Test Fireing?

[trotterlg]

I did a test fire of my Remington 581 RF conversion to a 22 Hornet today.  In the Basement covered with shot bags into a industrial strength phone book backed up with some railroad track.  Everything looks good, primer is not createred, the shell extracted fine and the bolt will close on the fired brass.  The barrel is still tight and the head space is still exactly the same.  Any thing else I should look for before I shoot it for real?  Larry

[gunnut69]

I would check for locking lug deformation and burring of the lock lug recesses in the receiver. You might also check the case for thinning in the crea immediately forward of the case head web.  You might want to monitor those locking surfaces thru time as deformation may be a slow change rather than a catastrophic failure.. A gradual increase in the headspace is also indicative of an action that is being over stressed..

[Lone Star]

I do not know the specs for the heat treating of that receiver or bolt, but many actions will not fail at the first few stress cycles.  Any damage can be cummulative, meaning that it can take a lot of shooting to produce a catastrophic failure.   Was the load a proof load, or a "normal" pressured load?   Primer appearance has very little to do with action strength.  The Hornet puts a considerably higher stress on the bolt and receiver than any .22 RF does at factory pressures - I'd be careful with any loads approaching maximum.


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[trotterlg]

The Remington 581/582 conversion to CF is a fairly well known conversion, I have seen them in 22 Hornet, 218 Bee, 19 Calhoon and 17 Hornet, I even saw one for sale that was in .30 Whisper.  I am just going slow on this as it is my first conversion, so far things are looking good.  Larry

[jkpq45]

Sorry to dredge this up--but was the barrel replaced on the Remington, or just rechambered to the larger, centerfire cartridge?

[gunnut69]

The barrel issue is not as important as in years past due to modern steels. The hornet was often made using conversions from 22 rimfire in the past. There were some drawbacks.. The twist rate pretty much limited bullet weight and older steels quickly wore.. Worst was the bore diameter limiting bullets to .223, where most 22 centerfires use the 224 diameter bullets..of course these bullets are still readily available..  Several of my hornets (factory) were made to use these 223 bullets.  These actions are quite strong and many such conversions have been done. The most intriging to me were the 32-20/32 H&R mag.. Loaded to 1000-1200 with cast slugs these would make great squirrel rifles.. I support your caution with this conversion as the rifles were not made for these pressures so you are certainly relying on the rifles excess of strength.. Keep us up on your progress..