Walther P22 Laser Sight

• Contents
• Laser Review
• Windage, Elevation & Adjustment
• Cost & Where to Buy
• Technical Data

Laser Review

I wasn't too sure what to expect when I dropped a little over $100 on a Walther P22 laser sight at my local gun shop. As others have commented, the packaging doesn't exude confidence in the product within and the price tag seemed hefty for what I was getting. Once I cracked open the plastic and slipped the sight onto the rails of my P22 my worries started to subside.

Walther's product fits perfectly on the bottom of the P22's frame just in front of the trigger guard as shown in the pictures below.

The sight clips firmly in place by grabbing the underside of the P22's rails. To release it, pull down on the buttons located on either side as show in the pictures below. Attaching and removing the laser is a simple process and the clip is sturdy enough to last quite some time.

The laser is turned on and off via a little switch that you can see pictured above on the back right side. It's conveniently placed so that a right-handed shooter can easily reach the switch with their index finger to turn it on and off. If you're a lefty you'll probably have to use your other hand to get to the switch. It would have been great to have had an ambidextrous on/off switch in keeping with the pistol's other features.

The red beam is powered by two 1.5 volt 357/303 batteries as show in the picture below. The batteries are accessed via a little hatch that's held in place by a small clip. When I first looked at the Walther P22 laser sight I was a little nervous that this hatch would pop off or rattle during shooting, but it's stayed in place without incident.

The sight can be adjusted with a small hex wrench that comes. Windage (left/right) adjustment is on the right side of the laser as show in the image above. Elevation adjustment is on the underside of the laser as shown in the image below. I've put at least a few thousand rounds through my P22 and I haven't had to readjust the laser after initially setting it. Once you've got the sight set it will hold its settings.

I'm not sure how long a set of batteries will last because mine are still going strong after hours of use. I even accidentally left the laser on when I put the gun in its case after shooting for the day and found it still beaming when I opened the case to clean the pistol a day later.

The P22's laser has a helpful feature that allows you to see if it is on or off without having to look at the front of the pistol (insert wise-crack here). There are two little dots that illuminate at the back of the laser that indicate to the shooter whether it's on as shown in the image below.

One of the reasons that I decided to buy Walther's laser over the competition is its small size and near perfect fit. As you can see from the pictures below, Walther's laser fits the P22 perfectly and doesn't hang over the frame of the pistol in any direction. This help tremendously when carry the pistol in a holster with the laser attached. Larger optics like those from Viridian are a bit more cumbersome.

I've found visibility to be excellent with the factory P22 laser although the red dot is not as bright as a green dot. With that said, you can easily see this red dot on a target over thirty feet away on a sunny day assuming that the target is not in direct sunlight. If you're frequently shooting at targets that are in direct sunlight, you'll want to look at a green laser instead.

Windage, Elevation & Adjustment

Like any sight, the laser will have to be adjusted for different distances. If you routinely shoot at the same distance, you won't have to adjust the sight often. If you do, you'll get pretty familiar with the elevation and windage settings.

The first step to setting the laser is to acquire a safe target using the fixed front and rear sights on the pistol. With the target acquired, the red dot of the laser should sit just above the front site of the pistol on the center. If it doesn't, you'll need to adjust the windage and elevation using the supplied Allen key (hex wrench).

Adjusting Elevation & Windage
There are two small Allen (hex) screws on the laser. The one on the right side is for adjusting windage, which affects the left/right movement of the red dot on the target. The one on the underside is for adjusting elevation, which is the up/down movement of the red dot on the target. You can see the location of these small screws by checking out the various pictures on this page.

Windage
If the red dot of the laser is too far left on the target, turn the Allen key counter-clockwise.
If the red dot of the laser is too far right on the target, turn the Allen key clockwise.

Elevation
If the red dot of the laser is too high, turn the Allen key counter-clockwise.
If the red dot of the laser is too low on the target, turn the Allen key clockwise.

Cost & Where to Buy

The price of the factory laser can vary substantially. I picked mine up at the local gun store for $109.99, but I had to wait about two weeks for them to order it. I decided to wait because buying it online would have set me back about $140 after paying $10 for shipping.

• Impactguns - $127.99 plus an additional $10 for shipping and handling
• Check you local gun shop. If they don't carry it already, they should be able to get it to you for about $110.
• Ebay is always a good outlet for something like this. If you can find a used one you'll pay around $50. New will be about $100 plus another $8-$10 for shipping.
• Post a wanted ad in heavily trafficked forums like rimfirecentral. You should be able to find someone willing to part with their laser for a cheaper than new price.

Technical Data

Warning: This is a class IIIA laser that shouldn't be directed at eyes.

Wavelength: 635nm
Batteries: 2 X round cells silver oxide SR44 or SR44W - 116 x5.4 / 1.55v
Weight: 35 grams
Dimensions: 48x27x39mm

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