22lr single rifle rechamber to 22 Mag ?

gotstolefrom

One of my boys has a Remington single shot 22 LR, and would like to have it re-chambered to 22 Mag.
He has spoken with a gunsmith that has a good reputation as a 1911 guru and also having good overall satisfied customer base.

I brought up pressure issues, and he said he was assured that the barrel is more than adequate. (It is a heavy bbl, about 7/8" at chamber with a very mild taper, to 5/8+" at crown.) I asked if the gunsmith had determined the type of steel and he said he did, where-upon the smith said it would be fine for the modest pressure increase.

My more grounded question was on bore dimensions. Given that the 22 MAG has a larger bullet diameter, unless re-bored I would expect more than modest pressure increases may occur.

He is looking at a cost of just under $75 for re-chamber and some 'very minor' feed re-work. I am skeptical and would like feedback before tagging along on his 'final' visit to drop off the gun.

Is this a reasonable modification ?
Given the cost, I can't imagine a re-bore is in there.
My original reaction to my boy was that you will probably have to re-barrel....may as well sell the gun and buy a 22 mag rifle.

ANY and ALL feedback appreciated.

POST-RESPONSE EDITS THANK YOU !!
The boy has an after school job, and it is his gun, his ammo. This was going to be his decision, and the first $$ one since he got a job.
(I saw this as a win-win situation for me. He would get something good out of it either way).
He got, and read, all the replies from all you other old people that are out of touch and don't understand what it is like these days.
His reply was " I don't know why I didn't think about some of those things. I'll just keep what I have already"

I am still in shock. I could not have planned a better 'life lesson'.
Thanks again.

iwannausername

FOr $100 you can get a single shot rossi in 22mag... or for $200ish you can get a Savage 93 in 22mag with the accutrigger...


Also, I'd imaging you could sell the Remington for a fair price...

wundudnee

Not really applicable to your son's rifle, but I have a bubba'ed up 1890 Winchester that has a similiar conversion. It is made out of two different serial #rd rifles and is retrofited with a Marlin .22 long rifle barrel. It is chambered for WRF which is very similar to the WMR caliber. I think the bore is only a couple of .001's different. It doesn't seem to have any overpressure symptoms and is reasonably accurate. I don't really think it would be financially feasible to convert a .22 LR, but I bought this one years ago for $12.00 at a garage sale. Personally, I would just buy another rifle.

I think your rifle would probably be plenty strong to handle any pressure increases, but it could suffer some accuracy problems dependant upon twist.

joel_black

Rechambering a 22LR to .22RF mag is never a good idea. .22LR barrels are .222 while .22 Mag barrel are .224.

Fatstrat

I did this to a Romainian Cugir target rifle. The largest obstacle is opening up the bolt face to fit the larger diameter .22 Mag case head. A delicate operation on the Cugir bolt that may/may not present as much of a problem on your Remington.
Ran into an unexpected problem in that the bolt in the open position didn't go back far enough to just drop the longer .22 Mag cartride into the action. It had to be partially inserted into the chamber to fit.
Other than that the completed project shot fine. I would however expect the larger diameter bullet to excellerate bore wear.
I did it because I had 2 Cugir's and wanted a project.
But for the same approx amount of money, my advise also would be to just buy a used .22 Mag rifle.

Hawk Carse

Ignition MIGHT be affected since the firing pin would not be right over the .22 WRM's larger rim.

Just curious, what does Junior plan to do with a magnum that he cannot a l.r.? Make more noise and run up Dad's ammo expenses?

Don't sell the l.r. He will want it for HIS kids, even if he does not come to his senses and go back to it himself.

11b6r

Humbly suggest you find another smith for future work, and don't do this (the LR to Mag conversion). 22 Mag and 22 WRF are same diameter, 22 LR and 22 Mag are not. 22 Mag is a jacketed bullet (normally) and pushing that MUCH harder bullet up a narrower bore may get you some significant pressure increase. Want a 22 Mag? Buy one.

Mk 19

Please do not do this, you will ruin any value in that Remington and it will never work right. If you want a .22 mag then buy a .22 mag. You did not mention the model of rifle, but I can garentee you that it is worth more than the nothing it will be worth after the conversion. You can buy your son a really nice and brand new .22 mag for under $200, I sure he would love a nice Remington 597.

spasmcreek

have done many...many older singleshots have a looser bore than recently mfg or custom barrels...very selective on older models...done model 71-72-74 savage stevens repros...their pins are strong enough...new savage cub accutrigger is a short little rifle with side mounted safety that i prefer...rechamber, reshape bolt face, works great..carry this little puppy anywhere....have done several ruger bisley 22 to mag with up to 18' bbl...11* forcing cone, rebate bbl, cylinder gap to 0.004-5....have had to reduce pilot diameter on rechambering tool to work in newer tighter barrels...fun,, cheap & keeps skills working

poison slinger

Several good points made here already. And a couple of bad. Your first warning sign is that the pilot of the .22 Mag reamer will not fit into the bore of your son's .22 LR. And if it does then that barrel is too worn to be spending ANY money on. Most any .22 LR barrel would safely handle .22 Mag pressures, it's the lock up or lack of lock up strength of the bolt or block with most .22 rifles that might be more important. IMHO .22 Mag ammo is way too expensive to fire in inaccurate rifles.

Fatstrat

Yeah, alot would depend on which Remington you're considering doig this to. Doesn't the 514 only lock w/1 lug? Might not be a good choice.