Want to build a 218 Bee

[chickenfarmer]

I am interested in building a 218 Bee. I was wanting some options on the best way to go. Like a rifle that would be easy to rebarrel or rebore and possibly not have to switch bolts. Kinda new to this so some good information would be appreciated. Looking at this as I could buy a rifle then as I have time and money I could buy a barrel and other components.

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[Mark W.]

Well Savage 10, 11, 12, 16 action is one of the easiest to rebarrel and has one of the easiest bolts to change the face on. You can change barrels on a Savage Bolt action with a special wrench and a set of go no-go gauges. You can change the face of the bolt (within the limits of whats available within a few min).

BUT being the .218 Bee is a Rimmed cartridge based on the 25-20 Win which is a necked down version of the 32-20 Win. It won't work in a internal box magazine very well. You will have to make sure the cartridges are stacked one ahead of the other as you load it or it will jam. Of course if you building a single shot no problem.

A .222 Rem would be a better choice if you want a Varmint rifle in this ballistic range.

The .218 was a successful varmint cartridge in Winchester lever actions and its what the cartridge was developed for.

Hope this helped

 

[chickenfarmer]

Well Savage 10, 11, 12, 16 action is one of the easiest to rebarrel and has one of the easiest bolts to change the face on. You can change barrels on a Savage Bolt action with a special wrench and a set of go no-go gauges. You can change the face of the bolt (within the limits of whats available within a few min).

BUT being the .218 Bee is a Rimmed cartridge based on the 25-20 Win which is a necked down version of the 32-20 Win. It won't work in a internal box magazine very well. You will have to make sure the cartridges are stacked one ahead of the other as you load it or it will jam. Of course if you building a single shot no problem.

A .222 Rem would be a better choice if you want a Varmint rifle in this ballistic range.

The .218 was a successful varmint cartridge in Winchester lever actions and its what the cartridge was developed for.

Hope this helped

 

[chickenfarmer]

Thank you for the information that is helpful

 

[MountainBear]

A lot of the old martini-henry single shots have been converted to 218 bee. Trying to get the rimmed case to stack and feed in a staggered box magazine would likely be more trouble than it was worth.

Take a look at the martini henry cadet rifles. There are several websites dedicated to them. Just use the google.