Walther P22 or Ruger SR22?

[socalbeachbum]

In California the SR22 costs twice what the P22 does, presently. I like both. Question is about fussiness feeding ammo, I hear the SR22 digests almost any ammo. How about the P22, is it fussy at all?

My Smith 22-A digests anything. My son's Mosquito digests almost nothing.

 

[cc-hangfire]

I have a Walther P22 & it is ammo picky. It runs great with the hotter rounds, and with the lower costs bulk ammo I get plenty of tap-rack-bang practice when there are FTF's & FTE's. That's my experience with my sample-of-one.

 

[<*(((><]

I wouldn't get a Walther P22, if you want a quality Walther .22 pistol get the Walther PPQ 22. There is a significant difference in quality, the P22 is built at the Umerex, Arnsberg plant, where the PPQ 22 is built at the existing Walther plant in Ulm, alongside there vaunted PPQ 9, 40, 45's. Walther is now owned by Umerex, but the way I understand it the Ulm plant still utilizes much of the existing equipment and manpower that is known for quality.

I purchased a Walther PPQ 22, based off the quite poor reputation of the P22. There are people who get the P22 to run right, and high velocity ammo helps, but I don't like to go 2/3's the way when I can just save a little more and have a better, more reliable product.

Based of the two choices given, I would get the SR22 even at the added cost.

 

[stchman]

Why would the SR22 cost 2X what a P22 costs in CA? Around here the SR22 costs LESS than a P22.

 

[socalbeachbum]

The SR22 is not on our Calif Handgun Roster of approved list, so you can only buy a 'used' SR22 from a private party, and do a transfer, dealers may not sell them new, and we can not import them from another state.

So they are prized when one comes along for sale and sellers want a premium for them.

 

[pblanc]

Well, I own a Walther P22. I have never shot an SR22 but I have little doubt they are better pistols. But I'm not sure they are worth twice as much.

The Walther P22 definitely prefers higher velocity ammunition. If I stick to that I don't have any problems with the slide cycling. I did have quite a few malfunctions with lower velocity ammunition, but the pistol seems to have smoothed out, and now I can usually shoot the cheaper bulk ammo successfully. P22s have been known for slide cracks, although I have had no problems with mine.

I think it depends on what you want to use it for. As a plinker my P22 has functioned pretty well. It has also served well to help introduce new shooters to auto-loader function and shooting.

 

[bannockburn]

I would go with the SR22 if you have the chance. Have quite a bit of experience with the P22, not much of it good. Very ammo sensitive, frequent jams and failures to feed and eject, and gets dirty quickly then won't run at all til you clean it. When you do manage to string a few shots together accuracy is just so-so. Overall quality and fit and finish were also somewhat below average than what I would have expected from Walther.

 

[Armored farmer]

#1 son has an sr22.
He loves it. Accurate and reliable.

 

[DeepSouth]

I had a P22 and would never recommend one under any circumstances.

Spend the he extra cash for the SR22.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

Ruger SR-22 hands down. Just for the fact that the SR-22 slide holds up to an ultrasonic cleaner bath. The Walther finish comes off and you end up with a June bug finish. As others have said the P-22 is ammo picky as well. Thirdly Ruger customer service is second to none and Walther leaves something to be desired (I have dealt with them several times on behalf of customers).

 

[usp9]

I prefer the Ruger because it is more reliable. The P22 and Mosquito were not.

 

[hq]

From another sample size of one, my P22 has run like a clockwork with any cheap bulk ammo I've fed it for about a decade now. A handful of FTF:s have occurred when I've shot a whole brick/can of dirtier ammo suppressed during a single afternoon, but all in all I can't complain. It's a 5" barrel "Target" model with the barrel weight removed and front sight moved to the frame, in a (quite successful) attempt to combine portability of the base model with higher muzzle velocities of the Target. While I don't really love it, I do like it.

 

[socalbeachbum]

ok, I found a nice SR22 to buy here locally. Upon racking the slide, it moves halfway through it's travel and there is a distinct hesitation, a bit of resistance, an audible 'click', then it travels the rest of the way to open the slide.

Is this normal? Is it a safety plunger engaging?

 

[danez71]

ok, I found a nice SR22 to buy here locally. Upon racking the slide, it moves halfway through it's travel and there is a distinct hesitation, a bit of resistance, an audible 'click', then it travels the rest of the way to open the slide.

Is this normal? Is it a safety plunger engaging?

Too bad you weren't interested in one when I sold mine in CA a cpl yrs ago (imported from AZ). I'm even fairly close to you.

As to your question....
I seem to remember mine being like that too. I did like it.

For what it's worth, I've read the Walther P22 (on roster) is a lot better now and they've never had the dreaded disassembly latch breaking problem that still exists occasionally.





I also have a Bersa Firestorm 22 (off roster) that I might sell one day.

 

[Pelo801]

From what I understand the SR22 has a steel slide. The P22 has a zamak slide. The P22 just isnt built to last.

I had owned a P22 in the past. Like someone above, I have a sample of one. But mine went 14000 rds before the slide cracked. That's not a lot of rounds for a 22.

 

[danez71]

From what I understand the SR22 has a steel slide. The P22 has a zamak slide. The P22 just isnt built to last.

I had owned a P22 in the past. Like someone above, I have a sample of one. But mine went 14000 rds before the slide cracked. That's not a lot of rounds for a 22.

The SR22 has an aluminum slide.

I have heard of slide cracking on the P22 and also covered by thier life time warranty.... which is nice to have but sucks to use.

 

[sbwaters]

Took my new SR-22 to the range today for the first time. Like it. Very nice to hold and cycle. The first pull double action has a long travel and the curve of the trigger meant I had to put less of the pad of my finger on the trigger to be comfortable. The DA at the break is hefty, but not impossible. The single action, however, is precise and requires a very light pull to fire. Keep it pointed down range, especially with a beginner.

It took about three groups of five from the benchrest to sight in the adjustable sight at 40 and then 50 feet. I shot Federal Match ammo first, for sighting and then put some Winchester through it. I’ll be buying Federal from now on. Considerably smaller, more consistent groups. Winchester accurate enough for plinking.

My wife likes the feel of it in her hand. Seems a very nice training gun. The SR-22 is easy to disassemble and it cleans easily, even if it does have a fixed barrel. I’m sold.

 

[drec]

I bought one about a year ago. When I bought it, I also was given a deal on a big box of Federal Match 22LR; which seems to FTE more than it cycles. I called Ruger and was told that it would only work with 1200 FPS ammo; which I told them I was using. Then they told me to try CCI 22LR. Anyway before buying one, check it out a little, as there seems to be others with similar stories to mine. My least my SR22 doesn't like Federal Match.

 

[JohnKSa]

I own both an SR22 and a P22. The SR22 is definitely the better gun. The P22 is a fun gun but it's not in the same quality category as the SR22.

 

[kozak6]

Upon racking the slide, it moves halfway through it's travel and there is a distinct hesitation, a bit of resistance, an audible 'click', then it travels the rest of the way to open the slide.

While I don't have any direct experience with the SR22, that sounds like the slide engaging and cocking the hammer. Probably normal.

 

[socalbeachbum]

yes, even though I had the hammer cocked, it could have been the point where the slide hits the hammer and if everyone says it is normal then I'm not worrying about it. All of this makes me want to go forward and purchase the SR22

and it also makes me kick myself for getting rid of my Smith & Wesson 22A pistol that never failed to fire, eject, or load any of the dozens of brands of .22LR I put through it. Maybe I gotta get another 22A before they become impossible to find.

 

[doubleh]

I owned a P22 for a couple of years and never had a minute's trouble with it. It wasn't ammo picky at all. My #2 grandson was having a fit for one and none were available so I sold it to him and he has had no problems.

Later on I began to regret my decision to sell it and when the SR22 came out I bought the first one I saw. I have had no problems with it and it isn't ammo picky either. The controls are slightly different on the two pistols but other than that they feel identical when shooting them.

I'll add that the ammo statement is with hi velocity ammo. I've tried one brand of subsonic ammo in the SR22 and it won't cycle the action. I found this out on a range trip Friday after I posted in another thread on Thursday that it shot every ammo I had tried in it.

 

[socalbeachbum]

I managed to acquire an SR22 here locally from a private party, forced to pay the now going California price for a used one which is $600+ even though I see online they are as low as $250 new elsewhere. So that isn't twice the price, it's 2.4x ouch!

 

[CraigC]

My P22 was dead reliable with anything I fed it and fun to shoot but it was about as accurate as a slingshot.

Ruger all the way. Seriously considering an SR22 for suppressor use.

 

[socalbeachbum]

so it seems the P22 has a speckled history as to observed results. I had one a few years ago, tested maybe a dozen brands of ammo and had an occasional glitch. As to accuracy, it was very good for it's size. If I cheated by using the laser at the indoor range, at 25 yds was able to hold a tight group, I don't have the hard numbers but your hand would cover the group. This was from standing 2 hand hold, using decent ammo. T22 target round as I recall.