Walther G-22 bullpup: an accurate, fun little semiauto .22 LR for those bored by wood and bolts

Guns Magazine, Dec, 2004 by Charles E. Petty

Lately, there have been a lot of new tactical goodies all dressed in black. They have usually been loud and often wore lights, lasers, red dots and mud flaps. And, oh yeah, they've been expensive.

Now let me tell you about the latest goodie from Walther. It looks a lot like that fancy tactical stuff but it isn't loud or expensive. It is the G-22, a black .22 LR fun gun that looks like a cross between an AR-15 and a Steyr Aug. It is also available in OD green, which is an equally tactical color.

As best I can determine it is the first commercially produced rimfire automatic to use the interesting Bullpup design. The easiest description is that the action is placed near the rear of the stock. This means that the trigger mechanism cannot attach directly to the action as is most common but rather it is placed far forward and uses some form of linkage to fire. The advantage of this type of construction is that you can have a relatively long barrel without having to extend the overall length. In this case the G-22 has a 22" barrel in an overall length of only 29 1/2".

It is almost hard to decide where to begin describing the G-22, because there are so many differences between it and more familiar rifles. You might want to call the stock a thumbhole bit it's really more than that ... maybe a hand-hole would work. There is a full pistol grip that strongly resembles the P-22 pistol with a generous oval opening back to the body of the stock. I don't know how many times I tried to stick the magazine into the pistol grip--so conditioned am I--but it's much further back. The magazine release is located to the rear of the opening and operates by being pivoted downward. The magazine actually is right under the ejection port (where else could it be?) and when you press the release the magazine falls freely into your hand. Immediately behind the working magazine is a spare mag held inside the stock by friction. The first thing that came to mind when I saw this set up was the way spare magazines are carried in the fancy rifles used for Biathlon shooting. I'm sure there are others, but for a plinker this is a very jazzy way to carry a spare 10 rounder and with just a little dexterity you can perform a rapid reload.

Moving on toward the rear you'll notice that there are a couple of spacers. One about 7/8" and the other 3/8" is coupled with a softer buttplate that adds another 3/8". With all the spacers in place the length-of-pull is fine for most adults, but you can vary the combinations to fit kids or women. There is a little plastic bag of goodies that includes some spare screws to adjust the buttplate thickness and also a proper metric-sized Allen wrench to do the work. It only takes a minute to make a switch. There is also a hole where sling swivels could be installed.

The very nature of the bullpup design means that the G-22 is dedicated to being either right or left handed. Shoot it from the wrong side and your cheek is going to be right over the ejection port and probably get chewed up by the operating handle, so Walther has designed the rifle to work either way. At this time they do not consider this a user change but say that a gunsmith could make the switch. Dealers may order it either way. Even when things are set up correctly you may feel a little gas or notice the odor because you're so close to the ejection port.

Moving forward, you'll come to the safety, which is truly ambidextrous and very easy to operate using the trigger finger. It moves in a short are and when off, a pair of red indicator tabs show above the stock and a red dot is visible on either side of the frame. There also is a magazine safety to prevent the rifle from firing if the magazine is removed and a built-in lock that completely disables the rifle.

The rifle's carrying handle sports a pop-up rear sight and is also a scope mounting rail. The little gun virtually orders you to put on a red dot sight of some kind. Of course Walther's sight is cool but any sight with a Weaver-type base will work. The front sight does not block the optical path because any mounting system will place the optical sight high enough to avoid conflict.

The fore-end of the stock is also a mounting rail suitable for mounting white lights or anything else with the Weaver-style base. I slipped a Surefire X-200 on it and found that it was no trouble to operate the light with the conventional switch with the forefinger of the support hand. There is also another short rail directly below the front sight that will accommodate Walther's proprietary laser.

One of the frequent gripes about bullpup designs is the trigger linkage that spans the distance between where your finger is on the trigger and the actual location of the sear that lets it go bang. In this case there shouldn't be any complaints because everything works very smoothly. Maybe the best comparison is with some military triggers that feel as if the seas is rolling off the hammer hooks. You feel movement as you press the trigger, but it is smooth and, even so, weight is not a great issue. The test gun had a pull of 4 pounds 5 ounces. The trigger pull is not detrimental to accuracy and is both reasonable and comfortable.