From: elitist@vt.edu
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: .22LR in .22magnum?
Date: 3 Oct 1994 18:55:28 -0400

Fellow Armed Internauts:

Have been following the thread on .22 LR in a .22 Mag chamber, and have a 
comment on how it can be done.  I suspect the gun manufacturers wouldn't like 
this trick, but it does work: I did it years ago with a Savage 24 in .22 Mag 
and I suspect it will work in any other gun if you can get to the chamber the 
right way.

Take a fired .22 Mag case, and with a fine file, remove the entire head until 
what you have is an open-ended cylinder.  This can be inserted into the 
chamber to form a "sleeve" inside it.  This case will accept a .22 LR case 
just fine, and will provide enough shimming that the LR case won't split.  The 
length of the sleeve should be as long as possible, but not long enough to 
interfere with extractor action, and of coure the entire .22 Mag rim has to be 
removed to prevent the sleeve from being extracted with the fired round.  
Shooting one or two .22 LRs will seat this sleeve tightly and it won't come 
out until you deliberately remove it.  This can be done by folding down one 
edge with a fine flat tool and pulling it out with a pair of needle nose 
forceps or a hemostat.  It's possible a broken-case extractor might be needed, 
but I didn't have to go this route.  

This is of course a "jury rig" and not really a good way to do things, but it 
works, and if you're in a position where you absolutely can't get .22 Mag, it 
may be a viable alternative.  Just be careful not to damage the chamber wall 
on removal.

One problem I did have was that increased clearance of the head of the .22LR 
case from the extractor cause it to bulge a bit at that point--not enough to 
rupture, but enough to cuase a noticeable dimpling of the head.

The Elitist