Walther P22 High Capacity Magazine 45 Round Drum

This clips shows the 45-round drum being used with a P22 with a 3.4 inch barrel. A pressure booster and adapter are recommended to achieve maximum performance for P22's with a 3.4 inch barrel

Purchase

One of the most frequent questions I get here at Spentbrass is, "where can I purchase a high capacity magazine for a Walther P22?" Until recently there was no such thing, but those days are long gone. Say hello to the 45-round drum magazine for the Walther P22 & G22.

This extended magazine is built right using a factory Walther magazine upper with an all-metal sprocket-style drum lower until machined from solid aluminum. You won't find any plastic parts on this bad boy. It's built to last - plain and simple.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this magazine. If you've had the pleasure of using one, please use the comment for at the bottom of this page to submit a review of your experience.

Reviews

Now that a few of these Walther P22 Drum magazines have found their way into the hands of happy shooters, I'm starting to get some great feedback. If you purchase one of these drums, please let me know what you think of it once you've had a chance to put a few (hundred;) rounds through it

Please use the comment form below to submit your review of the Walther P22 high capacity magazine

Mike - Mesa, AZ
Recently purchased the P22/G22 drum. I have a P22 3 1/2" barrel with a thread adapter and model FS22 Tactical Innovations fake silencer. My P22 performed flawlessly with the drum as did the G22, which is stock. This is a great addition to these 22's. We were having such a good time I did not take the fake silencer off to see if the P22 would work without it. Biggest draw back is that I only ordered one so we spent time having to reload it. Thanks a bunch for a great product.

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Weight (unloaded/loaded):

Construction

There's no plastic here. The components of the Walther P22 45-round drum magazine are precision machined from 6061-T6 aluminum with a black, hard-coated anodized finish. A factory magazine upper shell and a chain of machined aluminum dummy rounds are used to ensure smooth, reliable feeding from this high capacity magazine.

Magazine opened, chain of aluminum dummy rounds

Magazine opened, side view of machined sprocket

Operation

The magazine achieves a surprisingly smooth level of operation by utilizing a rotational spring, sprocket and a chain of dummy rounds. Rounds are fed up through the stock P22 magazine tower by the aluminum dummy rounds that are guided by an arm that's anchored to the sprocket.

The secret to the success of the Walther P22 high capacity drum magazine is that rounds aren't stack on one another inside the drum. Instead, they fit neatly around the sprocket that feeds them into a factory magazine tower and into the chamber.

Top of tower and dummy round

Chain of dummy rounds in empty magazine

Here's an image showing how rounds sit neatly on the sprocket as they wind around

3.4-Inch Barrel
The magazine requires the maximum force of the slide to properly feed rounds. The G22 and P22 with a 5-inch barrel create plenty of back pressure, but a P22 fitted with a 3.4-inch barrel will require the addition of a P22 barrel adapter and P22 pressure booster to ensure proper cycling.

If you're interested, you can purchase the Walther P22 pressure booster and barrel adapter along with the 45-round magazine above or you can purchase them without the magazine on the Walther P22 ammo page here.

Barrel adapter

P22 fitted with a barrel adapter and pressure booster

Pressure boosters and barrel adapters have a tendency to loosen after several rounds. Check that the pressure booster is tight frequently throughout the course of your first few magazines, and don't rapid-fire until you know it's not going to loosen up. A lose booster can cause a round to strike the baffle resulting in damage or injury. I stopped every ten rounds or so to check/tighten the booster throughout the first couple of magazines. After that things stayed snug.

I've gone through plenty of magazines full of CCI Mini-Mags using a 3.4-inch barrel without a pressure booster, but lower quality rounds like bulk Federals gave me some problems. Once I affixed the pressure booster, even the Federals fed reliably.

Loading
so many .22 caliber rounds into a bulky magazine takes a practice. I eventually got the hang of it and was able to load all 45 rounds in just a couple of minutes. The secret was to pin the magazine against my stomach and the firing bench. With bounds hand free, I wound the spring with my right hand and fed rounds into the tower with my left.

Drum crank

Preparation & Assisting the first round
The spring puts a decent amount of pressure on the first round, so make sure you've got the action open before inserting the magazine. Once you've got the magazine locked in place you will need to assist the slide forward by gently pushing with your thumb in order to chamber the first round. The remaining rounds will chamber without assistance so long as you follow the recommendations.

Cleaning

Cleaning this bad boy is a simple matter of removing four hex bolts and separating the magazine halves. Just be sure that you wind the dummy rounds down out of the tower and into the drum before trying the separate the halves. You'll also need to wind the dummy rounds into the drum when assembling the magazine.

Remove screws to separate magazine

Gently separate the magazine halves

You'll probably need to use a flathead screw driver to light pry the halves apart. I draped a cotton rag over a small screwdriver to avoid scratching the anodized finish and gently worked the halves apart starting from the base of the tower.

Once the magazine is separated use a cloth to clean any grim from inside of the drum and apply some oil before re-assembling the unit.

Recommendations

• Use a barrel adapter and pressure booster with a 3.4-inch barrel
  • Don't rapid-fire and check the booster to ensure that it's tight periodically throughout the first couple of magazines.
  • Boosters get hot fast. Don't rapid-fire without allowing adequate time for the booster to cool.
• Use quality ammunition such as CCI Mini-Mags with solid 40-grain lead.

Warranty

The Walther P22 high capacity drum magazine is backed by a one-year manufacturer's warranty for parts and labor. Normal wear and tear is not covered and claims are left to the discretion of the manufacturer.

Spentbrass 45-Round Drum Magazine Review

Anyone familiar with the P22 knows how picky it can be about aftermarket magazines and how prone it is to feeding problems even when using stock equipment. Until now I haven't come across a reliable method of squeezing more than 12 rounds into a P22, so you can imagine my skepticism when I laid eyes on a 45-round drum magazine for the P22.

My first impression of the 45-round drum magazine was a good one. It's clearly built to last with no expense spared. There's no plastic to be found on the entire unit, and all components are machine from solid aluminum. Much of my optimism came from the manufacturer's use of the factory Walther magazine tower.

I loaded and unloaded the magazine a few times prior to taking it to the range and was impressed with that the tension of the spring remained very consistent throughout the delivery of the 45-round capacity.

Once at the range I clumsily loaded 45 CCI Mini-Mags into the drum, locked back the slide on my P22 (3.4-inch barrel) and slid the magazine in place. Once the magazine was secure I assisted the first round into the chamber by gently nudging the back of the slide with my thumb.

As I raised the pistol to the target I couldn't help but chuckle at how exaggerate the magazine was. It's a colossal .22 caliber feedbag hanging from the bottom of a tiny little pistol.

I noticed immediately that the additional weight of the magazine allowed me to hold the P22 more steadily than normal. I found that the added weight helped improve accuracy. Once I got used to the feel of the pistol I squeezed through 45-rounds without so much as a hiccup.

I went through 180 rounds (4 magazines!) of the Mini-Mags before moving to Federal bulk ammunition. Just to see what would happen, I tried shooting the Federal Ammunition without the assistance of the pressure booster. This little experiment came to a quick end when every other round would fail to feed.

Once I affixed the barrel adapter and pressure booster, I gave it another try. This time was a whole different story. The pressure booster allowed the Federal ammunition to fully cycling the slide thereby resulting in reliable feeding.

For what it is, this Walther P22 high capacity magazine does the job for which it's meant. It delivers quality construction and reliable performance at a decent price.

This product is not a toy. Improper use may result in serious injury or death. The owners of SpentBrass.com claim no responsibility for your use of this product. Adhere to proper safety guidelines and use at your own risk.

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