P22

You had better pray you don't start dreaming about a WA2000...

I have two of the standard ones in black...I really like them...put a fiber optic sight and a laser on one...the other is stock. They  are not true target pistols but they are a world of fun. Face it the P22's have done so well that's why Sig came out with their Mosquito.

For the most part I think Walther wanted a practice pistol for the P99. They've done this will all their models for years. Usually its been through a .22 LR kit that included a slide, barrel and spring chambered in .22 that took the place of the 9mm slide, barrel and spring on the P.38's, P5, P88's etc. Only with the PP series pistols did you see a seperate dedicated, "mass" produced .22. There were a few dedicated .22's from the other models.

With the P99, it was just as cheap to make a whole gun that basically functioned similar to the P99.

This is my theory. And it seems to have worked well for Walther!

Also, most European countries won't allow military calibers to be owned by citizens, so it only makes sense to build a .22 with multiple barrels. The multiple barreled guns are big in Europe, because it's so hard to get a gun. I've looked through many catalogs from European countries where most guns come with more than one barrel.