Two sides of the Walther Family?

I would give an unqualified "it Depends"

Some Walther pistols were made here under license. The ones that I have shot did not impress me much. Had the extractor pin fall out of a PPS while shooting. The pistol was new.

I have a P-22Q, and have had no issues. Same with my PPX and P-38.

I own a COLT M4 AR-15 LR made by Walther as well as a COLT 1911 Government model 22LR .
Both are excellent quality and pretty much exact replicas on the AR & 1911 but use 22 long rifle ammo.
I don't know if these were farmed out to UMAREX by Walther or not.
Both of my guns are built to perfection and shoot perfect. Both work good with all ammo except Aguila ( Mexico) Long Rifle.
CCI , Winchester "M" , Remington Thunderbolt, Federal Target Sport ammo all work great but the Aguila was terrible and did not feed well and did not eject well and many mis-fires.

When A gun is farmed out to another company to manufacture, They are made to the specs of the company that is selling them under their name, ( No matter who makes them or where they are made)
Ronnie

A lot of the .22 versions of "real" pistols (intended for cheap training at the range) are made by Umarex or other companies under license to put the Walther or whoever name on the slide, but the "inferior pot metal" claim isn't necessarily true. I never converse with gun store employees because I have a low tolerance for being lied to.

Hi Endangered Species
I agree with you, There are some gun store employees that know little about guns and a lot about their personal opinions. Not that they are bad people but they are sales people and like to sell what "THEY" personally like.
I personally like to do my own research and buy what I feel I would like.
Ronnie

I'll touch nothing Umerex made. Not after selling their products and seeing the warranty returns. We stopped selling their stuff, it just wasn't worth the issues with customers.

I selected a Bersa Thunder 22 over the Walther and M&P .22s because they seemed kind of cheesy. I have no idea how well they perform, but the M&P 22 compact has great reviews.

Having learned the hard way that semiautos tend to hate .22LR ammo, I'd go for a revolver if I did it over. I may still do that.

Endangered Species said:

I selected a Bersa Thunder 22 over the Walther and M&P .22s because they seemed kind of cheesy. I have no idea how well they perform, but the M&P 22 compact has great reviews.

Having learned the hard way that semiautos tend to hate .22LR ammo, I'd go for a revolver if I did it over. I may still do that.

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I have shot several hundred rounds through two examples of the M&P22 and both functioned flawlessly. :2thumsup Found out over the last year or so that I really like the M&P series and now that I can buy handguns again (free from the DPRofMMD), I might actually buy one. However, I'm first saving up for an M&P Shield45!

I seriously doubt the pot metal comments. The smaller caliber guns don't need high grade expensive steel and the price reflects that. The lower quality metal is more than sufficient for the load being placed in it. Also the heavier steel components may be too heavy for the smaller pressures. Take a .45 1911 and try to fire a primer only .22 on a conversion and that slide won't budge. So lighter weight is necessary for smaller calibers.

However as far as actual experience with the guns you named I have none.