Value? Contender SS Super 16 in 22WMR

[Anonym]

Guys, I've got a pretty uncommon barrel for my Contender from the Custom Shop. It's a 22WMR (22 Mag) Super 16 "bull" in stainless steel, set up with a front sight and a scope rail (which could also have a rear sight mounted if the rail was removed). It's a beautiful barrel, a blast to shoot, extremely accurate, and quite handy. Problem is, I'm having trouble finding 22 Mag ammo these days and I'm considering getting rid of it.

The questions are, does anyone speculate the availability of 22MAG ammo increasing in the near future? I'm sure it's behind the production of 22LR, which is still difficult if not impossible to find still. And if I decide to sell it, what value do you guys think it might have? (front sight and scope rail, no rear sight or optics, no forearm.)

Even thought it is a fantastic barrel, I'm thinking about shifting towards casting for my .223REM and having cheap plinking ammo loaded down to the same ballistics if needs be. The sale of the barrel would go towards that, but I also would like to get out of it what it's worth.

Thoughts? Opinions? All are welcome!

Thanks!
Justin

[Bullshop]

"""Thoughts? Opinions? All are welcome!"""
OK mine is that it would make a dandy 22 ccm.
I made one from a Bullberry 22 mag barrel and it was extremely accurate as a 22 ccm on a contender frame. This with cast as it is all I shoot from a 22 ccm.

[bunkysdad]

My guess would be 300.00. AS contender barrels are available for about that or a little less in Super 14" but being that it's a custom shop 16" it might bring a little more. I always thought a 22 Hornet would be cool in one of these. My brother has a 10" 222 Remington barrel that is cool and my brother in law has a really cool 357 maximum barrel for his. I think if you took it to a gun show you might get lucky and find a trade with someone.

[Anonym]

22 CCM sounds interesting. Where can you find brass and dies?

Thanks for the input bunkysdad!

[Bullshop]

I got my dies and shell holder from RCBS
I get my brass from Shroader bullet works in Cal.
The 22 ccm will ballistically out perform the 22 wmr with full power loads. With mid range loads it does not require gas checks on boolits.
I shoot several gas check design boolits w/o the check and can shoot MOA at 100 yards. These loads are pushing 45 to 55 gn boolits from 1300 to 1500 fps. Top end loads will do 2000 fps with the same boolits.
BTW I have a custom 22 ccm reamer with a 1% lead angle especially for shooting boolits.

[leadman]

Just rechamber your barrel to 22 hornet or K-Hornet. The K-Hornet pretty much stops case stretch. You can load it down to 22 LR velocities very easily. Dies for the K-Hornet cost a little more but that cost is offset by the extended case life. I had a Hornet and sold it and kept the K-Hornet.
You could probably rechamber to 223 Rem depending on the twist it may not shoot heavier bullets very well.

[MT Gianni]

Watching bbls on gunbroker it is rare to see one sell over $250.

[FLHTC]

My guess would be 300.00. AS contender barrels are available for about that or a little less in Super 14" but being that it's a custom shop 16" it might bring a little more. I always thought a 22 Hornet would be cool in one of these. My brother has a 10" 222 Remington barrel that is cool and my brother in law has a really cool 357 maximum barrel for his. I think if you took it to a gun show you might get lucky and find a trade with someone.

where???

[FLHTC]

Just rechamber your barrel to 22 hornet or K-Hornet. The K-Hornet pretty much stops case stretch. You can load it down to 22 LR velocities very easily. Dies for the K-Hornet cost a little more but that cost is offset by the extended case life. I had a Hornet and sold it and kept the K-Hornet.
You could probably rechamber to 223 Rem depending on the twist it may not shoot heavier bullets very well.

T/C 22RF twist is a 1 in 15. I can't imagine the mag being anything far from that

[Anonym]

Yes, I think the twist would be a tad bit slow for the higher powered centerfire cartridges for anything but a very light pill. Since the barrel is somewhat redundant to my 22RFs and 223 rifles, I'm actually leaning towards selling it to potentially fund a larger caliber for my Encore rifle.

I did some searching through the sold items on ebay (in the advanced search) and it does seem the barrel has the potential for good value. Carbine-length barrels in general are selling for almost double the price of standard pistol calibers. Stainless and sought-after calibers fetch a premium.

Standard factory 23" stainless barrels (204 Ruger, 223 Rem, 7-30W, etc) are consistently fetching $275-$300. Older stainless 21" barrels tend to fetch a few dollars more (up to $350 depending on caliber). And then there were these:

Custom Shop 22" Stainless 222 Rem Mag Heavy - $310.75
Custom Shop 21" Stainless 30-30 Win Heavy - $340.99
Custom Shop 24" Stainless 44 Mag Heavy - $425.00
Custom Shop 10" Stainless 22LR Match Heavy - $306.97
Custom Shop 21" Stainless 22LR Match Heavy - $345.00
Custom Shop 16" Stainless 357 Herrett Heavy w/ Break - $325.00
Std Ported 16" Stainless 45-70 - $350.00
Custom Shop 18" Stainless 357 Mag Heavy - $551.07

They were all TC Factory or Custom Shop barrels, no MGM/Bulberry/VirginValley/etc and did not include shipping costs. Just thought it was interesting and thought I'd share what I found.