1849 .22 Cartridge Conversion Completed!

That's really cool. I've always wondered why there weren't rimfire versions of all those black powder revolvers.

Tinker

Like all the changes and the name! Would have made for a great Kit Gun, circa 1849!

I will give you the $69.99 for it that was on the original tag.

Very nice.

That is one slick cherub, MTB.

I can't wait to see more photos of it stem to stern after testing and final finishing.

kozak6 said:

I've always wondered why there weren't rimfire versions of all those black powder revolvers.

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No kidding. I think they'd sell very well.

kozak6 said:

That's really cool. I've always wondered why there weren't rimfire versions of all those black powder revolvers.

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There were. One of the best known was the conversions of the 1858 Remington to 46 Rimfire.

In 1868 Remington signed a contract with Smith and Wesson to allow the conversion of the 1858 Remington Cap & Ball revolver to cartridges.

S&W had the exclusive rights to make cartridge revolvers with bored through cylinders per the Rollin White patent. Remington paid S&W $1.00 each as a licensing fee. The work was done at the Remington factory and then the converted revolvers were shipped to S&W for inspection. Close to 4,500 revolvers were converted to rimfire this way. Interestingly enough, the new cylinders had five chambers rather than the original six.


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Now here is something that should interest Michael Tinker Pierce because he will appreciate the work that went into it.

This is a typical Smith & Wesson Number 2 Old Army revolver, chambered for the standard 32 Rimfire cartridge.. This is a Tip Up design, and it was the most powerful revolver S&W produced until the the Top Break models were introduced in 1869. This is a pretty late one, it left the factory in 1870.






This photo shows how one loads a Tip Up. You disengage the latch at the bottom of the barrel, rotate the barrel up, pull the cylinder out of the frame, and use the rod under the barrel to poke out the empties. Then you reload the cylinder with fresh cartridges, pop the cylinder back into place, and rotate the barrel back down. You can see the latch at the bottom of the barrel assembly that latches the barrel in place.







I came across this one last year and had to grab it. It left the factory in 1862. At some point in more modern history, it was converted to 22 rimfire.







The chambers were sleeved for 22 Long Rifle. Notice the 'ejector rod' under the barrel has been nicely turned down so it can pop out 22 RF cartridges.









The bore was sleeved for 22 RF too. In addition, some metal was welded onto the integral firing pin to extend it 'down' a bit so it would hit the rims of 22 RF ammo.





Because of its age, I was reluctant to shoot it with modern 22 Long Rifle ammo. I'm sure the sleeves could take it, but I was concerned about the extra stress Long Rifle ammo would put on the pivot screw and the rest of the frame. However I did take it to the range and fired some very mild CCI 22 CB Longs out of it. They are even milder than regular 22 Shorts.

I won't fire it much, concerned about wearing away the weld on the firing pin, but it was great fun to shoot a little bit, and a terrific novelty gun.

Very nice, how much time was spent in doing this project?

Tinker,

Nice work, once again. Tell Linda that this Mormon and big fan of Patch Rockwell rather likes the new title. Wow, 12 to 15 hours is a lot of time for a machinist! So if we send you a 1849 .31, what would you charge for just the conversion work without the barrel bob and all? Sort of just teasing, but there does seem to be some interest.... unfortunately you might need an FFL for that. Perhaps just a conversion cylinder and the customer worries about relining the barrel?

I am curious, I understand using a barrel liner for the barrel, but did you just use a #1 drill to make the chambers in the cylinder as is recommended for chambering a newly lined barrel by some folks?

We had a high schooler on THR a few years back that ended up leaving us for the Navy that did at least one RF conversion. I think it was a brass frame Remington "63" .31 IIRC.

One of the conversion cylinder outfits makes a conversion unit for the Remington NMA that allows firing .22LR through a 1.5 inch barrel concealed in the .44 barrel. Thus one might have a Remington NMA in .44 C&B, , 45 Colt and .22 LR.......if one is willing to pay more for the conversions than buying two new guns.

-kBob

I have one of the 1970s "Legal Defender" conversions to .38 S&W. Meant for last ditch self defense with mailorder C&B and LD cylinder in repressive jurisdictions. Pretty poofty, but accurate... after I had FLG line the barrel to .358".


The S&W board comes up with a .22 conversion of this and that every once in a while. A No 3 New Model or Triple Lock makes a BIG .22.

There was an old time gunsmith who specialized in rebuilding the Colt Lightning. A grip frame reshaped to plowhandle, lockwork converted to SAO and voila, you have an ancestor of the Single Six. Most were converted to .22, I just saw a picture of one left in .38 LC recently.

That is an awesome project. I am jealous.

That has got to be a fun little gun to shoot! I had a .31 BP 1849, and that was a fun one to shoot. a .22 conversion? Pure joy!