.22 lr to .22mag ?

bclinehand

bclinehand

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I have a stevens over under in .22lr/20g. and was thinking it would be nice to have a little more punch with the 22. Is this something I could do easily at home (not a machinist but I do know which end of the hammer to hold) or would I be better off to ship the barrel out to have it done?
 
Dogleg said:
You'd be better off forgetting the idea. The bullet diameters are different.
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I do believe you are mistaken bullet diameters are both .224
The diameter difference is in the case itself.......22lr uses a rebated base bullet keeping the case at .224 while the .22mag uses a regular base bullet and the case diameter is .240
 
bclinehand said:
I do believe you are mistaken bullet diameters are both .224
The diameter difference is in the case itself.......22lr uses a rebated base bullet keeping the case at .224 while the .22mag uses a regular base bullet and the case diameter is .240
Click to expand...

Wrong. A .22 Long Rifle is a lead or flash plated .223 bullet shot in a .222 barrel. A .22 WMR is a .224 bullet with a real jacket shot in a .224 barrel. I've got .22s, .22 mags and a convertable Ruger that shoots both. They do that trick by putting a .224 barrel on it, which has the additional effect of making the .22 Long Rifle shoot like ####.
 
The rifle is plenty strong for a little over-pressure that swaging the bullet down a couple of 'thou' might create.
I've fired hundreds of .310 bullets through a .308 bore, as long as the throat/leade allows a good bullet release, you'll be fine.
 
bolt face is different between 22lr and 22 mag, the 22mag has a slightly bigger around base dia than a 22lr just enough that a 22 mag wont fit on the 22lr's bolt.
 
bclinehand said:
I have a stevens over under in .22lr/20g. and was thinking it would be nice to have a little more punch with the 22. Is this something I could do easily at home (not a machinist but I do know which end of the hammer to hold) or would I be better off to ship the barrel out to have it done?
Click to expand...

The first consideration is "does the factory make this configuration?" If they do, it should be safe to convert...

If you wish to buy a chambering reamer for .22 Magnum (made to fit a barrel not a cylinder) and ream your barrel to the correct headspace (A headspace gauge is required too) and alter the extractor to fit the new rim you should be good to go. Or you can take it to a gunsmith who has that equipment to do the job. If the chamber is reamed with the correct reamer the slight difference in bullets or bore will not matter.
 
Aries- said:
bolt face is different between 22lr and 22 mag, the 22mag has a slightly bigger around base dia than a 22lr just enough that a 22 mag wont fit on the 22lr's bolt.
Click to expand...


This part is true, though depending on the firearm it may or may not be a problem. Some .22lr bolt faces have a machined recess that will only accept the smaller LR round, while other bolt faces are just flat and will accept the mag round.

As for bullet dia. I don't think that would be a problem, plenty of revolvers that come with 22lr and 22mag cylinders and fire fine with both. My HS revolver's barrel is marked only for 22lr but I bought a 22 mag cylinder for it and haven't had a problem.
 
guntech said:
The first consideration is "does the factory make this configuration?" If they do, it should be safe to convert...

If you wish to buy a chambering reamer for .22 Magnum (made to fit a barrel not a cylinder) and ream your barrel to the correct headspace (A headspace gauge is required too) and alter the extractor to fit the new rim you should be good to go. Or you can take it to a gunsmith who has that equipment to do the job. If the chamber is reamed with the correct reamer the slight difference in bullets or bore will not matter.
Click to expand...

Is this a job you would do Dennis?
 
But not too tight, you don't want the rim crushing too much as you slam the action closed.
I bet you'll be pretty happy with your conversion.
 
You will have to find a .22 Magnum reamer with a reduced-diameter pilot (or someone that has one). Otherwise you can not get the reamer into the old chamber. I have a .22 magnum reamer and have tried to fit it in many .22 Long Rifle barrels and so far none will accept it. I could grind the pilot down but don't want to bother.
 
ironnose said:
You will have to find a .22 Magnum reamer with a reduced-diameter pilot (or someone that has one). Otherwise you can not get the reamer into the old chamber. I have a .22 magnum reamer and have tried to fit it in many .22 Long Rifle barrels and so far none will accept it. I could grind the pilot down but don't want to bother.
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So if I am following this correctly I am going to have to reduce the pilot Diameter by .224 -.222 = .002 or really grind off .001 of the radius

should still be do able
 
If the reamer is already ordered, I suppose you will just have to wait for it to arrive, and see if the pilot will enter the bore. I assume that the reamer ordered does not use detachable pilots.
I have reduced the diameter of pilots, but I did it by stoning it in a lathe, the stone being held in the toolpost. I would not consider reducing pilot diameter without a precision grinder or lathe.
 
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