Walther P22 Issues?

[DRB]

I'm looking for some options for my 12 year old daughter who has been having a GREAT time shooting with me. Today I looked at a Walther P22 and when I got home I started to do some research and have found quite a few 'issues' posted online and wanted to come here for opinions since I have had very positive results from the people on this forum.

In particular, I am a bit concerned about the take-down issues as mentioned in this video. Since the video is almost 2 1/2 years old, I was wanting to know if these are real issues and if so, have any of them been fixed?

I am also open to looking at other firearms that are similar to this one in size and features so please be generous with your opinions/suggestions. All-in-all I am looking for a relatively inexpensive .22 semi-auto that my daughter can have fun with.

Thanks

[BETH]

welcome to the forum i think the p22 would be great i have one and i love it i think its a great gun

[TheGunClinger]

My wife has a P22 WALTHER. She was having problems with it..failure to feed, failure to eject. When this occured I would take it from her and try it to see if I could find the problem. It always seemed to work ok when I fired it. The problem was that she was limp wristing. If you hold it tight, it works flawlessly. There isnt much power in the .22's to cycle the slide and if you limp wrist, even a little bit, it wont cycle. Once we figgered that out the gun, gripped tight, worked great.

[Helix_FR]

The only thing difficult about putting the slide back on the P22 is the spring is far longer than the guide rod, so it tends to want to kink while placing the slide on. They do supply a tool to help guide the spring while assembling but a brass rod works too. Out of all the 22 handguns that have that centerfire handgun style, I think they run the second best to the CZ Kadet.(in that style, the Ruger MKIII is the best overall IMO) The Sig Mosquito is ammo sensitive. The CZ Kadet is just hard to find. There is also the MkIII, Buckmark, Neos, etc but only the P22, Kadet and Mosquito have the function of their centerfire counterparts. You could also look into the GSG 1911/22. They run well too. Don't let the bad things about assembly sway your decision, it isnt that bad.
http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-75-kadet/

[CampingJosh]

My P22 is a little ammo sensitive, but it's not too bad. It just isn't a fan of flat nosed bullets. No problems with CCI Mini Mags, Federal Auto Match, or any other round nose I've tried. It doesn't always feed Winchester XPert hollow points, but that's OK. I haven't tried the Winchester M22 bulk stuff yet, but I think I'll give it a shot before long. I'm starting to run low on .22s.

[Infidel]

I have a friend with a P-22 for several years now. He has had zero problems.

I just recently purchased a Sig 1911-22 that I am having a great time with. If you want to start training her to handle a 1911, this would be great gun to do so. It also would help you out if you are a 1911 shooter. Btw, the sig already has a rep for digesting anything you want to put through it. I fired about four different kinds through mine last weekend alone and it was great.

[jstanfield103]

I would look into the S&W 22A or the Beretta Neos. The 22A is a great 22 for the price. But it is more of a Target Pistol.
Good Luck

[6x6pinz]

have had my p22 for some time now. I can tell you the girls really like it. For some reason it has a feel that makes them less afraid to hold and shoot. The SW22A is the same way. I changed the barrel nut on mine to a threaded adapter. This allows me to use a fake silencer, which in turn allows me to use my 45rd drum. From the above video I would say this guy needs to learn what locktite is. I have never experienced the problems with the take down lock on my p22. The feeding issues on his he almost diagnoses himself. Seems his recoil spring is a little light. Could be from his fully compressing the spring all the time. It almost looks like he has spent more time taking the gun apart and putting it back together again then actually shooting it.
The pistol is backed by a great warranty so if he truly is having so many issues just send it back.

[fwbrc51]

Disassembly isn't really the big issue. It's putting the gun back together. It's not difficult after you try a few times to learn how it's done and it's not a huge setback as a deal breaker for me.

As far as other peoples' issues with failure problems, I've pretty much shot all the different types of ammo and it took my last box of purchased ammo to finally find what works FLAWLESSLY in my P22......drum-roll......Remington Golden Bullets.

These things cycle the action perfectly. While i've found that others do pretty good, they all have had their share of function issues, but the RGB's have been performing absolutly flawlessly. They have a slightly harder recoil than all the other .22lr ammo i've tried.
I buy the bulk box of them. They are a bit covered with gold dust, but what I do is I dump the entire box full onto a t-shirt and run the rounds around in shirt with my fingers to wipe the dust off of the rounds, then dump the rounds back into the box.
I will never buy other ammo for my P22, including CCI, which has had it's fair share of failure in my gun. BTW, I keep my P22 clean too.

RGB's come in short too, so watch out and don't buy those unless you intentionally have a need for them in another gun.

[jstgsn]

just for fun, look at a ruger bearcat as a gift for her. If you get a chance, pick one up and hold it. really nice gun.

[Nieman5]

I have a P22, and I have shot over 15000 rounds thru it.
I love this gun. If anyone is giving you information about it being a bad gun dont believe the hype.
It is extremely easy to load
It will improve your/ her shooting, shooter gun will test the skills
Cheaper than a lot of other .22LR pistols

[TheGunClinger]

Just hold it tight. Thats all I'm sayin.

[sburch]

I bought a P22 for my wife about 3 months ago. I liked it so much, I got one for myself today. However, when cleaning both guns, I noticed her recoil spring is about one-half inch shorter than mine. I discovered the difference the first I cleaned the second P22 and had a problem reassembling it. I plan on calling Walther Monday and ask why there's a difference. Based on the serial numbers, I think I know the reason for the difference - old model versus newer model. Anyway, as a fix, I just cut the spring in the second P22 to match the length and twist of the first P22.

[CCHolderinMaine]

Originally Posted by Helix_FR

The only thing difficult about putting the slide back on the P22 is the spring is far longer than the guide rod, so it tends to want to kink while placing the slide on. They do supply a tool to help guide the spring while assembling but a brass rod works too. Out of all the 22 handguns that have that centerfire handgun style, I think they run the second best to the CZ Kadet.(in that style, the Ruger MKIII is the best overall IMO) The Sig Mosquito is ammo sensitive. The CZ Kadet is just hard to find. There is also the MkIII, Buckmark, Neos, etc but only the P22, Kadet and Mosquito have the function of their centerfire counterparts. You could also look into the GSG 1911/22. They run well too. Don't let the bad things about assembly sway your decision, it isnt that bad.
http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-75-kadet/

If you're looking for a center-fire style .22 pistol, I would add a Ruger SR22 to the list as well. I love mine. After about 2000 rounds put through, I can't say enough good things about it.

[BETH]

i use cci mini mags for p22 never a problem

[hjsmith00843]

I have a P22. Great little weapon. Fires Remington Gold Bulk ammo perfectly. It does not like the Federal White Box.

I made a video of field stripping it without tools. Very easy to field strip the P22.