Walther CP88 with compensator (6 Reviews

jes437's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Good Points: Nice in the hand, reach etc all very comfortable
Can be bought for under £100 in the UK
Good accuracy

Bad Points: Persistently jammed when new
Slide release stiff and awkward
Black finish variant is not very robust
Sights set way too high
Trigger pull a little lengthy
Removable grip side a bit naff

General comments: I bought this gun as the standard 4" version, along with the 6" barrel/compensator conversion kit so that I could have both economically. Having owned a nickel Colt 1911 from the range for a while it was a pity that I could only get the black version of the CP88 at the time. I've a much older Barretta 92 and frankly the black finish is a mess now. I bought the Barretta used for little money so I was happy to put up with the complete absence of the black finish in some places, but with the Walther I figured that some care would make it last reasonably well, but it is suffering even with that careful use. I'll track down a nickel version one day as that finish really is far superior.

There's an interesting effect on the performance when the 4" barrel is swapped for the 6" version, Power increases as the compressed gas is restricted for longer and more able to impart its force on to the pellet as it expands. The figures given suggest a 12% increase in power, the significant thing is whether this matters, and for me the answer would be not really. I used Olympic style targets set at 10 metres pretty much all of the time, and I've not seen any improvement in accuracy when the gun is bench mounted. However, one slight advantage of the longer barrel lies with the foresight being just that little bit further away from the rear sight, this makes finding the right position a lot easier, hence I seem to get better accuracy over the 4" version through this alone.

Just like my 1911 I had to drop the height of the rear sight to bring the pellets down on to the target dead on sight. I wonder what this is all about, as the Barretta also showed this symptom, before the foresight fell off the Barretta, but that's another story. I wonder about this, I don't get why the guns in this series are so well thought out, yet they all share the same basic error in sight accuracy. Hmmm. I've tried various pellets, significantly including Umarex's own, no difference, apart from Accupell's, avoid them on these guns, they go all over the place.

In the hand the gun is very comfortable for me, the grip shape and trigger position sit nicely. Although the trigger pull is quite lengthy it's not too shabby on single action. But I have had a problem with the slide release lever. The detention arrangement on this is far too severe, it's a fingernnail breaker if you're not careful. Unlike the Colt and Beretta releasing the slide requires a double action, a pull down followed by a push up. With the lever staying faithful to the original it's square profile on one side demands this action. Having said that this need is made clear in the instructions, and it's ok once you are used to it. I did think the lever would free up a bit after use, but with 2000 pellets through it to date it's not changed at all.

In double action it's not too bad to keep on target, it's shape reduces pulling the gun off line through being well nested in the hand, i.e. it's less sensitive to poor trigger finger action than similar some guns. One thing that sticks out with this one is that it's very much louder than my other two, a real crack and even a hint of recoil in there. With some practice it's possible to fire off eight shots, reload and fire off another eight in about six seconds, but this is hindered by that slide release sometimes.

Single action firing has been very very frustrating. I've not got the bottom of this one yet, but it's related to the pellets for sure. With an empty magazine I can cock and fire the gun ad-infinitum, but with Umarex's own pellets in there with no rhyme or reason it'll jam up frequently. There's no indication that the pellets are interfering with the action, and looking into the magazine chamber the make up is that same as the rest of the range. Depth setting the pellets is being done with a RWS speedloader, so it's not that, but I do get reduced jams by using Dynamit Nobel pellets, which are my preferred type for my co2 guns. I'm being patient, it seems to be diminishing over time, so maybe it'll sort itself out. But why ok on double action, but not on single??

Loading the co2 capsule is good as the rest in the range, but the removable grip plate had really sharp edges to start with, even riskily so, and it's a bit of a knack to get the plate back into place. A separate fluro paper note in the pack of paperwork points out that if you insert the bottom of the grip first it positions easier, and so it does, get that right and it's not such a problem. This plate feels thin and unsubstantial when handling it, not sure if it will last well. Like my 1911 the grip moves under pressure from a firm hand grip, so like the rest I'll be making some wooden ones to get around this, I would imagine that the makers wooden variants would be better too, as it's the compliance of the plastic that causes the problem as far as I can tell.

In conclusion then I'm erring on the side of being happy with this gun, but it's had it's moments as the jamming can be so frustrating. Having read that I'm not alone in this it'll be interesting to see if it improves at all. Because of this element and the sticky slide lever my scoring for this review has taken a knock. It's a comfortable gun in the hand, but for slick operation the 1911 leaves it standing.

zanardi's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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I've tested it and the results speak for themselves. At 7 meter I've shot and destroyed a robust jar (tomato jar) only using a light plastic jacket pellets with steel internal body (Skenco).

Micky8008's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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I have had my CP88 Competition model 6" for about 6 weeks now, shot about 2500 rounds through it.
It's a geat gun, it has good power, great accuracy, very good for target practice.
I like the sound as well, it is more accurate and powerful on single shot mode.
It gets average of 410 fps on the chrono (when the co2 is full-ish and the weather is warmish)
Overall it's one of my favourite pistols from my collection.

I added the adjustable sights from Walther, which helped on accuracy.
Flat ...

DaaaveP's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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First off, I'm from the US.

My experence - I've been shooting bb/pellet guns non-competitively since I was around 7 and my dad got me a Crosman model 66C rifle (he often used it for pest control with possums, rats, etc) that I still have and shoot. About 2 years ago I decided to try a Gamo P23, and soon after that I got a Crosman 357 6".

Today I recieved my Walther CP88 with compensator and took it out for a test shoot. At around 15 yards I'm getting 2"-3" groupings with Beeman Laser light ...

hesho1962's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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The Walther CP88 CO2 Pistol is a great gun for sharp shooting, training and fun. It also has a long range for a Co2 gun, A MUST HAVE.

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I bought this Walther CP88 with compensator(6 originally with a Walther red dot sight and silencer from Uttings. Didn't like the plastic grips and wanted to increase accuracy and power, so bought walnut grips and 4" to 6" barrel conversion. Also, took the red dot off, as I find the fixed sight adequate and prefer the balance of the gun without it.

Trigger pull is excellent - smooth and predictable - the safety catch has an excellent positive feel and power is pretty good (though I have a HW45 ...

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A few words about my weapon experiences and ownerships.

I have owned and shot numerous air pistols and rifles as well as a couple life round weapons (also rented the shooting club's weapons because I am to lazy/occupied in periods in order to get more life fire gun permits ;)) throughout the years. A few years back I was competing, shooting field target with 6,5 rifles and indoor 15m shooting with .22's. Can't say I was the best, but I wasn't the worst either.

Currently I own these airgun ...

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The Walther CP88 is great for target shooting. Not heavy enough to make your arms tired. even after 3hrs constant shooting. A good choice of pellet are Bisley Practice (Flatheads). The pellet skirt sits nicely in the mag and they're nice & cheap too.