The sight picture, a U-notch rear and a flat-top front post, was small but workable. The gun could be fired with the magazine out, which was not possible with the newer P22. The safety lever dropped the hammer when applied. The single-action trigger pull was excellent, breaking at 4.9 pounds with a touch of controllable creep, as is common with most Walthers of this type. The insides of the gun showed almost no wear. Clear the gun, then pull downward on the trigger guard, pull the slide fully rearward and lift it, then ease it forward off the frame. Takedown was simple, just like the centerfire versions. The plastic grip panels were sharply checkered and looked close to new. Its bluing was scarcely blemished, with only the slightest signs of handling wear in the bluing along the sharp edges. We thought this was an excellent example of the PP design.
![walther p22 takedown walther p22 takedown](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6U9LR3ERFAM/mqdefault.jpg)
In fact, all the guns in this test held ten shots, and all came with two magazines. Our PP held ten shots in each of its two magazines. A double-action for the first shot, the gun’s controls were just like those of the PP or PPK in centerfire calibers. The gun was made in France, by the Manufacture de Machines du Haut-Rhin, known by the contraction Manurhin. The PP was an all-steel pistol with excellent polishing and bluing on the slide, but with machining marks here and there on the frame. At this writing, there are plenty of ‘em floating around, but they won’t last forever. We put them to the test, and this is what we found.Ī friend of GT bought this PP recently from Southern Ohio Gun.
![walther p22 takedown walther p22 takedown](https://www.americanrifleman.org/media/3owf51xl/walther-p22-qd.jpg)
Luck was with us, because a staff member happened to own one of the fairly rare Walther PP Sports (about $1100), and made it available for testing. We obtained both the long- and short-barrel P22 (MSRP $301 for either one) along with a copy of the all-steel Walther PP, offered recently by Southern Ohio Gun ($500). Both of these new Walthers had parallels in the older PP Walther, with short barrel and fixed sights, and in the adjustable-sighted, longer-barreled Walther PP Sport. We looked hard at the longer-barrel version in January 2003, but the shorter version was something of a mystery.
![walther p22 takedown walther p22 takedown](https://f8x7p3b6.ssl.hwcdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/P22-Main-Image-Template-copy.jpg)
Walther offers the fine P22 in two barrel lengths. There are plenty of ‘em about the size of a 1911, but it seems the fine small autos of the past are almost gone. The first place one might look is in the catalogs of today’s makers, but your first surprise will be that there are not all that many small. 22 LR handgun can take one to strange places.