Best Walther P22 Ammunition

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- Please note that comments are pre-moderated. I'll post your comment ASAP, usually within an hour or so.

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On June 6, 2009 Javier said:

I keep reading comments about having a series B magazines. Mine say A. Should i go through the expense of replacing my mags? So far the problems I have experienced have been ammo related. Thanks for the ammo recommendations.

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On June 6, 2009 Ben said:

Hi Javier,
I've never had issues, and I've got series "B" magazines. I've had many issues with certain ammo, but I can't attribute that to the magazine. I think it's got more to do with the quality of ammo and the recoil. I stick with CCI Mini Mags now and I never have a problem.

No problem on posting the ammo chart. I've still got some work to fill in the blanks, but it's coming along. Let me know if you try any brands not listed and I'll add them.

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On June 7, 2009 LeVan said:

A subsonic bullet that my P-22 eats like candy is the .22-SSS by Aguila. I also have a Walther PP in .22 and neither one likes Remington ammunition so I use Federals. As long as the bullets haven't been in my pocket and gotten dirty I have had no problems. Since my Walthers like Federal hollow points and solids it just goes to show that each firearm has a mind of its own.

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On June 8, 2009 Ben said:

I couldn't agree more with your statement that every firearm has its preferences and idiosyncrasies. I've never tried running Aguila .22-SSS through my P22, but I'll give it a shot. At 60gr. it makes sense that it would work well with the P22.

Thanks for the comment, LeVan. I've including your note about Aguila subsonic ammunition in the table.

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On June 9, 2009 Andrew said:

Are you feeding the Stinger and other hollow points through a stock or modified P22? I've heard hollow points may not feed well through it.

great write up!!

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On June 9, 2009 Ben said:

Hey Andrew,
You make an excellent point that I mentioned on the Walther P22 review page but that I neglected to mention here.

I'm using a second generation stock P22 and I've put thousands of hollow points through it without a problem. However, this isn't always the case. Some P22s take issue with hollow points and experience feeding problems that's caused by the hollow point catching the lower lip of the chamber.

I've added a section above under the heading "General Recommendations for Walther P22 Ammunition" to outline the problem and the solution in more detail.

Thanks for catching this and posting a comment, Andrew.

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On June 14, 2009 LeVan said:

In my post about Aguila bullets I forgot to mention that I bought my P-22 in 2004, it is the green and black model 3.4 inche barrel. I don't know what modifications have been made since then. For a small, light weight, accurate, convenient, have it when you need it firearm, it is very hard to beat. The sights and trigger pull are exceptional in my opinion. If anyone is looking for a holster I can recommend an Uncle Mikes' Side Kick size 15. It is ambitextrious and has a pouch for an extra magazine. Very nice rig.

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On June 15, 2009 Ben said:

Thanks for the follow up comment, LeVan. In the near future I'll be doing a page about the best holsters for the P22. I'll be sure to take your advice and include the Uncle Mikes' Side Kick.

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On July 11, 2009 Bob T said:

I bought a new P22. I did a quick check of it to make sure everything was tight and ready to go. Went to the range with some CCI mini mag HP hollow points. I ran 80 rounds through it and had 1 fail to fire but was the ammo not the gun. I was start ing get some groupings after fooling around with the sights. Very pleased. I am not the best shot. So far so good.
Bob T

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On July 19, 2009 Robert said:

I have two p22s purchased recently and neither one of functions at all with federal
bulk pack 22 long rifle ammo labeled load no. 750. if you plan on protecting yourself with these, 36 grain, 1260 ft/sec copper plated cartridges, good luck to you. You must use quality ammo to cycle the action sufficiently. Mostly, with this load there is insufficient power in the load to make the slide move far enough back on recoil to strip the next available round into the chamber. two p22s doing the same thing.... I don't think so.
must be the inexpensive ammo labeled "load no. 750.

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On August 1, 2009 Nick said:

I have owned my p22 for 3 years!. I have the 5in barrel and 3 in! 5in barrel will shoot 1/2 in groups at 25 yards on a rest, with American eagle 38 grain hollows! they burn clean and feed great, I have never had a problem! I take my friends out shooting a lot and have convinced 3 of them to buy a 5in barrel! they love them as well! like you said the the p22 is tempermental with what it shoots but over all I feel I have got soooo much bang for my $buck$! Excellent firearm! Wife loves to shoot it as well. My only concern with the gun is the drill hole on the barrel for the set screw to hold the extension on is just a little off center - poor machining. All my friends do the same thing! I am a machinist myself and it really matters down to a 10 thousandths of a inch! Walther/S&W needs too pull there heads out and get serious! Overall I give the pistol a 4.99 out of 5 but a 1 on $price of extra clips I have 4 so I bought two extra and they were about $35 apiece and yes I did shop around for days and that was the best price for a factory clip! you pay for what you get though when you buy an off brand and I didn't want any problems so I bought the clips made for the gun! I pack it with me and your side arm needs to be reliable and that what this gun is 100%.

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On August 28, 2009 James Lean said:

Hello, I own a P22 ser.# starts with "L" and both mags. are "A" I went plinking a few days ago and found that it will not fire double action, single is no problem. I took it to my dealer and they tried a new mag.(I don't know the #'s) and it worked with out any problems, any ideas or words of wisdom. also what a great web site thanks in advance Jim

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On August 28, 2009 Ben said:

Hi James,

You experience is not as uncommon as you would think. People often experience issues with walther P22 magazines when buying additional ones aftermarket. I've posted a complete article about Walther P22 magazines here.

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On August 30, 2009 David said:

I bought a P22 and a bulk box of Federal copper plated hollow points load # 750. I don't know what happened with the other reviewer's P22 but I shot almost the entire box of 550 without one single problem.

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On August 31, 2009 Ben said:

Hi David,

Thanks for sharing your experience. As a previous poster mentioned, every firearm has its own personality and the P22 is no different. I have a friend with a P22 that's like yours - it will shoot almost anything he puts through it without a problem. Mine on the other hand, picks and chooses its ammo and complains like crazy when it doesn't get what it likes.

The majority of P22s are pretty picky about the ammunition that they'll shoot without frequent problems, it sounds like you've got an exception.

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On September 4, 2009 Marvin said:

I'm planning to buy a walther P22 soon (My H&K P2000 is a bit heavy on the budget with weekly shooting). Unfortunately, CCI ammo is not available here in the Philippines. The only reputable ammo I can find, (except local manufactured ones Armscor brand) are the Remington viper high velocity rounds. Have you had any experiences with those? Are they reliable?

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On September 4, 2009 Ben said:

Hi Marvin,

I've never tried Remington Viper rounds personally but my guess is that they would perform well with the P22 with possibly a few failures to feed. The bad news is that the Viper rounds have a muzzle velocity of around 800-900fps which is roughly 100fps less than say the better performing CCI stingers. Couple that with the fact that Vipers weigh only 36 grains and you may have some problems.

What I'm not sure about is the cone shape of the Vipers VS. the rounded nose of most rounds that the P22 likes. The cone may help the Viper to perform well in spite of the slower muzzle velocity and lighter weight, but then again, it may be another nail in the coffin.

The only way to find out for sure is to buy a box and see what happens. If you do, please let us know how they work out.

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On September 27, 2009 Chris said:

Like David (August 30th), my P22 which I bought in November '08 works fine with Federal Premium Champion Target 525 bulk. I have shot roughly 1500 rounds of this stuff with no problems.

However, it DOES NOT like Winchester bulk or American Eagle. It seems to prefer copper-plated ammo over lead...and, it does not seem to care if it is hollow or not.

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On October 17, 2009 dan said:

Have you tried the new (not the old) Winchester Xpediter ammo with your walther P22? I just purchased some and was hoping perhaps you could shed some light on this. Thanks in advance.

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On October 18, 2009 Ben said:

I haven't tried the new Winchester Xpediter ammunition. Let me know how it works so that I can post your finding for everyone else.

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On October 25, 2009 Ralph said:

Great site! Picked up a new P22 and got a chance to shoot it last weekend. Nice fun gun to shoot. Mine came with only one mag but I spent the extra to order another from the manufacturer and got the new B mag. Started with CCI Mini Mags w/o any issues. Used the Federal Lightning from wally world and to my surprise not one problem aside from getting my finger dirty from the lead bullet. Tried some old CCI blazer bulk ammo and it ate it up fine. There were only a few FT feed issues but it looks to be the ammo and not the P22. The most disappointing ammo was the CCI Velocitor. When they worked they gave good recoil and muzzle blast. I shot two guns one after the other while testing all this ammo (walther P22 and S&W 2213). Both guns had a couple FT Fire on the Velocitor and it caused a couple of feed issues which could have been due to the ramp and the fact that the ammo is hollow point but I had just gone through 100 rounds of CCI Mini Mag HP w/o any issues on both guns so I don't know.

Overall the P22 is a pleasure to shoot and surprisingly accurate for a 3.4 in barrel plus it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to pop off 300+ rounds at the range.

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On October 30, 2009 pete said:

I just bought my p-22 and initially tried Aguila 60 gr. SSS. I noticed that after firing the first round the slide didn't move fully forward when chambering the second. I had to give a quick assist with my thumb. The rest of each magazine went smoothly. This occurred for the first 6 mags I shot. After that it quit. It may be due to being a new gun, but it is worth noting.

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On November 15, 2009 phat duck said:

just bought my p22 & a bx of remington yellow jacket hyper velocity,truncated cone hollow points(33gr).have not shot it yet.any thoughts on that brand of ammo & how its gonna react ?

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On November 19, 2009 Pete said:

The Aguila SSS performed fairly well in my P-22, however, I found the for the first two rounds in each magazine the round did not chamber fully and I had to give it a little "thumb-assist". I also had 2/100 ratio of failing to pickup the next round.

The Remington subsonic did not seem to have enough "juice" to cycle the P-22 as well. It could eject but it wouldn't pickup the next round about 40% of the time.

I burned through a bit of cheap American Eagle 40gr rounds and about 1 in 5 would have the brass get hug up.

The CCI stingers were 100% effective and that was after firing all the rest without cleaning. It is definitelt worth 9.99 for 100.

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On November 21, 2009 John said:

I purchased a walther P22 Target 5" barrel. I have shot no less than 5000 rounds of Federal(550 per box)jacketed hollow points. The gun has never jammed. Perfect and accurate performance.

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On November 22, 2009 Larry said:

Just picked up a P22 with stainless slide. Nice pistol. Used ELEY Federal Ultra Match. Woked okay but only functioned fired 10 rounds. 10 rounds is not enough to make a decent test, but I had two failure to feeds, no failures to fire or failure to extract. I will be using this more extensively. I'm interested to see how mine performs with the 60 grain Aguila sniper subsonic rounds. This round produces many stovepipe failures in my S&W 41, so I'll clue you in on the extensive results.

Which is better in the P22 in your opinion, Stinger or Mini Mags?

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On November 22, 2009 Larry said:

The take down slide/lever is really stiff on my P22. It takes a serious effort to get it to pull down. Does it loosen up with time?

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On November 22, 2009 Ben said:

Hi Larry,

Are you sure that your P22 has a stainless slide? As far as I know all P22s are produced with a cast zinc-alloy slide. The P22 is available in a variety of colors, but as far as I know, the underlying construction is the same.

CCI ammunition is all-around pretty good. I haven't found any difference between CCI Mini-Mags and Stingers - They both function perfectly with the P22.

The take down lever is made of plastic. If it loosens up, it means that the clips that secure the lever in place a eroding - not a good thing. There are two clips on the top/inside of the take down lever that secure the lever to the frame.

When you pull down on the lever, don't squeeze it, doing so will make it harder to pull down. Instead of using your thumb and index finger to squeeze and pull down on the lever, turn the pistol over and use your finger nails on both index finger to spread the top of the lever as you pull down. You'll find it will drop without a problem.

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On November 27, 2009 CoachRick said:

Wow...lots of information! Just what I was looking for. I have a Glock 26 for concealed carry but have been enjoying a break top H&R 9 shot .22 wheel gun(from the 1930s, I believe). I have decided to add the P22 to the mix for practice and occasional CC. I'm wondering if I should purchase the 5" model and add the 3.4 later or vice versa. I've not seen the conversion 'kits' at a dealer but perhaps they are not displayed. I've read that both barrels(as an original package) were available at one time but no longer...correct? It makes perfect sense to me for a gun to be this 'flexible'...great idea. Any other late developments I should be aware of? Thanks! BTW, I guess I can use the 1000 rounds of Rem Golden and T-Bolts I just purchased(Black Friday sale) in the revolver if my future P22 doesn't like them!

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On December 1, 2009 CoachRick said:

A bit of a follow-up...I purchased the P22 3.4" and headed to the range today. Ran 30 rnds of Mini-Mag rounded and 70 rnds of T-bolt with only one FTF with the T-bolts. The Mini-Mags are definitely more consistent sounding but the T-bolts weren't bad. I still have 400 rnds each of T-bolts and Golden so I'll be using them for a while. MY accuracy was fair given I'm only in my second day of using both eyes to aim(also, the range was cold enough to see my breath!). There were a half-dozen times that the mag disconnected while I was firing...not sure if I am just bumping the release or if there is another concern. It seems to be engaging properly(I'm used to the Glock light click to engage while the P22 has more spring tension just before latching). Not excited about $35 for another mag of the same capacity...would like to find an extended, higher capacity mag. All in all, I'm happy with the purchase. The idea was for DW to fire this weapon as her intro to pistol shooting but I wanted something I would enjoy as well...so far, so good!

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On December 1, 2009 Ben said:

Hey Rick,

Thanks for the great feedback!

I have heard a few people chime in about the magazine dropping during use. In all cases it was people inadvertently hitting the release with their trigger finger. A similar problem contributes to fail-to-feeds when shooters accidentally contact the slide - usually with their thumb.

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On December 9, 2009 Mike said:

I'm considering buying a walther P22 and adding a suppressor. It seems that subsonic ammunition is not recommended for this pistol.
If that's the case, then what is the point of buying this gun if one plans to add a suppressor in the future? Isn't the best ammo for a suppressed gun subsonic?
Any facts and information is appreciated.

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On December 9, 2009 Ben said:

Hi Mike,

I'm not sure how quite you want the pistol to be, but a suppressed P22 sounds similar to an air gun when fired. Truth be told, all rounds fired from a P22 are subsonic.

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On December 10, 2009 Mike said:

Hi Ben,
How can a non-subsonic cartridge become subsonic?
What does "all rounds fired from a P22 are subsonic" mean?
Isn't the whole point of using subsonic ammunition with a suppressor to make the LEAST amount of noise when fired?
I'm certainly not a hit-man but I would love to fire my "silenced" gun in my back yard without scaring my neighbors.
By the way, I've shot my Winchester air-gun rifle (1000 fps) in the back yard and no one has freaked out. So that's the kind of sound I expect from a firearm.

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On December 11, 2009 Ben said:

Hi Mike,

The terms subsonic and supersonic are references to the muzzle velocity of the bullet. Subsonic rounds have a muzzle velocity of 1080fps or less. Supersonic rounds leave the barrel travel at 1125fps or more. The short barrel of the P22 doesn't carry enough pressure for long enough to push rounds past roughly 1100fps. Even good quality rounds with a lot of charge like CCI stingers won't leave a P22 supersonic.

The numbers that you see on the side of an ammunition box are rough. Ammunition will perform differently depending on the firearm it's used with.

The constants are that ammunition marked as subsonic will have less charge than ammunition marked as supersonic, hyper-velocity, etc. When you're trying to keep noise to a minimum, ammunition with smaller charges are going to be quieter.

With that said, you can only pack so much charge into a .22 caliber casing. A suppressed P22 is going to be pretty quiet regardless of the ammunition. But yes, the smaller the charge in the ammunition - the quieter the report will be. Keep in mind that the P22 is prone to feed failure and other problems with weak ammo, though.

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On December 13, 2009 eddie said:

very informative website!
I've had excellent performance with winchester wildcat ammo in my P22. It cycles perfectly and, comparing it to other (mostly more expensive ) ammo, it was as accurate as anything. Love the minimags, but wildcats are only about a nickel per round, with equal performance.
I haven't used my p22 since early this year, however. The last time I shot it, I did my usual quicky cleaning at the range- running a lubed BoreSnake through the barrel. This time, a big piece of metal came out--a piece of the lining of the barrel! Does this sound like a flawed barrel? none of my other guns have ever been damaged by using a BoreSnake.
I just put it away and went back to shooting other stuff, as the warranty is up. But now I'll see about getting it fixed- I miss it.

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On December 14, 2009 Ben said:

Hey Eddie,

Thanks for the tip about Winchester Wildcat ammunition. I'll be sure to give it a try. I can't say that anyone has ever posted a comment about the barrel sleeve fracturing. I would contact Smith and Wesson to see what they have to say about it.

Even if they won't help, you don't need to purchase a new pistol. S&W should be able to sell you a replacement barrel. Changing the barrel is a pretty easy procedure. If you want instructions check out the "disassembling a Walther P22" page.

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On December 18, 2009 Ken said:

I've had good results with Aguila Super Maximum Hyper Velocity with the 30 gr. flat nose solid projectiles. These give a consistent sharp report and the heaviest recoil of any ammo I've tried, including the CCI Stingers. I have yet to chrono them, but I intend to do so over the Christmas holiday. If interested, let me know and I'll send the results.
Thanks for all the information you've shared about this really fun little pistol.
Ken

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On December 18, 2009 Ben said:

Hi Ken,
Thanks for the input. I'd be happy to post any finding you have about the Aguila ammunition on the first page. Thanks for the help!

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On December 26, 2009 Borde said:

i have never had a problem with bulk remington hollow points but the cci stingers are my first choice.

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On December 28, 2009 austin said:

i used an entire box (550 rds) of federal 36 grain hollow point rounds yesterday with only 6 misfeeds, and no failure to fire. i have only owned my p22 since saturday (12/26/09), and i bought it used, the gentleman i transfered it from said he had only put about 1800rnds through it, and the few issues he had had with it seemed to go away as the gun was "broken in". i am very excited to try the CCI mini mags, i've read lots of good things about them.

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On December 29, 2009 Mike said:

Took my new P22 to the range today to try it out for the first time.
The magazines (both original Walther) had a problem where they would not automatically feed the first two or three rounds. I would have to push the slide forward to get it to feed. Afterward, every round would feed flawlessly.
After firing over a hundred rounds, the gun was firing, extracting and ejecting without any problems.
I shot CCI Stinger hypervelocity, old Winchester Super-X high velocity and Remington "Thunderbolt".
I was amazed that the best ammo for my gun was the Remington "Thunderbolt"! What a deal!
It is the one of the cheapest .22 ammo around and am looking forward to buying it in bulk.
Can someone tell me why I had to push the slide forward after the first or second round but not after that? I also realized that if you pull the slide back and quickly release it to load a round in the gun, as opposed to releasing the slide lock, it worked much better. Is it me, or is designed that way?
After I got home, took it apart and thoroughly lubed and cleaned it.
Love this plinker. Feels good in the hand and is quite accurate. Can't wait for my next range trip. Happy New Year to all! Love this forum.

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On December 31, 2009 Larry said:

Had a chance to put some more rounds thru my daughter's P22. Again, the CCI Stinger 40 gn. were flawless. Also, I used about 100 Remington "High Velocity" Golden .22lr, which were also flawless. These sounded much quieter than the CCI, and performed very well. Tried some more Aquila 60 grain SSS rounds and these were excellent this time, feeding anc cycling just fine with excellent accuracy... better than the CCI or Remington. The only fly in the ointment was that on every magazine the last round refused to feed. I don't get that one. Also tried some Norinco 40 grain lrn. It wouldn't fee, fire, or extract after multiple strikes to get it to fire. After five rounds I gave up. Norinco is crap. Don't waste your time with it.

With about 500 round thru the P22, it is starting to loosen up, the groups are getting tighter and I'm finding what works.

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On December 31, 2009 VooDuuChild said:

My girl just got me a new P22 for Christmas, and the rest of the family got me boxes of CCI mini-mags. So far, after a quick 100 through, no issues....other than I'm a crappy shot! Time for a Viridian laser! After I put 1000 or so mini-mags through it to break it in (I came up with that number outta thin air), I'll try 50's of other ammo, but as cheap as this ammo is, why not just get the best and cleanest?

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On January 2, 2010 Kurt said:

I recently purchased a P22 a few days ago. I love to go plinking and wanted to buy a gun that uses cheap ammo. Prior to reading any reviews I purchased a bulk box of Blazer 22LR 40 grain Lead Nose 1235fps. I got 525 rounds for only $20.00. I have now fired about 400 rounds of this ammo and experience no problems. No misfeeds, no partial chambers or smoke stacks. The gun has worked flawless with this ammo.

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On January 6, 2010 Larry said:

100 rounds of CCI 36 grain hollow points, 100 rounds of Remington Thunderbolt and 100 rounds of bulk Federal 40 grain solids. A single FTF with the Thunderbolts, otherwise, flawless with all three ammos. I was especially pleased with the Thunderbolts, as they were rated sort of "iffy" for the P22. Groups are getting smaller too. This weapon needs to be broken in for sure. Looking great so far.

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On January 8, 2010 Kurt said:

I am a new hand gun enthusiast so I am learning new things all the time. I recently purchased a P22 so I don't go broke plinking. I purchased 100rds of Remington Yellow Jackets and they seem to work fine in my gun. The chart above does not recommend this ammo and stats Subsonic rounds should not be used in a P22. Yellow Jackets velocity is 1500fps and I know the CCI Stinger is 1600fps. The CCI Stinger is labled as the best ammo to use in the P22. Based upon velocity it would seem to me that the Stinger would also be classified as Subsonic? Why is a Subsonic ammo not recommended. Will it damage my gun with long term use? What is the difference between the Stinger and Yellow Jacket? So far, I have been unable to find any CCI Stingers for sale at any of the gun stores I've stopped into. Thanks

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On January 9, 2010 Ben said:

Hi Kurt,

Thanks for the comment about the Yellow Jackets. I'm going to update the ammo chart to say "not recommended" instead of "shouldn't be used" when referring to ammo that performs poorly. After reading your comment it does appear to be a little misleading.

You probably won't harm your pistol using subsonic ammunition. In fact, all rounds fired from a P22 are subsonic anyway (explained in my response to Mike back on December 11th above). The issue with subsonic ammo is that it doesn't have as much charge and there as much force when cycling the pistol's action.

Different pistol of different ages and usage levels will respond differently to various types of ammunition. If your pistol chews through Yellow Jackets without a problem, there's no need for you to specifically use CCI Stingers. The only reason I listed CCI ammunition in particular as the best performer is because it give the least amount of problems and the most consistent performance over the widest range of responses that I receive.

I hope that helps,

- Ben

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On January 10, 2010 Lloyd said:

Great site, Ben. I appreciate all the good info you post here. I have a question about ballistics. When you go the any ammo makers website, you can usually find ballistics information that will give you good information to compare various rounds. However, we all know they aren't using a P22 to run their tests. For example, for the CCI Stinger sighted at 100 yds, CCI shows a 1.9 inch rise at 50 yds. Sighting in a P22 at 100 yds would give significantly different numbers. No one would be siting in a P22 at 100 yds but it would be nice to know what the ballistics would be if you sighted in at 30 yds or even 50 yds. Is this kind of information available?

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On January 11, 2010 Ben said:

Most .22 caliber ammunition data from the manufacturer is based on stats from rifles, not pistols. Velocity from a P22 is usually much less than what's printed on the box. Some manufacturers will state to length of the test barrel that was used while others won't. I'm no ballistics expert, but there's a great thread at the The Firing Line on this subject that should clear up your questions.

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On January 17, 2010 Mike said:

Went back to the range twice since my last post (Dec. 29).
Didn't have ANY problems feeding just about anything new I put in the magazines, except for some really old (1970s) Winchester and Remington "Thunderbolt" ammo which scared me as they sometimes sounded like a cap gun or would not eject. I threw all the old rounds away.
As far as the new ammunition, they all worked flawlessly. Out of 300 rounds of Remington "Thunderbolt" ammo fired last Friday, three didn't fire and had to be pushed out of the barrel with a rod (duds?). But other than that, the gun operated beautifully and the accuracy was outstanding. My gun will shoot just about anything, including hollow points. I also have 5 magazines and they all perform like champs. LOVE the P22!

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On January 18, 2010 Mario said:

Hello!

Just wanted to back up what other folks were saying about the Federal 550 round bulk ammunition (Load No. 750). I went through about a half of the 550 round box with only one FTF, otherwise it loaded and shot fine. Of course, the other suspects also work fine, that being CCI Stingers and Mini Mags HP.

BTW, great site, good work you doing! =)

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On January 21, 2010 Ashley said:

Hi -
I have a question about the P22. I just got one on Monday. When we (my husband and I) went to shoot it with Winchester xpert 22 Hollow point - 22 RF Long Rifle 36 grains. It would jam like no ones business. So we used Blazer cci 22 long rifle - it also jammed like no other. When we asked the people where we got it they didn't have a clue why. So they called the company and they said we had to use CCI Mini Mag's. We went and fired it then (only two rounds) it didn't jam one bit. So now we are wondering if we had to use the mini mags all the time or if it was to break in the gun. If that is the case, how many rounds will we have to put through it (approximate). Reason we are asking, is I am very new with guns (my husband on the other hand is not). And I liked this one - but didn't want to buy expensive bullets just to go get comfortable and become a good shot. If you have any more insight to this gun - please share as I would like to learn more about it!

Thanks -
Ashley

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On January 21, 2010 Ben said:

Hi Ashley,

The P22 will generally "loosen up" after about 500 or so rounds. Take a look at some of the past comments - there's a lot of good info about the experiences that other have had. In general, some pistols are more picky about ammunition than others - it's just the way it is. I would suggest that you buy 50-round boxes of a few different types of ammo to try them.

Some brands that other have reported as giving a lot of problems may work well with your particular pistol.

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On January 31, 2010 Marti said:

Got my Walther P22 for this Christmas. Until I found your site, I believed I had a single shot pistol on steroids while using CCI .22LR Blazer ammo with all the problems you described. My husband dug out some Federal .22LR 38 grain jacketed Hollow Point and Peters (by Remington) .22LR 40 grain solid point ammo. The Federals fired but would not eject the chamber on firing. The Peters' fired like a dream. Curious, my husband measured the empty casings with a micrometer and found the Federal measured .614 thousandths of an inch while the Peters measured .609 thousandths of an inch. The length seemed to make the difference. I look forward to trying the other ammos you recommended and will let you know my results. My Christmas surprise "hand grenade" (Just throw it at 'em!) changed into a sweet and accurate pistol that gives me great pleasure to use.

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On January 31, 2010 Ben said:

Hi Marti,

I'm glad the site was able to help. The P22 is a lot more fun when it's used with the right ammo. Try some CCI Stingers or Velociters and you'll notice a world of difference. Most P22s don't react too well to cheap ammunition.

Thanks for noting the observation about the length of the casings. I've never thought about this being a factor in how well the P22 is able to eject spent casings. I'll take a few measurements to see if there's a correlation between the length of a casing and its performance.

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On February 6, 2010 Marti said:

Hi Ben,
We brought the micrometer with us today as we tried out a variety of .22LR ammo. The selections were Winchester HV (HP, 38gr, 1280fps), American Eagle HV (38gr, copper HP), Winchester Wildcat HV (40gr, lead RN), and Remington Thunderbolt (40gr, lead RN, 1255fps). Every one except the Remington Thunderbolt failed to eject. Case length for the T-bolts spanned .604 to .608 thousandths of an inch. All the others consistently measured between .611 to .617 thousandths of an inch.

The CCI brand is scarce in my area (Yuma, AZ) so I haven't tried them yet. After speaking directly with the Remington ammo factory in Arkansas I learned the Peters brand is distributed as an ad hoc promotional item thus making them scarce. So until I can find a source for CCI's or Peters I will stay with the Remington ammo and try others as I find them.

I've already had my results of case measurement as a function of performance met with skepticism by gun shop personnel. I look forward to hearing what your trials show.

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On February 10, 2010 Jerry said:

I bought a P22 and have tried CCI, Federal and Remington ammo. It is the jammingest piece of junk I have ever bought... Walther should be ashamed of placing this poorly designed firearm on the market. Next gun show I go to, this thing is going to the "happy hunting grounds". It isn't worth the effort to fix. I am very disappointed with it. I'm going to buy another Ruger.

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On February 10, 2010 Ben said:

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for posting your comment about the P22. I'm sorry to hear that you haven't found the pistol to be as much fun as others, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Best of luck at the gun show.

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On February 19, 2010 Paul said:

Not the best .22 I've owned by any measure. Over-engineered (even by German standards); doesn't like most hollow-points (Stingers being the exception); any more than 100 rounds max and it needs a through clean before it'll work reliably again; the threads on the barrel-weight are easily stripped if you're not careful with disassembly/reassembly; the sights are woeful and the mags are definitely suspect. The one I have was given to me. Which is good, because I wouldn't buy one in a fit.

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On February 20, 2010 Bleu said:

Like Jerry on a previous comment, I was hating this gun and was ready to trade it in for a revolver or put it in a plinking range and shoot it with my rifle. It was that bad I did not want others to suffer with this gun. I was using Winchester Wildcats from Cabela's and that was terrible. I would get minimum of 3 bad ones every load of a magazine; stove pipe, didn't load the chamber to stuck casing in the chamber. Most of the time was stuck casing in the chamber, I think it burned dirty too which makes it a lot harder to remove the stuck casing in the chamber. It stuck so hard I have pull the gun apart to get it out each time. Putting this gun together is no fun either (which I still hate) specially in an indoor range. CCI Stinger worked well, no jams no nothing but the most expensive in my area for a 22($7 for 50 at Wal-Mart) and could not justify spending that much on a 22. Then I read someone here that theirs worked with Federals... so last night I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a bulk red box Federals (550 rounds for $16) and boy it was great. I'm starting to like this gun. I probably have 100 rounds left in the box and only got 2 or 3 times of round did not load in the chamber which a tap and rack could fix. No stuck casing in the chamber, it was great. I'm going back to Wal-Mart and pick up 3 more boxes :-).

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On February 24, 2010 Bill said:

Ok, so I took your advice and started out with CCI STINGERS! I have to say, with this particular P22 I purchased, the "CCI STINGER" is the only ammo that will ever be fired in it. I have had few sessions at the range more enjoybale with any weapon than I had with my new Walther P22 using the STINGER! Rapid fire, more calculated fire, or otherwise, both weapon and ammo performed as slick as WD-40 on glass. Good feel, respectable recoil for .22LR ammo, and very controlable groupings. I thank you for turning me on to the right ammo right off the bat. Your advice saved me much frustration in testing other ammo. Nothing like the right ammo allowing your weapon perform at the top of the ladder to make a person feel good about their buying decision. Feeling that you made the right decision as to your weapon just makes the whole sport much more enjoyable for sure. Thanks again. Bill

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On February 24, 2010 Ben said:

Awesome! I'm glad that you found the information helpful. A lot of people formulate a poor opinion of the P22 because they're using the wrong ammo. I'm glad you didn't!

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On March 2, 2010 Greg said:

After reading so many mixed reviews, I hesitated to buy the P22 for a while in fear of really bad FTF and FTE issues that people have reported. But the P22 is the .22 handgun that I really wanted since I was looking for a practice gun that was close in size to my XD 9mm Sub Compact. It is very similar in size, just thinner and lighter so I eventually decided to give it a try and keep my fingers crossed in hopes of only minimal problems. I already had a ton of .22LR ammo on hand for our .22 rifles, but I read that I should use CCI ammo so I bought some Mini-Mag rounds to try. On the first trip to the range, my 8 year old son and I shot the CCI Mini-Mags and a ton of other ammo without any FTF or FTE problems at all. Needless to say I am very happy with the decision to buy the P22. We shot hundreds of rounds of each of the following ammo, alternating types as we shot, so all were shot even after the P22 was dirty:

CCI 22LR Mini-Mag Hollow Point (100 Pack) 36 grain 1260 fps

Federal 22LR Champion Target Hollow Point (550 Bulk Pack) 36 grain 1260 fps

Winchester 22LR Dynapoint Hollow Point (500 Bulk Pack) 40 gain 1150 fps

Blazer 22LR High Velocity Round Nose (525 Bulk Pack) 40 grain 1235 fps

*Approximate cost per round based on Wal-mart prices is $0.06 for the CCI Mini-Mags and only $0.03 for the other bulk pack ammo. Accuracy and consistency was about the same for all of them but CCI may be a little cleaner (that is what they claim). I think will shoot twice as much of the less expensive ammo for the same cost and clean my gun like I'm supposed to...

My P22 is a 2009 model and has the "B" magazine. Common sense tells me that most people really wont have problems as long as they use high velocity ammo (even bulk pack and hollow point rounds), keep a firm grip while shooting so the blowback can effectively cycle the round (even my 8 year old son could do that, and this was his first time shooting a handgun), and keep your gun clean and well maintained. So my only real problem is that it is really fun to shoot and I will probably need to buy second P22 since my son fell in love with this one.

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On March 9, 2010 Thomas said:

I bought my p22 in nov o9. I have shot about 100 cci mini mags without a single jam. I cant shoot federal bulk, unless on at a time. I then tried fiochi solid point, plated. Started out with a few jams, then tightened up my wrist and experienced no further jams for the next 300 rounds. Now with CCI's being so rare, I will continue with the fiochi, try other stuff untill CCI's become availabe, assuming DEAR LEADER will allow it. As always I clean my guns after every outing.