Help me troubleshoot my Walther P22

s4mt3k

s4mt3k

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Ok guys so before Memorial weekend we went and picked up a Walther P22 from FD for the fiancee. That same night (Thursday) I cleaned it thoroughly and cursed thoroughly when trying to re-assemble it. Whoever has tried this knows what I'm talking about.

Anyway, Monday after returning from DC, we went to the range to try it out. We shot somewhere around 150-200 rds of Federal .22LR through it and the feeding problem was somewhere at the rate of 60%. I'd shoot it than have to cycle the slide manually. In most cases the slide is stuck in a halfway position.

It was very frustrating specially to my fiancee (it's her gun). When safely trying to rack the slide back and forth it felt like it was catching somewhere along the line (not a hard stuck catch but more like as if it was rubbing somewhere)....

I am in Toronto now but will be flying back home tomorrow and I want to see if I can fix the issue before having to call Dennis over @ FD. Any ideas/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you
 
s4mt3k said:
Ok guys so before Memorial weekend we went and picked up a Walther P22 from FD for the fiancee. That same night (Thursday) I cleaned it thoroughly and cursed thoroughly when trying to re-assemble it. Whoever has tried this knows what I'm talking about.

Anyway, Monday after returning from DC, we went to the range to try it out. We shot somewhere around 150-200 rds of Federal .22LR through it and the feeding problem was somewhere at the rate of 60%. I'd shoot it than have to cycle the slide manually. In most cases the slide is stuck in a halfway position.

It was very frustrating specially to my fiancee (it's her gun). When safely trying to rack the slide back and forth it felt like it was catching somewhere along the line (not a hard stuck catch but more like as if it was rubbing somewhere)....

I am in Toronto now but will be flying back home tomorrow and I want to see if I can fix the issue before having to call Dennis over @ FD. Any ideas/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you
Click to expand...

22s are very ammo sensitive. I have my best luck with CCI Blazers. New guns also need to be broken in. I would try the Blazers and also lube the pistol liberally with a light oil; 5/50 synthetic motor oil is my favorite for all of my 22s.
 
Really? I thought Federal was good quality? That's why I made sure I picked that up. I'll try some more gun oil (more liberally) and if that still doesn't work some motor oil might be due. Is there a possibility that the gun might be defective? I didn't think the Walther P22 would have a worse failure rate than the SIG Mosquito.
 
The P22 I had needed a couple hundred rounds of CCI Minimags before it broke in enough to run standard ammo. It took a bit of of other work before it was reliable - see RimfireCentral's Walther forum for a bunch of how-to's for that pistol.

By the time I was done, it was a reliable pistol, and too small for me. Sold it, bought a Mosquito.
 
Gammon said:
22s are very ammo sensitive. I have my best luck with CCI Blazers. New guns also need to be broken in. I would try the Blazers and also lube the pistol liberally with a light oil; 5/50 synthetic motor oil is my favorite for all of my 22s.
Click to expand...

Sir_Macadoo said:
22 semi auto pistols are finicky.
Click to expand...

For the most part these statements are correct. I have 3 pistols in 22LR. Ruger MKIII, Beretta 87 and Beretta 21A. The first two function beautifully with any ammo but the 21A only likes hotter stuff. Any standard velocity loads will short cycle about 25% of the time. A friend of mine had a P22 that was plagued with feeding problems and he gave up and sold it. Maybe he should have spent some more time breaking it in but he didn't have the patience.
 
Run about 500 CCI mini mags through the gun and see if that helps. Next step would be to preform the mods found on RFC.

After all that it still screws up sell the pos. I'm one malfunction short of selling my wife's P22 and searching for another Buckmark.
 
Last edited:
Run a bunch of high-velocity ammo through it. <All the previous comments about ammo sensitivity go here> It's often not what .22lr is good, but what .22lr that particular pistol likes.
 
Ok guys, thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to clean it up, lube it abundantly and then hit up the range next week and feed it CCI mini mags for a while. I honestly didn't even want the gun, wanted a MK3 but it's not mine it's the fiancee's and that's what she decided on. Gotta try to make it work.

I'll let you guys know how it goes.
 
s4mt3k said:
I honestly didn't even want the gun, wanted a MK3 but it's not mine it's the fiancee's and that's what she decided on. Gotta try to make it work.

.
Click to expand...

This is how one made it's way into the safe. Now my wife does'nt even shoot it that much,she runs the Buckmark the most.

I feel your pain.
 
s4mt3k said:
Ok guys, thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to clean it up, lube it abundantly and then hit up the range next week and feed it CCI mini mags for a while. I honestly didn't even want the gun, wanted a MK3 but it's not mine it's the fiancee's and that's what she decided on. Gotta try to make it work.

I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Click to expand...


My wife and daughter both own P22s and love them. They have zero problems when using CCI Mini-Mags. The P22 requires a 'high velocity' round to ensure that the slide cycles properly. They don't have to be CCIs but that's what they've had the best luck with.
 
wish I didn't buy 2 of the 550 Federal boxes... meh, at least they're cheap enough. Does Wallyworld carry CCI?

Also Titan, your wife's and daughter's P22s, do they catch somewhere along the way when racking the slide? or is it a continuous movement?

Best way to describe this: yesterday after cleaning it, I re-assembled the gun WITHOUT the spring, just to test the motion of the slide and if I hold the gun pointed at the ceiling, the slide falls about halfway and stops, I need to manually slide it down all the way.
 
I usually have to maintain a rigid grip for it to function smoothly.

My kids think the gun doesn't like them.

Try getting a good firm grip. Seems to help with mine.

David

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk
 
s4mt3k said:
Best way to describe this: yesterday after cleaning it, I re-assembled the gun WITHOUT the spring, just to test the motion of the slide and if I hold the gun pointed at the ceiling, the slide falls about halfway and stops, I need to manually slide it down all the way.
Click to expand...

I, obviously, don't like that, but suspect a few hundred rounds of high velocity .22lr will make it OK.
 
I can't be sure as I don't own one of these pistols, but the slide could be hanging up on the hammer/striker. The slide has to cock the hammer somewhere during its cycle.
 
s4mt3k said:
wish I didn't buy 2 of the 550 Federal boxes... meh, at least they're cheap enough. Does Wallyworld carry CCI?

Also Titan, your wife's and daughter's P22s, do they catch somewhere along the way when racking the slide? or is it a continuous movement?

Best way to describe this: yesterday after cleaning it, I re-assembled the gun WITHOUT the spring, just to test the motion of the slide and if I hold the gun pointed at the ceiling, the slide falls about halfway and stops, I need to manually slide it down all the way.
Click to expand...

The slide racking is definitely a problem-free continuous movement.

You talked about problems re-assembling the gun. Is it possible something was done wrong in re-assembly?
 
Gammon said:
I can't be sure as I don't own one of these pistols, but the slide could be hanging up on the hammer/striker. The slide has to cock the hammer somewhere during its cycle.
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying however it happens even if the hammer was cocked already.

Titan said:
The slide racking is definitely a problem-free continuous movement.

You talked about problems re-assembling the gun. Is it possible something was done wrong in re-assembly?
Click to expand...

The problems re-assembling aren't really problems: basically, the spring is free to go wherever it wants and even with the help of a guide that Walther provides with their guns, it's still an INCREDIBLE pain in the rear to re-assemble. You just have to get the spring right and that's really difficult to do.... I mean, it's a new gun so of course I could've done something but I just don't see what...
 
My P22 will only feed CCI mini-mags. I tried a bunch of other ammo I had, nothing would feed. After doing a search, I found out that is why the seller got rid of it.
 
Just bought a new P22 and already have 7 - 550rd boxes of federal stuff, I'll be a little peeved if it won't cycle it. Won't have time to try it out until next weekend. I did have an issue with the .22 conversion kit on my CZ not locking back on the last round and some occasional feeding problems. Turned out to be more of a lubrication issue. A drop of militec on the slide rails and all the feed and locking back problems vanished. Before that I had just used CLP.
 
Only use the mini mags if you want your gun to work. This is well known for the p22. Maybe after a couple hundred rounds the federal may work; maybe!
 
Had one and it was a PIA to shoot, always jamming....Other guys I know have had the same issue....If you are going to use it at the range it may be worth while trying to figure it out and fine tuning it....If you want to carry it...Get rid of it...Too many people have told me that they have feeding problems with this gun
 

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