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Finicky Walther P22
woodchuckjohn
Member Posts: 207 ✭✭✭
My grandson is interested in my Walther P22 for his wife to shoot. He bought a brick of Winchester HP 1255 fps 36 grain HPs. Did not function. I already tested various types of 22 LR and found it want high speed only. WhatI DID NOT realize it only wants 40 grain solid round point ammo high speed. No Win 36 grain hollow points or any HPs of any brand. Solid 49 grain only. It will handle CCI Stingers for I have tried them. I wouldn't want to shoot those on a regular basis for fear of damaging the firearm. Guys have told me the Ruger Mark series will handle any Long rifle ammo. My High Standard takes only target velocity and CCI standard is recommended by the manufacturer. It will shoot and function Federal auto target loads. Just some info to throw out there.
Comments
This causes me a lot of aggravation as the Winchester HP's are my favorite bullets. When I'm out walking in the forest. And I run across a poor defenseless bunny, or a snake.
In general, .22 auto pistols can be picky about ammo, and in specific, the Walther P22 is one of the ones known to be, especially before its well broken in.
The biggest culprits in malfunctioning are usually hollowpoint rounds, particularly the cheaper 36 grain copper wash hollowpoint high velocity "bulk pack"/"milk carton" stuff. Those rounds sometimes are inconsistent, the loose packing can bang up the bullets a little, and many guns just won't run them well. Unfortunately, in today's ammo "climate" you have to take whatever .22LR ammo you can get.
Personally, I've found that round nose, solid bullet 40 grain "target" ammo runs all my .22s well.
CCI minimags, in particular are copper plated solid bullet 40 grain round nose high velocity, and those will pretty much run in anything. Don't know if they still make any, but for a while Federal made bulk-pack .22 "Automatch" ammo which was also solid round nose 40 grain high velocity ammo designed specifically to cycle semi-auto .22 guns. I've tried it a fairly wide variety of guns, and never seen feeding/reliability issues.
On High Standards pistols, I've found, as above, that mine run the RN 40 grain target rounds well. Federal, Remington, Wolf, SKB, CCI, PMC, Aguila. . .these all seem to work fine (though lots of duds with the Remington target. . .that's not the guns fault!).
That's what these were designed to run and that's the *ONLY* .22 ammo I will run through them. While the guns will probably run high velocity ammo OK, I *NEVER* use it in mine. The reason is that the older High Standard guns are susceptible to frame cracking with huge volumes of ammo. Since I'm only using these for pure target work, and at this point I basically consider them irreplaceable, I see no reason to push things with high velocity ammo. I've got other .22LR "plinkers" that I can run the cheap ammo through, if I like.
Edit:
quote:Gunnnut505
For some reason (maybe all those posts from gun cranks), I was under the impression that the older H-S pistols were almost legendary in that they would shoot tighter groups than the diameter of the bore, and do it forever, and that's why they sell for over $500. Now, I hear that may not be based in fact.Yes and no, but please tell me where I can find some of these for only $500! [:p]
The reason the guns are so expensive (EG closer to $1000 for a Hamden model 104 like the one depicted below) is because they are match-grade pistols made back in the day when there was American craftsmanship with every gun hand fitted by gunsmiths. They come out of the box with light crisp (and IIRC adjustable) match triggers and wonderful adjustable match sights. While new ones are being built in TX, the cost of those is high and they just don't have the mystique of the older Connecticut-built ones. So on top of high functional value, the older ones are also becoming increasingly collectible.
On accuracy, I don't think these are really any more. . .nor less. . .accurate than other high quality .22 match pistols. It wouldn't at all surprise me if they *could* shoot 1/4" groups at 25 yards, so long as you shot them from a mechanical rest with high quality match ammo. I sure as heck can't shoot that well, but this one is still (by far) the most accurate pistol I own. EG, this is a legit one handed 50 foot group, using PMC (!) .22LR ammo:
On durability, the guns aren't exactly fragile, match shooters will still typically get at least many tens of thousands of rounds through their guns, more than most people ever put through any gun in a lifetime of use. The biggest issue is that the frame has a thin spot over where the magazine inserts and repeated battering of the slide against the stop in that area makes the gun somewhat susceptible to cracking there. Supposedly, just avoiding high velocity rounds and swapping out the recoil spring ever 10,000 rounds or so to minimize battering prevents this problem.
Now, I hear that may not be based in fact.
Guess I'll have to shoot my MKII Competition Target instead.
Using whatever is left out there.
Forever.
Ever since Smiff took over many other gun companies, their products have suffered. Shoulda left well enough alone.
We use these ( walther P22's ) as range guns when I teach the Tn Handgun Carry Class :
Use good ammo ,
Keep some-what clean ,
Watch 'Limp Wristing' ,
and :
SHOOT & ENJOY !!!!!!!!!!
Thanks !!!
d.a.stearns .......... a.k.a. ......... SKEEZIX ................
Gunsmith / LEO
Athens , Tn
... I Miss Scooby ...
... www.tnhandgunclasses.vpweb.com
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Yes, if measured C-C.
I feel the Ruger MK and 22/45 will come closest to handling any ammo out there. New pistols simply aren't going to function as smooth and foolproof as well broken in guns might. My new Ruger SR2 hasn't failed to function on 3 different types of ammo right out of the box but I suppose there might be something around that would choke it.
The P22 has had issues with a few pieces & parts. One of them is that the "stove bolts" can back out, and cause some aggrevating problems. Here is a picture of a "stove bolt" (the buggered screw that is almost completely out of the gun), during a P22 disassembly:
You can also search the 'net for the "P22 Bible". It will show you some of the solutions that other P22 owners have had to implement.
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