Has anybody seen any detailed info on this new little .22LR bullpup rifle from Walther.  There is a picture and some minimal info in this month's America's 1st Freedom (NRA magazine), but I'd love to see/read more about it...

They finally have info about it on their European site:

www.carl-walther.de/englisch/defense/defense-100.html

Nothing yet that I could find at www.waltheramerica.com (FWIW, it was mentioned briefly in this month's Shooting Times & that's the site it referenced, not the one above).

Not to label it a POS because they make good things but those sights look WAY to high to be of any use on a 22 except for the exact distance they are zeroed at.

Quoted: Not to label it a POS because they make good things but those sights look WAY to high to be of any use on a 22 except for the exact distance they are zeroed at.

It wouldn't be any more "off" than a 22lr conversion or upper on an AR15.

What intrigues me is that it is a bullpup available in a dedicated left hand version.  I'm right handed but naturally shoot left for a variety of reasons.  Secondly, the ad implies that there are some mechanical simiarities to the P22 and it looks like, by the design of the stock that it probably takes P22 magazines.

I would seriously be interested in this plinker if all that were the case.

Michael

there is a little bit longer thread in General gun discussion. Not much more info though except davisons is going to be stocking them for MSRP of 395

I picked one up today for $350. I had no idea they existed until today. It looks ohh so cool, so I had to get it. It even comes in a hard plastic case. The last .22LR rifle I got was a Ruger 10/22 in 1971, so I think it was about time I got another.    

I hope to get it to the range Sunday.

The best review I can dig up is here:
rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67088

1.  Warning!  When dismantling, the plastic top cover holds pieces of the loaded chamber indicator which will fall out. Walthers incredibly bad users manual does not include anything about  these parts. I have no idea how these parts fit together.

Edited to add: I figured it out! It's a puzzle.

2.  Warning!  The action is bone dry. Do not fire it until you remove the butt stock so you can get some oil in there.

I went to a friends house for some informal can plinking.  It kept shooting high for me no matter what adjustment I made so I will have to go to the target range to really figure out these sights. It's a fun gun to not use the sights with and just guide your shots to the cans.    

We had a ton of malfunctions, usually 3-4 per 10 round magazine to start with. It was most often a failure of the bolt to fully close.  Sometimes pushing the bolt forward was all it took. It was way too hard to push forward, like it was dragging on something. Without the magazine inserted there was no drag.  

Sometimes the next round in the magazine popped out too, so the magazine had to be removed to clear the malfunction.  As more rounds were fired the malfunction rate decreased to 1-2 per magazine load, but never did either of us, using two different magazines, ever get through one without at least one malfunction.

We fired 350 rounds of CCI MiniMag solids. The inards were well oiled with Break Free Lubricant/Preservative.

It was a fun gun to shoot when it worked. Near the end of the session we started firing as fast as we could. I wish there were 50 round magazines available for this rifle.

While a fun gun, the malfunctions are troublesome, so I would wait on getting one if you are on the sidelines.  I'm not sure if this is a clunker, a design flaw, or a matter of breaking it in some more.  For a $350 rimfire it should run better. The pot metal construction is a bit troublesome to me too.  A Ruger 10/22 in a bullpit stock is better built and would cost less too.  The Walthers only good point  when compared to a Ruger is it looks cool.  The design, construction, and reliability is a big question mark.  

I went to the range for a paper follow-up.

First reliability.  It improved. I got through a few magazines without a problem. I also had a few rounds fail to fire. They have firing pin hits on them, but did not go off.  Half would manually eject out, but the other half were stuck in the chamber and the  extractor would not extract them. All I tried fired on the second hit. I forgot in my first report that this happened at my friends house too, only there it would not fire and I had to get it out with a screwdriver.  

I fired about 300 rounds this time. I also added 10 Yellow Jackets and 20 Stingers, but other than a change in the point of impact there is nothing to report.

Walther fail to fire primer hits:



Now to the target. I was not anywhere near the 50 yard target for two magazines. I pulled the target and added a large cardboard backing. Now I could see I was about one foot right and one foot low. By moving the rear sight dial to 5, it was now level, but still one foot right. The front plastic sight is in a plastic dovetail and held in place from the bottom with a hex screw. I loosened the screw and easily moved the sight to the right as it is a very loose fit. I then tried the target again.

Here’s another problem. When you loosen the hex screw, the front sight will move down! So when you are doing your right-left sight adjustments, you will be shooting low. When I tightened the hex screw the front sight moved back up. Now I could hit the target. Well almost. During all this work I inadvertently moved the rear sight down a bit. You see, it really does not lock into place. You are dealing with plastic sights here, but this is not Glock plastic, this is cheap 1970 style plastic, like when all my toys would break because they were made too cheap. They are no clicks to lock into either!  This was cheap design move too.

Once I got it all set back up I was on paper. Three inch ten shot groups were the best I could do at 50 yards with this sight setup. At least that indicates a scope might be able to get a good group out of it. I think the plastic sight design is horrible. In the field or when handled the rear is prone to move down on its own. What were they thinking when they designed this?

Walther Front sight is now waaaaay to the right:


Obviously they do not sight these in at the factory. They also have some defect going on that necessitates moving the front sight so far right that it looks funny.

If this rifle was made in the Philippines and cost $99 we would skip over it as a nice looking piece of  plastic junk we would not want to own. Since it is made by Walther and costs $350 it is very easy to think it is a quality product. It is not. It is a POS.

Maybe a scope would hold zero on it. I don’t know. Later I might post some pictures of the pot metal receiver. Maybe it would hold up. Who can know at this point?  I do not recommend this rifle. If someone tries to sell you one, RUN!    

Damn, I was considering getting the G22 as my first .22 autoloader.  I think I will stick with a 10/22 instead.

I saw one at the gun show for $450. Too much for a plinker. The rear sights were neat and so was the extra mag storage, nut not for $450.

They are too heavy, the sights seem fragile, they are ugly, and just plain stupid.  You are better off buying a Ruger 10/22 for less money instead, and I don't know why anyone would take one of these G22s over a 10/22.

I should add that the internals look like Airsoft pot metal.  The outside plastic is well below Airsoft quality.  

I can't compare the plastic with anything modern, as I don't know of anything made with such low grade plastic.  Maybe plastic Hotwheel  track.  You know, the orange track.  Why would they make a gunstock and sights out of that stuff? Well, maybe it's not even that good.

Quoted: dang it sound like high point may actually have them beat

Yep - I must say that I find all of the above disappointing...

Hrmm, maybe Walther should stick to handguns.

Alot of the problems sound like the same ones my P22 had.  I'll stay away.

I've had a completely different  experience with my G22, mine shoots great! In just under 900 rounds with  18 different kinds of ammo, I've had 2 or 3 light strikes and 3 failures to feed from 2 brands of ammo. Iron sights with rear sight on #6 are right on target . Put a $30 BSA red dot from Walmart and it shoots like crazy. The one problem I've had was 3 of the 4 rubber pads on the forearm have come off while firing. Looks nice without them so I might leave them off or silicon them on. Others have said the G22 internals are tricky and I haven't taken mine apart yet. Haven't taken my Remington .22 apart for about 36 years and might not take the G22 apart unless I have a problem.
JR
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/JackDRipper/G22.jpg