Walther P22 slide wear

[Tomcat088]

I wanted to inform some people of wear that may or may not be an issue for you. Keep in mind that my Walther P22 has thousands upon thousands of rounds through it. I can't even tell you exactly how many thousands of rounds it has through it, but I know it's over 10K. Anyway, for the past 2K or so, I've noticed more and more slidewear on the frame right where the slidestop is. The wear has gotten so significant that without an empty magazine in the pistol, if you bump it, the slide will close. This can be a problem if you like to keep the action open, insert a new magazine, and then use the slidestop to close the action on the new one. I have no problem "slingshotting" the first round into the pistol, BUT it does cause some concern. I teach alot of beginners on this pistol, and many of them find the slidestop more comfortable than actually racking the slide. If one of them wasn't extremely careful with their muzzle control or was surprised with the slide closing on it's own, it could be disasterous. From now on, I will only teach newbies to slingshot this pistol for that reason. This pistol has been extremely reliable for me and I have NEVER had any complaints about it. I just wanted others who were considering buying this pistol or who had just gotten one to be aware of this potential issue.

I was on the phone with Smith & Wesson about 3 days ago to get a new recoil spring for this pistol (which was free). I told them the issue and they said, "oh yeah, send it over it sounds like we need to get you a new slide for that pistol." I then said, sweet, you can get me a new slide for it? He replied, "Sure. How long have you had the pistol?" I answered "5 years", to which he replied, "oh, well it sounds like you need to buy a new pistol then." I asked him why and he said because the pistol only has a one year warranty on it. I told him that all the other pistols that they handled had a lifetime warranty, why shouldn't this one. He informed me that since they merely import it from Walther that they don't warranty it. So I asked him if I could purchase a new slide from them and he said no. Which I found strange because if it's under warranty they'll give you a new slide with a different seriel number, but they won't sell me a new slide and said that I had to buy a new pistol.

I suppose I have a few questions from all of that. Have any of you had any experiences like this with Smith & Wesson and an imported gun? Have any of you had any issues like this with other manufacturers who import guns? I know that the XD's are imported, but springfield still gives them a lifetime warranty and does warranty service on them. I haven't look on rimfire central yet or anything, but I had another question. Does anybody have any idea how to contact Walther directly to see if they would allow me to ship them the pistol to be worked on or do you think they would? I just thought all of it was a bit strange and wanted everyone to be aware of this potential problem in the future.

[JayBell]

the thing is here, ya have to read the warranty papers that came with the S&W, they dont have a lifetime on everything anymore, and definitely not on the guns they merely import, which the first Walther P22s were at least, this is pretty much a known issue with the warranty.

I had one of the first P22 models imported, and quickly saw that it was pretty much the "disposable pistol".

the slide is aluminum, with a steel barrel, a cast barrel liner, and the frame plastic with an aluminum insert.

its a neat gun, but NOT designed to last.

mine was ONLY used with a suppressor, as it would only cycle properly with it on.

within 2K rds, the sheetmetal slide stop carved my notch right off.
they replaced the slide.
then the mag problem came up, and they replaced the mags.
the the rollpin in the rear of the slide started coming out and locking the safety
they replaced the slide again
the tigger broke, and they replaced that.

finally, completely fed up with the POS, I sold it off to someone willing to tinker, I dont have time for substandard POS import gun.

now I stick to my Ruger MKII, my CZ Kadet, my Paclite MKII, my Beretta Mod 87, and even my Beretta 21a if I want a good 22lr pistol.

also, remember, the slide STOP is exactly that, its NOT indended as a slide RELEASE, its always best to "slingshot" the slide back into battery, its no worse than the recoil action of the gun actually cycling when firing, and frankly, folks should be used to this in training, if trained properly, there is no chance of disaster, train without mags and ammo for beginners, and train them right, no worries.

thanks for the warning for the newbies tho, but remember, every manufacturer has thier own warranty, some better than others, so caveat emptor!

[RocketFoot]

I agree with Jay...I bought my P22 knowing that it may have a limited life span and I expect it at just $230. It is a fun gun and shoots cheap ammo. I did polish up my trigger bar ears and feed ramp a little and I keep her well greased and so far I haven't seen any "more than normal" wear to the slide...and this is after 3000 rounds. I will say that it needs kept clean. after about every 300-500 runds, it needs at least a shot of cleaner to make it cycle again, if not a field strip and good cleaning. But I still love it and I don't regret my purchase!

As far as slingshot loading, I too feel that it is good to teach...if a shooter is using a semi auto for self defense and a round fails to fire, the slide needs to be manipulated, chamber cleared and a new round fed. Not so for a revolver...so it is good to teach how to work the slide!

[Mity2]

there are few things you can do to minimize the wear. I'm still not too happy about Walther being sort of throw away gun with its Zink alloy slide.

if your capable, here are several things you can do.

http://www.freespeech.com/1917-1911M_P22_bible.pdf

I got member here to work on my trigger bar ear, and seems to be working great since then

[Tomcat088]

Mity, thank you for the P22 Bible, I didn't have one yet and can definately do any of the things in that manual. I bought this pistol used/brand new from a friend that got it and never shot it, so he sold it. This was right after they came out, and before I had ever heard anything bad about them wearing. It's not a big deal though, because I got the pistol for reall cheap. I have no problem slingshotting rounds in, I just wanted others to be aware of the wear, and for no one to get injured.

Jaybell, you had a heck of a time with your pistol man. I've never had anything close to all those problems with mine. I know that some of the newer pistols from S&W don't come with a lifetime warranty, kind of sad. Either way, I just wished they'd at least offer the possibility of purchasing a new slide. They originally told me that they would not, that the only way to get a new slide was if it was under warranty. I guess maybe they want to sell more of those pistols, but if that's how they handle stuff I just won't buy another. Anyway, in terms of customer service S&W has been really good to me. They sent me some screws for the compensator (free) that had been stripped by the previous owner, and also a recoil spring just the other day (free), when mine wore out. They not only did that free, but they usually had the parts to me in 2-3 business days, which was impressive.

[Mity2]

Your welcome

Despite of what people say, wear on slide of unmodified P22 is unacceptable. We shot around 200rds, and wear was definately noticible. I would think kept unchecked, slike would be unserviceable in @2000rds i think.

Too bad tho. such a fun little pistol.

If only it has real metal slide instead of Zinc Alloy and cast internal, rather then stamped crap thats in this gun

[Agent Ronin]

Rocketfoot, reading your story made me go and strip my P22 to check it out closely. Its got about 2000 rounds through it and is date code AG. I looked at my slide stop and it has a steel pin bedded into the alloy. Does yours have this pin? Sure its worn a bit [the slide], but the steel pin is fine and i doubt that it won't last as long as the rest of the pistol.

Yea well, its a fun little pistol but a few things should have been done before it left the factory. Atleast Walther has corrected a few things with each concurrent production run.

[greener]

My P22 developed a serious case of slide wear on the left side in fewer than 1k rounds. It looked like I took a dremel to it after a couple of gallons of coffee. Sent it back to S&W, they did not replace the slide, said the wear was normal. They did, however, replace the barrel. They seem to have swapped the slide with one that wasn't as worn. When I got it back I did the trigger bar polishing bit and no more serious wear.

Terrible accuracy, wants to self-destruct, but it is fun to shoot.

[45 ACP]

Originally Posted by JayBell

the thing is here, ya have to read the warranty papers that came with the S&W, they dont have a lifetime on everything anymore, and definitely not on the guns they merely import, which the first Walther P22s were at least, this is pretty much a known issue with the warranty.

I had one of the first P22 models imported, and quickly saw that it was pretty much the "disposable pistol".

the slide is aluminum, with a steel barrel, a cast barrel liner, and the frame plastic with an aluminum insert.

its a neat gun, but NOT designed to last.

mine was ONLY used with a suppressor, as it would only cycle properly with it on.

within 2K rds, the sheetmetal slide stop carved my notch right off.
they replaced the slide.
then the mag problem came up, and they replaced the mags.
the the rollpin in the rear of the slide started coming out and locking the safety
they replaced the slide again
the tigger broke, and they replaced that.

finally, completely fed up with the POS, I sold it off to someone willing to tinker, I dont have time for substandard POS import gun.

now I stick to my Ruger MKII, my CZ Kadet, my Paclite MKII, my Beretta Mod 87, and even my Beretta 21a if I want a good 22lr pistol.

also, remember, the slide STOP is exactly that, its NOT indended as a slide RELEASE, its always best to "slingshot" the slide back into battery, its no worse than the recoil action of the gun actually cycling when firing, and frankly, folks should be used to this in training, if trained properly, there is no chance of disaster, train without mags and ammo for beginners, and train them right, no worries.

thanks for the warning for the newbies tho, but remember, every manufacturer has thier own warranty, some better than others, so caveat emptor!

Aluminum slide?, are all p22s like that?

[RocketFoot]

Originally Posted by Agent Ronin

Rocketfoot, reading your story made me go and strip my P22 to check it out closely. Its got about 2000 rounds through it and is date code AG. I looked at my slide stop and it has a steel pin bedded into the alloy. Does yours have this pin? Sure its worn a bit [the slide], but the steel pin is fine and i doubt that it won't last as long as the rest of the pistol.

Yea well, its a fun little pistol but a few things should have been done before it left the factory. Atleast Walther has corrected a few things with each concurrent production run.

Yes, mine has the steel pin also...must be one of the updates. I have about 3000 rounds through mine now and still no serious slide wear.