[Tomcat088]

I wanted to inform some people of wear that may or may not be an issue for you. Keep in mind that my Walther P22 has thousands upon thousands of rounds through it. I can't even tell you exactly how many thousands of rounds it has through it, but I know it's over 10K. Anyway, for the past 2K or so, I've noticed more and more slidewear on the frame right where the slidestop is. The wear has gotten so significant that without an empty magazine in the pistol, if you bump it, the slide will close. This can be a problem if you like to keep the action open, insert a new magazine, and then use the slidestop to close the action on the new one. I have no problem "slingshotting" the first round into the pistol, BUT it does cause some concern. I teach alot of beginners on this pistol, and many of them find the slidestop more comfortable than actually racking the slide. If one of them wasn't extremely careful with their muzzle control or was surprised with the slide closing on it's own, it could be disasterous. From now on, I will only teach newbies to slingshot this pistol for that reason. This pistol has been extremely reliable for me and I have NEVER had any complaints about it. I just wanted others who were considering buying this pistol or who had just gotten one to be aware of this potential issue.

I was on the phone with Smith & Wesson about 3 days ago to get a new recoil spring for this pistol (which was free). I told them the issue and they said, "oh yeah, send it over it sounds like we need to get you a new slide for that pistol." I then said, sweet, you can get me a new slide for it? He replied, "Sure. How long have you had the pistol?" I answered "5 years", to which he replied, "oh, well it sounds like you need to buy a new pistol then." I asked him why and he said because the pistol only has a one year warranty on it. I told him that all the other pistols that they handled had a lifetime warranty, why shouldn't this one. He informed me that since they merely import it from Walther that they don't warranty it. So I asked him if I could purchase a new slide from them and he said no. Which I found strange because if it's under warranty they'll give you a new slide with a different seriel number, but they won't sell me a new slide and said that I had to buy a new pistol.

I suppose I have a few questions from all of that. Have any of you had any experiences like this with Smith & Wesson and an imported gun? Have any of you had any issues like this with other manufacturers who import guns? I know that the XD's are imported, but springfield still gives them a lifetime warranty and does warranty service on them. I haven't look on rimfire central yet or anything, but I had another question. Does anybody have any idea how to contact Walther directly to see if they would allow me to ship them the pistol to be worked on or do you think they would? I just thought all of it was a bit strange and wanted everyone to be aware of this potential problem in the future.