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View Full Version : Another Walther P22 Review\Rant & Rave


stingraylynx
January 31, 2010, 01:14 PM
First my review of the Walther P22 so far. Will try and keep this updated as I shoot it.

Bought one new last Thursday. 3.5" barrel blued for under $300 after sale and gift card. :cool: Took it to the local indoor range and shot off a 100 rounds. Used Federal Champion 40 grain solids, Remington Cyclone 36 gr hollow points and Winchester 36 gr plated hollow points. Figured the Remingtons would FTF or FTE eject but not a single FTF or FTE from any of the ammo. Wasn't trying for accuracy but seems dead on. So far the best feeling grip I have felt in a pistol. Easy to break apart and reassemble.

Ok now my rant and raves. :(

I have read alot of reviews about the P22 and was surprised about the complaints. In regards to the P22 being a CCW, who really uses 22lr for a self defense weapon? If your so concerned about it go for a higher caliber. Its like using a .223 on an elk. Ya if you pump him full of lead he will die but a 7mm mag or a 270 will drop him after around 50 yds.

As for FTF or FTE of the P22. I have shot a Ruger 10/22, own a Marlin 795, and owned a Ruger Mark III 22/45 hunter. All .22lr and everyone has its FTF FTE and there are no major complains about them. In fact the 10/22 is one of the most respected 22 rifles out there especially for moders. .22lr are not the most reliable ammo out there. Face it. They are called cheap ammo for a reason. Plus with the ammo rush it seems like the quality control stepped out for a really long coffee break until the supply caught up.

As for the trigger guard magazine release. I learned how to use it in about 30 seconds and have gotten very accustomed to it. Release just as easy as a thumb release for me. But then again I have small hands and long fingers. I just slightly rotate the gun in my hand until my thumb can press the release. You'll either love or hate it.

Am I missing any other big complaints?

Just one final comment for now. When thinking about buying this gun or shooting it just remember that it was basically designed and sold as a P99\semi-auto training gun. Able to get the feel of a P99 and shooting a semi-auto pistol without the expense of higher calibers.

Also as an added benefit when it FTF you can practice using the dual action trigger and try refiring and if it doesn't shoot the the ejection practice that very unlikely would happen in a centerfire bullet but if it ever does you'll be prepared. :D

stingraylynx
January 31, 2010, 01:37 PM
Just remember that I also wanted to add when I bought mine there was a guy who got there just before me and was buying his second one. Then the guy after me(It was a good sale. P22 for $300) was buying one after shooting his friends P22.

HisSoldier
January 31, 2010, 02:53 PM
Am I missing any other big complaints?

Only because you asked. The slides are made of Zamak, a 96% zinc alloy that many of us consider to be a poor choice for gun material. I would never buy a gun that I knew had even one tiny part in it made of Zamak myself, but the American public is pretty undiscriminating about gun materials these last 40 years or so. That would be the major complaint, far above anything you mentioned.

stingraylynx
January 31, 2010, 03:28 PM
Thanks HisSolder.

Forgot about that. Not alot of people have complained about that in the forums. As much as will use mine in the long run not too concerned about it. Will keep an eye on the slide and file some edges if need be.

XD Gunner
January 31, 2010, 03:34 PM
So far the best feeling grip I have felt in a pistol.

Agreed. I loved the way mine felt and handled, I wish it had been more reliable/accurate.

Glad you like yours!

LimaKiloTango
January 31, 2010, 03:45 PM
I was out at the range this morning with my P22 and XDm9. One of the bays has a set of steel plates. If I put a little oil on the pivots, my P22 can knock most of the over but the one all the way to the right wouldn't budge. Funny watching them go over - not a lot of energy in those little rounds!

That said, it's been an enjoyable pistol, cheap to shoot and reliable with about 4k rounds through it, mostly minimags. I would keep it but realize its shortcomings as a carry weapon so its for sale and either a PPS or Taurus 709 is on the short list.

Cheapshooter
January 31, 2010, 04:41 PM
Another good report on the P22. Glad to hear it. I have decided to get one, probably tomorow at BPS in Springfield. The one here in St.Louis only has the long barrel so I will check if the "home office" has a short barrel model. Would probably get a better price elsewhere, but I have gift cards and rewards points to use up at Bass Pro.

Zamak smamak! It's a $300 plinker, not a $1200 S&W 41.

Pilot
January 31, 2010, 04:49 PM
All .22lr and everyone has its FTF FTE and there are no major complains about them.

This is a fallacy. If ANY gun I owns doesn't work properly I fix it or sell it. I have three Ruger MK II's, a CZ Kadet, Benelli MP95e and Ruger 10/22. All semi autos in .22LR. All run 100%, and are boringly reliable even with Federal Bulk ammo (except I shoot only standard vel. in the Benelli). Several friends have Buckmarks. Again, they shoot everything.

Yes, some .22's can be ammo finicky. OK, but better ammo usually will work reliably or a mag or extractor tune may be in order. My point is, any quality .22 semi auto shoud work reliably or it needs to be fixed.

If the P22 works for you, that is great! Have fun with it!

stingraylynx
January 31, 2010, 05:18 PM
I guess my point with the 22lr ammo is the fact that some guns are ammo pick and am tired of people knocking a gun because it uses a higher tension spring that cheap ammo doesn't have the powder to kick it back.

From my experiance FTF was from the ammo and not the gun. Some I reused in the same gun(I know probably a big no-no but was for testing purposes) and most fired. The primer probably wasn't aligned right in the shell if I am assuming right on how a 22 rimfire works. The same was ammo in 2 guns and both had issues that other brands shot great.

Also the 10/22 FTE issues was more of a gun that my dad never really cleans or oils until I broke it all the way down and cleaned a threw on decent weaver scope rings. Works great now. But also was using better ammo in it at the time.

fmrfed
September 10, 2010, 12:42 PM
Every time I go to a forum on any kind of handgun, I see that there are numerous people who have opinions but little or no knowledge about firearms. Some pepole down play the Walther P22 by it should not be used as a CCW. I was in Law Enfoecement with over 35 years of service and have been a fire arms instructor since 1970, beleive me the .22 cal CCI Singer Hollow Point is a deadly little round in any .22 cal. If You own a .22 carry it as a CCW use the CCI Stinger, it may take 2 rounds to stop someone but it's better than a scream. Dont let these folks who think you need a .45 cal as a CCW discourage you. Just check around and see how many people have been shot and killed with a .22 I think if they could they would argue the point with those who discourage the so called plinkers. I often carry a Walther P22 and sometimes carry my Glock 27, I feel secure with either.

aerojef
January 10, 2011, 12:12 AM
Wow. I know this is an old thread, and I've read many old threads, but I think it's worthwhile to defend the .22 calibre pistol for a moment.

First off, I've been a certified emergency paramedic for the last 17 years and I'm a college paramedic instructor. I think I know something about ballistics - both from training and from what I've seen first hand in the field. Well more than half of all the fatal gunshot victims in my career have been from .22 rounds.

It's not the "stopping power" that you hear so much about that makes the difference - unless they are wearing body armor. A .22 round will enter the body with lower velocity (a plus, really), tumble around like a higher velocity round will NOT do, and create havoc within tissue structures. It's the cavitation from a tumbling round that causes the most damage. I've read posts claiming that people will bleed out from higher calibre weapons faster - this is (usually) not true. People forget that internal bleeding is often a bigger problem than external bleeding. It isn't always the bleeding that you SEE. A high-calibre round that tumbles less, with a smaller-profile shock wave pattern, will not compress living tissue like a .22 or 9mm round will do, and will tend to pass straight through the body - doing little to no damage to vital structures, depending on the entrance point and angle. Of course, when shooting a higher calibre, accuracy is everything because of this.

I'd take a .22 round against an unarmored opponent any day, and I'd stake the lives of myself and my family on it. My wife is a trauma nurse, former paramedic and gun enthusiast (and she agrees).

Yes, with a .45 round, you can stop a person, but it has a smaller chance of doing real damage based off the shock wave patterns and compression of the round. I'd much rather have a small calibre round chew the person up on the inside and finish the job, rather than have a big, ugly exit wound with little to no internal damage.

I hope this helps those who think it's all about "stopping power". It's not - it's about the physical forces against the human body and what you want to accomplish. Personally, if someone threatens the lives of my family or myself I intend to kill them, and that's almost guaranteed with a .22 pistol versus a larger round that won't do nearly the kinetic damage - provided one has done his homework on human anatomy, kinematics and the effects of body armor.

Everything I've read so far has been from a personal or law enforcement viewpoint. This is all great stuff, but if you want to really take care of business you shouldn't neglect what the emergency medical community has to say. We've studied what gunshots do physically to the human body, taking into account the different calibre of rounds. Happy shooting!

I have a Walther P22 and I love it!

Thanks.

Bill DeShivs
January 10, 2011, 02:26 AM
Aerojef,
Welcome to the forum!
You are very wrong about the effects of the .22. While it can be a viable defense caliber, it certainly isn't preferable to larger calibers.

aerojef
January 10, 2011, 09:53 AM
Thanks Bill! I wasn't trying to say that a .22 is better than a large calibre, I was only trying to show that .22 is viable as a lethal round and that it works differently than a larger calibre. I've certainly seen my share of deaths from larger and more powerful rounds, but I've also seen more of them survive compared to .22 deaths.

It's not necessarily better, it just works in a different way is all. Just trying to speak from experience.

Thanks for the welcome!

tjhands
January 10, 2011, 03:55 PM
.....it just works in a different way is all.

*sigh* Go ahead. Enlighten us. Does it have anything at all to do with "bouncing around inside the brain case?" :rolleyes:

DiCarnage
January 10, 2011, 04:50 PM
Does it have anything at all to do with "bouncing around inside the brain case?"

Most people in a shooting situation aren't trying to take head shots. There's a natural tendency to aim for the biggest part of a target, and for us that just happens to be the thorax.

I recently met a girl that had a very interesting wound on her neck, so I asked her about it. Turns out that she was standing behind her boyfriend when he was shot with a .45. The bullet passed right through his chest/back and struck her where the neck meets the shoulder and exiting the other side.
She walked a few blocks to her home (past the police that were arriving on scene) where she got someone to take her to the hospital.
BOTH wounded survived the shooting.
By way of comparison, years ago, I saw a young man get shot in the left shoulder/chest area with a .22 and the bullet tore its' way through his entire torso, and was removed from the area just below his right-side ribcage. The internal damage was massive, and sadly he could not be saved.
These are two examples of persons being struck by a single bullet, but I'm certain that had that young man been struck by a higher calibre round in the same place, he'd have survived too.

comn-cents
January 10, 2011, 05:05 PM
Most modern self defence ammo doesn't tumble. It might if it hits bone but even still I think the frontal diameter of a major caliber is larger that a tumbling 22.

Don't get me wrong I would carry a .22 for self-defense but I don't see them creating more damage that a larger caliber because they are possibly tumbling.

tjhands
January 10, 2011, 05:30 PM
I'm getting the feeling that my above sarcasm went unrealized.

.22 long rifle is one of the absolute worst caliber choices in a handgun for self-defense. If more people in the USA die from .22lr wounds than any other caliber, it's simply due to it being the most ubiquitous caliber; not any inherent deadliness.

Ozzieman
January 10, 2011, 07:37 PM
“I would never buy a gun that I knew had even one tiny part in it made of Zamak myself, but the American public is pretty undiscriminating about gun materials these last 40 years or so.”

And that is the same for Glocks and plastic and why the discrimination public NEVER buys Glocks?
I have Ruger MK’s a Colt Ace, High standard and made the mistake of selling a Smith 41 years ago and my most recent 22 is a P22.
I have been very happy with the P22 and my wife loves it. It really likes CCI stingers.
I did not like the mag release until I got used to it and now I also find it very easy to use. My only complaint is I wish the rear sight opening was narrower. There is way too much opening on either side of the front sight when it’s centered in the rear.
My P22 has actually been more reliable than my Colt Ace but with only 500+ through the P22 and 5000++ through the Ace that really doesn’t compare.
What I like the most about the gun is that it’s become the gun that my wife really enjoys to shoot and has become MUCH MUCH better with her Glock 26 because of it, since she has taken my 26 and decided it was her carry gun again.
And I’m OK with that.

Cheapshooter
January 10, 2011, 10:27 PM
Since this thread was revived, I'll update my post of nearly a year ago:
Bought the P22, and am very happy with it after nearly 1500 rounds of trouble free Remington Golden Bullets through it.
It's almost too much fun. When it finds itself in my range bag along with a few hundred RGBs, I'm always late coming home! No matter what else I take to the range, I can't leave until I've shot up all the 22 ammo for the P22.

aerojef
January 11, 2011, 08:31 PM
tjhands, I get your sarcasm and I'm sure this topic has been discussed (and/or debated) many times in the past.

I only wanted to defend the .22lr semi-auto pistol as a viable self-defense weapon based off of my experience from dealing with fatalities because of it. Sure, it bounces around - we teach every new paramedic that if there's a small entrance wound, you had better look extra hard for an exit wound because it could be anywhere or nowhere at all, and try to anticipate injury patterns based off of the projected path. And yes, there are more .22lr fatalities partly because of the number of guns out there, but there really are legitimate reasons why they do the damage that they do.

My intention wasn't to rehash old arguments or upset anybody, but only to state from a professional viewpoint that large calibres are great, but .22lr's aren't that far behind :)

Sorry all, didn't mean to bring up a sore spot and I'll drop the subject.

comn-cents
January 11, 2011, 08:40 PM
Sure, it bounces around

No it really doesn't bounce around. How can it, it is one of the lightest bullets that there is and it has some of the lightest energy of any round out there. So when it enters the body it's going to start slowing down faster than any other round. The body isn't hollow so all its going to do is keep meeting resistance. It may bounce as much as any-other round but for sure no more.

aerojef
January 11, 2011, 08:45 PM
Well, because of its lightness and lower power (usually 40gr) it has a lower velocity, around 1200 fps. As I said in my original post, this isn't really a bad thing as it tends to deflect off of bone and change direction readily.

I once responded to a guy who was shot in the right shoulder with a .22lr, and we found the exit wound just above the left knee. He was dead before we got there. This was the point I was trying to make.

Thanks for the reply!

Edit: and you'd be surprised just how much of the body is 'hollow' as you stated, including lower-mass areas such as the lungs, inferior vena cava, the descending aorta, and not to mention the dead space within the jejunum and illeum. When a bullet hits a high-mass area, of course it will slow down rapidly - such as the frontal lobe of the skull, but if hit in the lower-mass areas all kinds of problems arise. Basically, a .45 round to the forehead will definitely take care of business, but a .22lr to center mass is so unpredictable that just about anything can happen.

Puncture wounds to the small intestine and colon can also lead to potentially (and often) fatal peritonitis from the infection to the abdominal cavity. I know, you guys are talking about resolving the situation immediately, but there is a lot more to gunshot wounds than just 'stopping' the person. Death isn't always instant, but a .22lr round may drop a person's blood pressure rapidly enough to remove them from the situation in a matter of a small moment. Accuracy is important, and if you're good enough with a 9mm or larger calibre to drop a person effectively, with a .22lr you can accomplish the same thing with a bit of knowledge and training. My point wasn't to argue about calibre (because I'm not) but only to show that a .22lr in the right hands can be a great defensive weapon against an unarmored target.

Darsh
January 11, 2011, 11:23 PM
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7793/successfultrolly.jpg

obligatory...

tjhands
January 12, 2011, 01:33 AM
obligatory...


Sadly, I'm not sure that he's not serious.

blkwulff
March 28, 2011, 09:05 PM
ok my girlfriend bought one cause it was cute she shoot alot of ammo though it taken class for conceild carry from the hip draw shee can shoot 5 seperate targets in under 2 sec or on human target two in the head three in the chest she can clean it i bet i would not even clear my holster or most men would either before she got one in you head!!!!!!! she so good with that gun not seen a man yet draw faster do what she does with it i went and bought one my 9mm sit at home now walther p22 is a way better weapon then 45 9mm
you aint drawin a 9 mm or a 45 in under 2 sec putting five round in seperate targets i timed it did not believe 1.83 of a sec so for a secound you dont think it a deadly weapon i see all you guy with there glocks coming over to shoot her gun 44.00 she shoots for 4 to 5 hour a week try affording to shoot you 9mm for 4 to 5 hours bet it aint 44.00 either

chriskm1968
March 28, 2011, 09:47 PM
I've had 2 of them one was bought in 2004 and all ammo I tried in it jammed, including cci stingers. This concerned me enough to get rid of it.
I bought another one 3 months ago and had the same problems, I sat down and fixed it where it would shoot anything. I sold it for a nice profit.

All and all I found when I took it apart that it was cheaply made.
I might work on another one, but I won't own one again.