I bought my wife one of these about a month ago and she finally got to shoot it this past weekend. I have shoot it before and the only complaint I have is that well shooting, the magazine will come out and not fire. We have to push the mag back in and it's ready. This happens more with the wife shooting it then me. I took it out a week ago along with my G17 and AR and was hitting a bowling pin at a 100 yards with it with the short barrel. Nice accurate gun if you take the time.

Originally Posted By Beckes: Originally Posted By Zack3g: Range report ---- Rant on. Well, I don't have much to say. Fired about 4 mags, and the gun broke. I dont know what went wrong, but pull the trigger and nothing happens. The hammer lazily moves forward slightly and then drops back. The sights are a joke, no amount of adjustment could get the gun on target. The laser also wouldn't hold zero. Every shot shifted the beam to the left. I am sickened by the performance of this gun. I'll be returning it to the dealer I bought it from. If he has another, I'll trade for it, otherwise, I'll invest the money in something else. I was looking forward to being able to put a can on this and do some quiet shooting, but my experience with it was ridiculous. Rant off. The exact same thing happened to mine on the first day (the hammer part), but after exactly 400 rounds without a single malfunction. Then, as if by magic, the hammer stopped working. Turns out the tip of the hammer spring cracked right where it normally sits at the base of the hammer, so it wouldn't cock with any tension behind it. Thankfully the folks at Sportsman's Warehouse were willing to exchange it, since I'd only had it for a couple of days. The new one is working fine but only 200 rounds through it so far... you can bet I'll be really tense around shot #400!

Mine did the same too.  I called up Walther and told them the hammer will cock but not release with tention and they took my name and address and sent me out a pre-paid UPS shipping label and I sent it off last week with a note about the problem.  Hopefully I get it back shortly.

I have a newer P22 (barrel code AG) and mine had the safety engaging issue as others have had.  After the first 100 rounds or so every shot or every other shot, the slide action would cause the safety to slip into the on position and click......no bang.  The fix of filing down the inside of the safety levers worked like a charm.  I just put 250 rounds through it and not one hiccup.

BTW, the P22 loves CCI Stingers.  I also shot Mini Mags, but the Stingers are the shit for this gun.  It actually feels like a real gun shooting the Stingers.

I had one a year or so ago.  I just got so sick of the FTFs and jams that I wanted to throw it in the lake.  Someone offered $150 and I took his offer.   I was glad to be rid of that POS.

I have around 1k rounds thru my p22.
A couple of weeks ago while at the range I had a malfunction.
My nephew was shooting my suppressor and had shot around 400 rounds or so and then it started acting up.  It would fire the round, eject it, and the slide hang up on the safety.

I took it apart, cleaned it and put it back together and life was good.  I fired another couple of hundred rounds out of it then left.

I took it apart again and started doing some mods
I pulled the extractor spring and tweaked it longer (didn't have any issues but it couldn't hurt)
Then I started looking at the hammer/slide/safety issue.
The safety sticks down past the edge of the slide.  It is what the hammer rides on when the slide is pulled back.
So I took a file and rounded the top front edge of the hammer to the point that there was only 1/2 mm to 3/4 mm contact with the slide all the way back.

I put a mag in it and pulled the slide back to where it would LOCK.
I then hit the slide lock and let the slide go forward.  The hammer was cocked.
I am gonna fire a few rounds outside at lunch to see what happens.

I got the P22 back about 2 weeks ago and they haved fixed the hammer spring and also fixed the safety because it was going on safe while firing.  Pretty good return time time considering the 4th of July holiday.  My kid and his buddy put about 300rds through it last week without a hitch.  So once again we are happy.  Smith's customer service came through again.  

bought a slightly used one at the store.


went bang every time, but I'm having trouble with hammer follow.

thought it might have been low-impulse rounds so I switched to Federal.


not as often, but it's still happening.

my guess is that I'm going to have to replace the hammer and sear

My chamber finally wore-out just short of 10,000 rounds.

It started with a few FTE's, with the cartridges getting stuck in the chamber..really stuck hard..

After examining the spent rounds, I noticed the cases were expanding after the round was shot, wedging them in the chamber.

Other than that, I've had no issues.
A new barrel is on the way.

I'll say that mine is surprisingly accurate and the trigger isn't all that bad (despite hammer follow).


it's almost too much fun shooting 22s.

I've been lurking on this forum for a while, figured I'd add my two cents.  I just bought a P22 recently, picked it up this week and shot it on Tuesday.  I fired 300 rounds, 200 of CCI and 100 of Federal.  Not a single jam, the sights were off by I compensated by shooting slightly to the left.  At 25yds the accuracy drops, but at 15yds the accuracy isnt' bad.  I'm pleased with this so far, several co-workers own this piece and have nothing but good things to say.  Two guys own the Sig Misquito and hate them, they jam all the time, one has traded his in so far for a P22 and the other will soon.

I just picked up a P22 for my fiance.  We both love it, put ~ 400 rounds downrange and it functioned flawlessly.  Damn accurate too, once I adjusted the rear sight.  I'm going to grind the extractor though, most of the cases were coming right back at us rather than to the side. She didn't like the brass going down her shirt

Originally Posted By crashburnrepeat: anyone ever found any good aftermarket sights for the P22?  I hate mine, they are very hard to use and  not very accurate compared to my ruger sights.   My P22 was jamming all the time and I sent it back to smith and from what I can tell they sent me back 2 new mags and that's it.  It's much better now but occassionally hangs up going into battery. I think I will smooth the chamber edges like was recommended but those sights still totally suck.  Especially for longer range shooting.

I'm looking for a new set of sights too.

tagged....

great info.....

for when I have time....HA HA HA.....TIME.....

i dont feel like reading all 7 pages of this, but heres what i found...
when i first got the pistol, i was shooting federal american eagle and the pistol ran like ass, i sent it off to S&W.  it came back about 2 months later, i ran the federal ammo through it again, all the same problems.  i changed to cci subsonics, just for shits and giggles, and it has been running about 99% since.
i chalked it up to the usually bitchyness of .22s  

are you finding the p22  has a preference for any particular brand of ammo as to goup?
 im having a hard time getting any group at 50 feet.  the ole mark1 outgrouped this pistol by a mile. i am almost ready to pass it along to an unsuspecting friend  but i like the size and weight so much..
also i am getting occasional failure to feed .. thanks for the ideas about the feed ramp...        thanks ahead of time      htower

My wife bought me a P22 for my birthday.  I figure it's a gun we can both shoot for cheap.  We eat $30 of .38 ammo pretty quick.

After I picked it up we went to the range and put 400 Remington hollow points through it without a single problem.  The safety gave us no trouble, the magazine stays put, and it was accurate. I wish it didn't have plastic sights, but so far, they are fine.  It's not like this is a tactical weapon.

The only complaint is, the hot brass comes straight back instead of to the side.  My wife now has an exact replica of a .22 shell burned into the front of her chest.  Not kidding.  It's a red burn spot below her chin, caught there by a turtleneck.  Very visible with a regular shirt.  She's been good natured about it.

Are there any pictures of the extractor modification to fix this?

All in all, I'm thrilled with this gun.  It works perfectly, and shoots all afternoon for cheap.

Originally Posted By Dangerous_Dan: The only complaint is, the hot brass comes straight back instead of to the side.  My wife now has an exact replica of a .22 shell burned into the front of her chest.  Not kidding.  It's a red burn spot below her chin, caught there by a turtleneck.  Very visible with a regular shirt.  She's been good natured about it. Are there any pictures of the extractor modification to fix this?

Thanks, Gonzo.  The first time I tried the link to your image, it was broken.  I figured it disappeared like so many things on the web.

Works fine now, though.  

Why is the angle the way you drew it?  I would have thought it would be just the opposite, with the lower left corner being the part to hit, sending the casing more to the right. I just want to understand.

Originally Posted By Dangerous_Dan: Thanks, Gonzo.  The first time I tried the link to your image, it was broken.  I figured it disappeared like so many things on the web. Works fine now, though.   Why is the angle the way you drew it?  I would have thought it would be just the opposite, with the lower left corner being the part to hit, sending the casing more to the right. I just want to understand.

I dunno.   I tried it both ways, and doing it the way you suggest did not work.

I would theorize that "my" way makes sure that the "point" of the dressed ejector actually hits the "flat" of the rear of the .22 case, and that if you dress to a point the OTHER side of the ejector, it comes into contact with there the "roll" of the shell rim is and that makes things unpredictable.

>>I would have thought it would be just the opposite, with the lower left corner being the part to hit

>I dunno. I tried it both ways, and doing it the way you suggest did not work.


Good enough.  Nothing speaks better than experience.

Thanks for the list of mods, and for the illustration.  I know you have helped a lot of Walther owners out there, Gonzo, and I'm grateful to you.

Tom

I have had 2 Walther P22 pistols, and they both worked fine.  Guess I got lucky.  I ended up selling one of those, but I will do the mods to the other one I still have.

I currently have two P22s and they both function fine 'as is' with a variety of ammunition brands.  I'm possibly just another lucky one.

Anyone here send your P22 back for repair for the "hammer follow" issue? How did they correct the problem for you? Mine just started doing this in the past few days.

FWIW Dept:

Thank you all for your interesting input regarding the Walther P22 pistol..

Recently I purchased a new Walther P99c/AS and I was considering buying a P22 to compliment it..  

After careful research on the web, and your experiences I think I shall indeed pass on the Walther P22.  Too many owners experiencing too much grief with the sucker..

Just for information.  I purchased a new Firestorm FS22 last year to compliment my Bersa Thunder 9/UC and it is an excellent pistol..  It has shot without difficulty any brand of ammo I've run thru it.  Generally I buy the cheapest wwwb stuff I can find, but I oftentimes use CCI Stingers, or MiniMags when I'm just tramping thru the woods..

Last year just for fun I was curious as to how many rounds I could run thru it before it started malfunctioning, and it's somewhere in the 1000rd range.  Eventually it got so much crud buildup from the cheap 22's that the slide couldn't close properly..  I cleaned it real good, and it was performing like new again.

Bersa/Firestorm modeled it's Bersa Thunder 380cal and Bersa/Firestorm 22cal pistols after a mix of the fine Walther PP/PPK pistols, and I think it is a super little plinker.  I paid $227.00 otd for it.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a73/Laserlips/100_5295.jpg

If you want a reliable little 22 plinker, or trail pistol I recommend you check the FS22 out.  It is a very good pistol..

I'm disappointed about the Walther P22, but I'll keep lurking and maybe in a year or two they will resolve the reliablity and durability issues.  

I love my P99c/AS...  hes,
J. Pomeroy

I like my P22. When I first bought it, I tried numerous types of rounds through it. I found that CCi Mini Mags work the best.
I have tried the SSS, but found they do keyhole.
The one thing I really do not like is the rear site moving around. Is there an aftermarket company that makes a set of Tritium?
When I get back from Afghanistan, I am going to try these mods mentioned.
Thanks!

Mike

Originally Posted By jmkrick: Anyone here send your P22 back for repair for the "hammer follow" issue? How did they correct the problem for you? Mine just started doing this in the past few days.

I sent my P22 for repair on 11/30/06. I received a call on 12/20/06 from S&W service dept. I was told that my pistol could not be repaired and that they are going to be replacing it with a NEW one.

So as soon as my FFL dealer and S&W work out the paperwork and shipping details they can send it.

I did 5 things to make my p22 100% reliable. I think with a newer version of the gun (AG on the barrel and mags with letter "A") this will work. I can now shoot almost any kind of 22 LR with no problems. Will reliably feed hollow points. Works much better with High Velocity ammo. CCI Mini-Mags and especially CCI Stinger or Quik-Shok work the best.

Note: Member "1917-1911M" is awesome with his expertise.


1) Smooth out hammer: (Link below, start with 5th picture down).

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152391

2) Smooth where the feed ramp meets the barrel. (start with 5 picture down on page). Link:

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152397

3) Stretch extractor spring to give it more tension. (3rd picture down)

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152384

4) Fix safety from engaging while shooting. ( 1st pic, about 6 post down by member "1917-1911M").

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64717&page=2

5) Modify ejector. But I found that I had to modify it just the opposite that he has suggested in his picture i.e. modify the face so that it slants from 10:00 to 4:00 if looking at it from the top of the gun, which is opposite what he suggests in the picture. His way didn't work for me so I went with the intuitive way you would think that the ejector should face. With CCI stingers, mine ejects to the right and slightly rearward, like you want. Not so much with less powerful rounds. Bad design on this by Walther. I'm not saying his suggestion is wrong, just that it didn't work for me.

members.aol.com/snick24392/p22e.gif

Bags

I recently acquired a P22 sorta...unintentionally. I bought an ol'd boys collection and he had this in it. Anyway, I took it out today for the first time ever and had every single feed/extraction failure relating to the magazine as I could dream up short of the mag actually falling out. Granted, we were using Remington Cyclones, but that's just sorta waht I had and grabbing the p22 was more of an afterthought before clsoing up the safe to head out. I took some extra time and loaded another mag paying attention to how the shells stacked in the mag and I didn't like what I saw. It appeared that the ammo would sort of half stagger inside the magazine after putting 3 or 4 rounds in. The primers would roll off the side of each other and/or slip in front and behind each other. I suspected this was most of my problem so I "straightened" out the mag stack as best as I could. An almost flawless magazine was the result! Oh joy and rapture, the little summs ma bitch was actually kinda fun to shoot! However, it took way too long to load, straighten, unload a couple rounds, reload, straighten, and repeat.

I have the "A" mags, I have an "L" series with an "AE" marked barrel. Do the stainless mags fit the ammo better?

I put about 300 more through the P22 the other day, with the can on it. Not one failure. It's definitely a much better one than the gun it replaced.

I was having trouble with the safety disengaging as I wanted, so I took a dremel tool and rounded the edge of the detent hole.  I've stretched my extractor spring and tried peening the extractor.  Also, contact between the hammer and safety was stopping the slide from going fully forward while shooting (also able to reproduce by hand) so removed some material from the top of the hammer and polished the safety.  Hope to shoot today.  Range report on Monday  Have had no problems (except for the slide sticking,)  Also modified the feed ramp for hollow points as I normally shoot the Remington el-cheapo brick ammo from Wally World.  Have not had problems though.  Hope all the little fixes add up to an even better working gun!

So, I had some new problems.  The hammer followed the slide forward a few times (about ten times in 228 rounds fired) but always stopped on the half cock.  I had one FTE (first ever) but I think this and the hammer following is a problem with the ammo.  I was using some fairly old Remington Golden Bullets, and I think that the QA/QC was not that great.  When I jam the slide back hard, the hammer will catch, but if I just pull it back, the hammer will follow.  Seems to me that on less powerful rounds, I've made my gun a DAO, but it should function normally on powerful ammo.  The FTE is attributed to the ammo because I don't think it blew the slide back.  I think there was enough charge for the bullet to clear the barrel, but that was it.  I thought it was a FTF at first and dropped the hammer on it two more times before I looked and could tell that the firing pin had definitely made good contact.  I don't think the slide tried to cycle though because I didn't have a live round get caught up against the non-extracted round.  I had difficulty ejecting the spent brass by hand, but eventually got it out by holding the extractor tightly while racking the slide (with no mag in of course.)

Brass was still going every which way, so stretching the extractor spring didn't help all that much, and I'm not sure how much I actually accomplished when I tried to peen the extractor.

Safety fix was fine.  Much easier to get it off and on, and didn't engage during firing.

I've got some Aguila that I want to try and see if that helps with the hammer follow problem or not.  

Anyone else have any fixes if it doesn't?

I have found that  CCI Stingers are what works the best. This gun needs primo ammo it seems. Try them and see what happens. Bags

Well I hate my P22.   It broke the hammer spring after about 200rds.   S&W sent me a new spring, and I replaced it myself.  It was actually quite difficult.    


It was good for a while, but now, 2yrs later, it will no longer hold the bolt back on the last shot due to the slide stop breaking off the corner of my slide stop notch.  My slide stop seems to be peened also, probably what caused it.

I called S&W today, and they told me it was only under warrenty for 1yr.  I would have to send it in and pay for them to fix it....including shipping.   I asked what a new slide would cost, but they said it only came stipped.  I said no problem, how much?   He finally told me $43 plus $5 shipping.  


I told him I would have to make sure I could strip down the slide first, before I committed to buying the slide.   I did that tonight, and except for the rear sight assembly, everything was quite simple.   I will probably have to buy a new rear sight assembly.

So, did you ever get yours fixed?  Also, what date code was stamped on the barrel?

I just picked up a P22 date code AG with an L serial number and A mags.  After the first 300-400 rounds I didn't experience one problem except brass hitting me in the face, going down my shirt, landing on my arms, etc.  Has anyone found a fix to get the damn brass out to the right like a normal handgun???

How I made my P22 suck:

1) I broke the extractor doing the mentioned peen fix

2) I cut my hammer spring shorter so it doesn't protrude from the back of the gun...

WTF!

Yeah, bad idea on the spring...it now rolls back into the hammer and renders the gun non-functional!    Don't do it!

So I called my local gunsmith and asked for the parts, he said no-go, both are factory replacable parts only, but for $25 he can send it to S&W (Walther) for me.  Yeah sure.  So I called Walther hoping to tell my tale of stupidity and get a promise of a quick repair from them for a minimal price.  What I got instead was completely unexpected...

Me:  I have two broken parts on my P22
Walther: Which ones?
M: My extractor and my hammer spring.
W: How old is the gun?
M: Kinda old.
W: How old?
M: 6-9 months.
W: I see!  Can I send you those parts?
M: Uh, sure.  You can do that?
W: Sure, what's your address...

Now, if/when my parts show up in the promised 4-10 days I'll be an extremely pleased customer!

Once I get it back up and running I'm sure I'll be pleased with the other de-suckification changes I made (plus I got a can coming)

The only mods I did were the trigger bar ears, rounded them a bit.
I also did the barrel throat grind and polish.

Waiting for a can as well.

I must be lucky, I bought a P22 at the funshow in Sept of 05 to compliment my P99C, P990-9MM and P990-40S&W. I have put 1400 rounds through the P22  and nary a problem. I have been shooting cheap shit . I have not made a mod, lubed it or cleaned it.

Here is the ammo and round ct.

Win VP - 491

Stinger - 100 (1st ammo shot)

Rem VP HP - 826

Here's my story...

A friend acquired a P22 in a trade. I liked it,
& shot 1 magazine in his & went a bought
one new, yesterday.
AH, black & green, short barrel, -A SS mags.

My nephew & I shot the following today, in this order...

10 rounds of CCI mini mags, hollow points.

9 rounds of Federal bulk pack lead round nose
(older box, last of those)

About 75 rounds of Federal bulk pack copper
coated round nose (last of that box, too!)

It digested all of those with the two following
failures...

1) One failure to feed first round of a magazine.
I pulled back on the top of the rim with my
finger nail to feed it. Copper jacket RN.
(I don't consider this to be a problem, it happens,
especially with a new toy, but I will file this away
to check for a trend.)

2) One failure to slide lock on last round of
a mag. (Could have been my fat thumb.)

Groups were about 1-1/2" low & left at about
8 paces. Windage responded properly & was
able to group the rest centered, but low. I just
installed the #2 front sight. (Will evaluate the
next time at the range.)

Ejected rounds were any where from what I would
consider standard (back & right), to just a few
inches left of the ejection port, and everywhere
in between.

I did take the slide off prior to shooting, but
I did not look at the grooves in the slide for the
disconnect(?) ears. I checked everything over
tonight & noticed this groove on the left side
of the slide had a significant worn flat at the
front & the right side groove had similar material
removal, and about half the amount of the left side.
Also noticed aluminum shavings more pronounced
in the left groove.

I will deburr the disconnect(?) ears in the frame
after I study the required action removal from the
plastic grip housing. I will probably do the material
removal with a fine flat file & polish with a pumas (sp?)
wheel.

I will also work on the ejection pattern. I will consider
reshaping the ejector, but I believe the erratic pattern
is due to inconsistent operation off the extractor, so
I will tweak that spring, & consider material removal
on the extractor to make it grab or dig into the rim
of the case. A sharp hook arrangement, if you will,
but I will study this issue for a while first.
I will consider reshaping the ejector after that.

I don't think I will do any other mods until I have
a problem or failure. In the past & have removed
the magazine disconnects from my Hi Powers, but
I think I will leave this one intact. If there are other
reasons for removal, other than being able to fire
the chambered round with the mag out, I would like
to hear them.

Had I read this thread before I purchased it, I
might not have bought the P22. However, the
gun is a hoot for it's size & accuracy, & I believe
it will be one of my favorites. I do intend to carry
it on National Forest land, where only .22's are
legal during off season. I bought the Fobus paddle
holster for it, which makes for an extremely
pleasant package to carry. I will look for an
IWB holster. Very happy with the purchase.

Thanks to all who took the time to find the
fixes & post them here.

Johnny C!

Here's the list of fixes that I did my P-22.

1) Polished the disconnect ears
2) Widened the disconnect ears
   for more engagement on the
   slide ramps.
3) Peened the extractor for better
   ejection pattern.
4) Replaced #3 front site with #2
   to correct low groups.

Today I fired the following in this order...

1) 5 rounds of CB Longs (just for giggles).
   They would bump the slide back maybe
   1/8" of inch. Hand cycled & fed just fine.
   Very quiet.
2) About 80 rounds of Fed bulk box copper
   plated HP.
3) 20 rounds of CCI Mini Mags.

Problems...

The trigger would not reset about 50%
of the time with any of the standard velocity
ammo. I learned that if I pumped the
trigger, it would eventually fire, most of the
time. It seemed to get better in later rounds.
I checked the trigger disconnect bow & found
that when I spread it out for better ramp
engagement, I spread them too far. I had it
.010 over size for the action housing halves.
I could see some finish wear on one side. I
tapped it with my small ball peen hammer
very gently. It's now back to about original
dimension, & upon re-assembly the trigger
now floats freely, like I remember prior to
my expert tweak job   .  (If it ain't broke....)  
I will test fire again asap.

Improvements...

Ejection was a consistent 5 -6 feet to the right.

Groupings were a little high at my 7 -8 pace
range. Funny thing is that the groups were
to the right, where I had them dead on prior
to my tweaking.

In other words, this tweak list is spot on.

I think it's a keeper!

Good Luck!

Johnny C!

For some reason I really wanted one of these - not anymore - after 8 pages of DIY gunsmithing tips there very little to encourage a purchase.

Thanks for the education

Dan,
I agree with you reservations, & had I
read this thread before I bought mine,
I probably would not have made the
purchase.
 I am very surprised that a company
like Walther would allow such glaring
issues make it to production. The funny
thing is that all of the issues could
be solved with some minor tweaking,
but that adds up to alot of $$$ in
a production run of this magnitude.
The most serious problem being the
wear of the slide ramps from the
disconnect ears.
 I wanted a P22 because it filled a
niche that really needed to fill, and
I haven't seen anything else close
to it.
I'm glad I have some WECSOG
experience from years of tuning
1911's.

Good Luck!

Johnny C!

I shot about a hundred rounds of some
Fed bulk pack & had a few that failed
to strip & feed. These have some white
corrosion, so they are probably losing
power.

30 or so CCI Mini Mags ran 100%.

I think I have it dialed in. I will shoot
this gun alot!

Just letting you know!

Johnny C!

I forgot to update my last post about my p22, so here it is.

First off, the rounds still seem like they don't quite "fit" the mag correctly. However, and this is the important part, if I use mini-mags or stingers, it works every time, round after round, mag after mag. Not even a hiccup.

So, it appears that mine just have to have the "good" ammo and it runs like a raped ape.

My Father-in-law thought I was pulling his leg when I told him I could engage my targets 100 yards out with my p22.
The targets are 24" round shrouds that look like big, hollow aspirin pills. With a can on the p22, just keep aiming higher til you consistently hear the rounds impacting the target.

I know this is an old topic here but I wanted to thank everyone who posted fixes for the P22. I got all of the trigger creep out and managed to get the shells to quit ejecting back towards the shooter (my wife).have

Originally Posted By DanR: For some reason I really wanted one of these - not anymore - after 8 pages of DIY gunsmithing tips there very little to encourage a purchase. Tha nks for the education

+1

VERY COOL THREAD

I have had my P22 for about 6 months now. Probably run 2000 rounds through it. For the first hundred or so there where a few hiccups, but I expected that and was not really too concerned about it. I have just shot the cheap Federal bulk pack ammo from Wal-Mart. I would have a few problems but all in all it is a blast to shoot. So I stumbled on this topic and decided I would try a few mods just for fun. (Not that I really felt like I needed to but felt it wouldn’t hurt anything either and may make it even better.)

1. Removed the stupid safety key lock thing. First thing I did when I got the gun was “loose” the key so I never had to fumble with it. After reading the earlier posts, I decided to just plain remove the sucker. Gun runs fine without it.
2. Stretched the extractor spring. I only had a few failures to extract but thought this couldn’t hurt.
3. Removed the slide stop spring. (Kind of accidentally.) I wasn’t planning on removing it, but when I took the gun apart this spring went flying cause I didn’t really know what I was doing and then I couldn’t find it. So I reassembled the gun without it as an earlier poster had said. As I was cleaning up I found the spring and put it in a safe place. After my first trip to the range I discovered that the slide would lock open with one round left in the magazine. IT HAD NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. So I went home and put the slide stop spring back in and since then have never had this problem again. DO NOT REMOVE THE SLIDE STOP SPRING. As an earlier poster noted this actually holds the slide stop down and prevents it from engaging during shooting. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the earlier problems others have had are from this spring being missing or not functioning properly. Leave it in and make sure it is in correctly. With the spring in my gun I have never had a failure to load the last round. With it out it happened probably 90% of the time.
4. Touched up and slightly chamfered the sharp edge on the back of the chamber and polished the chamber mouth. This allows the bullet to feed into the chamber easier. I had a few failures to load before this mod and thought this might help. It has helped. Since the mod I have never had a shell fail to seat in the chamber correctly.
5. Beveled the ejector face as the picture showed. I actually tried this both ways and still had very inconsistent ejection patterns. Currently it is exactly opposite as the picture that is in this topic and in my case I felt this was better. When I beveled it as shown in the picture the first time, I actually had casings that wouldn’t leave the gun. They almost just popped up ½” and fell back down in the gun. This never caused any jams, but I just didn’t like the casings ending up on top of the gun, so I tried beveling it exactly opposite the picture and it works much better in my gun now. The ejection pattern is still very erratic but as least very few come straight back at me anymore. (My wife also has 2 burns on her chest from a casing going down her shirt.)
6. Radiused the back of the hammer slightly so it is smoother as the slide pushes it back. As an earlier poster stated, do not round it over too much or you will screw yourself. I rounded it just enough that the slide felt smoother as it operated and didn’t get hung up on the hammer.
7. Rounded the slide disconnector ears. They were beating my slide up. I really don’t know what this will accomplish other than not destroying my slide any more. I also can’t really tell if it has helped, but I expect it does.
8. I left my magazine safety in. I really don’t see any reason to remove it. Yes it does make the gun function slightly different other semi autos, but I didn’t feel that removing it would accomplish anything. I took it out and reassembled my gun and yes the magazine kind of rattled around as someone earlier stated, so I put it back in and it holds the magazine much more securely. I guess this is really just personal preference.
9. Polished the feed ramp.
10. Added the Walther laser just for kicks and giggles. It is a blast and it actually makes the gun handle better. I get less muzzle jump (yeah I know it’s a .22 and doesn’t jump much). But the extra weight on the front keeps the jump to an absolute minimum. I know it helps with this because my 7 year old son who loves to shoot the gun shot it today for the first time with the laser on and he had noticeably better control with the “recoil.” The laser doesn’t show up at all during the daytime, but as it gets later in the evening it shows up well and sure is fun.

FYI. I have never had the clip drop out when shooting EXCEPT when I didn’t securely put the clip in the gun. I did this a few times when I very first got the gun, but discovered very quickly that it was user error (MY FAULT). I wasn’t engaging the clip into the gun all the way. You do have to push it up in there nice and tight and make sure it seats itself correctly. Since I discovered this I have never had the clip fall out while shooting.

Since I have done all of these mods, I have run about 500 Federal cheapies with only a few hiccups during the first 50 or so shells. Again, I always figure this is just the parts figuring out how to work with one another correctly. After the first few rounds NO PROBLEMS at all. I also ran 100 CCI minimags through it today and not one problem.

This gun is an absolute blast. Everyone that has ever shot this gun, just loves it. It is cheap to shoot. It is the ultimate plinker gun. I have the short barrel and have no intentions whatsoever of getting the 5” barrel. If I want a target pistol I will get something else. Do not let these posts scare you away from the gun. I really didn’t have many problems to begin with, but since I did these mods, it has functioned flawlessly. Buy one, run some ammo through it, see how yours does, then do a few of these mods if necessary. .22’s are small little guns with not a lot of power behind them to make everything function correctly. I think you just need to understand and accept this, make a few improvements and have some fun. Half the fun of having guns is tinkering with them anyway.

I made my P22 not suck by selling it, and getting a Ruger MKII with the Pac-Lite upper on it. I just got sick of the P-22 and all the problems. Plus no laser hanging off the bottom, you can get a laser grip.