I have a Browning 1885 Low Wall in .22 Hornet. Has a 1 in 16" twist barrel, which won't handle the longer (Nosler CT 40gr Ballistic Silvertip is one)and newer varmint bullets. I also have a Ruger #1 (1 in 14" twist) which handles them fine. I'm considering maybe rebarrelling the Browning 1885 to .222 Remington. I'm also curious about whether I could just re-chamber the existing barrel to .222? Curious how the 1 in 16" twist of this barrel would handle the .222? Sorry for my ignorance, any assistance greatly appreciated. TIA.

Just a guess, but I'll bet the rechamber wouldn't get you any closer to using those bullets. If I spent a few minutes working out the respective rates of spin at velocities for each cartridge, I'd have a more concrete answer. Conventional wisdom is that you have to push an unstabilized bullet MUCH faster to overcome a too-slow twist rate. Probably not in the cards for a .222

The Low Wall in .22 Hornet is a darling little rig. Wish I had one!

Redial

Hey Redial, thanks for the reply. I thought as much, since the velocities of the .222 while higher, aren't that much greater. I may have a new barrel built for it in .222; not sure at this point. My Ruger #1 .22 Hornet with the 1 in 14" twist handles the longer bullets fine. The Browning is indeed a sweet shooter with factory loads or my handloads as long as I stick with hornet type bullets. I just got a box of Hornady V-Max 35 grainers which I'm itching to try in the Browning, I think they'll be real tack drivers. Very best to ya!!