Anyone have a rimfire ejector laying around unused? I think I can modify one to work.

 

Sometimes things just work out in my favor. Sometimes, but let's be real, not often.

GRC shipped a 22 Mag barrel to me with all the ejector parts installed. Now all I need to do is fit this barrel to a SB2 receiver and rechamber it to 218 Bee. More to follow but it might be a while. It's deer season and my son and I plan to hit the woods as often as possible until we tag out.

 

In fact, this is a Model SS1 Ultra Mag barrel and has a nice taper to it (~.655 muzzle) rather than the heavier contour my 17 HMR Sportster barrel has.

 

Amazingly this barrel locks onto 3 spare SB2 frames I have. Now I just need to get it chambered and I'll have a 218 Bee Handi rifle.

 

I don’t have the quantity of experience with these handi rifles you have so maybe I’ve always been lucky, but I’ve never had to fit a barrel. I’ve always had a frame that fit. I’ve only messed with a dozen or so frames.

I have always wanted a 218 bee but it’s awful close to the 22 hornet in preformance. Have you considered a 219 zipper?

 

I considered it briefly but I've been sitting on some Bee brass and dies for a good while. None of the other barrels I've bought from GRC were even close to fitting. I had to file or mill them to fit.

 

Sure it's not 1:16 twist for 22WMR Handi Barrel.

 

I'll check but I'm fine with either a 14 or a 16 twist.

 

My barrel is with a gunsmith for rechambering right now and might be done later this week. I decided to let him chamber it since he already has a reamer and also since my lathe is too small to pass the forend stud through the spindle bore. More to follow in the coming days.

 

That lil bator a well as the LEE Ranch Dog molds shoot really well from my Contender bbl. My 43 dose t like them as well but does like the lil Lyman 225450 bullet!!

 

I just so happen to have a few Bator bullets enroute. I'll coat them and give them a try.

 

My 218 Bee project hit a snag. My local gunsmith can't stop the chamber reamer from chattering and the chamber is 3/4 length and likely too forgone to salvage.

I spoke to Bellm and he thinks it's a cheap reamer with not enough angle clearance behind the cutting edge coupled with the fact the extractor groove edges are catching. The reamer has only cut one other chamber and it didn't chatter then.

Bellm might be able to salvage the chamber or rechamber it to 221 Fireball. So I have to decide whether to chalk it up to a stub or rebore candidate or pony up for a rechamber, brass, and dies. I already have 218 Bee dies and hundreds of pieces of brass.

What do I do??

 

Maybe something here to help?

How to Reduce Chatter When Using a Manson Reamer

The thought of reamer chatter during chambering strikes fear in the heart of even the most experienced gunsmith. This condition can ruin an expensive barrel and add unnecessary cost to what should have been a profitable job. With many possible causes of chatter; it’s not unusual for several to...

mansonreamers.com

 

219 zipper would be my move, you just need dies. You can make brass from 30-30 cases.

 

Well as my luck would have it, Bellm has a Zipper reamer and an extra set of dies. That may be a good option.

 

My Bee project is back on track! I sent another H&R 22 WMR barrel and the dull reamer to Bellm earlier this week. He plans to sharpen the reamer and cut my chamber and modify the ejector. I'm excited to be back on track and can't wait to shoot it.

 

I sure like my Topper/Tikka stub .218 Bee rifle.
Looking forward to seeing yours!

 

My barrel was chambered two days ago and the ejector mods were set to be finished yesterday or today. I hope to have it back later this week and I should have a decent supply of factory ammo then. I'll test fire it and reload the brass after it's all shot up. It won't be long now!

 

My Bee is assembled and the ejector mod Bellm performed works great. I have ammo being delivered in the next few days and will shoot it before I handload any myself. I'll post a range report when I get back from the range. Hopefully this weekend..

 

 

I really like those lil 46g Speers. I just grabbed 4 more boxes in the Speer sale this AM!!

 

Too much rain to shoot today. Maybe it will be drier tomorrow.

 

Rained out again. I went to check my deer cams instead. This isn't good!

 

 

Today is a fine new day. My factory ammo shipment arrived with a few surprises. I got 120 rounds of HSM ammo. 100 rounds are loaded with 40gr Blitz King bullets and 20 are loaded with a 50gr tipped bullet. The big surprise is the seller knows I shoot a 17M2 so he included 4 boxes of Eley 17M2 ammo for free. Score!

If Mother Nature cooperates I'll shoot the Bee later this week. Next weekend is gonna be busy. My son's 13th b-day celebration is Saturday and Sunday he competes in his first bass tournament.

 

 

I was able to put a few rounds through my Bee yesterday. Accuracy with my 35gr and 40gr VMax bullets was miserable using H110 and SR primers. Next time I'll try some magnum primers before I dismiss the powder.

The Speer 46gr JFP shot well enough to give me hope. Naturally I'm running low on IMR 4227. For some odd reason my LabRadar chrono didn't pick up any of these bullets. Next time I'll try using the trigger rather than doppler.

 

I was able to put a few rounds through my Bee yesterday. Accuracy with my 35gr and 40gr VMax bullets was miserable using H110 and SR primers. Next time I'll try some magnum primers before I dismiss the powder. The Speer 46gr JFP shot well enough to give me hope. Naturally I'm running low on IMR 4227. For some odd reason my LabRadar chrono didn't pick up any of these bullets. Next time I'll try using the trigger rather than doppler. View attachment 280678

I do not have a bee but I do have a couple of 22K Hornets. I have got excellent results (accuracy ) using W296, cci 500 primer and mid south 34 grain bullets. I used 12.7 grains and there were no signs of pressure issues

 

dinny
I went down the same road that you took and so far it has turned out ok. My barrel came with the 22 mag ejector installed so the barrel was chambered with the ejector in place minus the other small parts. I had to do some work on the barrel to fit one of my actions before having it chambered. I have only test fired the rifle so far and got a scope mounted but have not taken it to the range to get it sighted in yet. I was lucky to find 200 rounds of brass at a local gun show so I'm set for reloading ammo. I have done some ladder loads using 2400 powder and 45gr Speer bullets. All that is left to do is get some range time. If 2400 doesn't show promise I will try CFE Black and also have H110 to see what this barrel likes.

I may buy another 22 mag barrel and give the old 219 Zipper a try. I like the old forgotten calibers of yesterday. I wish you the best of luck on developing a good load on your Bee, I will be following your progress.

wcp