How to make a rimfire adaptor
Rimfire adaptors are used when one does not want to alter their firearm to shoot a non-rimfire cartridge.
At one time I mail ordered a set of rimfire adaptors for $8 a piece.When I got them home I thought to myself, Boy did I get ripped off. I can make these myself.
You start out turning brass on a lathe to the outside, external dimensions for whichever rimfire cartridge that you are trying to make the adapter for. For example, if you are trying to make a 41 calibre rimfire, you turn the brass so that it looks like a 41 rimfire snap cap.
Then, you take the adaptor and bore out a hole from the projectile side(Where the bullet goes) of the adapter about 4/5 of the length of the adapter. You will need this 1/5 space of metal later on to hold in place the .22 blank that will act as the priming agent for your adaptor. The hole that you bored into the mouth of the adaptor has to have the same mouth diameter of the real rimfire cartridge you are making the adaptor for because later on you're going to need to stuff a projectile into the adaptor.The projectile will later need to safely fly down the barrel of the rimfire gun we are making the adaptor for, and I don't want anyone to "Shoot their eye out".
The next step is to drill a hole on the cartridge head wide enough to fit a .22 blank. The .22 blank will become the primer for the rimfire adapter.This hole is drilled off center so that when you push the .22 blank into the cartridge adaptor a section of the .22's rim is flush with the adapter's rims radias and does not hang over. If it hangs over you will not be able to chamber the adaptor into the gun's chamber. The two holes that you have made in the adaptor so far should be off set from each other, yet still meet. --->
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Now that you have the .22 blank/primer pocket lined up, you counter sink (I can't remember the word)a hole around the primer pocket hole so the base of the.22 blank's rim fits flush with the base of the adapter's base. If the two( .22 blank/adaptors) bases do not fit flush the adaptor will not chamber as stated above.
When you load your adapters into your gun you try and line up the primer/.22 blank rim to be dead center to the hammer/firing pin of your gun. After the first try you will know where the hammer is going to hit and adjust as needed.
In small bore guns the .22 blank has enough energy to push a .31 cal ball about an 1 and 1/8 inch into white pine. When I shot the .44 rimfire adaptor we added about 5 grains of blackpowder.
quote:Iconoclast
quote:Dean, this is always an option *if* one wished to alter the firearm and go through the exercise of case forming. If I should ever have one of these firearms - and I'd love to have a Spencer some day - I'd really like to shoot the proper ammo and leave the rifle original. I thank you for taking the time to ask your friend and post a response. I'd always thought in terms of making a slurry from a variety of materials. Using acetone - or any of the aromatic solvents - to dissolve priming compound from .22 or even, possibly, from CF primers to spin into the rim is a logical extension of the rudimentary research I'd done to date. Again, thank you for your public and private responses; they are deeply appreciated.
If they don't trust us with guns, how can we trust them with the government?
At one time I mail ordered a set of rimfire adaptors for $8 a piece.When I got them home I thought to myself, Boy did I get ripped off. I can make these myself.
You start out turning brass on a lathe to the outside, external dimensions for whichever rimfire cartridge that you are trying to make the adapter for. For example, if you are trying to make a 41 calibre rimfire, you turn the brass so that it looks like a 41 rimfire snap cap.
Then, you take the adaptor and bore out a hole from the projectile side(Where the bullet goes) of the adapter about 4/5 of the length of the adapter. You will need this 1/5 space of metal later on to hold in place the .22 blank that will act as the priming agent for your adaptor. The hole that you bored into the mouth of the adaptor has to have the same mouth diameter of the real rimfire cartridge you are making the adaptor for because later on you're going to need to stuff a projectile into the adaptor.The projectile will later need to safely fly down the barrel of the rimfire gun we are making the adaptor for, and I don't want anyone to "Shoot their eye out".
The next step is to drill a hole on the cartridge head wide enough to fit a .22 blank. The .22 blank will become the primer for the rimfire adapter.This hole is drilled off center so that when you push the .22 blank into the cartridge adaptor a section of the .22's rim is flush with the adapter's rims radias and does not hang over. If it hangs over you will not be able to chamber the adaptor into the gun's chamber. The two holes that you have made in the adaptor so far should be off set from each other, yet still meet. --->
_______________<---
Now that you have the .22 blank/primer pocket lined up, you counter sink (I can't remember the word)a hole around the primer pocket hole so the base of the.22 blank's rim fits flush with the base of the adapter's base. If the two( .22 blank/adaptors) bases do not fit flush the adaptor will not chamber as stated above.
When you load your adapters into your gun you try and line up the primer/.22 blank rim to be dead center to the hammer/firing pin of your gun. After the first try you will know where the hammer is going to hit and adjust as needed.
In small bore guns the .22 blank has enough energy to push a .31 cal ball about an 1 and 1/8 inch into white pine. When I shot the .44 rimfire adaptor we added about 5 grains of blackpowder.
quote:Iconoclast
quote:Dean, this is always an option *if* one wished to alter the firearm and go through the exercise of case forming. If I should ever have one of these firearms - and I'd love to have a Spencer some day - I'd really like to shoot the proper ammo and leave the rifle original. I thank you for taking the time to ask your friend and post a response. I'd always thought in terms of making a slurry from a variety of materials. Using acetone - or any of the aromatic solvents - to dissolve priming compound from .22 or even, possibly, from CF primers to spin into the rim is a logical extension of the rudimentary research I'd done to date. Again, thank you for your public and private responses; they are deeply appreciated.
If they don't trust us with guns, how can we trust them with the government?
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I'm curious Dean, why brass? My grandpa, a welder/inventor, made literally dozens of various types of adaptors for many calibers and gauges. He always used steel(I don't know what hardness), and often just used shotgun primers to shoot at wood and stuff(at least for smalll calibers). So, why brass? Is it just because it's softer/quicker than many other metals? 
To the rich, everything is a neccessity. To the poor, everything is a luxury0 -
Dean, again, thank you. I'll file this away. I still think I would lean toward re-priming the shells, but either method will require the commitment of time and effort.
MRBEAN - I believe you're talking apples and oranges. Indeed all sorts of adaptors have been made - both by major players (e.g., Marbles) or local folks such as your Grandpa. But to use a shotshell primer, I'm virtually certain these must have been adaptors for CF cartridges. For a rimfire, one must use a smaller rimfire as Dean described. If you look at a fired case from a "large" caliber (larger than .22, anyway) RF round, you will see the firing pin dent is right at the edge of the rim. In many, probably most, instances the collar around a 209 primer is wider than the zone in which this firing pin will fall. At best, it is a tiny area of overlap, and one already has the issue of cartridge orientation with which to deal.
"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the french." (Mark Twain)0 -
OK, I got the primer part, but WHY BRASS? To the rich, everything is a neccessity. To the poor, everything is a luxury0 -
I like the color.
Dean
quote:Originally posted by MRBEAN
OK, I got the primer part, but WHY BRASS?To the rich, everything is a neccessity. To the poor, everything is a luxury
If they don't trust us with guns, how can we trust them with the government?0 -
Iconoclast
There is nothing like shooting the real thing. Once you have an empty shell you might as well reload it. Some of those old rimfires cost big $$$ and if you find a whole box some collectors may be willing to kill for them.quote:Originally posted by Iconoclast
Dean, again, thank you. I'll file this away. I still think I would lean toward re-priming the shells, but either method will require the commitment of time and effort.
Did you use to own a custom reloading shop? If so who made your bullet molds?
Dean
If they don't trust us with guns, how can we trust them with the government?0 -
Brass is used because it forms a better seal and withstands expansion and resizing better than steel. I've made rimfire adapters too. I'd rather pay Dixie $8 each than go to all that bother. I used 6 of their .44rf adapters in a Tranter revolver many times and they show every sign of lasting forever. 0
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