.222 Rem to 5.56

[Shotgun693]

My Son inherited a rather cheap .222 from his Grandfather. We have talked about reaming the chamber out to 5.56. Is this feasible? About what might it cost? My Son does not reload and isn't likely to start so this would let him get more used out of the rifle.

[semtav]

what is the "rather cheap" gun?

[Catfish]

It should be as simple as just running a reamer in the 22 chamber and opening it up.

[Shotgun693]

A Western Field if I remember right, it's not here with me. Papa bought it at Western Auto.

[DnPRK]

.222s are 1 in 14" twist. You'll be limited to 50-52 grain bullets or lighter. Heavier bullets (55 grain) might not stabilize could shoot patterns instead of groups. Ammo in 45-52 grain bullet weights isn't cheap. If your plan is to shoot cheap .223 ammo, think again.

[Jim Watson]

Bolt action?
A Western Field .222 is most likely a brand named Savage 340.
Before I got into chamber reaming, I would see if the magazine would hold and feed .223.
I would also consider the rifling twist. It most likely has a 14 twist for 50-55 grain flatbases. M193 55 gr boattails might work, the Army did not change the twist from 14 to 12 until they did cold weather testing.
The 45 gr WWB would be fine.
But 62 gr M855 would not.

[edward5759]

I've done many conversions on old .222 into 223.
Many wanted it when the 223 came out, and a lot of nice shooting .222 were somewhat ruined by the new cartridge.
The .222 I feel is a more accurate than the .223. but the 223 had more range and power.
It's the old discussion like between the 243 or 257 Roberts.
Anyways I was looking around and found that I had done some conversions on the Savage 340s. with no special notes about problems associated with the conversion.
Anyone who has cut chamber's or a good smith can do it.
It says here that I would charge between $45.00 to $60.00 for the job.
Now I would think its up to maybe $100 bucks to do thee job.
With a classic lee loader and a powder scale, reloading would be a fun time.
A light bullet is best for the twist I would shoot the 40 grain in mine.
50 grain was too heavy and I was using 335 and blue dot powders in the cartridge.
Should be a real fun project and a safe one, you maybe can get a replacement stock and set up a shooter.

Have a fun time with the project!

Edward5759