New Walther 22 mag pistol

[Wheellock]

Read and weep, cool new pistol, not available to us poors....

https://waltherarms.com/wmp/

[SkyHawk]

Interesting that is has both ambi-paddles and ambi-buttons for mag release - never seen that before

[Starslinger]

Interesting.

['ol shooter]

.22 Mag ammo is expensive, I only use it occasionally in a bolt gun, kinda useless in a short barrel pistol. My Single Six Mag cylinder still looks like new and it's a 1964.

[M76]

One might eventually pop up for sale on CGN...



for $1500.00

[Wheellock]

.22 Mag ammo is expensive, I only use it occasionally in a bolt gun, kinda useless in a short barrel pistol. My Single Six Mag cylinder still looks like new and it's a 1964.

That's true, and if I were living in the free states, I probably wouldn't be that interested. But since I can't have it here, it makes me want it......I have a problem with shiny objects.

[SDDAVE56]

Why do they make things look so fugly these days? That thing looks like it wants to shave skin off you at every corner.

[SharedShots]

With heavier 22 mag ammo being available and all the hooplah over the 5.7 in pistols why not? If it catches on ammo companies might start looking at evolving the 22 mag ammo a bit more. It isn't like there is a shortage of different projectiles available. The 22 WMR has always suffered from rather mundane bullet design but this could start a trend and ammo companies would be only too happy to pump them out knowing it's a shoot and buy again as opposed to a shoot and handload proposition.

The 5.7 gives about 1600 fps out of a 5" barrel, nothing special. Expect maybe 1400-1450 out of the Walther (not the compact version). Compare cost to shoot and it's no contest. While you could reload the 5.7, given the huge number of cases being left on ranges and in shooting locales not that many are doing so. I've collected buckets full of that brass, all fresh from factory boxes, fired and left on the dirt. I don't have a 5.7 but never know.

I like this. Would I pay $1500 for one in Ca? I have spend more on lots of other things.

22 Mag ammo isn't that expensive. It's not 22LR cost but it's not all that bad. For plinking, paper, small game why not? SD/HD? Not unless it was all there is. Carry? Same answer.

This also has something going for it the 5.7s do not, it's a rimfire and public perception of rimfires is dramatically different than centerfires. Even in California we can have full featured rimfire ARs.











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[SharedShots]

Why do they make things look so fugly these days? That thing looks like it wants to shave skin off you at every corner.

Its a thing. Take ARs, they all look like cheese graters. Pistols are the same. Aside from some shotguns and the bolt guns, everything else has become a formula design. The days of beauty in gun design other than expensive stuff is long gone. Now they all look the same and the big difference is the logo.

No more Schnable forends, different wood for spacers, stocks that feel like an extension of your arms and hands, everything is CNC'd and the word craftsman and the true gunsmith are practically history, everything is just assembled these days. By a CNC setup, punch the button and slap it together and call it precision this or that. Gone is the beauty of designing and manufacturing something you'd call heirloom. Plastic, some alloy and without soul. Those things used to be cash and carry for almost everyone. Now it's the exclusive wait 3 years and hope.

['ol shooter]

"With heavier 22 mag ammo being available and all the hooplah over the 5.7 in pistols why not? If it catches on ammo companies might start looking at evolving the 22 mag ammo a bit more."

The issue there for me would be that it is still a rimfire round, inherently less reliable than a centerfire. I would not consider a rimfire for self defense unless there was no alternative.

[Nvberinger]

15 rounds. I like that.

['ol shooter]

My older P-22 had all the usual issues, namely a trigger disconnect that ate the slide, loose screws holding the two halves of the action together, and a hump on the round safety pivot that slowed the slide down during cycling after firing. Once these issues were addressed, it's a reliable and fun pistol to shoot.I highly recommend downloading and reading the P-22 Bible, put together by a member of Rim Fire Central, 1911-1917M. Also he has tons of good info posted on the Walther Forum there. Here is a link to the Bible online:

https://www.gunfactory.ch/download/Walther_P22_bible.pdf

[SharedShots]

"With heavier 22 mag ammo being available and all the hooplah over the 5.7 in pistols why not? If it catches on ammo companies might start looking at evolving the 22 mag ammo a bit more."

The issue there for me would be that it is still a rimfire round, inherently less reliable than a centerfire. I would not consider a rimfire for self defense unless there was no alternative.

Agreed which is why I included this in the post you partially quoted (4th paragraph down):

"For plinking, paper, small game why not? SD/HD? Not unless it was all there is. Carry? Same answer."



Lots of people have 22 WMR rifles and now they could have a decent pistol (TBD) to go along with the rifle. Same ammo so a day just out shooting, maybe chasing down rabbits or cans, why not.

On the SD/HD though, while its the last resort to use a rimfire anything, enough people use 25 ACP, 32 ACP and if those were the only choices because it's all you had along with the Walther, I'd probably pick that up first.

If Walther can make it cycle reliably that would be great otherwise it's a tough sell. The ammo manufacturers have neglected the 22WMR for a long time. Even with the 30 grain and 45-50 grain loads there is plenty of room for improvement.

Couple this with a decent 22 WMR Rifle and you'd have quite a nice pair.












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[SharedShots]

This seems like more of a novelty than anything. The P22 chambered for the long rifle cartridge is probably the most problematic and jam-amatic pistol out on the market. I know because I have one. Even if they correct the problems with the p22, 22 mag out of such a short barrel really negates the usefulness of the wmr cartridge to begin with

Remains to be see but this is unlikely to be anything like the P22. Every company has its ugly kids but we don't go around bashing them for it do we? Take each model and let is stand on it's own.

The 22 WMR out of a 5" has similar ballistics as the HV 22LR out of a rifle length barrel. Plenty of usefulness. If it's accurate it becomes a 75-100 yard plinker and small game taker, if you're good enough.











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[rromeo]

22 mag runs about the same price as 9mm. It used to be $0.20 a round, now it's about $0.40.
At least you get 30 rounds with a PMR 30. I don't see a reason to consider this one.