Walther P22 and which ammo will work?

I bought a Walther P22 a few months ago. Figured I better have a gun that would introduce a new shooter to the sport without intimidating them. John Farquhar from Mad Duck Training gave me this tip when I renewed my Instructor qualification through him. John's a great trainer and, as always, his advice is sound. You can check him out at www.madduckttc.net. (I'm not on his staff and don't get any money for saying nice things about him.)

This .22 caliber semi-auto grabbed my eye. It is cool looking, fits the hand well and has a nice wide rear sight. I especially liked the width of the rear sight for a new shooter. Of course, that width will reduce accuracy, but allows the new shooter to "pick up the front sight". Pinpoint accuracy is hardly a consideration for the new shooter. This isn't the gun you would buy for Olympic target shooting anyway, so no harm done.

I read (on the internet) that the gun might not work well with all .22 LR (long rifle) ammunition. I have experienced the same situation. Feed it the ammo it likes and perfection. Feed it ammo it doesn't like and poop, crap, bummer.

Ammo that works well in my Walther P22:

CCI Stinger 22 LR

- this long rifle ammunition features a copper plated hollow point 32 grain bullet traveling at 1640 feet per second.

- this ammo feeds flawlessly, extracts with no issues and ejects away from the gun as it should.

- the only think I don't care for is the bright white flash. This ammo really puts on a show when you shoot. You get used to it, but it just might surprise you the first time you experience the flash.

Ammo that does not shoot:

Note: I'm not saying the below ammunition is bad. I'm just stating it doesn't work in my P22. The ammo works well in my other guns. Shoots well out of my lever action rifle, shoots well out of my .22 revolver.

Remington 22 Thunderbolt

- this LR ammo consists of a 40 grain Lead Round Nose bullet traveling at 1255 fps.

- this ammo just doesn't have enough power to extract and eject the spent casing

- at times, when the casing does manage to clear the ejection port, it seems as if the slide isn't blown back adequately to enable the next bullet to be stripped from the magazine. You then have the pleasure of dry firing the gun (and vividly seeing if you are jerking the trigger or not).

Federal Lightning

- this LR ammo is also a 40 grain Lead Round Nose bullet which travels at 1240 fps.

- it experiences all the same issues as the Remington Thunderbolt

Remington Target, Standard Velocity

- this LR ammo has a 40 grain LRN bullet, 1150 fps

- it experiences all the same issues.

Summary

CCI Stinger 22 LR works great. The ammo goes bang every time and the Walther P22 eats it like candy. What more can I ask for. I might try a few more brands as the CCI Stinger is way more expensive that the other ammo, but I'm in no hurry.