I've had a few customers ask for this conversion in the past year. I decided to take a deposit from one of them who was willing to get stuck with what I turn out. I started with a new Ruger action and removed the breech block and sent it to Blanchard Metal Processing to be annealed. Yeaterday I milled opened the rear of the breech block to see how Ruger formed the geometry for the firing pin hole. My thought is to plug this hole and move it .125 at the 6 oçlock position on the bolt face. I'm going to cover the slot I've milled in the rear of the block with a steel cover that I just cut dovetails for.

I'm going to plug the center fire firing pin hole by tapping it to a 1/4-32 and making an insert. The firing pin is .076 diameter, and I want the plug to be .025 short of the bolt face so I can tig weld it into place. I might need to surface grind the bolt face when I'm done.

Anyone out there tried this conversion before?

there is a conversion that just required shortening the locking link to drop the block enought for the centerfire firing pin to hit the rim. may be a much simpler method. David

Hey David thanks for the reply,

I know there simpler methods than the one I've choose. I was looking at the project from the eyes of a firearms desiger, and with a clean slate, how would he approach the issue?

The problem with that approach is that the customer who wants a .22 cal. No. 1 "want just that" If you redesign away from the appearance and function of the No. 1 you will not give that customer what he wants. ie a 22 cal No. 1.

Every time this subject comes up the poster is asking for Ruger N0. 1 in 22. He does not want a Stevens Favorite or Winchester Low wall. (made in 22 )

Based upon this I would use the link conversion with a very good 22 cal barrel and keep everything else the same. my 2 cents. etc. David

Hi Mark,
Allen and I were just looking at an old Mauser training rifle I made into a silhouette rifle years ago. ALLEN says....if you have any hair on your a--, you would set it up with an off-center shank like they did, simple! Reshape the firing pin nose and out the door. The profiling is done AFTER the shank is done. The bore is centered at the muzzle. The tricky part (which I did NOT master on this one) is to get it timed so the bore is in the correct location when the barrel is drawn up snug. Locate the chamber below the firing pin to allow for lots of elevation!! Now remember... Allen was the one with the rude comments, I was just the one that came up with the idea !!

Jim

Make a firing pin with two tips and leave the firing pin geometry the same. Not my idea cannot remember were I read about. Maybe Freedom arms?
John

For many years the idea of .22 #1 has been a favored topic and some time obsession of mine. I would add that scaling down the overall size would had character to the rifle. I also believe that the only reason Ruger has been to hard headed about this is that they see a danger if someone closes the breech on an exposed case head, the joy of rimfires.

The gunsmith who converted Ruger #1's to .22 rimfire by fitting a differant size link for the breech block was J. Korzinek in Canton, Pennsylvania.

He was a regular advertiser in Rifle Magazine for many years. He also penned a couple of articles on bench rest gunsmithing for Rifle magazine as far back as the 80's.

I have no idea if he is still active.

quote:

Originally posted by Craftsman:
He also penned a couple of articles on bench rest gunsmithing for Rifle magazine as far back as the 80's.

As far back as the 80's? Good God, the guys a fossil.

I can't see the sense in a 22 rimfire #1 .Someone makes a scaled down Sharps for the rimfire , Hornet and similar ,that makes more sense.My Mauser 22 is the scaled down M98 version which is also very nice .I also have a falling block 22 also made in Germany in the 30s , a sweet ,very accurate rifle.Scaled down falling blocks do make sense and Ruger might sell a few !

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
I can't see the sense in a 22 rimfire #1 .Someone makes a scaled down Sharps for the rimfire , Hornet and similar ,that makes more sense.My Mauser 22 is the scaled down M98 version which is also very nice .I also have a falling block 22 also made in Germany in the 30s , a sweet ,very accurate rifle.Scaled down falling blocks do make sense and Ruger might sell a few !

Since when does a project have to make sense? I can't count the number of times I've had projects brought to me that were pretty far out. Some I took on just to satisfy curiosity, while others were thrown out the door as fast as they came in. The customer might collect No.1's. And having a custom built No.1 in .22RF would certainly add to his collection.

Mete, do you have any photo's of your scaled down Mauser 22? I would be interested in seeing it.

I think Marlee Parks of the 4 corner area of Washington state makes them.
Butch

The method John Korzinek used to convert Ruger No 1's to .22 Rimfire is detailed in an article in the American Rifleman April 1982 by Ritchie R. Moorhead .... David T

I will see if I can find a copy of that issue and take a look, thanks Dave.

Is John Korzinek still around?

Mark,
I have a copy of that article. I could scan it and e-mail it to you , if you wish.

Hey Remp, that would be great. I been on eBay to see if I could find a April 1982 issue. I've even send an email to the NRA. No luck so far. Remp send it to: www.octbarrel@aol.com

Thanks

Mark,
Check your e-mails.
Butch

I don't pretend to be a gunsmith or even play one on TV. And I don't much care for Ruger #1s, but I do like falling block .22s. Were I doing a project like this, I would want the firing pin strike at 12 oclock and I would use the 6 oclock position for a "cross-the-bottom" extractor with kicker spring much like those used on a Winchester Singleshot.

The Win normally has the 6 oclock firing pin strike coupled with the extractor/kicker but that can lead to inconsistent ignitions that trifle with fine accuracy. So move the pin to 12 oclock.

Brent

Here's what I finally did, I drilled out the steps in the center fire firing pin hole to .218 diameter, .285 deep. I tapped the hole with a 1/4-32 tap and made a plug to match. From the breech face I drilled a new firing pin hole .125 from the centerfire hole. From the backside, I counter bored the block to match the center fire hole. I did this because I already had the breech block annealed and I didn't want it used for anything other than a rim fire. In order to do all of this, I had to mill a slot in the back of the breech block, I also used a 60 degree dovetail cutter to machine a path for a cover. The cover will fill the slot, my desiging and making the cover is the next step.

Brent, I don't think a 12 oclock position would work in a Number 1. There's a hammer transfer block at swings on a pin, and a 12 oclock might interfer with the blocks movement.

This has been an interesting project, moving the firing pin is not as bad as you think. If you tooled it properly and premade the parts it would be a piece of cake. You just need to be a fairly good machinist.

Mark.

There is a Ruger breech block for sale on eBay currently.

John was a member of the ACGG in the late 80's.
He did a lot of differnet metal jobs, and blued a lot of stainless barrels. I have not talked to him in several years now.

This conversion is very simple, rather like a couple other actions the LINKAGE is shortened to lower the breech block.

The old school motto prevails here, always modify the CHEAPEST PART FIRST.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith