Walther P22

If you do a search on p22 slide you'll find that it is really not very durable. The alloy is soft and not a great application of the material.
 
Regardless of the trade name of Zamak, potmetal is softer than steel (or even some alloys of aluminum), and has no business on a firearm that costs as much as a quality firearm like a Ruger or Browning Buck Mark that can be expected to last a lifetime.

If you want a pistol like an Umarex P22, go for it. Just moderate your expectations and don't expect to get tens of thousands of rounds out of it.
 
Mosin, from what I can tell you do a good amount of asking and looking on the forums here. As you can tell there are fans and opponents of everything from models to colors to points of origin. The walther has been around longer, but a couple years ago when the SR22 was new there was lots of comparisons made. I think you can be happy with either. I own both and like the sr22 enough I bought another. Overall I think it's easier to live with. Less picky on ammo.
 
I bought one on first sight, $200.00 serial # 18XX. Worked great for a few years then started having ftf etc. did some work on it as per the internet one mag works good the other doesn't. Haven't shot tens of thousands of rounds but maybe 3 0 4 thousand. Here's a pic of my failed Umerex 1911.


 
I also own a p22 and found it a bit finicky about ammo and lubrication. It does work but the zinc alloy frame seems cheap and not worthy of a Walther.
For possible use as a pocket pistol it has a a lot of levers to catch on cloths.

It is a workable firearm but If I were to replace it I would take a hard look at the ruger.
 
DO NOT buy the Walther P22!!

I highly Recommend the Ruger SR22 over the Walther P22 any day of the week.

I owned a Walther P22 for about a month then quickly sold it due to its Cheap Pot Metal slide and heavy scarring and deep gouging caused by normal shooting.

Here is what I mean by deep gouging and scarring. I clean every gun when brand new and do an inspection, Walther P22 looked great. Went to shooting range probably fired about 200 rounds through it. went home for an after range cleaning session. when I disassembled the Walther I noticed all kinds of scarring and deep gouges on the inside of the slide. I looked this up online and seen it is a common problem so I did what others suggested, I cleaned up the sharp edges of the trigger assembly and other parts smoothing and polishing. I went back to the range with modifications to the parts as recommended. Fired probably a total of 200 or 300 rounds through it again.
When I got home once again I disassembled the Walther P22 and to my surprise and major disgust there was once again even more scarring and gouging to the slide. So I promptly sold it and I would never ever recommend this pistol to anyone. If Walther was use a better material for this slide I'm sure it would fix this problem. But no way should a slide be getting damaged due to firing it like that. Once again due to the poor soft Pot Metal material they use for the slide. The Ruger SR22 does not have any of these problem, the SR22 has a similar look and feel and is without a doubt the better pistol.
 
The Walther P22 is ok for an introductory handgun if you an get it at the right price. I found one around $175, well used. It is useful as a training pistol since it has a manual if arms similar to larger caliber pistols with slide mounted frames, and I let new & inexperienced shooters use it. I'm aware of the slide material and know that I will eventually wear it out. Like any machine, I'll just replace the worn or broken parts and keep going.

It would serve fine as a plinking pistol, too as long as you acknowledge its limitations ( & don't pay too much)
 
I owned a Walther P22 for about a month then quickly sold it due to its Cheap Pot Metal slide and heavy scarring and deep gouging caused by normal shooting.
Click to expand...

That was the #1 reason I sold mine. Micro-metal shavings on the Q-Tip every time I cleaned it. That and it was the only .22 pistol I have ever owned that was inaccurate.

I invested the proceeds from the short sell of the P22 and invested it toward a Kimber .22 conversion for my Remington 1911. :p
 
The P22 went through a LOT of upgrades early on, because of a lot of serious flaws. The problems were myriad. The gun started out as a POS and grew to become a very average gun. There are plenty of other 22s that are better.

If you must buy a P22, check the barrel code. Stamped on the barrel is a 2 letter code (at least there was). Anything sequential after AG should be better than a POS. I seem to remember reading better reports from the AG code and onward.

But for the money, I'd recommend a Ruger Mark 3, SR22, Buckmark, Neos, 1911-22, etc.
 
My P22 is a later model, and has had none of the problems of the early model. There are things I like better about the Ruger, but not enough to buy one now while I already have a reasonably accurate, and reliable P22. I may some day pick up an SR22 as well, but it isn't on my short list at this time.
 
My Walther P22 was not an Early model and had all of the problems I listed even after making the mods that supposedly helped.

If Walther would start making the slide in another material it would be a great little pistol. But currently that Pot Metal slide makes it a very expensive gun with a way to early expiration date. I'm sorry, but If I pay $300 plus dollars for a pistol, I should not have to watch the slide chip away and notice chunks of it missing after every time shooting it.

Ruger SR22 much better gun in SO many ways.

To the original poster, you will see many opinions of different opinions, but you don't have to take my word for it. look it up online you will see many more posts just like mine from above.

Good luck in your decision.
 
I bought one of the early P22s (target model) as my first handgun, and while I liked the feel of it, stripping and reassembling was the biggest headache of any gun I've owned since then. From that point forward, it would start shedding parts while shooting at the range; I ended up ordering a replacement screw kit because they would vibrate out over the course of a few dozen rounds. (Yes, in retrospect, I should have used Loctite, but it was my first gun.)

It also was quite picky about ammo. I traded it towards a Beretta 9mm and never looked back. By comparison, I currently own a Ruger SR22, and although mine has been a little touchy about ammo, it is still comparatively problem-free.
 
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I agree Inazone, the P22 is very ammo picky. but a lot of semi auto .22 cal pistols from my experience have been ammo picky except for the Ruger Mark .22's, they always seem to have shot whatever I put in them.
 
It's my opinion that the P22 is not nearly as bad a gun as some suggest, but I would not pay more than $350 for it. As for being picky with ammo, you can say that for just about any .22.
 
I have notheard of any P22 having the scraping problem in the past five years or more. I checked mine after I heard about the trigger bar problem, and it was smooth with no sign of gouging the ZAMAK slide.
The reassembly isn't all that hard as long as you have the plastic rod that comes with it, and follow the instructions.
But I agree the Ruger is an improvement on the design, and the price in the OP is too high.
Unless you particularly want a full slide "big gun" look alike, the Browning Buckmark or Ruger MKIII is a much more accurate firearm.
 
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