Walther TPH .22 LR made by Interarms - Opinions?

[Oklahoma40]

I bought this little pistol new about 20 years ago. Initially I was disappointed with the unacceptable misfires and stovepipes. Did some research and came up with two contributors to the problems. (1) I was sure that combustion chamber deposits inherent to the .22 rimfire contributed to some of the problems - partially helped by keeping the little pistol very clean. I clean it every ~100 rounds or less. (2) I ran checks with 12 different types of supposedly high quality, high power ammo. A Lapua hollow point gave by far the best results, no misfires or stovepipes in the initial 24 round trial. Ran another 100 rounds - no problems.

This is a great little pistol. :oFits my smaller than average hand well, is very well made, has acceptable sights and is pretty accurate for such a small handgun. I carry it in a front pocket holster. Don't carry it often but it has proven its reliability to me.

Any comments you have, first hand or otherwise, are welcome.

[wyntrout]

I got one in 1995 and carried it here in Florida as my EDC for about 13 years until I got my P380 in 2010. I initially liked the TPH and used only Stingers in it for CC. Testing and research online showed the Stingers to be the best carry ammo. The 2 1/2" barrel does NOT allow enough velocity for ANY LR to upset or mushroom, but does still get about 1000 fps and penetrate well with the Stingers.

Before my eyes got too old, I could hit a 4" bullseye at 25 yards with the TPH. Now I'm doing good to keep all rounds on a sheet of paper at 15 yards.

I had an armadillo tunnel under my A/C pad and then under my small tool shed. I took the TPH and poked it into the hole and fired a few shots. The pistol jammed or failed to fire after the second round. I decided that I needed to change ammo more often and look into a small centerfire pistol for defensive carry! The P380 filled that bill and loaded with 6+1 +P Gold Dots by Underwood, the P380 weighed a tiny bit less than the EMPTY TPH... just under 14 ounces.

I sold the TPH along with several other pistols to finance my purchasing a bunch of Glocks about two years ago.

I would definitely want to thoroughly clean the little TPH after use and before carrying it for defense. Reliable ignition of rimfire ammo can be problematic if you carry the same ammo long, especially in weather as we have here in Florida.

For walking my dog at night, I carried a Para Ordnance P12 with night sights. A .22LR just didn't seem prudent for some possible threats... large dogs, wildlife, or 2-legged varmints in vehicles.

JMHO.

Wynn :)

[ripley16]

I love the TPH. It is just about the most fun gun I've ever owned. I mostly shoot mini-mag HV in all of my .22s but I've shot many other brands in the TPH with good results. The most interesting ammo was a box hyper-velocity Aguila, 30 gr HP. The bullet would flatten out and create a perfect wadcutter type hole in the target about the size of a .38. Very cool. Others have written about this phenomenon. Never happened with any other short barrel .22.

The TPH has risen dramatically in price. These are excellent collector items. Mine have proven reliable and seem well made. I carried one for a short time while my Seecamp was being repaired a few years ago. Very thin profile is easy to hide in a pocket. It's longer than the Seecamp though.

I was lucky to find both calibers. I love these guns!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/ripley16/Pistols/Walther/tph25019.jpg (http://s72.photobucket.com/user/ripley16/media/Pistols/Walther/tph25019.jpg.html)

TPH and Seecamp.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/ripley16/tphandseecamp.jpg (http://s72.photobucket.com/user/ripley16/media/tphandseecamp.jpg.html)