22lr to 22mag?

[gstewart44]

Has anyone tried, with success, to rechamber a 22lr to a 22mag?   I know that Ruger makes a Single Six that has both 22lr and 22mag cylinders, but I thought there were some slight dimensional differences in the bullets of the two.   I know nothing on this topic so I ask the knowledge and experience of this board.       

By the way this notion came to me when I was sitting around this past weekend wondering what to do with my extra 22lr barrel.   

Thanks for any info. 

GS44

[MSP Ret]

I have had a couple done and they work great. My expierence has been with Versa Pak .22 LR barrels that are now .22 WMR barrels. A few others have done the same thing and we all have had the same results, fine shooting and extremely accurate barrels. There are 2 different reamers available, one for handguns and one for rifles, IIRC the difference is the throat or leade. Try to use a rifle reamer if you are contemplating doing a rifle barrel. All the best and a search might pull up some previous posts about this....<><....

[gcrank1]

And if you do it, dont just run the reamer all the way in. Stop short and try the 22WRF you intend to shoot, or the longest/largest dia. nosed one you want to use. Ease the reamer in just enough to make that one fit, and no more, then do the rim dia. a a separate step. What you are trying to do is kind of emulate the match chambers where the throat is a nice, snug fit, not the basic sloppy, field chamber.

[trotterlg]

I have a mag reamer and have done both NEF's and Rossi's and they work great.  When you do the chamber in the LR, you need to do it with the ejector in place but without the spring under it.  Larry

[gstewart44]

Thanks Larry and others,

I'm setting up my weekends from now to December for projects and hunting.    I want to do this on a weekend my son is with me so he can learn.    Will let everyone know how it turns out.

GS44

[trotterlg]

What you do is remove the ejector and spring.  Then shim behind the ejector so that it is about .001 to .002 high above the breach.  I put thick grease in the hole for the ejector so it doesn't fall out.  Then you ream the chamber, stop when the rim cutting part of the reamer just touches the ejector.  This will ream the ejector to match the chamber you have just cut.  Take out the shims and put it all back together and things will be good.  Good luck.  Larry

[Peshtigo71]

     For those of you that have tried this, does the rate of twist or the change in velocity affect accuracy?
I would almost think this comes into play to a certain degree.  I imagine like any .22 you have to do some
experimenting to see which fodder your gun will enjoy.

[trotterlg]

My experience with these is that the CCI that are copper plated bullets, (they have round point and hollow point) work better than the jacketed versions by winchester etc.  They seem to create a little less pressure.  Never know what will shoot good.  Larry

[tallyho]

Just curious: Anybody with the 22 Mag accidentally (or on purpose even) fire a 22LR in it? If so what happened? Long time ago, a friend had a Single six that I shot with 22LR in the Mag cylinder. I thought it was pretty accurate, and never really noticed much, except the empties looked funny (bulged) when they came out. It wasn't until he noticed which cylinder that we changed to the 22LR and continued shooting.

I've never done it again, in fact I was extra careful about cylinders when I had my own convertible Single Six.

Other than bulging the brass, any negatives/safety issues with shooting 22LR in a mag chamber?

[gcrank1]

Crud rings in the chamber, cases blowing out and gas exiting near you eye, etc. Same things to consider whenever you shoot the wrong ammo in a chamber, you know, it just aint right.