222 - 223

Yeah, set back the barrel, ream, and go shooting. IIRC, the .223 will not quite clean out the chamber of a .222, so the setback is required. I could be wrong, someone will be along really quick to correct me if I am! :)

Sorta heavy on the why bother, though. Brass is easy enough to find, and you don't really pick up any performance. Chances are good that the .222 barrel isn't going to handle the fast twist heavier bullets of some of the more 'new school' loadings available, so you are still stuck with the same 50 or so grain bullets (which I like BTW).
Esp. if you have to pay for the work to be done, maybe better to sell it and buy what you want.

Cheers
Trev
 
I have to jump on the "Why?" bandwagon. I had a Remington 600 that had been rechambered to 223 from 222. It would shoot handloaded 45 grain bullets into one ragged hole but try common factory 55 grain ammo and it was minute of pieplate. Twist rate was too fast, 1-14 I believe.
Don't do it unless your twist rate is 1-10 or less.
Edited- Should read slow compared to the 1-10 I quoted.
 
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gunrunner100 said:
I have to jump on the "Why?" bandwagon. I had a Remington 600 that had been rechambered to 223 from 222. It would shoot handloaded 45 grain bullets into one ragged hole but try common factory 55 grain ammo and it was minute of pieplate. Twist rate was too fast, 1-14 I believe.
Don't do it unless your twist rate is 1-10 or less.
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I doubt you will ever see a 222 with 1:10 or faster other than a custom build. 14 was common maybe the occasional 12 in a newer rifle.
Inherit accuracy has always been a strong point with the 222, and you get that nice long neck.
 
highlander said:
But 223 is cheaper; especially mil. surplus stuff.
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So you want to take a rifle that could be fantastically accurate and convert it to shoot cheap, inaccurate cr@p? That sounds like a good idea. NOT!

Give your head a shake man. Leave that 222 just the way it is.

If you really want something cheap that just goes BANG then go buy an SKS.
 
I picked up a take off M600 .222 barrel, Had it rechambered to .223, set up on a 700 action. I was primarily using .223, didn't want another caliber. Shoots really well with bullets to 50gr. Military ball keyholes. And that isn't even addressing the .223/5.56 issue.
If you are determined to do this, have a Wylde chamber cut. But it will be a waste of time and money, if the rifling won't stabilize the military 55gr boattailed bullet.
 
Suputin said:
So you want to take a rifle that could be fantastically accurate and convert it to shoot cheap, inaccurate cr@p? That sounds like a good idea. NOT!

Give your head a shake man. Leave that 222 just the way it is.

If you really want something cheap that just goes BANG then go buy an SKS.
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There needs to be a Like button here. I guess some guys just like to spew lead and make noise, and not overly concerned with accuracy. To each his own
 
peterrunsguns said:
yup... but its allot of work...just go get another 223
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Actually it is not a lot of work. The chamber has to be reamed for the longer .223 case. I have done it turning the reamer by hand, didn't need to set it up in the lathe to do it.
.223 is a great cartridge; so is .222.
Converting a .222 to .223 to use cheap 5.56 ball ammunition just doesn't make sense, given that the .222 barrel may not stabilize the bullets.
 
If one looks at the drawings, one should be able to clean up a 222 chamber with a 223 reamer, however it doesn't always work this way. Not all, but most will leave a small ring where the 222 shoulder was, welcome to factory SAAMI max chambers. Regarding someone saying one may have to do something with rails and feeding, I can only surmise that you have never worked on rifles chambered for either cartridge. They are as far as rails and feeding goes, identical cartridges. The slightly longer body and farther ahead shoulder of the 223 is completely irrelevant with all that is concerned with feeding the cartridge into the chamber. The 222, 223, and 222RM all use identical actions and magazines without exception and all can be changed from one to another with out any action work what so ever.
As stated many times above......the standard twist rates of the 222 cartridge do not lend them selves to being chambered out to 223 and using the longer heavier bullets now commonly used in ball ammo. It would be the ruination of a good barrel, IMHO.
 
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