[Vinchenzzi]

I am looking to get the Walther for a target league I recently joined. All other shooters have fancy 22's with red dot scopes. I am not looking to get that into it. I simply want to be able to halfway compete in the league so I can get vested in the club and become a range officer. It my club, you cant shoot alone unless you are a range officer and you must be in a league for a year before you can test for range officer. The P22 looks like a great little target gun. It also is something that I could walk around with while I am training until I get my EDC later on down the road. Sorry for the long story but I saw somewhere you can buy an adapter kit made by Walther for the P22 so you can mount a scope. Is it legit and does it work well? Second, what kind of scope can I get that will work cheaply? Lasers are not allowed. I found the P22 qd for 220 dollars at a local shop. The adapter is 40 bucks. Can I get a scope for 50 bucks or am I looking in the wrong direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Crete]

Red Dot from Walmart ($35)

 

[Target99]

I don't know exactly what type of target league you joined. But, from experience, think carefully about which pistol you want. Many years ago I became interested in silhouette competitions. I purchased a Ruger Mark II .22 cal. and headed to the first competition. It didn't take long to realize I was totally outgunned by everyone else. The firearm of choice was a Thompson Contender .22 cal. with a scope. I quickly rid myself of the Ruger and bought a Contender. After that, I had several years of fun (and a few trophies) at silhouette meets. Best of luck in your league.

 

[1917-1911M]

Another thread where the OP never came back.... 1917

 

[Vinchenzzi]

I understand what your saying. I am not at this time completely committed to the league. To me, its a means to an end. I cant shoot alone until im vested in league for a year. Id like to shoot weekly and i want to enjoy shooting the gun i purchase, not spend a ****load of money on a gun that i could only want for a year. If down the road, i want to shoot competitively, ill look then. Now i want a fun shooter that i can hopefully modify to fit my needs.

 

[1917-1911M]

Ha, glad you followed up. Walther makes a bridge mount that works quite well....sort of. It is a clamp on polymer device with a top rail that will hold a red dot or small scope. I had one way, way back....Sent it to someone around here. The mount worked fine and maintained zero. The problem is that you have to remove it to field strip and then you have to re-zero. Since I shot a lot and cleaned on a fairly regular basis...I got tired of using it. I had a red dot on it and I was certainly able to aim more accurately with a dimmed red dot.

I will add that the 5" barrel version of the P22 is considerably more accurate than the short barrel when tested from a mechanical rest. At 25 meters the short barrel is good for a 5 round group of 3+" while the 5" will return groups under 1". The best I shot in my tests was 5/8" while a bull barrel Ruger MK III was good for 3/8" groups...same distance. 1917

 

[Crete]

P22 bridge mount for Red Dot, or EER* pistol/scout scope

It works fairly well.

It comes in bits and pieces like an IKEA cupboard.

(*) Extended Eye Relief (EER)

 

[Vinchenzzi]

Am i better off perhaps with the M&P 22? I saw a similar setup on pics of that gun and heard its more reliable. Not as picky with ammo. A big concern is cost. Id like a fun to shoot gun, cheap mount and a cheap red dot scope. But i dont want to put a ton of money into it because i want to buy a 9mm or 45 for my edc and i cant afford to keep buying guns every month. Thanks all for helping out in my search.

 

[1917-1911M]

The Smith M&P 22 is a full size pistol made by Walther (Umarex) and it functions fine and is accurate. The compact version is P22 size, made by Smith, and has an internal hammer which means you can't cock it or de-cock it as you can with an exposed hammer pistol. The one I purchased functioned 100% with a variety of ammo due to the lightweight aluminum slide. The problem with it was that the rifling in the barrel was terrible. Two new barrels were installed by Smith and each one was worse than the one before. This was a couple of years ago. There was discussion of this at RimFireCentral which has a Smith section dedicated to the compact. My pistol was only good for 9" groups at 21' and that from a mechanical rest. Absolutely terrible.

A week ago I looked at a couple at Academy, stuck my camera down to the muzzle for a photo and the barrels are still the same...Rough lands and rough valleys. Until they sort that my recommendation would be to avoid the Smith compact. The Ruger SR22 on the other hand seems to be a pretty good small .22 and is offered in a 4.5" model which is reportedly accurate. The short barrels in either pistol will not compete with the longer barrels at distance. 1917