To rebarrel a rimfire?

[Minihuntur]

Ok, so I was wonderin if its possible to rebarrel a bolt action .22LR to .17 Mach2. I'd really like to have another gopher gun around and I was thinkin to myself, "Hey! I could buy an old cooey .22 from any farmer within 50 miles of my place . Then I could rebarrel it to a .17HM2 and mount that old Tasco scope and kill those little buggers out to like 200 yards:D!" am I crazy or is this possible?
Minihuntur

[toxic111]

probably possible.. but would cost more than a new one.. you can get the NEF .17HMR single shot for around $200 (I think that is what I paid for mine) plus the Marlin bolt actions are not that bad.

I would also go with a HMR over the M2... I haven't even seen any ammo for the M2 around here.

[Minihuntur]

Yeah, I know it'd cost more but its more about having a project to do. Everyone thinks that Cooeys are such crappy, cheap old guns. I'd like to see what one could do if a guy souped it up. And yes the HMR is faster, flatter, and more common, but I dont know where I'd find a cheap Cooey .22Mag. As far as I know they were only .22LR, L, S. I just wanna know how the barrels are attached to the reciever. Are they screwed in or clamped or what?

[toxic111]

They are fine old guns.. I have 2 or 3 cooey .22's in my gun cabinet, and a couple shotguns..

I couldn't tell you how the barrel was installed or not...

[Seawolf1090]

Most basic .22 rifles have their barrels pressed in and secured with a pin or set screw. Once the pin is removed, the barrel is clamped in a padded vise and the receiver carefully tapped backward and off. Age and rust can make this difficult.
I know nothing about Cooeys - a new barrel in .17HM2 would likely need it's chamber end machined to fit the receiver. Easy enough for a good gunsmith or talented hobbiest with a lathe.

[buckhunter]

I knew a smith that would bore out the old barrel and replace it with a pressed in sleve. Saved a lot of old rusted 22's that way. Someone may be able to do that with a .17.

[Minihuntur]

Hey seawolf I dont got a lathe, but if I filed away REALLY carefully, could that possibly work?
Minihuntur

[Seawolf1090]

The relining Buckhunter mentions should work well, and is much more cost-effective! I believe the Brownell's catalog carries .22 liners, but they may have .17 liners by now too.

[Catfish]

Even if the original barrel was pressed in it does not mean you can not tread the action and the barrel when you rebarrel it, and that is what I would recomand if you rebarrel an old rifle. You can buy drop in barrels for the 10-22`s, but have seen alot lately where they are saying not to fire the HMR ammo in a semi-auto.

[Minihuntur]

What size of die would I need for that kind of work?
Minihuntur:)