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Close call

Jamie

Jamie

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We were plinking at our cabin in VT this past week when my girlfriend had a close call with my Walther P-22. 9th round in a ten round mag and *bang*, she caught the slide in her right cheek/glasses. She ended with a bit of a shiner for a couple days, but no lasting injury. No picture of her per her request. The slide broke about 1/2" behind the "compensator" and flew straight back into her face. Apologies for the crappy pics. iPhone and a dark cabin did not make taking detailed pics easy.

22b1e792.jpg


9bd24c83.jpg


4076ef5a.jpg


323dd666.jpg
 
Glad she is okay. A more powerful gun with the same result and we're in a different mode.
 
Glad to hear your GF is OK.

This isn't the first time I've seen one of these break like that, either. If you shoot a P22 enough the slide WILL crack/break/shatter. It took about 22,000 rounds before we broke my friend's P22 that way, except chunks didn't come off, it just cracked about in the same place, maybe a bit further back, and the whole slide was frozen on the gun more or less. S&W replaced the whole top end.

-Mike
 
Note to self, check slide for cracks more often... I run mine pretty hard. I don't know where I am - not 22K rounds, but it is usually quite warm when I am done with it and a box of federal 550 quite gone...
 
Glad she wasn't more seriously injured. Could have been much worse. Thanks for posting this.
I will watch mine for signs of cracking but I don't shoot it much.
 
Jose said:
Is that POS a casting? I can't quite tell.
Click to expand...

It's Zamak pot metal garbage. I'm not sure what the fetish is with that crap on cheap .22 LR pistols... the Sig mosquito slide is made out of the same garbage.

-Mike
 
It sure looks like it. I wouldn't think a billet or forged piece would break like that. My first thought was pot metal...hard to tell from the photos though.

ETA ...well drgrant confirmed my suspicions...
 
Last edited:
Looking at everyones post and Its easy to believe that with a smaller cal gun that hasn't got alot of kick to it, the manufacture used a lite, cheaper metal to make the slide, big fail on there part but i hope other guns of larger cal are made with better materials
 
gearjunky13 said:
Looking at everyones post and Its easy to believe that with a smaller cal gun that hasn't got alot of kick to it, the manufacture used a lite, cheaper metal to make the slide, big fail on there part but i hope other guns of larger cal are made with better materials
Click to expand...
2 part problem:
1. It has to be light so that 22LR can cycle it.
2. Yes, they don't always use the best or strongest configuration even then...
 
cekim said:
2 part problem:
1. It has to be light so that 22LR can cycle it.
2. Yes, they don't always use the best or strongest configuration even then...
Click to expand...

Hay its like everything these days, if the company can save a buck or make its product more competitive in the market, you will see crap like this happen, then they learn when every one sends the crap back.
 
I would sue S&W for selling dangerous junk, and the AG for letting it get into MA that will blow thier whole test thing to hell.
 
Glad she's ok and hope she heals quickly. Note to self: Add Walther to the list of exploding guns, like Glock.
 
PATRON said:
I would sue S&W for selling dangerous junk, and the AG for letting it get into MA that will blow thier whole test thing to hell.
Click to expand...
Nah. Just take a ride to the factory store while the shiner is still fresh and tell them you want one of each item in the display case and you'll forget the whole thing ever happened. [grin]
Glad she's OK. And glad she wore eye protection.
 
This is symptomatic of a disturbing trend. In the old days, first tier brand names stood for quality - and the philosophy was "If you can't afford the good stuff, but from someone else". In recent years, it has been come increasingly common for first tier brands (and I'm not just talking about guns) to offer not only their traditional high quality products, but low tier stuff trading off the reputation of the brand.

Back when Walther was a German company, not a name licensed to a US consumer products company (in this case, the products are guns, but this gun is indeed sold to the "consumer products" market), you would never find that name being used for anything other than first quality stuff that could make it past govt procurement agents.

Now, if you want an interesting response, write their legal department requesting they recall this product for safety reasons.
 
This makes one wonder about the Ruger SR-22.

According to the SR-22 Instruction Manual, "This pistol . . . features an aircraft-grade aluminum alloy slide . . . ." (Page 11.)

While a small amount (on the order of 4%?) of aluminum is a constituent of some (perhaps all) of the various ZAMAK alloys, I doubt it to be "aircraft-grade." Indeed, the term "aircraft-grade" doesn't modify "aluminum," but rather modifies "alloy."

Maybe someone here has enough connections at Ruger to find out exactly what alloy (by ASTM number) is used in the SR-22 slide?
 
Someone should make and sell a set of sights for it that are offset about a foot to the side so that you can aim it without putting your face behind it.
 
HardJeepGuy said:
4076ef5a.jpg
Click to expand...

Going by what I see from your photo's, I suspect this slide had fractures long before it came apart.

Notice the darker spots ....... that usually indicates where the initial fractures were.

Prior to that thing coming apart, those fractures were being exposed to oils and solvents if you cleaned it (or just dirt) and picked up that discoloration.

CHECK YOUR SLIDES BOYS AND GIRLS
 
glad her injuries weren't serious, so few people understand all the ways you can get hurt shooting and the importance of eye protection.
 

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