1903 Winchester to 22 LR

[John Taylor]

Well I took on a project that was fun. Customer said it fired and ejected a 22 LR and the brass split so he wanted me to see if I could make it work. Started by putting a liner in so the bore and chamber would be the right size. Then bushed the feed tube so the cartridge stop would work. Things seemed to be going good but it would jam after a few shots with the bullet hitting the top edge of the chamber. There is a cartridge guide above the chamber for the old 22 auto round so I thought making it lower would do the trick. I installed a screw and ground the head so it would clear the rim of the long rifle. Found out that was just a waist of time so I won't go into detail about it. Ended up welding a little on the rear of the barrel over the chamber and grinding it sort of like an inverted feed ramp. This did the trick and it will now go through all ten rounds with no hang-ups. Also had to move the ejector back a bit so it would eject an unfired round. Now it's almost like shooting a 10-22 Ruger, spits them out as fast as you can pull the trigger.

[Pavogrande]

That is an interesting conversion -- Clever solution -- there are still a few of those old 22 win autos out there, probably in decent enough condition to be resuurected --
Do you reckon a 22wrf could be resurrected the same way?
I spent last week-end in your neighborhood -- eatonville and Alder -
A mite cold for me --

[cuzinbruce]

Nice conversion. I remember a magazine article many years ago where the writer converted a 1903 Win to .22WMR. Seemed pretty involved.

[John Taylor]

I can't see that there would be enough room for WRF, the bolt does not move far enough on the one I have here. The 22 Auto is a little shorter than a long rifle. I had to move the ejector so an unfired cartridge would fit.

[elk hunter]

Always thought that if I found either a Remington or Winchester that took the auto round, but had a bad barrel I would do just as you did and convert it, or at least try to. Sounds like it was a very interesting project.

[gnoahhh]

I have heard that the weight of the breech block was an issue in converting one to standard .22RF, in that because the weight of the block was critical to the proper functioning of the gun and fine tuned accordingly. Supposedly enough difference in the energy generated by a HV .22lr and an old standard velocity .22Autoloader cartridge as to be an issue in that respect. Glad to hear I heard wrong, as I have a 1903 project gun languishing.

[John Taylor]

I have heard that the weight of the breech block was an issue in converting one to standard .22RF, in that because the weight of the block was critical to the proper functioning of the gun and fine tuned accordingly. Supposedly enough difference in the energy generated by a HV .22lr and an old standard velocity .22Autoloader cartridge as to be an issue in that respect. Glad to hear I heard wrong, as I have a 1903 project gun languishing.

The 22 Auto being bigger in diameter would create more bolt thrust than a standard velocity long rifle that is a bit smaller in diameter. I ran a bunch of Remington bulk ammo through the gun and it functions fine. I didn't try it with standard velocity.
The bolt in the 03 is a bit heavier than a bolt in a Ruger 10-22. It has two legs going forward and around the recoil spring under the barrel. It also has a little roller that runs against the top of the frame, less drag maybe.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Winchester still does runs of 22 WRF yearly.. Midway sells the stuff. A brick should last a very long time.

Randy

[txbirdman]

My son collects old Winchester rimfires. He came up with a nice 1903 a few years back. That Christmas I bought him a couple of boxes of .22 autos from the Old Western Scrounger. Pretty expensive shooting as I recall but the old rifle worked just fine. I think an ammuntion manufacturer in Mexico loaded them if I'm not mistaken.