The Walther P22 is a great target pistol that's economical and fun to shoot. One of the pistol's strengths, its cost, is also cause for one of its downfalls. Some of the workmanship and design elements of the P22 suggest that Walther cut a few corners in production to keep costs low and ultimately to hit a lower retail price point. Luckily, most of these weaknesses can be corrected or at least minimized with a few modifications, making your P22 a better performing firearm.
One of the most widespread complaints about the P22 is that it's picky about the type of ammunition it will shoot reliably. The pistol will often fail to feed ammunition that doesn't have a sufficient charge to cycle the slide. This is a recipe for a lot of frustration for P22 owners because .22 caliber ammunition has a fundamentally small charge.
The cause for the P22's ammo pickiness is that too many of the pistol's components rub against each other when the pistol is cycling. This creates drag on the slide and keeps it from performing crucial functions like ejecting a spent cartridge and loading the next round. To correct the problem, and to make it possible for the P22 to utilize a wider array of ammunition more reliably, the drag on the slide needs to be reduced by modifying certain components.
It's important to note that you should never modify a firearm unless you're knowledgeable about the topic and confident in your abilities to carry out the modifications correctly. If you have even a shred of doubt, take your pistol to a licensed gunsmith to have the work done.
Performing the following modifications will help to reduce drag on the P22's slide thereby allowing the pistol to function more reliably with varied types of ammunition. First up are the trigger bar ears. If you remove the slide of your P22 and look at the underside, you'll notice that the trigger bar ears are impacting the slide and removing material. Rounding and polishing the ears will eliviate the damaging impact. There are a few other modifications that can be found in the Walther P22 Bible that will help to eliminate slide drag. I'd like to explain them all in this article, but there's no sense in covering something that's already explained adequately elsewhere.
One of the P22's weaknesses that unfortunately can't be overcome is its cast zinc-alloy slide. The zinc-alloy slide has been known to crack or even fracture completely during operation resulting in a dangerous situation. While a slide constructed from stronger material is not available, modifying the pistol to reduce stress on the zinc slide will help to prolong its life and reduce the risk of cracking or fracturing. Again, look to the P22 Bible for these modifications and instructions on how to carry them out.
