i have an uncle that has a couple of old bolt guns in .22 LR's and he has been wanting to convert 1 or 2 of them into a .22mag...   he thinks its as easy as getting a reamer from a machine shop and chucking it into a hand drill and reaming out the chamber a little deeper to fit the longer .22 mag...  i told him i didnt think that is the way to do it... but im sure there is a way to do this with out a lathe sOoo...   here i am asking for help from the masters...

i know somebody has to have done this befor...  so whats the haps people how can we get this done...???

The chamber is obviously different as you noted, but the bore size and twist rate are also quite different.

.22LR is a .221" bore while .22 WMR is a .224" bore. The twist rate on a .22LR is 1:16 and on the .22 WMR is 1:12, usually.

In answer to your question, you can't, not without changing the barrel and the chamber dimensions.

Sleeve the bores?

Regardless, it isn't as simple as a chamber reamer, I don't believe...


ETA: Redman's only sells one sleeve, so maybe it would be easy as a rechamber....

cut a chamber with a reamer in a hand drill? Seriously?



Not if you want it to shoot worth a damn.


 

You can't convert .22LR to .22 mag... it's pretty much that simple. Actually buying a .22WMR is the way to do it.

Without a lathe? Seriously?

Even if you changed the barrel and chamber, 10/22M's are a longer action. And the bolt weight/spring tension would need to be addressed if you manage the get everything else worked out.

Its easy to convert a .22 into a .22 Mag. You just sell the .22 and then go buy a .22 Mag. Done!

No, its not an easy thing to convert. As you have seen in this thread there are lots of differences.

Please go to your uncles house and remove all firearms from his possesion.  :)  Thats the kind of stuff that gets people killed.  Hopefully its just something he was wondering about and wasnt planning on actually trying that without talking to some gun experts 1st.

you are correct