This is a fantastic idea! How much did you spend for the old beater?

The liners I've seen have a diameter of 5/16", or .3125". It looks like the old .32 rimfire cartridge had a the same diameter for the bullet, which means the rifling would be a tiny bit tighter. That means you might not actually need a custom liner at all.

 

This is a fantastic idea! How much did you spend for the old beater?

The liners I've seen have a diameter of 5/16", or .3125". It looks like the old .32 rimfire cartridge had a the same diameter for the bullet, which means the rifling would be a tiny bit tighter. That means you might not actually need a custom liner at all.

$73.00 plus $15.00 S&H, plus $27.00 FFL fees when it arrives at the FFL. The funny thing is I was out bid on another Favorite that was missing the buttstock, plus missing some internal parts, and it went for $125.55!!! Go figure.

I know the diameter of the Brownells liner, but I think I am going to solder this liner in place instead of bonding it in. I know where I can get a 17 cal liner with an OD of 3/8" and I like that idea. And after the barrel is drilled for the liner I am planning on D&T'ing it for scope bases. The nicest thing about doing it that way is that I can use a standard starting tap, instead of needing a bottoming tap!!! May have to grind a custom liner drill but I have done that before so there should be no problem there!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

My Crackshot was the one Frank was talking about relining. He did a fantastic job! It shoots great now. Good luck and may yours turn out as nice as mine!
Ron

 

I sure want to see a picture of that when you're done Frank.

 

Don't worry...



Don't worry, I will detail the entire conversion!!! If it is done in time for Shawnee next year, it will be there with me!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

My only concern would be the higher pressure of the .17m2 compared to the standard velocity .22lr ammo the breech block was made for, thus I had mine relined in .22lr.

 

That is...



That is the wonderful thing about the 17Mach2, it has the same max pressure as a 22 LR. The pressure curves are definitely different with the 17Mach2 reaching its pressure peak sooner than the 22 LR but it is the same pressure rating for both cartridges!!! It is the faster curve that makes the 17Mach2 such a pain and a potential problem in semi-auto's. For any fixed breach a conversion to 17Mach2 is as simple as a reline or a barrel swap!!!
Check out the link!!! http://www.chuckhawks.com/17_M2.htm
God Bless, Frank.

 

The early Favorite was designed for standard velocity ammo. The '17 Mach II pressure is equal to the modern high velocity ammo. If all the linkage is right it will work and not blow up in your face. My concern would be that it will loosen up with extended use.

 

Believe me....



Believe me I like my face just the way it is, and I will keep a very close watch on action tightness. I have a little bit of experience with rimfire shells bursting due to an unsupported rim. Never a good situation, and not inclined to go there again.
God Bless, Frank.

 

Pretty much what Slumlord said, mine is in excellent condition but the bore was toast, thought about a .17m2 but decided to stay with the .22lr, I'm betting it will be a super fun little conversion Tfrank, just concerned about long term wear. I'll be following this one for certain.:bthumb:

 

Tfrank, your conversion is going to be one fun squirrel gun!

 

Yeah on that!

 

The seller...

The seller said it was in the mail and should be at the FFL's by early to mid week!!! Can't wait to get my hands on it and start evaluating it!!! Since the action was designed for a 32 rimfire it ought to handle a 17 Mach2, but evaluating will be the first thing !!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

Ill be following this with intrigue.

Best of luck with everything man!

 

Wel...

Well I picked up the rifle this afternoon and did a complete teardown and inspection. I do believe that this will make a fine conversion to 17 Mach2!!! There are two very hard parts and a number of hardish parts that a file will cut but not easily and then there are parts that a file cuts easily.
The action seems nice and tight, but I may consider upgrading some of the bolts in quality and size, but that will have to wait for the moment.
The falling block/breech block has a 32 stamped on it, well since it is a 32 Long that figures!!! The problem that I see is getting the firing pin in the correct position to strike the rim of a 17 Mach2 (same as a .22 RF) Looks like I may have to find a falling block/breech block for a .22 RF to make this work easily. The extractor also has 32 stamped on it but the extractor would be relatively easy to fabricate so I am not worried about the extractor.
The next hurdle will be the barrel. Do I reline the original barrel or find a 17 HMR or a 17 Mach2 barrel and machine the breech to match the receiver. I have a 17 HMR model 77 Ruger barrel that would be very easy to remachine the breech end to work but I was wanting to keep it as original in appearance as possible.
Only found two problems when I disassembled and cleaned the rifle, aside from the poorly hand made butt stock, and that was the screw that the hammer pivots on, it was bowed in the middle. I suspect that the "bubba" that was using the hammer on it is most likely responsible for the deformation of the recess in the bottom of the receiver where the take-down bolt goes and modified the rear of the chamber since there is no rim recess for the cartridge to headspace on. The bent hammer screw and the deformed recess for the take-down screw have already been fixed!!! The "modified" chamber is not an issue as the barrel will either be relined or replaced with a different barrel. I will post pictures in the near future.
God Bless, Frank.

 

I looking forward to your updates. I have a Remington #6 in similar condition that I was going to re-line in .22lr. Maybe .17MKII is the way to go, I've never owned a rifle in that cal.

 

I will warn...



I will warn you right now, once you get a 17 Mach2 you may stop using your .22 for squirrel hunting, at least for the late season where the leaves are down!!! With a good solid rest it is in most rifles a 100 yard capable squirrel round. I haven't quite busted a squirrel at 100 yards yet but I have nailed one at 95 paces!!! And three out of one tree at 75 to 80 yards!!! When people said that this round shoots like a lazer beam they aren't kidding. Sighted in properly there is virtually no holdover out to 100 yards. But any shooting beyond 60-70 yards really does need a rock solid rest to take advantage of this rounds capabilities. All of my 17's are relined that have done myself and I am very happy with them. And as far as meat damage my experience says they are a little worse than a .22 HSHP, but virtually no ricochet danger and in my book that is a big plus. I have found 2 intact .22 LR bullets in squirrels over the years and I have had them go the entire length of a squirrels body and exit, but all I have ever found in a squirrel that I have shot with a 17 Mach2 is lead or copper particles and one or two of the polymer tips. And so far no crawl offs!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

A lot of us will continue to follow this one.:t

 

Well here are...

Well here are some pictures!!!

This is the complete rifle, it was shipped broken down which I really appreciated as it minimizes the forces that can inadvertently be applied against it during shipping!!! What I got was the barrel and receiver, the fore and butt stock and no sights, and the receiver has ALL of its internal parts!!! I found 3 brass screws, 1 holding the large hammer spring and the 2 screws that attach the butt stock to the receiver. Those have already been replaced The hammer spring screw will be upgraded to an allen head machine screw at some point in the future!!! The two brass stock screws have been replaced with slightly more correct slotted head steel screws. The stock as you can see is a home made job, but at least the original butt plate was reinstalled!!! So I won't have to find a replacement for a missing or broken butt plate.

The 2 pictures above are the receiver before I started doing any disassembly, cleaning, or repair. The screw heads were a little buggered up but not too bad really!!! A screw slotting file will take care of the little bit of sloppiness in the screw slots, that is if they aren't replaced. You can definitely tell that this rifle was used. I really wish this rifle could talk, as it's got to have some serious history. Wonder what kind of game it has taken in its time??? I plan to add a lot of squirrels to that unknown list!!!

These 2 pictures show the initial deburring process that I have started on the sides of the receiver, as you can see there are quite a few dings and dents on every surface of this rifle. All that has been done so far is to remove the worst of the dings and burrs. I may stop at this point, but I may go a little farther, not sure yet about how far I want to go. I don't think it will be possible to remove all of the damage, as there is just too much of it. Lucky for me none of it is severe. As I said a very well used rifle. Bet it put a lot of suppers on the table!!! You can also see the hammer pivot screw; it has a double bend in it. It's bent in the middle and a second bend in the threaded area. I was able to straighten both bends and now the screw goes in or out without wobbling!!!

This is the front of the receiver. You can see at the bottom where someone in the past used a hammer on it. Probably to get the barrel out of the receiver. The hammering caused the hole for the take-down screw to be distorted into an oval instead of a round hole.. Turned an old rusty grade 8 bolt down on the lathe to a diameter .005" larger than the take-down screw, ground a flat on it to get past the oval part of the take-down screw bore and used it like a chamber iron to push the displaced metal back into a round hole, at least more so than it was. Well at least the take-down screw can now get to the bottom of its bore!!!
Well turkey is waiting and guests are on the way!!! Hope everyone has a safe and happy THANKS GIVING!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

Thanks for the update.:bthumb:

 

I have a Savage 30 in .17 HRM and an old Stevens 44 with double set trigers in .17 HRM and they sure are fun. Makes 100 yard+ guns out of a rimfire. Also have a 44 in .22 Mag. Also 100 yard gun.

 

I would like...



I would like to pick your brains if I may... What was the original chambering on the 44, that I am assuming that you had relined to 17 HMR??? I am trying to figure out how I can convert the original breech block/falling blocks FP to hit the rim of a .22 caliber cartridge when the rifle was originally chambered for a 32 Long RF cartridge. Here is a link to Weisner's and the firing pin, part #10B, if I were to machine a new FP with the pin part at the top rather than at the center I think that will solve the problem of moving the FP's point of impact sufficiently upward to properly strike the rim of a .22 caliber cartridge. What do you think???
http://www.wisnersinc.com/exploded_views/Stevens_Favorite_parts.htm
God Bless, Frank.

 

The barrel is marked .22 Short. It was converted when I bought it. The firing pin location could definately be a problem. Sounds like your plan would work. Simple geometry.

 

Yeah...



Yeah that is what I am hoping/thinking also!!! Thanks for the quick reply!!! Wasn't the barrel remarked for the new caliber??? A .22 short or for that matter a .22 LR will chamber AND FIRE in a 17 HMR chamber!!! Might not be the best thing to happen.
By the way how many shots do you think you have fired from your relined 44? And is there any apparent loosening of the actions tightness. There seemed to be some concern about the peak pressures that the 17 Mach2 would generate relative to what the action can handle.
God Bless, Frank.

 

Well...

Well a little progress has been made and some parts aquired!!! Procured a new to me breach block, link and lever!!! Just one problem.. it turned out to ba for a .25 Rimfire, not a .22 LR. I do believe that I will be able to use it for the conversion if I made a custom FP for it. Since the "new" breach block was missing its FP I guess that it is a perfect opportunity to fabricate the custom offset FP!!!
Here is the piece of Bastogne walnut that I picked up for the new fore stock and butt stock. I ought to be able to get both stock pieces out of the big piece and have the smaller piece left over for something else!!!

Not sure if I am going to try to reline the original barrel or just machine the breach end of another barrel to fit the receiver and reline that barrel. The original barrel is a bit loose in the receiver and I am not sure that I like that. The original barrel does get nice and solid when you tighten down the screw that retains the barrel to the receiver, but still that bit of play between the barrel and the receiver bothers me.
Scope blocks will be mounted on the barrel so I am hoping that any play between the barrel and the receiver will be irrelevant... I hope!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

I'm usually down in the Mossberg forum or the Hunting forum, but I just relined a Stevens "CrackShot" for an RFC member and I kind of took a liking to the old Stevens single shots. I particularly like the under-lever falling block designs, but I didn't want to alter a nice rifle, so I was looking for a beater!!! I think I found it. Well I just won this old Stevens on GB with the express intent of relining it to 17Mach2. A bit rough and they no longer make 32 rimfire ammo so at least I will be turning an cool old rifle into a functioning cool old rifle in a current caliber!!! I suspect it will make a superb squirrel getter!!! At least that is the intention!!! These are the pictures from the GB auction, so you can get an idea of the starting point.

Here is the description posted by the seller...

Once I get it into my hands I will need to evaluate it and see if I can actually do what I want. Pretty sure that I can, I will just need to apply a large amount of TLC and patience to make it happen!!! I know a fellow down in Kentucky that makes custom barrel liners so it looks like I may need to contact him for a larger diameter liner than is standard for 22 rimfires. We'll see, I think this one will need a full make-over before I will call it done!!!.
God Bless, Frank.

Gotta love that 17 Mach 2. great idea. Keep us up to date on the progress.:bthumb:

 

You have a intermidate Stevens 1894, by the shape of the lever, which most likely has a spring loaded plunger bearing on the link. Also that is the middle shaped mainspring, that is held in place with a screw.

These actions have the thicker .095" thick screw heads, and a LOT of them indeed have bent or worn screws. Stevens used 26 and 30 tpi for those screws, so most lathes will not cut that, Wisner's is making reprodcution screws now.

The one thing is you will find about four differnet sizes of extractors in these guns, and at least two types of breech blocks.

There is a good article over at castboolits, down in the gunsmithing sub forum IIRC where a person had to competely redo the inside guts of a Favorite to hold up to a 32 S&W cartidge.

I have seaveral of these 1894 Favorites I am starting on to rebuild myslef, but back to 22LR.

Good Luck with your project.

WCFMetalsmith

 

Well...



Well I found that article over at Cast Boolits. Interesting read. I have an old Logan lathe and I can cut threads with it, so the idea of making all new internal pins and such has occured to me. And as was mentioned in the article nothing is hardened that I can see. A file cuts everthing with relative ease, so I have been contemplating case hardening the receiver and maybe fabricating new internal pins and screws and case hardening them also. The idea of making the pins and screws oversize to increase strength has also occured to me. But at this point I am still collecting parts and trying to make a decision as to whether I will reline the original barrel and use it or use a non Stevens barrel and fit it to the receiver. Still trying to figure it out!!!
Your description of the action is dead on!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

An update!!!

An update on what I have been up to on this Favorite conversion, besides HUNTING and building a couple of side lock percussion black powder muzzle loaders!!!
Tha first picture is a before and after of the breech end of the barrel. You can see how beat up the end of the barrel was, so I decided to build it up with my little MIG welder and face it off on the lathe. The bottom part of the picture shows the aluminum plug that I fitted to the bore to prevent weld matal from going into the bore. It worked as planned but I pretty much destroyed that aluminum plug hammering it out of the bore after I had built up the metal to the level I wanted. I decided to fill in the extractor cutout and recut it, since it was so sloppy.

Picture #2 is of the muzzle after I trued it up. The right side shows a small piece of a 17-caliber liner in place so you can get an idea of what it will look like except on the real liner the joint between the barrel and the liner will be almost invisible!!! Obviously, the barrel has been drilled out for the liner. In fact, this was the easiest barrel that have ever drilled out!!! Took less that 5 minutes, but that might have been because i was only removing a small bit of the bore plus what was left of the rifling!!! Not much metal at all really!!!

I picked up a "new" breech block, lever and link for this project, only problem is that they were for a 25 caliber Favorite. Probably close enough that I will be able to use it safely, just have to massage the FP hole location... maybe. I'm going to chamber that short piece of liner and install it in the barrel so that I can determine where the FP will be hitting the cartridge rim. If I don't have to modify that 25-caliber breech block, that will be good as it will save me the trouble and time of fabricating a custom one of FP!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

An update on what I have been up to on this Favorite conversion, besides HUNTING and building a couple of side lock percussion black powder muzzle loaders!!!
Tha first picture is a before and after of the breech end of the barrel. You can see how beat up the end of the barrel was, so I decided to build it up with my little MIG welder and face it off on the lathe. The bottom part of the picture shows the aluminum plug that I fitted to the bore to prevent weld matal from going into the bore. It worked as planned but I pretty much destroyed that aluminum plug hammering it out of the bore after I had built up the metal to the level I wanted. I decided to fill in the extractor cutout and recut it, since it was so sloppy.

Picture #2 is of the muzzle after I trued it up. The left side shows a small piece of a 17 caliber liner in place so you can get an idea of what it will look like except on the real liner the joint between the barrel and the liner will be almost invisible!!! Obviously the barrel has been drilled out for the liner. In fact this was the easiest barrel that have ever drilled out!!! Took less that 5 minutes, but that might have been because i was only removing a small bit of the bore plus what was left of the rifling!!! Not much metal at all really!!!
I picked up a "new" breech block, lever and link for this project, only problem is that they were for a 25 caliber Favorite. Probably close enough that I will be able to use it safely, just have to massage the FP hole location... maybe. I'm going to chamber that short piece of liner and install it in the barrel so that I can determine where the FP will be hitting the cartridge rim. If I don't have to modify that 25 caliber breech block, that will be good as it will save me the trouble and time of fabricating a custom one of FP!!!
God Bless, Frank.

Hey Frank,. Glad too see you're Staying busy in your 'Retirement' !!! :bthumb: watchin' this post w/ much interest!!! :bthumb:

 

Fascinating tfrank, you're a patient man, I'm going to enjoy watching this one come together. :t

 

I really like this idea. I'm a big fan of the mach2 and I am at the point with my Stevens 414 that I have to consider my options if the barrel is toast.

 

A little more...

A little more progress!!! I fitted the 5" long piece of 17 caliber liner into the barrel, chambered it in order to check out where the firing pin is hitting. This is a 25 caliber breech block and obviously it isn't going to work as the firing pin is striking too low. As you can see it is hitting the chamber mouth just about as hard as it is hitting the rim of the cartridge. The second hammer strike set the primer off!!! Looks like I am back to the "drawing board" so to speak at least for this particular issue!!!

I am also seriously considering reducing the diameter on my chambering reamer on the part that cuts the recess for the case head. The rim of the case head mikes out at .270", but the chambering reamer is .290", that just seams to be too big. It also leaves more of a gap all around the rim of the cartridge which I am sure I don't like, and it leaves a very thin rim, which i don't like either. Oh well, two steps forward and one step back!!!
God Bless, Frank.

 

cool projects:bthumb: ...if i had another original SHARPS MODEL 1853 SPORTING CARBINE , i might be inclined to try something but , definatly would be cheaper to shoot it even in 17wsm

ps- tfrank , if the hammer is hitting low can you alter/machine so only part is hitting on the rim of the round? visualizing it my head might wrk, i know taking metal off is not good Or can you add lil metal to the hammer at the right spot? how prob .. i would prob put a lil metal with lite welder (wire feed) if you put it on the right spot it should touch before the bottom of the hammer hits the rim...if you want me to draw it out if it helps ill do it ...so basicly might look lil bit off a revolver hammer ....i think that hammer is fixable just need tweaking on it..beside anything u add with welder ..you can file off ...the other way is filing the hammer so only the high spot is the rim of the hmr only area touching and rest is files bck few 1/10s ......hope it helped least for a laugh....me and my buddy awhile bck had good time(not really) converting the mg42 from 8mm to 308. i think he redid to 8mm since the 308. cost wayy more now to shoot then 8mm now days lol

 

I think...



I think you have a different design in mind when you typed your response as the FP is not a part of the hammer. Here is a link to a GunParts schematic if you are interested!!!
http://www.gunpartscorp.com
This is a schematic from Wisners and it has lots of good info on Favorites!!!
http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/stevens_favorite_rifles.htm
God Bless, Frank.

 

Great project tfrank. I will be watching this one closely.


JB