I have a stevens 417 Walnut Hill in 218 bee and originally was a 22 Hornet. The gentleman I got it from has shot factory W-W in it for years. I know there will be a clamor about the action not being strong enough for this cartridge and I was thinking of making a 25-20WCF out of it. The bore is fantastic and it seems almost sacraligiuos to drill it out and line it although the barrel is not good for anything else or is it? Opinions please. Should I just put a new 25 caliber tube on it? WHose barrel do you recommend and can I get another 28" heavy barrel that matches the one on it now? Thanks, moodyholler

Moodyholler, why would you wish to go from .218 Bee to 
25-20 WCF? It is not as good a short range woodchuck caliber as the Bee. Lining that Barrel if it has a pristene bore would be throwing $$ away. If you are determined to change it just get a local Gunsmith to rebarrel it to whatever you want it to be and offer the barrel up for sale. Some one trying to restore a 417 would be glad to get it. You might even come out a little ahead on it. The other side would be to just takeoff the barrel and clean and Rig it and put it away. Some time in the future you may wish to sell the Rifle and having the original barrel even though rechambered would also be a plus. Make sure if you have some one work on it that you tell them you wish to save the barrel in its present condition for restoration. Some folks figure if you are going to rebarrel you must not value the barrel coming off and they just kind of go at it with a pipe wrench and make a mess out of it.  Just my thought
regards, FITZ.

Gentlemen, thanks for the replies. Action is still in very nice shape and I can supply pictures of it if needed. Still is very tight and has no drooping lever. Nor are the shoulders battered. I have fired it personally over a 100 times and then read about the dangers of 44 actions. Thought I might make it into something more forgiven. Will look for a 22 mold and try a few of the cast bullets in it. Thanks again, moodyholler

Friend Moodyholler
I'm thinking a really good gunsmith , who thinks outside the box, may be able to sleave that chamber and restore it to a Hornet. Suggest Dennis Olson, Plains, Mt., 406-826-3790, if that route is of interest to you. A Walnut Hill!!

Seems to me that a lot would depend upon the accuracy of the existing barrel. A Hornet rechambered to a Bee would leave a significant amount of freebore because of the longer Hornet chamber, so how accurate is it at present? If it's accurate, why would you want to change? Just load down to wherever you feel comfortable and continue to march!

Seems to me that going from a Bee to a 25-20 would fall into the category of what we here in the South call "trading a turkey for a jaybird", i.e. spending assets to make a not-necessarily-helpful change.

After all, the two cartridges have exactly the same size case head, so the bolt thrust would be identical in both cases (pun intended, VBG) if loaded to the same pressure.
If it ain't broke then don't fix it, JMO, Joe

PS: BTW I've had absolutely zero success with finding an accurate 25-caliber load with today's 60-gr jacketed bullets, in several 14-twist barrels. The Speer 75-gr flat-nose and various 75- and 87-gr bullets seem to do much better in my rifles FWIW.