Walther KKJ Review

Hidden Meaning

So why do I mention this poem? Quite simply, it’s because if you understand its message, you’ll absolutely understand the Walther KKJ. Short for Kleine Kaliber Jager, which translates in English to “Small-Caliber Hunter.” The old world spills into every aspect of this rifle from sights to stock, and it’s a wonderful thing to experience.

One of the first things a person notices about a KKJ, especially a shooter familiar with modern .22 rimfire bolt actions, is this gun is far, far nicer than it really needs to be. Stocks were made of walnut (as mine is) or beechwood but all were nicely figured and hand checkered. Similarly, the bluing is deep and rich.

Cosmetics aside, Walther built these guns to shoot. A key feature of the KKJ is its match chamber. The bolt takes a little extra force to close, as it’s really shoving each round into as tight a fit as possible. Additionally, the safety clicks into place positively, the two-stage trigger is a crisp 2.25 lbs. and in general, nothing about this gun feels loose or imprecise.

Across all dimensions, the goal was to create a hunting rifle par excellence. With a weight of only about 6 lbs., Walther designed the KKJ to be carried and shot comfortably offhand. These design parameters and the inherent beauty of the rifle make the experience of actually packing and using the KKJ as pleasurable as possible out in the field. Again, very old-world.

Perhaps the only real thing I found a little too “European” about the KKJ were its sights. To be sure, the rear sight unit is immaculately constructed and extremely precise. However, I don’t know whether I’m getting older, whether the Germans of the 1960s had exceptional eyesight, or whether I just love my aperture sights too much, but the miniature “AK-47” style square notch and Lilliputian front post didn’t work for me.

I don’t think I’m alone here. Over the years, many have set out to scope the KKJ and found that the rear sight doesn’t play nice with a number of tubes and objective lenses. As a result, no small number of KKJs are found on the used market sans sights — and replacing them is pricey. Note its 11mm rail requires specialized rings. My scope rings sat a little higher than I ultimately wanted, but helped the objective lens clear the rear sight blade.

I topped the KKJ with a “good enough” scope I had laying around, a Simmons “.22 Mag” with a 3×9 magnification range. While the adjustments were far from consistent or repeatable, the Simmons did offer relatively clear glass and allowed me to see what this old gem was truly capable of. Certainly something from Zeiss would have been more fitting but the Simmons was what I had on hand and the .22 Mag product line tends to be fairly well regarded for a budget option.