Walther GSP 32 and 22

[PatMcD]

Can anybody look at this pic and tell me if it is one of the desirable GSP's? I've heard you want to stay away from the early ones. My intent is to shoot it, not collect. I do know it has the under-hinged single stage trigger. The .32 barrel matches the nickel frame. The .22 barrel was purchased separately. Were these drilled and tapped?


Any other info you'd like to pass on would be welcomed.

 

[1776]

I just bought a GSP expert from a dealer that had one on consignment. Prior to purchase I got all the info I needed from Earls in Tewksbury. He is "The" Walther dealer. It had ERS (Earls Repair Service Inc) stamped on the side.

http://www.carlwalther.com/gsp.htm

 

[Asaltweapon]

Yes, Earl's would know for sure. Larry's Gun Shop in Gray might also be of help to you.

I was going to buy one but the two of us just didn't get along. It had more failures than I could count. Too bad as it was being sold at a very attractive price

 

[1776]

What kind of failures can be expected?

 

[Asaltweapon]

What kind of failures can be expected?

View attachment 194242

Gun had many failures to eject, failures to feed, failures to fire. Guy that owned it was an extreme libtard (but taking that away) he also wasn't very good with taking care of anything including himself. I knew this going in. His safety habits on the line were even questionable. Anyway... I took the gun and the first thing I did was clean it then I cleaned it again. Brought it to the range and it was totally a eff'ed up gun. Brought it home and looked it over really well. Back to the range and it still sucked. Tried a few brands of ammo and no change.

At the time I was shooting a Pardini but many others on our teams were very happy with the Walther. I shot a few rounds for fun and their guns had a nice feel to them. For 900 bucks (IIRC) I figured it was worth a spot in my safe having all the mags, a case, some ammo and other goodies.
I couldn't bring that gun back fast enough.

I'm not sure if it was neglect that ruined it or if it was just a bad gun. The owner was not a good shooter and I didn't see him a lot shooting it. It very well could have been a combination of issues for all I know.

 

[amb]

Can anybody look at this pic and tell me if it is one of the desirable GSP's? I've heard you want to stay away from the early ones.

If this is the problem I'm familiar with, the ones you want to stay away from (afaik) are the way, waaaay early ones, late 60's to mid 70's (77 I think?), and that one looks quite a lot newer. (The old ones are all very very scary, everyone should send them to me!)

The common failure is on the slide, below the ejection port, where the metal is thin and eventually cracks through due to recoil stress. From what I've gotten talking to Earl, it's due to some combination of beat-up recoil springs in old guns and hot ammo. It's eminently repairable, though, and some people like putting a doubler plate on the outside too. If it doesn't have a left-side safety on the grip it's post-77-redesign and should be safe from that.

According to Earl, the NOS recoil spring assembly he sold me was the last one he had, and finding it took a lot of digging.

I have a cracked GSP slide housing (1971 vintage) around here somewhere if anybody wants pics; Greg Derr recommended I send it to a precision welding shop for repair but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[1776]

Just from a brief introduction to this model, the under hinged trigger and rear sight placement being more forward than current versions gives an age indication. I'll call Earl's on Monday with the serial number to get a vintage on mine. Mine has a scope mount with a single jack screw towards the front which is cranked to apply an elevation bend, driving to point of aim down. The low cost Millett elevation adjustment is beyond all the way up to counter the mounts bend. Not good. That's going to be straightened out quick, and the scope replaced with a Matchdot II. A couple more mags and a checkout by Earl may be next.

Here's a scope mount reference http://www.bme-mounts.com/productlist.html

Mine seems to be this one http://www.bme-mounts.com/wa-pr3exp.html

 

[PatMcD]

I kind of fell out of infatuation with the Walther. It's still at the gun shop. I'll stick with my 41 for now.

 

[1776]

I kind of fell out of infatuation with the Walther. It's still at the gun shop. I'll stick with my 41 for now.

Looks like I'm on my own with the GSP Expert. Thanks for starting the thread!

Any NES GSP-Expert shooters?

I'm looking for the cross-bolt spacing on the Matchdot II or Matchdot to confirm that the current mount will work.

 

[BillO]

I have one. Mounted a MatchDot on it and once I found the right ammo, it's been a tack driver with Zero FTF and FTE's. Earl's shop suggested I go to a gun show, buy as many 50 rd boxes of 22's as I wish to test and find out which is best. My findings: It hates CCI anything (but S&W Mod 41 loves it.). Tried high and low cost and found the best to be Eley Sport (purple box) More accurate than RWS, Eley Target, Federal ect.

 

[cstockwell]

What kind of failures can be expected?

View attachment 194242

That mount will work with the ultradot and is what I have on mine. As for failures I agree with the other gent that it was the early model GSPs that may have had issues. My expert is pretty much flawless and others who have it on our team have the same experiences.

 

[1776]

Credit to a previous thread https://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/threads/235996-Walther-GSP-OSP-SSP-and-GSP-rifles

 

[PatMcD]

Unfortunately, I stopped into Larry's yesterday. I now have a Hammerli SP20.

 

[1776]

Unfortunately, I stopped into Larry's yesterday. I now have a Hammerli SP20.

Very nice !!! And it's also MA compliant.

What advancements did you find that this model has over the GSP? Hammerli seems to be in collaboration with Walther

 

[PatMcD]

Very nice !!! And it's also MA compliant.

What advancements did you find that this model has over the GSP? Hammerli seems to be in collaboration with Walther

I think Walther owns Hammerli now.
I don't necessarily think the SP20 is better than the GSP, it's just that I felt better buying a pistol from Larry than from some anonymous gun shop. Kind of like of I was going to buy a used Ferrari: get it from a Ferrari dealer or some clown at the corner used car lot.

My buddy went with me and walked out with a Pardini SP Bullseye. I like that one best of all, but the price was scary (used!).

 

[1776]

Looks like a souped up GSP with changes they don't want to change the GSP for. What is the length of the rifling?

 

[PatMcD]

Looks like a souped up GSP with changes they don't want to change the GSP for. What is the length of the rifling?

Barrel length is just under 5", if that's what you're asking. I don't know the twist rate.

 

[PatMcD]

One thing I absolutely DO NOT LIKE about this Hammerli AND my buddy's Pardini is the lack of a bolt hold-open on the last shot. That drives me crazy.

 

[1776]

Earl told me that a dry fire could easily break a GSP firing pin. Without a bolt hold-open a dry fire is more likely. He said that they grind a spot on the pin length so it will break vs having the hardened pin hit the hardened bolt face repeatedly. I had the trigger reset to a two stage, got a couple of extra mags, and swapped the large grip for a medium. Tab was 530.

 

[Ae1m]

One thing I absolutely DO NOT LIKE about this Hammerli AND my buddy's Pardini is the lack of a bolt hold-open on the last shot. That drives me crazy.

The GSP Expert will hold the bolt open with the proper mag button. The gun comes with mags with the larger mag button as Olypmpic shooters want all shots to feel the same. You can replace the large mag buttons with their smaller ones and the bolt will remain back after the last shot. I have at least 5000 rounds though mine, never ONE alibi in NRA Bullsyey competition. I use Eley Orange for practice and Eley Match for competition. Use only lead bullet with standard velocity ammo. I have seven 5-round mags with the smaller button. BTW, Walther P22 10 round mags also work....

Bob