FrankenMauser
New member
I'd say you talked to the wrong person, or they had some tooling break.
Over the weekend, they had six different .251"-groove barrels listed. (And today, nothing.)
That's a matter of opinion -- and bullet construction.
Convert .22LR to .25acp??
- Thread starter 44 AMP
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Over the weekend, they had six different .251"-groove barrels listed. (And today, nothing.)
jaguarxk120
New member
I have no idea why someone would want to convert from 22RF to 25 ACP, when Gander Mountain has so much 22RF ammo they are selling it.
It is stacked up in piles at the check out counter.
It is stacked up in piles at the check out counter.
Jaguarxk120,
As already explained, it's for the same reason people climb mountains.
FrankenMauser,
I'm wondering if maybe the .251 was a typo and they meant to have a "7" in that last decimal place. Do you see otherwise-identical .257's listed?
44AMP,
I'm starting to think that finding someone with rifling equipment that is tooled for a rifle-length barrel in this diameter may be a hopeless cause. I looked through the CIP data, hoping some odd 6.35 mm might show up, but no luck. What I don't know is whether factories making .25 Auto pocket pistols or NAA, which makes them for the 25NAA cartridge (aka, 6.35 Fiocci), buys or make long blanks to whittle down to the little short pistol barrel lengths. You could call and ask. If so, perhaps they will tell you where to get a blank or sell you one.
One alternative might be to take a .243" barrel and spend a lot of time lapping it out to 0.250. A lot of work, but it could be done. The trick is to lap the grooves and rifling at equal rates, but there are ways to make that happen within reason. At least the .243 starts close enough to the same rifling land height (0.003" vs 0.0035") and should work to turn the low velocity bullets OK. The short bullets won't need as much twist as it will give (10" vs. 16"), but over-stabilized is better than the opposite and probably won't hurt much at the velocities likely to be obtained.
As already explained, it's for the same reason people climb mountains.
FrankenMauser,
I'm wondering if maybe the .251 was a typo and they meant to have a "7" in that last decimal place. Do you see otherwise-identical .257's listed?
44AMP,
I'm starting to think that finding someone with rifling equipment that is tooled for a rifle-length barrel in this diameter may be a hopeless cause. I looked through the CIP data, hoping some odd 6.35 mm might show up, but no luck. What I don't know is whether factories making .25 Auto pocket pistols or NAA, which makes them for the 25NAA cartridge (aka, 6.35 Fiocci), buys or make long blanks to whittle down to the little short pistol barrel lengths. You could call and ask. If so, perhaps they will tell you where to get a blank or sell you one.
One alternative might be to take a .243" barrel and spend a lot of time lapping it out to 0.250. A lot of work, but it could be done. The trick is to lap the grooves and rifling at equal rates, but there are ways to make that happen within reason. At least the .243 starts close enough to the same rifling land height (0.003" vs 0.0035") and should work to turn the low velocity bullets OK. The short bullets won't need as much twist as it will give (10" vs. 16"), but over-stabilized is better than the opposite and probably won't hurt much at the velocities likely to be obtained.
You can get Lother Walther to make you one but it would be faster and cheaper to just get one of TJ's liners.
They seem to be what folks converting to 25 auto use the most. Funny all of the "why's" in a gun smithing forum, I guess none of them have to do work for money. The only person a project needs to make sense to is the guy paying for it. Good luck and post photos.
They seem to be what folks converting to 25 auto use the most. Funny all of the "why's" in a gun smithing forum, I guess none of them have to do work for money. The only person a project needs to make sense to is the guy paying for it. Good luck and post photos.
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FrankenMauser
New member
Negative.
I had wondered the same, though, as one particular barrel was a long octagonal (27- or 30-inch), specifying only ".251 caliber" rather than the bore and groove dimensions typically given.
I believe that at least two of the barrels were 'closeouts', though. That was the reason for me wondering if they may have broken some tooling and decided that replacement wasn't worthwhile.
Got it.
TJ's sounds like the best option. Given the pressure and energy involved are not particularly different from a .22, I should think that would work fine.
The more I've thought about it, the more I think it makes the most sense to inquire of the ATF if there is any special license requirement for conversion of an existing .25 Auto pistol to a rifle. I know the reverse is off-limits, but don't see why they should care about going the other way. But it would be safest to ask. It also solves the magazine problem, as you just use the commercial magazine the pistol frame uses now.
TJ's sounds like the best option. Given the pressure and energy involved are not particularly different from a .22, I should think that would work fine.
The more I've thought about it, the more I think it makes the most sense to inquire of the ATF if there is any special license requirement for conversion of an existing .25 Auto pistol to a rifle. I know the reverse is off-limits, but don't see why they should care about going the other way. But it would be safest to ask. It also solves the magazine problem, as you just use the commercial magazine the pistol frame uses now.
There have been pistol to carbine conversions for decades. TC even sold a "kit" that one could configure either a rifle or pistol from the same frame.
It is also just fine to convert them back to pistols.
https://www.atf.gov/file/55526/download
Before the above TC had their own exemption.
It is also just fine to convert them back to pistols.
https://www.atf.gov/file/55526/download
Before the above TC had their own exemption.
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