There is now a new lower receiver finish that looks like Damascus steel. Additionally, the Walther P22 comes in a variety of camouflage options (e.g. The pistol is available in black, olive drab, grey, carbon fiber and 3 pink versions. The P22 is offered in many different color variations of its polymer lower receiver. The P22 CA variant specifically excludes this capability to comply with California law. All P22's except the come with an internally threaded barrel which allows the attachment of a sound suppressor or silencer with a separate thread adapter available from Walther. The P22 was originally designed such that the two different length barrel assemblies could be easily interchanged, and "combo" packages including both barrels were offered for sale. The P22 can be purchased with a 3.4-inch short barrel (pictured to the right), or with a 5-inch barrel which includes a barrel mounted weight compensator matching the profile of the slide. This disengages the firing pin safety, allowing the firing pin to move and the weapon to fire. When the trigger is pressed, the sear moves downward in such a way as to move from its interaction with the firing pin safety, which in turn springs downward under the force of a captive spring within the breech block. In this state (whether or not the hammer is cocked), the firing pin is mechanically blocked and cannot move forward to strike a cartridge rim. When the action is closed, a small metal button on the underside of the breech block is actuated by an arm surface extending from the sear. The P22 uses an additional, passive, safety mechanism to protect against accidental discharges in the event the weapon is dropped. If the safety is on, the hammer will strike the safety instead of the firing pin and, therefore, fail to fire. If the hammer is cocked when a P22 has been placed on "safe," the hammer will continue to remain cocked and will fall only if the trigger is pressed. The P22 safety does not prevent sear or trigger movement, and (as noted), it does not provide a hammer-drop function. Second, it acts as a "firing pin lock" by rotating a portion of the safety into a notch on the underside of the firing pin, thereby inhibiting forward movement. First, it serves as a "hammer block" by rotating a portion of the metal surface of the safety into a position that interferes with the hammer's contact with the firing pin.
The P22's slide mounted safety, when engaged, performs two functions. The gun will not cycle efficiently unless high velocity .22 rounds are used. Walther recommends the use of CCI Mini Mag round nose coated lead. When this occurs, the trigger bar is in a position where it engages the lockwork when the trigger is actuated.
This overcomes the magazine safety's strong spring, and thereby serves to allow the trigger bar to spring upward under the force of the less powerful trigger spring. Once a magazine is fully inserted, however, an actuator surface on the front of the magazine pushes against the magazine safety. When a magazine is not locked into the weapon, the downward force of the stronger magazine disconnect spring causes the trigger bar to pass beneath the internal lockwork of the weapon when the trigger is pressed. The magazine disconnect on a P22 works by using a strong spring to apply downward force against the trigger bar, such force being sufficient to overcome the action of the relatively weaker trigger spring which interacts with upward force on the same bar. The P22 is equipped with a magazine disconnectthat prevents the trigger from operating on the searmechanism unless a magazine is actually inserted and locked into the weapon. The action will not open until the projectile has left the barrel and the pressures have dropped to safe levels. The P22 operates by blowback where pressure generated by a firing cartridge is countered by a combination of the inertial weight of the slide assembly and the force of the recoil spring. The P22 may be fired double action at about 12 pounds of force, and operates as a single actionwith slightly more than 5 pounds of force. It can by fitted of with red dot sights, laser pointers, flashlights, and magazine extensions. The barrel is known to be able to be changed in 2-3 minutes, in the proper hands of course. It wields a unique design, where the magazine pushes the safety lever in the gun, so without it you can't fire the weapon. For comfort on shooting, it has adjustable hand guards for the user.
From Walther Industries it is called "P99's little brother'. Reported as to having the same feel as the Walther P99. The Walther P22 is a pistol of German make.