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New PPQ M2 5 Inch - The Good the Bad and the Ugly

6K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  jrsbike 
#1 ·
This is a long one so you maybe want to do something more productive!

Preamble: After much deliberation I decided to take a chance on the 5" PPQ. I had a S&W Victory which was very accurate and problem free after almost 2500 rounds. However the grip was too small for me even with medium size hands and after a while I just did not want to deal with it any more. I spent money on different grips but to no avail. What I wanted was a full size gun that shot 22LR. I looked at Sig P226 in 22LR as well as the CZ but they were more money and I wanted a five inch barrel.
I also considered the Beretta 92 in 22, also made by Umarex, but could not find an example to see although I bought the Walther sight unseen. When I took the gun out of the box I was shocked at how light it was. It is very plastic and so toy-like that it does not feel like a real gun. However I was pleased with the red front FO sight and blacked out rear which is how I set up my guns. Holding it confirmed that it fit like a real full size gun and not a scaled down 22 for a kid. I took it apart for a pre-shoot clean and was pleased with its easy disassembly. Lots of plastic inside. The barrel has a shroud and the actual barrel is paper thin which had me concerned about rapid overheating.
So I loaded up and went to the local indoor range and shot at the max range of 12 yards. Right away it felt great and super easy and in spite of its zero weight there was no felt recoil. It just went ping ping ping no problem. The hand position was exactly what I wanted and could hold a comfortable two hand just like I do with my Sigs and STI. I was beginning to enjoy this gun.
I tried different ammo and found that it shot very well with Federal Target and Geco Semi-Auto. CCI SV seemed to work better that the Mini-Mag for some reason. CCI Velocitor and Stinger seemed to overpower it at this distance, maybe better at 25 yards. Accuracy was excellent and factory sighting was spot on.
The trigger has to be pulled straight back, obviously, because if you pull to the side at all it rubs up against the inside wall. I'll have to investigate.
After about 100 rounds the show came to an abrupt end when it suddenly started to shoot all over the place. I was mystified and could not determine the cause when the rear sight suddenly came off. Fortunately I was able to find all the pieces even a micro windage spring. This was a shock as I has done a pre-flight check and found everything tight. An examination of the rear sight revealed that is is a piece of cheap junk (I'm being polite) and should not be on a $400 gun. I have reassembled the sight and will continue to use it until an alternative comes along. It is a Novak type design but about 25 thou shorter the the Novaks on my STI. I will contact Dawson and beg him to do something since he does not carry anything at this time.
In spite of the sight issue I like the gun. The feel is great, accuracy excellent, trigger OK and reliability is fine so far. In spite of my concerns the barrel did not overheat as I thought it would.
 
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#2 ·
Congrats on the new gun!

Did the set-screw come loose on the rear sight? I had to make a windage adjustment on my PPQ .22 the other night, and I did notice there was blue threadlocker on the (tiny) set-screw. It would have been nice to be able to adjust for windage without actually loosening the sight and moving it over. But now it's set, and shouldn't need to be changed.

You are not the first to have the PPQ rear sight eject. Glad you were able to find all the pieces and continue to use the gun.

I also have a new Taurus TX 22, and if you think the PPQ's rear sight is junk...
 
#3 ·
Thanks and yes the set screw did come out. I was lucky to find all the parts. I have had many little pieces eject themselves into oblivion over the years while working on motorcycles and bicycles so maybe I was due for a pass. I did a complete cleaning and going back to the range today for round two. There are vids out there for complete breakdown of the P-22 but not the PPQ that I can find. I would like to get to the trigger but don't want to start punching pins out until I know what I'm doing.
 
#4 ·
This is a long one so you maybe want to do something more productive!
LOL

I was looking at the Colt/Umarex 1911 and found a YouTube video showing that, like the PPQ, the actual barrel is a thin sleave within what most people believe is the barrel. I watched 10 disassembly videos before I finally found one that showed this. I guess most people don't disassemble it that far.

I have never heard anything about this being a problem, however, even with people that have fired thousands of rounds.

Thanks for the post, much appreciated.
 
#5 ·
Have you ever thought that the thin barrel might dissipate heat much better than a heavy barrel? Ruger uses a thin barrel in their light weight 22/45 MK pistols they are popular on 50M free pistols. If thinness effected accuracy...they would not be popular on an anything goes target pistol. 1917

 
#6 · (Edited)
I wondered about the heat dissipation on the Ruger Lights also. I have little training in thermal dynamics, maybe ten minutes worth in a structures class back in architecture school, but the Victory as well as the Ruger Target models have bull barrels and I assume its for maintaining rigidity and accuracy during heat build up. My daughter has a CZ 455 bolt action 22 with the bull barrel and she can shoot all day and it barely gets warm. That being said the PPQ works and that's all that matters to me. Maybe the double barrel system does has something to do with it. The image above reminds me of the 22 zip guns that street gangs used to make in the 1950's using stolen car antennas. Life magazine once did an article on that.

I contacted Dawson Precision and there are no plans to develop a rear sight for the PPQ so I will have a conference my with village smithy to see how we can modify a Novak rear sight for fit and aperture height. I called Walther customer service and spoke with a very pleasant gentleman but all he could offer was a free replacement rear sight of the same design. The 9MM sight will not fit.
 
#7 ·
For the P22 the best device I can imagine for a mount on the existing P22 would be a flat mount base that fits over the threaded loop. A screw through there would fasten the mount securely to the top of the slide. Then a vertical screw needs to be added to press one of the end of the mount up so that the part is firmly secured to the slide. Due to the thinness of the top of the slide the foot at the base of this screw needs to be as large as possible. Then you mount a red dot to say, a Weaver rail on the base. This is very similar to any of the mounts that rely on a dovetail or screw down into existing holes like you find on a Ruger MK pistol....only this system needs to use the threaded loop as the primary fastening point. 1917
 
#8 ·
Thanks, y'all! I have considered both the Taurus TX 22 and the Walther PPQ 22 (based on budget) and your comments were very helpful. :bthumb:

I had decided on the PPQ, but cannot find one for sale in my region and the issue with the rear sight concerns me. Then went to Walther Forum to discover the PPQ is not well received.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I'm on a Walther forum, and there isn't usually any thing bad that comes up about the PPQ. The P22, often mixed up with the PPQ, is significantly different and usually more problematic. Newer P22s apear to be better, but still not up to the PPQ in most respects.

Were you looking here? - https://www.waltherforums.com/forum/ppq/

The TX rear sight is worse than the PPQ's, if that matters. The PPQ has a more substantial feel than the TX, and is heavier - which I like. The PPQ grip is better for me, and the PPQ trigger edges out the TX - which is striker-fired.
 
#10 ·
Hmmmm? I spend a lot of time at the Walther forum also and don't remember bad reviews. That 5" pistol should be top notch. I'd want one if the grip were CCP size or even P22 size. It is just a little too large for my hand. Having fired the 5" P22 against a 3.4" P22....the 5" barrel is very accurate. At least as far as I need....say, 5/8" five round groups at 25M. 1917
 
#11 ·
I did read a thread where a couple of people had a broken part. It was unclear why but it seemed the hammer might have been dropped while the slide was removed. Never drop the hammer on a semi auto when the slide is removed. If you need to let it forward do it under thumb control. I've been cobbling together a 5" P22 picture with a one piece PPQ style slide on it and slide release. 1917

 
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