S&W Imported Walther P22

[TJm15.38]

When these little pistols were first produced, I bought one in 2004. At that time, Walther and Smith and Wesson had a good partnership. These were made in Germany, but you can plainly see Smith & Wesson's stamp on the right side of the frame. There were some reported slide cracks and even slide seperations in these early guns. The slides were made with a zinc-aluminum alloy. This one has held up and I don't shoot the hot CCI Stingers or other hyper speed .22lr through it. It likes CCI Mini-Mag 40-grain solids. I will also shoot the CCI standard velocity ammo reliably.

 

[rockquarry]

When these little pistols were first produced, I bought one in 2004. At that time, Walther and Smith and Wesson had a good partnership. These were made in Germany, but you can plainly see Smith & Wesson's stamp on the right side of the frame. There were some reported slide cracks and even slide seperations in these early guns. The slides were made with a zinc-aluminum alloy. This one has held up and I don't shoot the hot CCI Stingers or other hyper speed .22lr through it. It likes CCI Mini-Mag 40-grain solids. I will also shoot the CCI standard velocity ammo reliably.

I bought a new one some years ago. It jammed with almost any ammo. S&W corrected most, maybe all of the jammimg problems. When I inquired about the poor accuracy, the S&W rep said, "these aren't target pistols". He was right. It wasn't even a plinker.

 

[TJm15.38]

I bought a new one some years ago. It jammed with almost any ammo. S&W corrected most, maybe all of the jammimg problems. When I inquired about the poor accuracy, the S&W rep said, "these aren't target pistols". He was right. It wasn't even a plinker.

Yeah; sounds like you got a lemon for sure. Mine has been reliable and reasonably accurate given the short barrel. These are almost like a pocket gun, but I wouldn't trust my life on it for concealed carry. Also, I'm not fond of the magazine safety; it won't fire unless the magazine is fully seated.

 

[rockquarry]

Yeah; sounds like you got a lemon for sure. Mine has been reliable and reasonably accurate given the short barrel. These are almost like a pocket gun, but I wouldn't trust my life on it for concealed carry. Also, I'm not fond of the magazine safety; it won't fire unless the magazine is fully seated.

My criteria for any handgun is that must be reasonably accurate at 25 yds. or it's not worth having. Once you find the right ammo, a .22 will usually do well at that distance. There was no "right" ammo for my P22.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

My criteria for any handgun is that must be reasonably accurate at 25 yds. or it's not worth having. Once you find the right ammo, a .22 will usually do well at that distance. There was no "right" ammo for my P22.

25 yards is way too far for a small pistol designed solely as a personal defense weapon. YMMV

These guns are not target pistols or hunting pistols. The best use, besides personal defense, which is arguable, is relatively close targets for plinking or maybe shooting tin cans in a safe environment.

It's a fun, little gun but not in any way a 25-yard shooter.

Then, again, it becomes even more fun when it's suppressed!

And the P-22 is far, far superior to the PPK/S .22. Don't even get me started on that!

 

[rockquarry]

25 yards is way too far for a small pistol designed solely as a personal defense weapon. YMMV

These guns are not target pistols or hunting pistols. The best use, besides personal defense, which is arguable, is relatively close targets for plinking or maybe shooting tin cans in a safe environment.

It's a fun, little gun but not in any way a 25-yard shooter.

Then, again, it becomes even more fun when it's suppressed!

And the P-22 is far, far superior to the PPK/S .22. Don't even get me started on that!

Whether it's designed as a personal defense gun or something else, an experienced handgunner should be able to make at least a 5" group offhand, or maybe smaller at 25 yds. if the gun is of good quality and the ammo is compatible (tested from a benchrest for best accuracy).

The PPK/S .22 that I bought more than twenty years ago used would easily outshoot the P22 (so would everything else), but mine looked a bit different than your PPK/S. Mine had a glossy blue finish, not matte; maybe not the same guns. In later years, however, I could no longer shoot the PPK/S as well as I could when I bought it, but it was certainly a 25 yard gun at one time.

 

[Echo40]

Whoa there, buddy! You're running the risk of "feeling special" by posting anything even peripherally related to Smith & Wesson on the other brands subforum!

But seriously, the P22 is a nice .22LR Pistol, and as near as I can figure, slide failures were mostly isolated to early production P22's, but it gave the pistol a bad reputation which is repeated to this very day. Rest assured, Walther has a Lifetime Warranty on their pistols, and considers slide failure to be a defect which they'll generally cover even if you aren't the original owner, so if it should ever crack, just contact Walther and they'll most likely ship you a replacement on their dime.

I've owned a Walther PPK/S-22 since 2015 (which also has an alloy slide) and it has been a fantastic shooter. I only ever had one malfunction, a stuck case can't courtesy of Remington Golden Bullet.

Happy shooting!

 

[Gene L]

I had one. It was very reliable, but not very accurate. Speaking of accuracy, it takes a damn fine shot to group 5" @ 25 yards. You won't do it with a Walther/S&W P 22.

 

[robvious]

had one, it was my son's favorite when he was a little tike.. that's why I HAD one... never any issues and it ate pretty much anything... had both barrel lengths.

 

[rockquarry]

I had one. It was very reliable, but not very accurate. Speaking of accuracy, it takes a damn fine shot to group 5" @ 25 yards. You won't do it with a Walther/S&W P 22.

From a benchrest, an accurate handgun with the best ammo for that handgun should group well under 5" at 25 yards, maybe half that. Offhand, depending on the shooter's skill, 5" would be be very good if one could do that consistently. I can, at times, with an accurate handgun, but certainly not with the consistency I prefer...

This morning, shooting bullseye style with a 3" S&W 625 in .45 Auto Rim/ ACP, my 25 yard groups were probably around 8", maybe more, indeed poor shooting using a revolver that has been very accurate for more than thirty years with cast bullet handloads. The wind was up, but not enough to affect bullet impacts at 25 yards. I haven't benchrested this gun in years and don't recall groups sizes, but they were small enough that I haven't found a need to benchrest it again or develop more accurate loads.

I can only blame a lack of skill for my poor shooting, not a handgun that's proven to be accurate.

 

[adwjc]

P-22

Had one, the Target Model with the 5" barrel. I also obtained a 3" barrel and found no difference except the 3" was easier to fieldstrip.

I actually used it in a Bulls Eye match (Gallery style at 50 ft) once or twice, but the tiny sights were very hard for me.

Then I got a bridge mount and put a red dot on it. It really works, but then you realize that DA/SA isn't the best for this application.

The only other complaints I had were tiny grip size and difficulty stripping it down.