Is it possible to convert a WW-II Bolt rifle to .22 LR?

[aarondhgraham]

Is it possible to convert a WW-II Bolt rifle to .22 LR?

I was reading another thread where a gentleman is converting a rifle to something smaller because of a rusted out bore.

I had a friend who had a trap-door 45-70 converted to shoot .22 LR,,,
It was many moons ago and it did cost him a small fortune,,,
But he could now shoot his ancestor's rifle a little.

That just got me to thinking of my K98 Mauser,,,
I got to wondering if it could be converted to a single-shot .22 rifle.

I wouldn't think of doing this to my "Bertha",,,
I am just curious if it could be done.

Aarond

.

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.

http://www.gunsamerica.com/903758356/Erma-Mauser-98K-22-conversion-unit-Nazi-marked.htm

rc

 

[Edarnold]

Or, to change countries, the M1922 Springfield .22 LR training rifle, which got a new barrel and much altered bolt to go from .30-06.

 

[Jim K]

Possible? Probably. Practical? Nope. Unless you can do the work yourself, the labor cost alone will be a lot more than the cost of a good .22 rifle. And the conversion would be wrecking a war relic.

Note that the Springfield .22 rifles were NOT converted from the standard M1903; they were new made rifles. The idea of converting the service rifle was discussed but proved impractical.

Jim

 

[aarondhgraham]

Nope. Unless you can do the work yourself, the labor cost alone will be a lot more than the cost of a good .22 rifle. And the conversion would be wrecking a war relic.

I understand that the cost would be high,,,
And it would be a toss-up whether it would "ruin" a war relic.

I have a friend with an old 30-40 Krag,,,
The barrel is rusted worse than any I've seen,,,
His great (great-great?) uncle carried it in some conflict.

A re-barrel would make it shootable,,,
A re-barrel in .22 LR would make it shootable and practical.

Anyways, it was just an idle thought.

Thanks for the replies gentlemen.

Aarond

.

 

[Jim Watson]

Some old guy name of Pope was connected with converting Krag Jorgensens to .22.
The Stevens-Pope-Krag is a well known variant.

The barrels were made with the chamber end off center so the bolt did not have to be altered to move the firing pin to centerfire. It did have to have a .22 extractor made.
Single shot only, of course. The Krag magazine is not readily convertible to other centerfires, much less .22.
I shudder to think of the expense of having one made up today.

But the CMP will sell you/him a fresh .30-40 Krag barrel for routine gunsmith installation.
Once some brass is obtained, handloading to shoot it is as feasible as anything.
http://estore.thecmp.org/store/catalog/catalog.aspx?pg=product&ID=065CRI/3040R

 

[mag1911]

I've always wanted to try something like one of these:

http://mcace.com/rifleinserts.html

Maybe you could get one and tell us how well it works?

 

[Jim K]

Those are a major PITA. Read the description and you will understand why they are not really practical. Starting with an empty chamber, you have to insert the .22 LR cartridge, then insert the plug and push it and the cartridge all the way into the chamber. Then you fire the gun in the normal way. Then you open the bolt and insert a clearing rod through the muzzle to push the fired case and the plug out of the chamber, making sure the plug doesn't get away. Then start over.

Anyone who wants a .22 rifle should just buy a .22 rifle and forget about spending hundreds of dollars to convert some old war relic into a heavy and awkward small bore rifle.

Jim

 

[mag1911]

I had a Walther 1911 conversion unit that worked similar. It was a barrel sleeve that used O-rings to center in the real barrel. You had to hand cycle the pistol to load the next "cartridge" and, hopefully, saw where the last one went when it ejected. Kind of a fun novelty but not very practical.

I was more interested in the accuracy of the rifle type. I have some non-shooter friends/family who would probably like to shoot some milsurps but probably would not care for the blast/recoil at least in the beginning. A 22 conversion might help them get used to handling the rifle but if it won't stay on the paper at the sight in berm then it wouldn't be much fun for them.

 

[Mk VII]

Lee-Enfields are pretty easy to convert as the bolthead can be changed to a rimfire one and with the rear-locking action there's no 'dead space' to feed across. The military themselves converted many thousands; of course most were single-shots.

 

[fguffey]

A friend/builder has two conversions for the Mauser complete with carrying cases.

Forgot, I have a case with no parts.

F. Guffey