The Walter Colt 1911 pistol looks really cool but is it reliable? Find out when I try three different types of .22 long rifle ammo through my new pistol.
There’s something about 1911s. There will probably never be a handgun design as elegant as the 1911. I like modern polymer handguns but it is hard to beat the looks of a 1911.
There is one HUGE caveat about these Walther 22s. Buy extra magazines BEFORE you buy the gun. My PPK in 22 came with one magazine. After nearly 3 years(?) of trying to get even ONE additional mag, I finally gave up and sold the gun. I contacted Walther multiple times and always got a non-answer. They knew they weren't making additional mags and that people would not be able to find any, and they released that PPK anyway. Make certain anything you may want for a Walther, ANY Walther, is available BEFORE you buy the gun, because Walther does not care!!!
Yep, same with Beretta if it isn't a 92FS or other popular model. Matter of fact, good luck getting ahold of a human being at Beretta even if you do have a 92FS.
Walther had a LOT of problems with their P22 when first introduced...mostly magazine related. It took quite a while but they finally released the new modified mags which pretty much cured the problems and all they did was mill vertical slots on either side up near the top which lets the rims displace sideways so the follower can lift the nose of the top round where it will feed properly. I wanted a bunch of spare mags but for a long time only the original problematic mags were available as it seemed that the improved version was going into guns. I bought a handful of the original mags and a few minutes with a Dremel and needle files did the slotting and that little gun ran thousands and thousands of round flawlessly afterwards. It did displace a little bump on one of the slide rails that started to drag and caused failures but the needle file set cured it with a couple swipes and no more material displaced afterwards so the thing was reliable again. Sadly...the guns had a bad reputation when the problems were SO easy to fix...everyone seems to expect them to last forever without any work and suffer having unreliable guns as a result. Considering the low price of this 1911 I'd suspect that the major frame and slide are cast of Zamac which is a zinc alloy that's excellent for casting and strong enough for rimfire duty.
Nice find. These German .22s can be finicky. When they run, they run but when they don't run, they're impossible. 1911s are legendary for a reason. Pick one up and they just feel right, like shaking hands with Mr. Browning.
Seems like a good price point for a 1911 shootin' iron in .22LR, especially from the likes of Carl Walther of Germany, a respected small arms maker for over a century. You scored!
hats off to another great M98 vid. this commentary is intended to those who don't always understand/appreciate M98's critique of a firearm. in this vid, he talks about how wide the notch of the rear sight is. some may or may not understand how important sights are to one's marksmanship skills. in short, he is saying, study your firearm, learn it's strengths, it's weaknesses. thinking about the firearm u hold in your hands WILL lead to proficiency. u will amaze yourself at how well u can shoot once u study your firearm. thank u M98!
What a video mixup! The relationship between you and your local pawn shop deserves a lot of praise with all the weapons we get to see. You are as amazing as ever.
That thing is as reliable as a Ruger MkI, II, III.. and a Ruger 10/22. Impressive. Got the same sighting issues as the MkI, II, III series, too. Now I want one...
I may buy this pistol. I really like it. Mix-up, this channel is going grow like crazy. I love the guns you do testing on and have for many years. I love the 1911, and own two right now.
I had bought one of these a few years ago, new, for about $260. I was VERY excited about it (as I love the 1911 platform) and couldn’t resist this cost effective version plinker. My excitement quickly disappeared after it seemed to be the most finicky, un-reliable, pistol I’d ever shot. As stated, the slide didn’t have much power behind it, wouldn’t lock up / close a lot of the time, it seemed to only like certain ammo (mostly high velocity ammo) and it once decided to allow the barrel bushing to “unlock” due to the spring pressure, which allowed the recoil spring / plug to be launched down range (which took a while to find afterwards) I didn’t shoot it much after that, and it pretty much sat in the safe in its original packaging as I debated selling / trading it. Then one day I stumbled across “ZS Tactical” and ended up purchasing one of their aftermarket recoil springs for it on a whim. What a difference! It ran non stop, ate pretty much anything you loaded it with, and was pretty accurate with just about anything as well. Then one day I completely disassembled it, cleaned it all, and polished the trigger, sear, hammer, and “tuned” the sear spring a bit. Now it is an unstoppable machine which has put more rounds on steel plates, paper targets, pop cans, empty shot gun shells, and 1” stickers. This thing is SO much fun that I have put well beyond 24,000 rounds through it (shooting a box of 525 every week for over a year) before the “22 ammo crisis”struck. I have added a set of “VZ Grips” (Frag ETC in black / gray) and still take it out pretty regularly when I can, and enjoy the hell out of it. One of the best purchase I’ve ever made (even though it had a pretty rough start) Highly recommend one if your in the market for a fun 22 pistol (but you may have to forego some of the same issues I did) still well worth it though
I couldn't wait to get a Sig Mosquito. The articles I read,like yours, made me wait until the bugs were fixed. It would only function with CCI or equal so I traded it for a GSG 1911 22.
I bought the Gold Cup version of this gun a few years ago and I love it. I also stumbled on to extra magazines in a local store a while after. It's been fun, reliable and accurate. Wonderful for cheap practice.
The frame is made of die cast Zinc. This prevents it from being converted to .45 ACP, by just changing the slide and barrel. As possible with the original .22 conversion pistols, as made by Colt Rock Island etc. Other than that it appears to be a reliable fun plinker. Specially if you had extra high cap magazines. As mentioned by a previous poster.
Nice find! Picked one up probably 10 years ago and still love it. Not sure about now-a-days but back then it was the most reliable 1911-22 out there AND the only one that held more than 10 rounds. Mine is not picky on ammo.
I was thinking the same thing. I went out to a local gun store and looked at one, I'd never held a 1911 before, and didn't know about one in 22 cal., and I was really impressed with the way it felt in hand. And was impressed with the gun itself, very well made. So, went back the next day and bought it. I cleaned it and blacked out the 2 rear wht. dots and redid the front in flourescent orange. We had a snow storm so waiting for a nice day to go break it in. Thanks for another cool gun review.
Interesting find. Great price too. I sometimes considered getting a .22LR conversion kit for my Kimber Custom but I ended up getting a Ruger MkIV 22/45 and that's pretty close to the same shooting experience. Maybe not as good of a trigger but at least in terms of the controls being the same.
Awesome Dis/Reassembly music 🎶🎶🎶🔥 Sweet tool, as well. Inhad a 1911 22lr back in the AWB days of the 90s. Only had 10 round mags which was waaaaay too few for a 22. Sold it. I can't believe how cool this seems at this price. Great fun 🎉
You keep getting great scores from your local pawn shop and keeping you busy!, which is a good thing. Where I live at (Cali-form-a-sick-o) don't have pawn shops selling good tools at competitive prices. Grear score on your Colt!
👍Good stuff. Congrats! Glad ya like it. A few years ago I bought a SIG SAUER 1911 style 22lr pistol & its operation is always flawless. My son liked it so much I gave to him. Cycles everything really well. Even the ol Remington Gold (loose lead) ammo. Fun & priced right. Thx! Always good to see ya Sir 👍🇺🇸
I've got one of these. Absolutely reliable. The finish rubs off kinda easy; holster wear, but it's zamak or zinc whatever so no rust issues. My slide is like that too. No much of a recoil spring in it.
Thx for the great vid!!!...I just bought a Walther Umarex Hammerli 1911 in 22lr....they look identical except for the badging....thx for the take down and reassembly demo...love your vids...thx again...
Hello Mike. I hope you do get one as I think you will really enjoy shooting it. Did I ever thank you for being a 2-year subscriber to my channel? If not, thank you!
I have a Kel-Tec PMR30 & Two P17's and I just love these Guns! Having said this, I will talk to my Local Gun Shop Dealer and I will be looking to order one of these because The Colt 1911A1 was my first large caliber Gun and I always loved the way it felt in my hand! Great looking Gun & Great Video as always!
Winter is usually a slow time for making videos but my son and I have lots of videos planned for the springtime. I have several "pawn shop" finds that you might find very interesting 👍😎
Great video Mix. Was surprised to see the barrel was captive to the frame on dissembly. I have a Mauser 1911 22 made in Germany (most likely by GSG) and the barrel slides out after removing the barrel bushings. Interesting design by Walther.
Looks like it’s good quality impressed how they did the barrel like that really nice set up. I think I might pick one of those up good practice pistol.
1:12 Actually it was made by Umarex, Walther's parent company. Umarex bought Walther in 1993, and every 22LR gun from Walther like P22 and later models, were all Umarex's work. They own Walther so they get to put Walther's name on whatevery they want :) I got this same gun in Gold Cup version for two years now. It's been reliable eating cheap ammo, only choke occasionally on Federal 325rd bulk from Walmart. Gave it a set of rosewood Colt medallion grips, now it's proper :)
I bought one almost a decade ago. I absolutely love that gun. I have put well over 3000 rounds of ammunition through it. From some of the cheapest nastiest stuff, all the way up to premium match ammo and she has ran like a dream. Now I have had to replace the recoil spring and the hammer spring as well over the course of its life. But it is a beast of a 22lr pistol.
I got one of these for free with the purchase of a Sig Scorpion 1911 back in 2015 and it would shoot everything I put in it. Had a brick of that remington stuff and it just blew right through all of it.
I have the GSG 1911-22 and it's a good little gun. One thing about is they make quite a few aftermarket parts for it like compensators, springs, guide rods etc.
I also have one, I cleaned out the over spray On the slide and rail and polished it up to a silk like feel. It literally has at least 60K rounds through it. It loves every thing except the M-22 stuff from Winchester.
Mine is completely rebuilt, trashed all the cheap stamp metal parts, got a CWA barrel... performs better and looks way nicer. All ZRtactical parts besides the barrel.
I have this same 1911 Colt /Walther and I love it! My 1911 was flawless with CCI ammo. My 1911 didn't like my Federal ammo that much. I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning! Oh how I miss SE Utah.
I had to send mine back to Walther, they replaced the barrel, was having fte, FTF, misfires of all sorts also metal shavings were coming out of the gun, seems better now, need to shoot more to know for sure.
These are fantastic guns and a blast to shoot - they even shoot well when they start to get dirty, which is rare for semi auto 22s. Well worth the price of admission in my opinion...
Most pawn shops in the United States sell firearms. They have licenses and do the mandatory background checks, so it's not like you can go in and walk out with one, no questions asked.
In Texas many pawn shops are also firearms stores dealing in new guns. The big downside is they don't (usually) offer good prices on any of their guns 😢.
My youngest son got one in 2011 a 100th anniversary edition Colt railgun made by Walther with 2qty. 12rd made in Germany standard capacity mags.The 1911 runs great with the copper plated high velocity ammo best.
Wow that's is a fantastic 22..I'm a huge fan of the Taurus you have but man this is a beautiful pistol....hope you have a great one mixup take care out there 🇺🇸🤠👏🏻
Really Cool Pistol 🔫 😮😀😊 Thanks Mixup98 Can’t Wait to See One In Person Cause I Think For the Price And Fact it’s Full-size What a Perfect Training Tool 😊❤️😀 And Thanks Also to The Viewer Who Suggested It 😇😀
Holy cow.... $35 for extra mags.... on Bud's Gun Shop - that's a cool gun though. I like it. Thanks for sharing that with us! Always enjoy your vids. I am not buying this gun... I am not buying this gun... I am not buying this gun. lol lol lol