I have an old Winchester Low Wall, that was given to me by an old friend. It was originally chambered in 32 Long. At some point, it was sleeved and chambered for the 218 Bee. However, they did a poor job on cutting the chamber. When a round is fired, the case gets a slight bulge in it, about 3/8” ahead of the rim. The extractor won’t remove the spent case. You have to push it out with a cleaning rod. I don’t want to re-sleeve it, as that’s going to cost $500 to $700. I’d like to recut the chamber for a different .22 caliber round. However, it must have a rim, for the extractor to work. I thought about the 22 Jet, but with the Bee’s long shoulder, this won’t work. Any suggestions on a caliber that might work? Must have a rim and be slightly wider than the 218 Bee. Or any other suggestions to make this rifle use able again. Thanks

There is the .222 rimmed, which has the advantage of being loadable with standard .222 dies, but the only available brass is from Bertram which is fairly expensive.

I wouldn't load the 222 rimmed to full 222 Remington specs in that rifle though; best to keep the pressures lower that that.

Sounds more like the loads you are using are too hot. try backing off a little.

There is an improved version of the .22 Rem. Jet. It is called the .22 Cotterman jet. Google it and see if that is what you are looking for.

Hip

the older win type brass is pretty thin it
wouldn't take much pressure to bulge it out.

I'd look at stuff like the 22 K-hornet, maybe the 219 zipper.
or even some kind of wildcat like a shortened 303 case with a capacity near the Bee's.

I have a Martini in 218 Mashburn Bee all you would need is a reamer.
Take care Bill

I would also recommend the Mashburn version. I reform cases from Starline 32/20 brass

It may not be that the 218 chamber was cut poorly when the relining job was done.
It may be that the relining was not up to holding a 218 Bee cartridge in the first place.

The liner may be bulged from the pressure of the 218 Bee cartridge.
I think the 218 runs around 40K psi chamber pressure.

Depending on the diameter of the liner, the dia of the hole bored through the old bbl and how closely the two match, what bbl steel was used to make the liner itself then add to the equation what material was used to secure the liner in place,,
you may just have a bulged liner.

The liner may just have been too thin walled to start with. Then after chambering, it's way too thin in that area for the pressures it is expected to handle.
Add a poor fit of liner to old bbl wall.
The use of soft solder to attach the liner (a common method not all that long ago) fills the oversize void but 'flows' under pressure allowing the liner to bulge if the area under neath it is not a close fit.

A bulged case/chamber 3/8" ahead of the rim sounds more like a bulged liner in this instance than a load that's too hot that would expand the case
immedietly ahead of the rim and cause extraction problems.

Rechambering a bulged liner won't fix the problem. It'd just be an expenditure towards the same problem once again.

Just some thoughts..I may be wrong but it's something to look for before proceeding IMO.

..and remember you are working with a L/Wall action. Not the strongest. Look at what the orig chamberings were.

+1+ on 2152hq's comments!

An original Low Wall is a pretty weak vessel for a cartridge like a Bee, especially a souped up version like a Mashburn. I would have it rebarreled to .22 Hornet and leave it at that.

Thanks for all the help and advice guys.
I'll probably just leave it and let it live out it's life in the safe. :-)

Will the Zipper or Wasp work in an old Low Wall?

Both those are pretty grunty cartridges compared to the 218 Bee. I wouldnt use either of them - I would resleeve and start again

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
Will the Zipper or Wasp work in an old Low Wall?

A Wasp is a really high pressure cartridge which has no business in a relatively weak action like an original Low Wall. Low Walls were originally chambered for cartridges which were essentially pistol calibers.

XAUSA, is a wise man, and correct about this.

I think 2152hq has the correct answer. I bet that the liner did not fit the reamed barrel and it expanded in the chamber. I had a customer who wanted to sleeve an old Win 86 to keep it looking original. I would not do the sleeve in anything larger than a 22 LR rimfire. Someone sleeved the old rifle and a few days later the man came into the shop with his hand all bandaged up. WHAT'S THE BANDAGE FOR? The barrel split into at the receiver and cut him very bad.

I have a tool made to check chambers for swelling. It was made for shotgun chambers and could be applied to rifle chambers. It uses a dial indicator for chokes and chambers. I will try to post a picture as soon as I can find on the PC.

This is the design I made in 1965

Over all picture.

\

Neck down the 25-35 to 22....or the 224 Win. would work..just find a case that will clean up the chamber, that shouldn't be a problem and the thickness of the chamber should be taken into the scheme of things, before you stick the reamer in..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Neck down the 25-35 to 22....or the 224 Win. would work..just find a case that will clean up the chamber, that shouldn't be a problem and the thickness of the chamber should be taken into the scheme of things, before you stick the reamer in..

Ray wouldn't necking down the 25-35 to 22 caliber still present a high pressure cartridge such as XAUSA said about the 219 Zipper that is little too much for the Low Wall?