Anybody here fooled with setting back chambers on older bolt action 22's?

[truckjohn]

Hey guys,

Anybody here fooled with setting back barrels on older bolt action 22's and rechambering them with a match reamer to get some extra accuracy out of them?

There are a couple candidate guns at the local shops - older single shot 22's with pinned/pressed barrels. I could pick up one of these fairly cheap to experiment with...

Folks do it all the time with factory 10/22 barrels - but those often have cavernous chambers which don't shoot all that well... but.. Does it really make a difference on bolt actions?

I am not going to be shooting stingers or velocitors and certainly not trying to stuff 22 mags into a worn 22lr chamber... I will stick with regular ammo... but I would love to have one of these older rifles that will hold an honest to goodness 1/2" or less at 50 yards...

[Preacher Jim]

I have Set barrels on older 22 rifles back and rechambered, match chambers are finicky as to ammo. Some will not chamber. On ones I have done I spent time working trigger to be tight and lite pull. Bedded the actions, floated barrel and turned some into decent shooters. You will invest time to get what is best. I also always set crown back to get away from cleaning rod damage.

[arcticap]

Hey guys,

Anybody here fooled with setting back barrels on older bolt action 22's and rechambering them with a match reamer to get some extra accuracy out of them?

There are a couple candidate guns at the local shops - older single shot 22's with pinned/pressed barrels. I could pick up one of these fairly cheap to experiment with...

Folks do it all the time with factory 10/22 barrels - but those often have cavernous chambers which don't shoot all that well... but.. Does it really make a difference on bolt actions?

I am not going to be shooting stingers or velocitors and certainly not trying to stuff 22 mags into a worn 22lr chamber... I will stick with regular ammo... but I would love to have one of these older rifles that will hold an honest to goodness 1/2" or less at 50 yards...

I don't do it, but I know someone who has made his living for a long time by setting back and re-chambering Ruger 10/22 barrels.
He was probably a pioneer at it going way back to when the 10/22 was well-known for being inaccurate from the factory.

He's still doing it, but has expanded to building custom 10/22's, bolt jeweling and all of the related improvements.
He was drilling out holes for cleaning rods in the back end of 10/22 receivers before most anyone else was doing it.
He was a long time sponsor of Rimfire Central and probably still is.

Of course I think it works on bolt actions as far as I know.
He does barrel set backs on the Ruger 77/22.
And I've seen him do work on a High Standard pistol barrel.

I don't know if he takes on many other custom projects.
Since he's a one man operation, it probably depends on how busy he is with his Ruger work.--->>> http://www.ct-precision.com

[KCSO]

I have set back a few to correct chamber rings and have adapted many to different rifles. Unless the rifle has a GOOD extractor do not use a MATCH chamber as some bullets will stick in the rifling and will be tough to extract. On Say a Savage you will have to turn down the barrel and trim the back end and recut for the lock pin. On the single shots you will need to re do the detent for the lock screw. If they are tube feed all the feed system will have to be modified to fit again. It is work but can be done.

[truckjohn]

So the next question I have is this:

Is it worth doing it with factory barrels? Are they otherwise generally very good except they perhaps suffer from a roomy chamber and a poor crown.... or is it just not worth the trouble?0

[arcticap]

I think that it depends on if you really like a gun enough to want to pay to play with it.

Some barrels and companies are better than others.
Each barrel and gun is like an individual.

There's always inexpensive .22lr barrel liners.--->>> https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...prod10974.aspx

What brands and models are you asking about being worth the trouble?
Are you thinking about doing the work yourself?

[truckjohn]

I have an old beater Savage Stevens 84c that I am using to teach the kids. I also have seen a couple Remington 514 single shots or a single shot Marlin 22 that could do the trick if I could get it for the right price - though I would rather start with a magazine fed repeater....

The old Savage Stevens already wears a scope. The old Marlin single shot is grooved for a scope. I don't remember if the Remington 514's are or not but I think at least one was grooved for a scope.

I am also looking for suggestions if you guys know of good candidates...

So for example - do Marlin Microgroove barrels make good candidates? How about their normally rifled barrels? The older single shot Marlin is a JC Higgins that has a conventionally rifled barrel.

[rking22]

My experience is with Remington and Winchester, pre1960 only, but I do not find the sloppy chambers that became “normal” after the intro of stingers. I have never set one back because I did not feel it was going to make a notable difference. In contrast, setting back a 1022 factory barrel can cut the group by halt, almost the first thing I do with one!
The old barrels are generally excellent, again I can only speak for Rem and Win, pre 1960.

A good candidate, Winchester M69A. The post 55 versions were grooved for scopes. I would get crown and bedding right and establish an accuracy baseline, then rechamber and see what the difference is. I would love to see that post, mine is squirrel eye accurate from the factory. Oh, and not nearly as ammo picky as “new” guns, like 7722s etc.(I had 2, note had, just didn’t like it well enough to fool with, to fat around the mag)

[truckjohn]

Lol. Sure - I would love to find a grooved 69a... Unfortunately - those run $600+. Not exactly a cheap beater project gun.. .

Any feedback on how Marlin Microgroove barrels respond to a match chamber?

[rking22]

A friend called me last week about one in a local shop, 250$. Grooved but needing stock refinish at a minimum. I may see if it is still there.

[country gent]

Some factors to consider with this project not related to the chamber are the barrels shape. Muzzle wear rod damage. cuts hat have to be recut deepened or timed. Is the rifling in good shape and worthy of the work. A bore that's pitted or damaged may not show any improvement or little. Muzzle wear or rod damage may again show little to no improvement. Some extractor cuts or or feed ramps ect may be tricky too rematch or time in.

On the older rifles that have seen corrosive ammo a full reline may be the better option as it gives a new bore and chamber

[uscra112]

I'm more likely to put a liner in the barrel, but that's just me. And I only do Stevens single-shots at that. I've read that setting back Win 52 barrels was a common practice in the belly-shooter era. Throats would get worn from the ground glass in the primers, so the accuracy would fall off.

[nicholst55]

You can also buy a decent quality rimfire barrel blank from Green Mountain for around $55-100. That might be something to consider as well, unless you're determined to keep the original markings on the barrel. It doesn't sound like you're talking about a rare or collectible rifle, so replacing the barrel might just be smart money.

[samari46]

Older Winchester 52's developed what I remember was a ghost ring in the throat due to the ground glass in the priming mix.Usually started about 6 o'clock and the more you shot the Winchester target ammo the worse the ring got. So yes rechambering was quite often done. But that meant cutting part of the threaded shank of the barrel, recutting the threads and reworking the shank where the straight section of the shank as well. I have a 1946 dated on the bbl on the bottom of the bbl that this was done to. Shot so-so with the ghost ring way better after
all the work was done. Smith was kinda ticked off that I requested
that the screw holes for the original scope bases be on top rather just screw in the bbl and redrill new holes and tap them. Hey the 52B was made in the same year as I was 1946. If you really do this get a single shot bolt action to start off with. Way easier to try out your idea. Lent a Marlin magazine fed bolt action to my pharmacist so his daughter could have something to start target shooting. Think it was a model 25 with the standard 5 round mag. After shooting it for awhile the bolt handle became loose. Gunsmith had to braze the handle and reset the barrel in the receiver, no threads just pinned in place. Well worth the money as it actually shoots better. Couple things about chambering 22 reamers. There are about 20-25 different ones available. There should be a list with dimensions. And 22rf rifles can be as finicky as a woman without her charge card. I have an old box with about 15 different types of 22rf match ammo. CCI green tag didn't shoot for beans in a BSA 22rf martini, actually Russian brass cased "Junior" out shot the CCI green tag, Winchester T22,and crappy Remington match. I doubt that you'll be able to find any of the Russian Junior, Sniper,Temp or Olympic on the market today as this was imported years back. Besides the green tag, cci standard, Aguila match, are fairly cheap. Wolf Match, Lapua, Geco, and I think some of the wolf match is made in Germany. Check out Champions choice for different grades and prices. And prepare for sticker shock. And have fun. You may want to experiment with glass bedding after you've tried out your rechambering. A lot of the old cheaper 22's used one screw to keep the barreled action on the stock and could use a little help in that area. I've three bolt action match rifles, two 22rf single shot BSA martinis and only one commercial one a Marlin 25. On the Winchesters, the 69 and the 69a brgat the model 75 which in turn begat the 52,52b,then the 52C model and finally the 52D model which out side of another one they made (International) Had different sights,triggers and latter ones all basically used the Lyman target spots or Unertls. And if you run into any 52 and it has a Kenyon trigger you have hit the mother load. Karl Kenyon triggers are probably the best and I believe the ones he did for the 52B were almost all hand built. Don't forget during those years all sorts of innovations were tried out some good some not so good. The 52D was probably the last and best of the bunch.Sorry for the long post I goy carried away. Frank

[uscra112]

Chart of chamber dimensions. I use a Lilja reamer for all my Stevens 44, Favorite, and Ballard jobs.

Displays kinda small - p/m me and I'll email you the full-scale .jpg file

[oldred]

You can also buy a decent quality rimfire barrel blank from Green Mountain for around $55-100.

Maybe a month late for this thread but I want to comment on those Green Mountain barrels, they are top-notch at any price but at $44.95 current price for a 21" "gunsmith special" 22 barrel blank (also 22 Mag at the same price) they are an absolute steal! I personally can from experience attest to the quality of these, I have used several and they are tack drivers as long as everything else is done right. The first one I got was for a 22 Mag and it was so impressive that I have since bought three more, IMHO you just can't beat the quality at anywhere near the price.

[uscra112]

To answer a question posed a while ago: Yes Marlin Microgroove barrels do very well. I've been buying Marlin 60 takeoffs on Gunbroker for my boys' rifle projects; $60 typical prices. It's a bit of a crip shoot - out of six that I've bought one wasn't in good shape, but the others were like new. Use a competition-type reamer with the correct pilot size; Marlin's land-to-land diameter is larger than ordinary rifling. I have six different pilots for my Lilja, and I gauge the bore size with pin gauges to let me select the best one. Undersize pilot will almost always give you a chamber that isn't concentric and may not even be round.

I buy individual Class Z gauge pins from: https://www.gageshop.com/ They're cheap for what they do. I can't be without 'em. Got one set for .22 bores, and another for .38/.357 revolver throats.

[oldred]

I'll second the pin gauges, they're worth their weight in gold as the old saying goes, I got a wide ranging set from a mine maintenance shop back in the 80's, they were cleaning out the shop when a new owner took over and gave me the things (along with a few other neat items) because they simply had no need for them, some of the guys in the shop didn't even know what they were used for! A big set like that can be quite expensive but as pointed out just the few pieces needed for a certain caliber won't cost much at all and can be invaluable for precise barrel work.

[uscra112]

Their ignorance led to your bliss!

[popper]

SIL has his marlin 60 from when he was a kid, I have a more recent. His has trouble chambering new ammo! Might try checking ammo to find a brand that is larger vs smith work. Mine has many boxes of bulk stuff through it, still shoots good. 100 yds on a typical texas breezy day with Fed bulk stuff. Not winning rewards or hitting rats but not to shabby.