Walther slide cracked. Gunsmiths and clamps.

[Criz]

I was at the range shooting the ole P01 Omega.  I saw a guy walk up and pull out all Walther PPQ in 22. 
I always liked the PPQ. 
He shoots 6 quick rounds and then screams "Holy $hi* have you ever seen this"?
I walk over and his slide was cracked in 2 places.  The first was at the front right around the entire slide.  The piece was floating in place.  The second was at the ejection port. 
He was at a loss for words.  I asked him if it had been at a gunsmiths lately.  He said those were the 1st 6 rounds since getting it worked on by a guy in town.
My opinion was that the guy clamped the slide down too hard in the vice when he was working on the extractor. 
I told him to take pictures, contact Walther and get ready for the gunsmith to deny any wrong-doing.  It might take a small claims court action to remedy. 
Now he has to have a non-matching slide to boot.

The gunsmith in town that installed my new sights on the P01 clamped it down so hard that he marred the slide in 2 spots.  Store said sorry but nothing they could do about it. 
Gun-smithing must be the hardest bleep job on earth because it is impossible to find somebody worth a bleep.  And don't they use padded clamps?

Moral of the story - try and do your own work.  Nobody cares for your stuff like you do. 
But when it is over your head, send it to somebody well respected.  It might take longer and cost more but it will be worth it in the end.

Cheers

[armoredman]

I have only seen one slide crack and that was a range rental Glock 17 that cracked right under the ejection port. The only thing the shooter noticed was the POI shifted. I hope that guy gets his Walther fixed - that's pretty intense.

[eastman]

I haven't seen one of the cracked ones, but there were problems with slides cracking at the loaded chamber indicator on Walther PP 7.65mm pistols sold to the Danish police in the late 60s/early 70s. The Danes made Walther replace the slides on ALL of the PP pistols with slides without a loaded chamber indicator.

The box for the one I have has a typed note in Danish taped to the inside of the box lid stating there is no loaded chamber indicator (or at least that is what I was told it says).

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

There are plenty of reports out there regarding the slides cracking on some Walthers but to cry and blame the gunsmith right out of the gate is wrong but typical. If the gunsmith had broken the slide clamping it the damage would likely have been evident before the gun was ever fired.
Might help if people did a little research before they started throwing blame around by guess instead of fact.

[Joe Allen]

I don't know anything about the PPQ 22s, but I've seen several high use P22s with cracked slides. They were made of zamak and pretty brittle.

[goforbroke]

I have a Walther PPQ 5? 22LR along with a couple more PPQ?s.
The slide on my PPQ 22LR is a paper weight, it has to cycle a 22LR after all...
I?ve never heard of Walthers cracking slides though.

If you clamped the slide hard enough in a big metal vise I could potentially see the slide developing a crack, but honestly you would really have to be doing something stupid to cause it.

I will say all Walthers are not created equal or so they say.
My PPQ?s and PPS?s were all made in Germany.
It?s widely argued that some Walthers(P22)are made by Umarex which is a airsoft company. Walther is actually owned by Umarex though. Walthers USA will tell you the P22 is made in Germany at the Walther plant but the proof marks say otherwise. It?s a hot topic amongst the gun owners.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

^^^ Go check out the Walther  forums.  There is plenty of info on the slides cracking there. Not a widespread issue but it has been known to happen.