First, I think the P22 is a neat gun.  It's loads of fun with a can, and I love to start newbies out with it.  The problem is that the reliability sucks goat balls.  After a couple mags, I get FTEs on almost every shot.  That really kills the "Fun factor", and it frustrates the newbies.  (Actually, I get better reliability than the newbies; I think they tend to limp-wrist.  Even though, I get a few FTEs after several mags.)  Does anybody have any tips for making this thing dead-nuts reliable?  Ammo?  Mods?  Prayer?

TIA,
fiz

I havent gotten mine to solve that problem yet.

The only prob I've had with mine (I've got the short barrelled OD green frame) was the front sight dot "popped out" during a mag drain.  I found it in my ammo box when I was cleaning up, put it back in and haven't had a problem since,

I almost feel like an arse saying this, but if you are having ammo related problems, try different ammo.

Oh, and colibri won't cycle mine either, in case YOU tried it.

I did three things, and my P22 is now very reliable.  

First, I lightly oiled all the mating surfaces, and then while watching TV I racked the slide very rapidly several hundred times tu burnish the contact points.

Second, I switched to hotter ammo -like mini-mags or velocitors- while I was breaking her in.  More recoil seems to help cycle the action.  Ironically, the first ammo that I found to work 100% was that subsonic Aguila Sniper SSS stuff, with the .22 short case and the long 66 grn bullet; I guess that the larger heavier bullet and shorter case to extract was just what my gun wanted. The only reason I didn't keep using this ammo is that it's midget case would leave fouling in the chamber where the .22 short case ended that would gum up regular .22LR rounds.

Third, I added a suppressor.  With the added backpressure of a can on it, the gun cycles any ammo, even cheaper subsonic, without a hitch.  Of course, if I take the can off after 500 rounds of quiet fun, the gun by itself is then a single shot till it's been cleaned.  And, as a testament to it's reliablility, I took it shooting with my buddies kids the other day... the two of them shot through, no joke, about 2500 rounds of the Federal bulk pack wal-mart stuff.  There was only one failure that I recall, which was a stuck case that I had to pop out with a rod.  

I hope some of this helps!  And here's a gratuitous pic of mine!  




Edited to add:  I went back and re-read that you've already had a can on yours and it didn't help at all? Wow, I would try the burnishing I did, and then use very little oil when running the gun, just enough to lube the surfaces, but not attract all the crap that's left when shooting .22

Quoted: I almost feel like an arse saying this, but if you are having ammo related problems, try different ammo. Oh, and colibri won't cycle mine either, in case YOU tried it.

I've tried all the major brand high-vel ammo.  And no, colibri doesn't cycle it at all.  

Quoted: First, I lightly oiled all the mating surfaces, and then while watching TV I racked the slide very rapidly several hundred times tu burnish the contact points.

OK, thanks; I'll give this a try.  Let's see what would be a good movie....how about "Point of No Return"  

I was having the same issues. Switching ammo solved my problems. Currently I am shooting Winchester X22LRPP. It is outstaning ammo that happens to be incredible accurate in my Ruger 10/22 Target. As a result I have stocked up on this ammo.

There are also some fixes available for the P22 at http://www.sju.edu/~bc165187/fixes.html

Good luck

I've never had a problem with CCI minimags, Velocitors, Stingers in my P22.
The new shooters who have used my P22 have really liked it, and it's a great gun for those petite types with small hands, not so muscular arms. Afew have gone out and bought their own.
I never did fix the ejection pattern. Tried to get them to eject to the side, but the last couple will always fly overhead. This tends to jam my tac mount red dot mount, so I just took it off.