Walther P22 Experience

[lemko]

I shot my wife's Walther P22 for the first time last night at my local range and I'm impressed with it. I shot 100 rounds of CCI Minimag through it without any FTF, FTE, stovepiping, etc. It's very lightweight, no noticible recoil, and groups tightly.

My only gripe is that Walther didn't provide very good instructions for field disassembly and reassembly. The firearm had never been disassembled before, so this was the very first time. I followed the miniscule instructions provided, but it didn't seem to go as smoothly as I thought it would be. I had difficulty pulling down the takedown button as it was quite tight. I removed the magazine, put the manual safety on, pulled the slide back, and still found it tough to pull down the takedown button. A video I viewed on YouTube shows that it should've pulled down in a snap.

The toughest part about reasssembly is trying to get the guide rod spring compressed while reattaching the slide. It was mentioned that Walther provides a rod to help put the guide rod spring back. The manual didn't mention this. A couple of Google searches showed me how easy it really is to disassemble and reassemble the P22 that I'm ashamed I had such a tough time. I hope I didn't break anything as I'd hate to see my wife get injured because of my ignorance or carelessness. Also, this gun is such a nice shooter, I hope I didn't ruin it.

[daustin]

I shot my wife's Walther P22 for the first time last night at my local range and I'm impressed with it. I shot 100 rounds of CCI Minimag through it without any FTF, FTE, stovepiping, etc. It's very lightweight, no noticible recoil, and groups tightly.

My only gripe is that Walther didn't provide very good instructions for field disassembly and reassembly. The firearm had never been disassembled before, so this was the very first time. I followed the miniscule instructions provided, but it didn't seem to go as smoothly as I thought it would be. I had difficulty pulling down the takedown button as it was quite tight. I removed the magazine, put the manual safety on, pulled the slide back, and still found it tough to pull down the takedown button. A video I viewed on YouTube shows that it should've pulled down in a snap.

The toughest part about reasssembly is trying to get the guide rod spring compressed while reattaching the slide. It was mentioned that Walther provides a rod to help put the guide rod spring back. The manual didn't mention this. A couple of Google searches showed me how easy it really is to disassemble and reassemble the P22 that I'm ashamed I had such a tough time. I hope I didn't break anything as I'd hate to see my wife get injured because of my ignorance or carelessness. Also, this gun is such a nice shooter, I hope I didn't ruin it.

Glad you enjoyed the P22. I had a lot of fun with mine when I had one.

As far as ammo and FTE/FTF goes, they are very picky about ammo. You should almost always do well with CCI mini mags, but avoid the bulk packs like Winchester Super X and so forth. They jam up constantly. One thing I do have to admit was after burning through a 555 pack of Winchester bulk, I was pretty well trained on clearing jams and firearm failures!

Also, two little tricks I learned with disassembly/reassembly. Moving that takedown lever is almost impossible by hand. I used a flathead screwdriver and laid it between the slide and the lever, then twist slightly. It gives enough initial push to pull the est down by hand without damaging anything. The other was with reassembly. Mine did not have the rod in the case when I bought it, so I learned to use one of the 3" extension pieces for my cleaning rod in it's place. Worked like a charm and just dropped right out of the front as soon as I had it lined back up and pulled the slide back.

Hope that helps some and best of luck to you in many fun days of cheap shooting.

[lemko]

Glad you enjoyed the P22. I had a lot of fun with mine when I had one.

As far as ammo and FTE/FTF goes, they are very picky about ammo. You should almost always do well with CCI mini mags, but avoid the bulk packs like Winchester Super X and so forth. They jam up constantly. One thing I do have to admit was after burning through a 555 pack of Winchester bulk, I was pretty well trained on clearing jams and firearm failures!

Also, two little tricks I learned with disassembly/reassembly. Moving that takedown lever is almost impossible by hand. I used a flathead screwdriver and laid it between the slide and the lever, then twist slightly. It gives enough initial push to pull the est down by hand without damaging anything. The other was with reassembly. Mine did not have the rod in the case when I bought it, so I learned to use one of the 3" extension pieces for my cleaning rod in it's place. Worked like a charm and just dropped right out of the front as soon as I had it lined back up and pulled the slide back.

Hope that helps some and best of luck to you in many fun days of cheap shooting.

Thanks for the advice! So far, I'm happy with the P22 and I hope the wife will be too. She's taking her first basic pistol class this Saturday, so I wanted to be sure her firearm was in good working order. She bought the P22 back in May in anticipation of learning how to shoot.

[Kimba]

Without the rod, assembly is near impossible.

My P-22 had no issues for about 2 years, many, many shots put down range and then I started using bulk ammo.

FTF, stovepipes, mis-fires, etc. I took it to the gunsmith and they sent it back to the factory and it was supposedly put back on the line and came back a new gun. Still have issues with it. I'm am switching back to mini mags and hope that it takes care of the problems.

When it was working correctly, it was a fun and very accurate gun.
I hope your wife enjoys hers.

[tommy610]

Check this out:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/index.php

See the Walther forum. There is a "P22 Bible". It has a lot of mods you can do to improve its operation and longevity.

[lemko]

Without the rod, assembly is near impossible.

My P-22 had no issues for about 2 years, many, many shots put down range and then I started using bulk ammo.

FTF, stovepipes, mis-fires, etc. I took it to the gunsmith and they sent it back to the factory and it was supposedly put back on the line and came back a new gun. Still have issues with it. I'm am switching back to mini mags and hope that it takes care of the problems.

When it was working correctly, it was a fun and very accurate gun.
I hope your wife enjoys hers.

Field stripped it just now and reassembled it. Even with the rod tool, it isn't that easy.

[tommy610]

Field stripped it just now and reassembled it. Even with the rod tool, it isn't that easy.

That was my experience. When I first got mine, I did it about 3 times, and each time took me 20 minutes. Now it's pretty easy for me to do. I guess it takes practice.

[rwb1500]

Really?

I didn't think it was that tough. The spring is the biggest pain.
I've found that if you press down on the take down lever with your finger nails on both sides it pops right down. Don't apply any pressure inwards, just down.

It's a fun little gun, for what it is.

[redeye202]

Without the rod, assembly is near impossible.

My P-22 had no issues for about 2 years, many, many shots put down range and then I started using bulk ammo.

FTF, stovepipes, mis-fires, etc. I took it to the gunsmith and they sent it back to the factory and it was supposedly put back on the line and came back a new gun. Still have issues with it. I'm am switching back to mini mags and hope that it takes care of the problems.

When it was working correctly, it was a fun and very accurate gun.
I hope your wife enjoys hers.

Stick with the mini-mags and enjoy the gun, that's what you bought it for after all.

At $8-10 a box of 100 rounds is cheap for quality ammo,can you by a box of 9mm-38spl-357mag. 100 round count for the same as the mini-mags,I don't think so.

$50 worth of mini-mags and a P22=a very fun day at the range. Enjoy.

[thelemite]

I never had a problem with the spring...

I compress it on the guide rod and put it on.