finally found a $50 remington 580 and have most of the conversion done. still some fitting work to do. might get a screw on can for this...
remington 580, 581, and 582 are bolt action 22 LR rifles that have a 2 piece bolt and 6 locking lugs on the rear section. lots of people have converted them to various centerfire cartridges, and my own testing indicates that they will handle a 9X19 nicely. the hard part is finished, so i thought i'd splain how it's done...
the barrel on this gun is retained by 2 cross pins. drifting them out, turning a 9X19 chambered blank to correct dims, sweating it and cross-pinning it in place seems to be the beginning of the work. it ain't. knowing where to set the barrel requires that you modify the bolt, first.
modifying the bolt is a piece of cake. the front section is seperated from the rear section by drifting a cross pin that joins them. the extractor spring clip is carefully lifted off, and the extractors and firing pin can be removed for copying with modification.
the firing pin is a 1mm thick flat leaf steel contoured type. scratching it's outline on a worn out sawzall bi-metal blade and adding a dog leg to allow for the point of the firing pin to strike about 3/32 of an inch lower is simple enuf. shaping is done with a fine bench grinder while holding the blank with a vice grip. the slot milled at 12 o'clock for the firing pin is deepened at the bolt face with a hacksaw or a narrow cut-off wheel. though an ideal centerfire firing pin is about .070", the 1mm (.037") pin stopped piercing primers when i got it shaped and rounded and set for .055" projection.
the double extractors have to be trimmed to allow over-riding a 9mm rim while inside the receiver body. they are also 1mm flat stock, so if you screw them up you can cut new ones from another sawzall blade. shaping the interior of hook to optimise the groove allows you to retain as much stock as possible. you need it.
setting the barrel in the receiver is a bit tricky. the rear of barrel is a reduced diameter shank, and will not sit as far back as the 22 LR barrel does due to the way a 9X19 fits in the standard chamber, exposing the entire groove and rim area. this fit also negates the milled slots seen in the 22 LR barrel for the forward point of extractors. best fit is obtained by WAG turning the blanks reduced tenon and try fitting with the bolt. perfect headspace is acheived when the extractors of the bolt slip over a case that is already chambered as the bolt is driven home. since we are trippling the muzzle energy of this critter, i added a plumber's solder sweat to the cross-pinning for safety.
the plastic bullet/bolt guide found screwed to the bottom of the 580 single shot receiver will not be in the 581 (tube magazine) or 582 (box magazine) receivers. in any case, we are throwing it away and adding a new bolt guide to keep the front of bolt in correct rotation that will incorporate a new ejector (previously in the plastic bullet guide). a magwell housing is made from 16 gauge sheet metal and fitted for 9 largo magazines (spanish destroyer type) that have recently appeared very cheaply at gunshows. for a moment we considered using a beretta 92 magazine for capacity and commonality, but decided the extra length of the largo magazine would allow for super heavy weights at just subsonic speed. some 200 grain lead round nose .358 castings that have been on the shelf for 2 decades just might find their way thru a .355 swaging die...and yeild a "power factor" of 200 at 1000 fps (equal to a 45 ACP).
so i need to find a suitable buttplate, and get a 1" scope ring set that will clamp to the grooved receiver. i know it goes bang repeatedly. i just wonder if i can keep it under 2" at 100 yards...maybe an evil looking steel skeletonized folding stock or some such...
pix below
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Originally Posted by bbailey7821
