I have a Walther P22 that was given to me as a gift. As you already know, it's a cool little pistol that is fun to shoot. Sorry, but I have no first hand experience with the M22. Another pistol that you might want to consider is the Bersa T22 or Firestorm series. They seem to have pretty good reviews.

 

I'm getting close to 4000 rounds through my P22Q since I bought it new around July of this year. Mine has been extremely reliable and just a lot of fun to shoot. Interesting you post this as I've had my eye on the M22 for a little while now. Looks like it would be another fun range plinker.

I also have a Bersa Firestorm 22 that's been pretty good as well. While its construction seems a bit more sturdy than the Walther I have had a few issues with it. Overall for the money its been another fun range "toy" though.

 

the P22 and the M22 are trainer pistols - unless you want a trainer gun to match a carry/duty gun, neither is the best choice for just wanting a rimfire pistol.

The P22 replicated a P99 (sort of) or other guns with that magazine release setup. The ISSC's glock-like look isn't an accident, it is a wannabe glock, because the actual glock company won't make a .22lr gun for some reason (there are .22lr conversions out there, new slide/barrel/recoil assembly/magazine on your frame and fire-control components)

Keep shopping, the trainers sacrifice too much to look like a bigger gun, as far as I'm concerned, unless you want/need the practice gun (I have a P22 to replicate the manual of arms on my PPS, for example)

For this need you state:

i want a pistol that is dependable and not picky with ammo as i will probably be shooting federal red box through it.

... look to Ruger or Browning - they make guns that were designed to be a .22 rather than being trainers for something else.

 

the P22 and the M22 are trainer pistols - unless you want a trainer gun to match a carry/duty gun, neither is the best choice for just wanting a rimfire pistol.

The P22 replicated a P99 (sort of) or other guns with that magazine release setup. The ISSC's glock-like look isn't an accident, it is a wannabe glock, because the actual glock company won't make a .22lr gun for some reason (there are .22lr conversions out there, new slide/barrel/recoil assembly/magazine on your frame and fire-control components)

Keep shopping, the trainers sacrifice too much to look like a bigger gun, as far as I'm concerned, unless you want/need the practice gun (I have a P22 to replicate the manual of arms on my PPS, for example)

For this need you state:

i want a pistol that is dependable and not picky with ammo as i will probably be shooting federal red box through it.

... look to Ruger or Browning - they make guns that were designed to be a .22 rather than being trainers for something else.

 

M&p 22.

 

My brother in law has a p22 and I have a m22. His gun is louder ( shorter barrel I presume) and about the same for as far as accuracy. The M22 is slightly more picky in ammo. it will run nearly flawless with minimags, but I run CCI Blazers that I buy in bulk for my rifles with only a few FTF and FTE's and thats mostly when it starts to get dirty. Freshly cleaned and oiled the blazers run great. I get them for $16 a box of 500 locally and that is pretty cheap. Certainly good enough for the range or plinking. I have large hands and the M22 fits my hand very nicely where the P22 is a bit small. Looks wise, I like em both but prefer my wanna be glock.

Lots of people will tell you to get a ruger or a buckmark. They are nice guns and more reliable and accurate than the .22 combat style / replica guns but those people don't seem to understand that some of us shoot our pistols for fun. I find shooting the P22 lots of fun. I use it for pistol drills as well and its accuracy is good enough for kill zone shots and training. If I want to see a tiny group of holes I'll pull out my target rifle and get serious.

Any ways get what floats your boat.

 

people don't seem to understand that some of us shoot our pistols for fun. I find shooting the P22 lots of fun.

I have a Buckmark and no, my P22 won't compare in terms of accuracy however, if I'm going to the range "just for fun" I almost always grab the Walther. I can't really explain why, but it is just more entertaining to shoot than my buckmark. And for what its worth, my Walther will reliably shoot just about anything whereas my Buckmark tends to be a bit more ammo sensitive. This isn't the norm but happens to be true my case.

 

I've shot the P22 & I own the M22, that'll tell you something. The M22 is more like a full size pistol. At least its a small full size pistol. I wouldn't say it's finicky about ammo. It has very specific needs. And it doesn't require expensive ammo. Mine likes the Winchester Target GT Bulkpac from Dicks. And of course, MiniMags. It was cheap, and is really a quality piece. I wouldn't compare it to the P22, I think the Mosquito is a better rival.

 

people don't seem to understand that some of us shoot our pistols for fun. I find shooting the P22 lots of fun.

I do understand that shooting is for fun, also ... and I DO have fun shooting my P22 - but I have more fun with my target pistols because I spend my time shooting and not farting around making the gun work. Part of it is that I can load Ruger mkIII magazines off of the "ultimate cliploader" from a bulk box, while the P22 will tolerate bulk if it isn't filthy, but it really wants minimags for reliable operation ... and 3.5 cents per round in a bulk box is more fun than 8 cent rounds, I can shoot all afternoon for $20, or dump the entire 550 round pack through the gun as fast as possible.

The M22 is more like a full size pistol.

So is a dedicated target gun, you know. In fact, my Ruger mkIIIs have bigger grips than most of my centerfire guns, and weigh more, and are longer ... sort of funny, really.

 

Part of it is that I can load Ruger mkIII magazines off of the "ultimate cliploader" from a bulk box,

Good point. I can burn through a brick of ammo with my Buckmark and Ultimate Cliploader in no time. Really wish they made on that would work with the Walther mags. I'm fortunate to own both pistols (buckmark & P22) and certainly enjoy them both. Fun is in "the eye of the beholder" or something like that I guess.

In defense of the P22 though, mine has definately not been ammo sensitive. It just runs and runs and runs. This particular pistol may be the exception to the rule. My Buckmark, which of course has a great reputation for reliability, runs nearly 100% using CCI ammo (MiniMag and Blazer) but is pretty spotty with just about anything else. Again, an exception to the rule. Just goes to show that sometimes you get an apple in a bucket full of lemons and a lemon in a bucket full of apples.

 

Looking back at my post, I wanted to clarify my statement about shooting for fun. I think shooting just about any pistol is fun. Certainly an accurate gun like a Mk or a buckmark is fun to shoot to hone your skillz and try for tiny little groups, but for many they want the dynamic look and feel of a "combat" style polymer pistol with a full slide. My "just for fun" comment was to address the fact that on so many threads on this forum and others where someone is seeking the opinion about the Walther/mysquito/ M22 etc, someone always has to chime in about the ruger or buckmark. Most of us get it, if we wanted one of those we would have asked about one of those. I personally was leaning towards a SS mark III target, but got sticker shock and bought a nice XDM 9mm instead. then I bought my M22 for half the price of the ruger for my .22 needs. To each his own, but if someone is asking about M22 vs P22, whynot stick to that instead of bringing up the ruger and buckmark. They probably know about them but either don't want one or allready have one. Just a guess though.

 

I don't own either but have shot both. So, of course, I now want both. I think they are great .22 pistols to shoot for fun. If I were to really look at both objectively I'd probably grab a P22 over the M22 as the grip felt a bit better in my hand. In a perfect world I'd take both, in reality I'd take whichever one ended up putting less of a dent in my pocket.

The gun store I frequent has never been able to keep the M22 in stock for very long, so that tell you something.

 

i thought about the ruger, and i do want one. but i have always liked the walther and when i read that the m22 had a walther barrel and was sort of a walther/glock combo in a .22lr i thought that maybe it is similar to the p22 just in a glock-like body ?
but i think that i will end up with the walther since i have actually shot a few and couldnt really say anything bad about them except the fact that they werent mine haha. thanks for all the input guys.