[OneBigDude]

I purchased a P22 camo used at a gun show a little more than a year ago. As a newbie to Walthers, and shooting in general, I was told that the gun was a no-brainer. When I got the gun home, I cleaned it (it was filthy) inspected it with a trusted friend, and took it to the range...where it jammed about every third round. I used Federal 40 grain solids, and had a failure to eject between every second and third round. I got some advice to lube it up more, lube the mags, cleaned it again, have the springs checked out (they do). It is still jamming every third round. What's my malfunction? Is it me or my weapon?

 

[Franchise]

have you tried diff ammo? i use CCI stingers without any issues. Check out the magazine as well.

 

[pz0r56]

The most likely cause is a magazine problem. How many mags do you have? However, while waiting for more responses check out the FAQS section and browse the board for lots of other questions with the same complaint. You'll find lots of opinions.

 

[jbr01]

Not clear what you mean by "jams every third round" but whenever I see that someone is having problems with the P22 and he is using Federal ammo, I suggest switching to CCI MiniMags or Remington Golden Bullets.
The Federal crap just does not have enough power to cycle the slide of the P22, which causes all sorts of problems. Also, less lube is more. Get any oil out of it and spray some Rem-oil/w teflon on friction surfaces. Good luck!

 

[1917-1911M]

Use the Federals in something else. They are not the best performers in a P22. For your bulk switch to Remington Golden Bullets, 36 gr HP. Jams are mag problems. Not ejecting is most likely too weak a round to pop off the ejector. The slide not picking up the next round is also caused by ammo that is too weak.......e.g. Federal 40 gr. Use very little lubricant in a P22. I run mine dry with dry moly powder on the rails and slide grooves. The frame and slide are zinc and if you use oil or grease it can collect spent particles of grit and grind away the soft metal. Give it a good spraying with something like Remington Remoil.....a very, very light oil. Wipe off all excess and go shooting. Dry moly powder on wear points is even better. You aren't far from a reliable shooter.

BTW, what is the two letter code on your pistol AK, BA, BB, etc. and do your magazines have a 1" long stagger slot. If not we need to talk some more. Welcome OneBigDude....join in the fun here. M1911

 

[Wildflush]

Two things you want to check:

First try CCI Mini mags and see if you have the problem. Once my gun was broken in it eats everything now.

Next see if your mag is the newer B series type. It will have a "B" on the side of the mag.

Also I lube all my guns frame rails with TW25 synthetic grease. It does not collect particals. Sig and the military use it.

If you still have a problem replace recoil spring.

I bet one of these will lead to a fix.

My dad and I love the P22. We both have the lasers on them. Very fun gun to shoot.

Good luck.

 

[Cokeman]

Your ammo is the problem. Use Rem Goldens.

 

[cypressh]

Had the same problem with a brand new P22 ... jamming and refusing to cycle every other round.

Took it home, cleaned it, and applied light lube with some Ballistol (yeah, I watch hickok45).

Then I bought some Remington Goldens and went back to the range. Not a single jam and I went through a couple hundred rounds.

I credit the ammo. The Rem Goldens seemed to be a lot cleaner too.

 

[Hawker800]

Remington Golden bullets and Thunderbolts have been flawless.

 

[MFF Jumpmaster]

My wife has a P22. She selected it at a gun store against my recommendation. She thought smaller was better.

That was seven years ago. After two times trying to shoot it, she never picked it up again. It could not fire more than twice before jamming. The variety of malfunctions was impressive. It failed in every step of the cycle of operation. It could not consistently feed. Sometimes the round went straight up instead of into the chamber. It misfired after the firing pin struck the rim. It failed to extract. It failed to eject, often leaving the spent cartridge sideways, blocking both the slide and the next round.

I've used different kinds of ammunition as suggested in this forum but after 500 tedious rounds later, I am still at a loss on how to make this pistol work without gunsmithing. I have resisted polishing the feed ramp and the hammer as many have suggested because a new gun, in particular a new Walther, should work well out of the box.

I am retired from Special Forces, where I was, among other things, a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant. I've taught and repaired weapons in dozens of countries while training foreign troops. I've truly never seen any weapon anywhere perform as badly as the P22.

This weapon should have been recalled and purchase price refunded. I have not purchased a Walther since, as I surmise that the P22 is indicative of the quality of all of their current products. All in all, a far cry from the days that the PPK was first produced.

 

[1917-1911M]

Welcome Jumpmaster. Thanks for your service to our Nation. Drag that P22 if you are interested. Perhaps we can get it running. It has a lifetime warranty and you can send it to Ft Smith for repair or replacement if they can't fix it. I doubt the feed ramp needs polishing. Your feeding issues sound like magazine problems. Extraction and ejection might be due to the ammo used. The pistol likes snappy ammo. The slide is pretty heavy.

I'll be glad to try to help you sort it out if you are interested. Walther has two lines of firearms. Umarex is the parent company and has been for years. The PPQ, PPS and P99 are all made in Ulm and are military and police quality. The Umarex pistols are made in Arnsberg, Germany and are the P22, PK380, CCP and zinc PPK/S. All on the lower price side of firearms. I paid $225 for my last new P22. Walther has a new production and service operation in Ft Smith, Arkansas where they are currently producing the PPK and PPK/S out of steel. They will also inspect your pistol if you contact them. 1917

 

[MFF Jumpmaster]

1917,

Thanks for the response! I was not aware of a lifetime warranty on the pistol. It was not in any of the documents that came with the pistol when she bought it new.

Before I saw your response, I looked hard at the slide and lower receiver for any obvious defects. I found one on the bolt. It had a high spot just forward of where the safety cam is located. The right side was visibly high. It was easy to find, as the hammer left drag marks on it. It made sense, as the bolt must have been dragging on the hammer, keeping the slide from moving freely.

I ground it down to where it was equal all the way across. A quick run outside to test fire it... it worked fine! I put 200 rounds through it without a problem. I put it back on the bench to polish the wire marks out of my bolt repair with jewelers rouge and then clean it up before presenting my wife with her working pistol. Unfortunately, somewhere in the movement, the front sight post fell off!

I think this thing is cursed.

 

[1917-1911M]

If you call Ft Smith, they will send you some new front sight blades. There are three. Different heights for different zero distances. I'm not really following you on the work you did. The safety drum presses the hammer rearward as the slide is racked. The drum passes over the hammer and then the rear of the pinned in breech block. When the slide moves forward it drags across the hammer again with considerable drag until the drum is clear of the cocked hammer. I have noted over the years that the stock hammer drags more on one side. I believe this is due to the uneven pressure the mainspring exerts on the rear of the hammer. With the main and sear spring removed...frame halves reassembled you will notice quite a bit of movement of the hammer/sear. What seems to happen though is that when fully assembled the primary hammer hooks align with the two sear arms....regardless of this play between the hammer, hammer pin and frame pin detents.

On the right hand side of the frame there was a raised bump that seemed had the purpose of jiggling the firing pin block only. It usually gets pretty beaten up from the spring loaded block hitting it. My 2017 pistol with the safety decocking lever does not have this raised area. Now to find a photo or two. 1917

 

[1917-1911M]

Regarding those sight blades, there is a foot on the underside that needs to be spread when the blade is installed. You fully insert the sight from the top, press it into the indentation provided for it. Then while holding it down take a small flat screwdriver blade, insert it between the two bottom legs and spread them just a bit to make sure the part is firmly caught. You will see immediately what needs to be done. This does not mean that you can't yank the polymer blade out by the roots with a lot of quick draw practice from a holster.

Above is what I meant regarding the hammer not being fitted tightly and every P22 I've ever looked at has more finish wear on the left side of the hammer face and corresponding scratches to the left side of the safety drum and breech block. I don't consider either an issue though with regard to function.

 

[MFF Jumpmaster]

Imagine the underside of the slide with barrel, recoil spring, and recoil spring guide rod removed.

Holding the slide barrel end down with the bottom facing me, I noticed that the rear base of the bolt (below the safety at this perspective) had strike marks on only one side from the hammer dragging on it as the slide was blown rearward during the extraction and ejection stages. However, this mild wear was uneven. There was far more at the distal end, tapering off before it reached the proximal end, indicating: 1) the hammer was dragging unevenly on one side of the bolt, and 2) the slide was not fully reaching the rear. The latter would seem to explain why this pistol was having so many problems with extraction and ejection. Moreover, a slow return would not seat the new round fully, causing the misfires.

I put a micrometer on the slide, comparing the measurements of the right and left sides of the bolt. There was a difference. To be sure, I ran a laser level across it.

I marked the high spot with a Sharpie. I used a dremel tool with pen accessory and bits for the work. Those, in turn, were a mild stone, a wire, and afterwards jewelers rouge on a cloth wheel to polish the steel until the laser beam point was circular on the wall next to my bench.

As I said, that did the trick. Fired without problems the same ammo that had not worked an hour before (Winchester).

Thanks for the advice on the sight. I am leaning towards a metal sight that I can screw in from the inside and Loctite into place. I don't know what that is yet. If there isn't anything commercially available, I expect that I will modify an iron sight that fits well enough, then braze it in. The original sight grouped 3" low at 7 yards for me. My wife relies upon the laser in any case. She'd be just as happy with no sights.

MFF JM

 

[1917-1911M]

Bet she would really like one of these light weight red dots. It is a bit difficult to install on a zinc slide P22. There is a recent thread on it although I drew up the concept 15 years ago.

There is also an aftermarket fiber optic front sight that is mounted and secured with a small screw from the bottom. A lot of people seem to like them. I prefer the 4 moa red dot over even a scope.

With your background you might also want to look at the front edge of the trigger bar ears the next time you feel like a small project. The slide has a narrow ramp under it that knocks the trigger bar down, disengaging it from the sear. Walther has slowly made improvements to the ears over the years but once upon a time they would really gouge the underside of the slide. Flipping the trigger bar upside down, front end on a glass plate with the ears on a piece of 400 grit emery will reprofile the shape of the leading edge of the ears to match the slope of the ramps....this minimizes impact damage greatly. Then, there is the two lb trigger mod.....if you get serious about target shooting.

The P22 has historically had an issue with the hammer catching in the small notch between the safety drum and the breech block. Sometimes I have very lightly removed the edge that exists on the hammer face so the metal will smoothly span the gap. And yes, all of the hammers drag down the left side. I think the one legged hammer spring is the reason for that. I had to laugh the other day.....I placed a Remington short on top of at stack of long rifle rounds, manually chambered, fired. It actually cycled the slide, ejected and chambered the next round. 5" suppressed barrel though. 1917