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Subject: Walther P-22 Jamming
chinggis khaan    11/5/2007 3:38:59 AM
I have recently bought a walther p22. Not that I'm a big fan of 22lr, it is just that military firearm ownership for civilians is against the law in Mongolia. Since 22lr is exactly a military calibre i got around and bought my first western handgun. But soon I found out that P22 is a real jammer. I can't put 3 rounds out of it without a jam. I do have a Makarov PM (don't worry, I managed to get a license for that too) which is so reliable that I'm really frustrated by it. upon googling it is said that this is due to some faulty magazine. But I exchange it from Mongolia. I tried changing the ammo with no avail. Is there any way to fix it on my own? any experience with this walther?
 
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ChdNorm       11/10/2007 1:03:33 AM
Those little Walthers are great little pistols. That's why my first guess, without knowing exactly what type of stoppages you're having, would be to look real hard at your ammunition. What types of .22LR is available in Mongolia, and what are you using? Have you tried a couple of different brands?
 
Some European .22s can have tight chambers. I would see if I could get my hands on some .22 match rounds and see if they feed. Eley (or Federal Gold Medal Match if you can find them) are about the most dimensionally consistent brands I've run across. If so, you've simply got a tight chamber. A gunsmith (or even a competent machine shop) can lap the chamber enough to open it up just a tad if need be.
 
If that doesn't help, maybe you could explain the exact types of malfunctions you're experiencing and it might narrow it don further.
 
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chinggis khaan       1/15/2008 1:27:50 AM
Thanks for reply.

Well, I have tried at with at least 3 different german ammunition as well as a russian one too.
Let me try to explain the stoppage as best as I can in my poor gun-English.

Two types of stoppages, first:  After the first round is fired, the case is ejected, the slide goes back to its normal position, the hammer is cocked. But no round in the chamber. So an empty click follows.
Second: After the first round is fired, the slide goes back prematurely and traps the spent case in vertical position. This second case led me to believe the ammo was underpowered or something.

Couldn't find the ammo you mentioned though.


 
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ChdNorm       1/16/2008 2:03:22 PM
It sounds like the slide is definitely short stroking. Usually, stovepipes (the common name for the second type of stoppage you describe) are the result of limp wristing the pistol. That robs the slide of the energy required to cycle by breaking over the wrist which absorbs the energy. Usually.22s aren't very prone to that, but they do require just about every ounce of energy they produce to cycle.
 
Since you experience the same types of stoppages with multiple types of ammunition, I'm inclined to think the problem lies within the pistol. My first thought is an out of spec recoil spring (too heavy). it could possibly be excessive milling marks, burs, debris in the slide/frame rails ... or even the tolerances between the frame and slide are too tight. Quality control should have detected that or it should be obvious to you, so I'm inclined to look at the recoil spring weight.
 
Being the tinkerer that I am, I would probably order a new recoil spring and start snipping off about a quarter of a coil till it started feeding reliably. I'd be careful about taking too much off at a time or it could start to batter the frame. But, it's the simplest and cheapest thing to try for a quick fix.
 
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smitty237    Ammo and magazines   1/18/2008 7:03:16 PM
I would be extra careful before I started doing stuff like messing with the recoil spring or anything like that because if that isn't the problem you may do serious harm to your gun.  Remember that the .22LR is a rimmed cartridge, and those often have a hard time feeding in automatics.  You might want to make sure that the rounds are properly loaded and aligned in the magazine.  Your magazines might be part of the problem as well.  Magazine springs that are too tight or too loose will also cause malfunctions.  Good luck.
 
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chinggis khaan       2/5/2008 2:07:40 AM
well, I have exchanged my mags by sending it back and what, it works fine.
Also, they sent me manual on how to load my mags. It seems those one-and-a-half stack magazines need some attention on loading. Never thought I would be loading my mags improperly.
the magazine change really helped though. It cycles well.

 
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