Hello ladies ands gents. This is my first post here. This site is really what every shooting enthusiast wants! I have a couple of S&Ws 617s. I've been trying to find a 648 in .22 Mag. and I haven't had any success. One of my 617s has a 8 3/8" barrel and I've been thinking about converting it to .22 Mag. I believe this would be feasible. Could I just contact S&W and order a crane, ejector, cylinder (.22 Mag from a 648) and any other associated parts? Would the bore dimensions affect the accuracy in a bad way? I relly think the .22 Mag would benefit from the 8 3/8" barrel length. What do ya'll think about this converion? Thanks for your input.
22L.R. to 22Mag Conversion-Feasible?
- Thread starter MakeMyDay
- Start date
I own two different .22LR/.22Mag factory convertible double-cylinder SA revolvers, one Ruger Single Six and one NAA MiniMaster. Both shoot extremely well with both cylinders.
What I recommend is, slug the bore of your barrel and then measure it, and contact a good gunsmith who can modify your current cylinder to .22Mag. The gunsmith can tell you how well your barrel bore diameter is liable to shoot the Mags, and what it'll cost to bore out the cylinder (the only real difference). By modifying the original cylinder, you won't have to worry about first scoring a new cylinder and then timing/fitting it to your gun. It *might* be cheaper to do new parts, but I sorta doubt it.
Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision does a lot of cylinder mods and related work...I'd be willing to bet he could do it or advise you professionally:
http://www.alphaprecisioninc.com
To slug the barrel, get ahold of a lead bullet and shove it slowly clean through the barrel (NOT the cylinder too) with a wooden rod, aluminum cleaning rod or similar. The Remington Yellowjacket has a long skinny nose that's real easy to grab with a pair of pliers so you can pull it out of the shell gently. You don't want to put your pliers on the part of the bullet that will be contacting the barrel bore, which makes the Yellowjacket one of the easiest to pull without too much distortion.
Now, I forget which bore size is optimum with .22Magnums versus LR. I *think* the LR likes a .223 bore, while Mag likes .224. But they're really cross-compatible within reason. Slug yours, measure it with a micrometer, then get pro advice.
Overall, I think if your model gun also comes in a Magnum flavor and is otherwise sound, there's no reason not to convert it to Magnum. From an 8"+ tube, you're gonna get some *serious* velocity from the CCI MaxiMag +Vs. From a 4" tube they can do 1,400fps...1,200fps from a 1.5" tube, so at that progression...1,600fps is the *minimum* you can expect...if you hit 1,700, you're in .38spl territory in terms of energy levels (193ft/lbs)
.
That's personal defense grade
. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be hit with something like that.
Jim
What I recommend is, slug the bore of your barrel and then measure it, and contact a good gunsmith who can modify your current cylinder to .22Mag. The gunsmith can tell you how well your barrel bore diameter is liable to shoot the Mags, and what it'll cost to bore out the cylinder (the only real difference). By modifying the original cylinder, you won't have to worry about first scoring a new cylinder and then timing/fitting it to your gun. It *might* be cheaper to do new parts, but I sorta doubt it.
Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision does a lot of cylinder mods and related work...I'd be willing to bet he could do it or advise you professionally:
http://www.alphaprecisioninc.com
To slug the barrel, get ahold of a lead bullet and shove it slowly clean through the barrel (NOT the cylinder too) with a wooden rod, aluminum cleaning rod or similar. The Remington Yellowjacket has a long skinny nose that's real easy to grab with a pair of pliers so you can pull it out of the shell gently. You don't want to put your pliers on the part of the bullet that will be contacting the barrel bore, which makes the Yellowjacket one of the easiest to pull without too much distortion.
Now, I forget which bore size is optimum with .22Magnums versus LR. I *think* the LR likes a .223 bore, while Mag likes .224. But they're really cross-compatible within reason. Slug yours, measure it with a micrometer, then get pro advice.
Overall, I think if your model gun also comes in a Magnum flavor and is otherwise sound, there's no reason not to convert it to Magnum. From an 8"+ tube, you're gonna get some *serious* velocity from the CCI MaxiMag +Vs. From a 4" tube they can do 1,400fps...1,200fps from a 1.5" tube, so at that progression...1,600fps is the *minimum* you can expect...if you hit 1,700, you're in .38spl territory in terms of energy levels (193ft/lbs)
.That's personal defense grade
. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be hit with something like that.Jim
Badger Arms
New member
As many convertibles as are on the market, I'm sure that this isn't a problem but the firing pin strikes a different part of the case on the magnum (case being ever-so-slightly larger) than the lr. I'm not a gun designer, but I assume they compromise on the convertible guns or just use a larger firing pin that will strike the best area on both cases. My 2 cents.
The difference in firing pin strike locations is minimal...
That'd be about the last thing I'd worry about. The difference is literally the thickness of the shell casing. And since the "sweet spot" on the Mag is "outwards" a bit, if anything reliability should go up a hair if it changes at all, which I'd tend to doubt.
Jim
That'd be about the last thing I'd worry about. The difference is literally the thickness of the shell casing. And since the "sweet spot" on the Mag is "outwards" a bit, if anything reliability should go up a hair if it changes at all, which I'd tend to doubt.
Jim
Ray VonAsch
New member
I assume your 617's are 6 shot not 10 shot cylinders? If 10's you might have a problem.
Ray, you're correct in assuming I have 6 round cylinders in my 617s. I contacted the manufacturer and inquired about parts for the 648s. I guess I'm out of luck. They don't even stock any more of these parts. :barf: . 
.
Oh...S&W also informed me that the barrels for the 648s are .0025" larger that the .22 L.R. A friend of mine who owns a gun shop (Yeah...I have friends)suggested that if I opt to have a gunsmith alter my cylinder, to make sure he's done similar work before. He said many accurate guns have been ruined by poor alignment when reaming the cylinders to larger I.D. chambers. Anyhow, I AM GETTING READY TO ABANDON THIS IDEA AND JUST MOVE ON TO SPENDING THE MONEY MORE WISELY. Oh, well. But thanks anyway to those of you who pitched in.
Anyone out there wants to get rid of a S&W 648?.
.Oh...S&W also informed me that the barrels for the 648s are .0025" larger that the .22 L.R. A friend of mine who owns a gun shop (Yeah...I have friends)suggested that if I opt to have a gunsmith alter my cylinder, to make sure he's done similar work before. He said many accurate guns have been ruined by poor alignment when reaming the cylinders to larger I.D. chambers. Anyhow, I AM GETTING READY TO ABANDON THIS IDEA AND JUST MOVE ON TO SPENDING THE MONEY MORE WISELY. Oh, well. But thanks anyway to those of you who pitched in.
Anyone out there wants to get rid of a S&W 648?.