I have the hots for a single

[looseprojectile]

shot .22 rifle. I have a Martini Cadet rifle that I am not in love with for a donor.
I have played with the .312 cartridge and it doesn't turn my crank.
I think that it would make a nice .218 bee rifle gun. The 218 Bee case rim fits the extractor perfectly.
Rather than burden myself with details such as twist rate and groove diameter to shoot various bullets and boolits should I just take the rifle to John Taylor and ask him to make it so?
I have had little experience with small center fire .22s.

Life is good

[looseprojectile]

I will reply to my own post. It was late this morning when I posted. Had some trouble deleting a double post.
My questions would be. Why not use the 218 Bee when it fits the gun so well? The Bee has a lot more capacity than rounds such as the Hornet or K Hornet. I have a stash of 218 Bee brass and thousands of .224" bullets.
I am curious as to what twist the Bee needs to be able to utilize cast and jacketed bullets. And can a barrel liner be had in that proper twist that is 25 and 1/4" long? Might I be better advised to just rebarrel?
These questions can be answered by several of you knowledgable people as well as John Taylor and I thought it would be more convenient to sort it out here.
I like to go into a project with my mind made up.

Life is good

[Mk42gunner]

Factory .218 Bee projectiles were 46 grrains if memory serves correctly. This would argue that a 14-16" twist (like a .22 Hornet) would be sufficient. However, I think a 12" twist would be better, then you could shoot anything up to at least 55 grains, I think.

Since the rim fits the extractor, it makes a lot more sence to use the .218 Bee than to rework it to fit another case.

Robert

[looseprojectile]

That is the kind of stuff I need.
I can probably have the barrel cut to fit a shorter liner and move the sight back.
I see no liners that long.
These little guns are sure a handy size and weight.

Life is good

[.357]

I would love to make a single shot .218 and a martini action would be an awesome firearm. Please post pictures.

[NickSS]

I had a contender carbine that came with a 22LR barrel that had been rechambered for 218 Bee it was quite accurate with any bullet 45 gr and below but when I tried a 50 gr the accuracy started to go south. I would opt for a 12 inch twist if I was going to have a liner installed and if I could not get a liner I would rebarrel to that twist as it would be more flexible. By the way the 218 Bee is a really nice caliber to reload and shoot.

[405]

Any cartridge in that "family" will work well. I like the small Martinis- wish I owned one. But have shot more Pdogs with the small Martini rebarreled to 17KHornet than any other single rifle. That was with Jbullets. One cartridge not mentioned so far is the 32-20. My experience with Jbullet vs cast as it relates to bore diameter is that the smaller you go with cast the harder it is to get things juuuuust right. For cast I'd look hard at the 32-20. For Jbullets the 218 would be hard to beat. Would be a dilema for me.

[DHB]

If you like that the 218 Bee has more powder you might consider the 218 Mashburn Bee. It can be fire formed out of 218 Bee loads. I had one one with custom Fagen stocks and Lyman scope. Like an idiot I let it get away for some military model I wanted at the time. Cartridges of the World has info on this caliber.
D

[John Taylor]

The only liners I show listed that would work is 1 in 14" twist, which is the same twist as the 22-250. I have a barrel that is threaded and chambered for the martini cadet in 218 B. Just got it in on a cadet and have plans for the action but not the barrel. The barrel is a Remington 22-250 that has been cut back and rechambered. I have not shot it so I don't know how good it is. It has been drilled and taped for a long eye relief scope.
I have the reamer for the B and Mashburn B

[dangerranger]

I have hornets in 1in 16, and 1 in 12. both are great shooters but the 1 in 12 barrel has a much greater selection of bullits that shoot well from it. the only reason I mention it is the Hornet and the Bee are so close. DR

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Stick with the .310; they are much more fun

[unclebill]

^
nice picture there teddy.