rechambering

[Rustyinfla]

   What if any would be the problems of rechambering a .22 Hornet to .223 Rem. ? I was wondering if the rate of twist would be a problem?



                              Thanks,
                                Rusty <><

[PartsMan]

For the cost hiring it done you could buy a 223 barrel.
Or you could probably trade barrels in the classifieds for only the freight.
The up side is you will likely get a tighter chamber than the handi comes with.

[skifastchad]

The only problem would be money.  A rechamber job would cost more than a new .223 barrel.   Most of the time, re-chambering is done to create a barrel that isn't available from the factory.  I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who would readily trade a .223 for your hornet. 

Sorry for posting an echo.  Partsman must have hit submit while I was typing.

[quickdtoo]

As far as the twist rate, older 223 barrels had a 1:12", the Handi Hornet is also 1:12", so that wouldn't be a problem. One plus would be a rechamber to a true 223 Ackley would be possible if you just had to spend the money!!

Tim

[Smokin Joe]

If you do the rechamber yourself, it'll cost 28 bucks plus shipping:

http://4-dproducts.com/display.php?group=Rifle+Calibers&PHPSESSID=ca0924f66fc64cc6e7b5717abfbf49cb

[d_hiker]

Since it has been brought up I need to ask a few questions about rechambering.  I understand that reaming from a .357 Mag to a .357 Maximum is no big deal.  Slide the reamer into the chamber, squirt some cutting oil in there and then turn and cut the new chamber depth.  The reamer is aligned by the chamber.  But if you were to rechamber a .22 Hornet to a .223 or .223AI, since there is a lot of material to remove, would you need to use a drill bit to remove part of the material before using the reamer?  Is the reamer capable of removing all of that metal by itself?

[Rustyinfla]

 Actually this job wouldn't be on a Handi. I found a Ruger #3 for sale that I might be able to get at a reasonable price. I'd like to have the #3 but from what I've read there are too many issues with reloading the Hornet.

                          Rusty <><

[stimpylu32]

Rusty

The Hornet is one of the easer rounds to load for as far as i am consurned and a good shooter to boot .

All of my rer-chamber jobs i leave to the PRO's so not much help there .

stimpy

[Mitch in MI]

I'll do a maximum or supermag chamber by hand, or even make a 7-08 into a .280 AI, but I would not try to go from hornet to .223 w/o a lathe, and knowledge in how to properly get the bore centered and aligned to the tailstock.

High production chambering is usually done with an undersized roughing reamer, then with a finish reamer, but I'm sure any gunsmith you hire to rechamber the Ruger hornet would just use a finish reamer.

[LaOtto222]

I asked a similar question in the gunsmith section. I wanted to go from a 221 Fire Ball to a 222 Remington. The responses I got was DO NOT DO IT! When you hand ream a chamber that much, and it is not as much as you are talking, you create an out of round chamber. If you are doing just a small amount then you do not have too much to worry about. The deeper you have to go the more likely that you create side forces in the chamber cutter and make the breech end of the chamber out of round. If you have to go that deep; then you must use a lathe that is set up to cut chambers. BTW you can use finish reamers to cut a chamber, but it will see a lot more wear. Plenty of coolant and small feed rates rule here. Many use a "roughing" reamer to get close and then finish with a regular chamber reamer. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS BY HAND!!! You will be disappointed with the results.

It would be cheaper to get a 223 barrel than to have cut one from a 22 Hornet barrel, unless YOU have a lathe and know what you are doing.

[LaOtto222]

Now that I have had a little more time to think about this, I do not even know if a gunsmith could redo a 22 Hornet chamber into a 223 on a Handi. To do a good job the pilot of the reamer should ride in the bore to keep the chamber centered to the bore. I do not think a 223 pilot would reach the bore before the shoulder started to cut. The pilot would be in free space and they would have to rely on the shoulder centering into the chamber. The lathe would have to be centered exactly in the old chamber and then hope you hit the bore center. When cutting precise chambers the pilots should fit the bore exactly. I hand reamed a short chambered SS Shilen 221 Fire Ball. I only had to go .011". I had 4 different pilot sizes and found the one that fit the bore very close before starting. This takes away any side to side movement in the throat area so that the chamber is centered with the bore, not off center. Even good gunsmiths use pilots that fit the bore to do precise work. Just order a 223 barrel, you will be much happier and you will still have the Hornet barrel to use, trade or sell.

[trotterlg]

I've chambered two Handi stubbed projects, and your project would be easy.  First you need to get some place on the barrel that is concintric with the bore, I put a center in the chamber and then turn the barrel round in front of the barrel lug.  Then put a steady rest on the barrel there and use a roughing reamer hard mounted in the tail stock, the pilot will center up in the bore and the rest of the reamer will follow.  Now the finish reamer has a nice centered hole to ream and follow, you get a nice round perfect chamber.  Doing it by hand could be a little harder and produce a little less accurate results.  Larry

[d_hiker]

Thank you for the information.  It does sound like more of a project than most owners would want to take on.  Plus it is always nice to have someone else to blame if it doesn't work out right. 

I'll stick to the hand reaming of the .357 Mag to Max.  From what I have heard and read about what gunsmiths charge it is well worth it in non-common chamberings.  By the time you rented a reamer or two and then possibly having to also deal with the extractor/ejector, why do it unless it is a learning experience.

[Rustyinfla]

   Thanks for the help guys. The rifle got sold before I could get back to it any way. The reason I was thinking about rechambering it was because I've always heard the .22 Hornets are really rough on brass when you reload for them. I know for sure that .223 is much easier to come by. South of me here in Florida there are quite a few fellas down there that use a .22 Hornet for deer, so it is very popular around here.


                     Rusty <><

[rbergum95]

the hornets are a little hard on brass, i am reloading for 2 currently and i call it quits on 4 reloads. i could probably stretch it but i dont see the need to try. as far as hunting deer with a hornet, i dont believe i would try it. even small deer are tougher than a woodchuck. just seems a little disrespectful to the deer in my eyes.

[MSP Ret]

I have a nice older Handi barrel that started life as a .22 Hornet, then became a .223 and is now a fine .22-250. A great lightweight coyote gun that can reach out when it has to and hits like a freight train at closer yardages....<><....

[d_hiker]

When you have a barrel rechambered, do you have the new caliber stamped on the barrel?

[Smokin Joe]

Yep