little used Walther P22.  I've always liked these  little pistols, and I thought this would be a good starter.  I eventually want an XD .45ACP in two-tone.

Anyone got comments on the little Walther?  Has it got any issues I should be aware of?  This particular one doesn't have any whiz-bang stuff on it.  Just the .22LR pistol.

[Administrator]

I have always loved the way they look and feel. I owned a Walther P99AS for about a month this summer (traded it), and it was a nice gun. Take it for what it's worth since I've never owned a P22, but I have heard that they are prone to jamming a lot. However, there are a lot of websites that explain how to fix/tune them.

[Engineer5]

I been researching the P22's myself as I'm wanting to get one.  Everything I've heard is that they are picky with ammo and you should use high quality ammo.

[JimP]

Considering that Col. Cooper declared no home should be without a reliable .22 pistol, just for GP, I think this would be a good purchase, particularly if you are planning to get a similar full size pistol later on in life. I have a Ruger 22/45, because I am a 1911 man: same grip angle and control locations, so drills are essentially the same with any of my pistols, just cheaper with the Ruger.

[Chad McCumbers]

The P22 is the number 1 handgun for sales in my store.  It is a good little plinker.

The P22 is also a great host for a muzzle-mounted silencer as the muzzle is already threaded and the finished package is very quiet with a good silencer.

[Chris Z]

For what it costs the Walther P-22 is a decent little gun. It has been especially great for getting my kids started with handguns.

As said before, there is no such thing as a perfectly reliable .22

I recommend the 3.5" barrel model. I had both the 3.5" and the 5" barrel model. The longer barrel has a cheesey extension that clamps on to the barrel. On my gun, the stress of that extension banging against the slide caused by slide to break in half.

Sent it to Smith and Wesson, who ended up replacing the slide even though the gun was long out of its one year warranty.

[1hickey]

I noticed that extension deal.  Didn't much like it.  Good info.  Looking forward to running some rimfire through it this weekend.  I think I might want the laser for it....

[1hickey]

Well, got a chance to finally fire the little pistol.  Fun, to be sure, and not terribly bad to actually hit something with.   That's a Good Thing as far as I'm concerned with any pistol.  It was cantankerous with the Winchester rimfire I purchased, but that was some inexpensive bulk ammo.  I am going to try some of the better quality rimfire when I get a chance.  I've fired enough M16s that I am used to misfires