.225 Winchester

[CDSUSMC]

I found a company that will line a 16 Gauge barrel for use in the Savage 219 receiver.  I was considering the .225 Winchester being rimmed and all.  The CPI for the .225 is 56 , the 30-30 is 47.  Has anyone used a cartage with the same or higher pressure then the .225 Winchester? Thanks for taking the time to read this and making this site so enjoyable.

[Garnett]

I am not familiar with various cartridge pressures, but I know that .30-30 barrels have been re-chambered to .30-40 Krag successfully.  Savage R&D department made at least two of them.  Also, the .22 Hornet barrels have been successfully re-chambered to .219 Zipper and .218 Bee.  I have a Zipper conversion, but have not shot it yet.  Since the .225 Winchester is a rimmed cartridge, is the bullet diameter not compatible with the Hornet?   If it is, I would think a re-chamber to .225 Win. would be cheaper and not nearly as heavy as lining a 16 gauge barrel.  I have a Fox Sterlingworth double 12 gauge that is converted to .45-70 by "mono blocking" and is VERY heavy, even with 20 inch barrels.  Would a 20 gauge barrel not give enough metal in the chamber area to be safe?  Also, for me and others like me, not familiar with pressures, what does 56 CPI mean?  Thanks for sharing your project with us and please let us know how it turns out.  Pictures would be really great!

[Mike Armstrong]

CDUSMC, I had a very nice 219B that had been rechambered to .219 Zipper Improved.  On discussing this with several gunsmiths, I had it relined to .25-20 WCF because nobody had a liner in .22 Hornet cal that would fill the chamber of the wildcat (which is based on the .30-30 case head).   

Now, you don't have THAT problem with a 16 guage bore to reline to .225.  But you will have to have a custom liner made from a .224 barrel blank of the correct twist, and that can get costly unless you can find a friendly machinist who will do the preliminary turning work to fit the blank to the shotgun chamber and bore.  My gunsmith who did the reline wasn't interested in doing all that turning work; he wanted to use an already made-up liner, and did for the .25-20.  Your 'smith will also have to have a .225 Win chamber reamer; not all have them and renting one is an extra $60-70.

My ultimate reason for going with a .25-20 reline was 1) I like the cartridge and already load for it, 2) I didn't need another wildcat to buy dies for, and 3) the most potent reason, I'm more than a little bit leery of added pressure beyond the ctgs. I know are safe in a 219, i.e. the 30-40 which Garnett has mentioned, and the .22 Hornet or perhaps the K-Hornet, which Frank de Haas used in his.   These are very sturdy little guns, but not Ruger #1s or Win Hiwalls.

Just my $.02.

[CDSUSMC]

Mike, your 2 cents worth is just what I am asking for and thank you. Garnett, the weight is of little concern as this will be a bench rest rifle. The CPI is the Commission International Permanente pour l'Epreuve Des Armes a' Feu Portatives.  Or  how I see it , big number big pressure, little number smaller pressure. Use the CPI number to get a feel for the receiver's ability to handle the cartridge in question. The gunsmith I have been talking to has reamers for cartridges that I have never heard of and then some, but the best part is that he is just over 2 hours from home. The liner with the extractor groove cut was  $300 installed. The .225 Win was chosen because my father has the dies. I am trying to get him into a little family competition with his .225 Win. Get him away from banging away with his 30-06 and into something with a little less recoil due to his health / age. Think I will go with either the bee or zipper to be on the safe side. Thank you both for helping me and joining in on my fun. The 219 is alot of fun and the people are the best part.