I think that there must have been some sort of break point with Stevens and probably with Winchester.   

The Stevens-Pope 44 1/2 (made in 1904, 2 digit SN on the action) I am using as a test rifle will not chamber Long Rifle cartridges.   

Three of the Winchesters that will chamber Long Rifles were 3rd Model Winders, made with Gov't Special cartridges in mind.  The fourth was a pre-WW1 Second Model Winder, High Wall action and 1902 Krag rear sight.  It will also chamber a Long Rifle.

But if you had a High Wall target rifle with a #4 barrel & DST chambered for Shorts, would it take Long Rifles?

I just checked my two Low Wall 22 Short rifles. The first a very customized Winder (I'm planning a story on that rifle down the road) the Long Rifle ammo will not go in at all with a strong stop! My Low Wall Deluxe 22 short that is featured here will allow the Long Rifle ammo to go in very slowly but only by a somewhat good and steady push on the rim of the case. However it barely ejects and under my magnifying glass you can see very strong rifling all the way back on the lead bullet and even on the case a little too.   

In my opinion these are both unaltered factory 22 short chambers however made with a slightly different reamer design. I feel the Winder has a different leade angle than the Deluxe rifle. The Deluxe has a less abrupt angle than the Winder. 

Two things, a rechambered 22 Short to Long Rifle in my opinion would not be beneficial as the slow 20 to 22 twist wouldn't be correct for the Long Rifle ammo where 16 to 17 twist seems the best. The other is to be careful when purchasing a 22 Short making sure it hasn't been rechambered to Long Rifle. Yes you can shoot both but most likely never very accurately.  I've been told by a very knowledgeable single shot expert that many 22 Shorts have been rechambered over [/b[b]]the years!! Take a Long Rifle cartridge along or ask the seller and see if it slides in all the way easily if it does buy it only with plans of rebarreling.   

High Noon

The testing continued with my little Winchester Low Wall Deluxe 22 Short yesterday afternoon with somewhat calm conditions at 25 yards. I had just got in some CCI Target 22 Shorts with 830 fps marked on the box. (I did coat the ammo with our SPL)

They shot quite well and very quiet. I shot five 5-shot groups. The smallest group was a .437 and the largest a .721 with an average group size of .603. If you look at the first target I lost one to the right, then the second target I lost one to the left! That left a couple of very nice 4-shot groups! The wind flag was showing a light switch now and then and obviously a light switch is critical with 22 Short Target ammo!   

The CCI Target ammo averaged 883 fps. (See print out)   

I was very pleased with the CCI Target ammo at 25 yards and the rifle will shoot very well indeed.  Next report at 50 yards. 

High Noon

Steven,

What an honor and privilege for all of us here to have you respond to my blog about an old Winchester Low Wall Deluxe 22 Short rifle! 

We were very fortunate to have Steven provide a couple beautiful color photos and a brief story when we published Small Caliber News years ago. I still rate those two covers as some of the best we ever had. Not only is Steven a very talented photographer he is also one of the finest custom gunmakers on the planet!   

Those two covers with Steven's custom made Winchester Low Wall rimfire rifles is what sparked my search for this very rifle!   

You can visit Steven's website at: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links);     

Hopefully Steven will share some projects and advice for all of us in the future! 

High Noon

SDH wrote on May 11^th, 2015 at 2:20pm:

Maybe three...  
Funny how they end up on low walls.

Waterman,

The advertisement you mention is an interesting find.

Here is another tidbit.
If you look on page 174 of Campbell's first single-shot book, he writes...
"... These types of services were never cataloged, but were instead compiled in the "custom shop's" rather patchworked handbook." ... "Some of the more pertinent procedures and prices listed for the Single-Shot are:"
...
Chambering SS .22 Short to .22 Long.....$1.00
Winder Musket to .22 WCF.....................$3.50
...

Food for thought.

waterman wrote on May 2^nd, 2015 at 9:31pm:


Shooting shorts in a tubed Martini-Enfield ·303", the sound is hardly noticeable. On more than one occasion I've waited a few seconds in case of a hang-fire...

Using CBs it whispers.

--
Aonghas

After starting this thread with the Winchester Low Wall Deluxe I just picked up another Winchester Low Wall in 22 Long Rifle. It's just a standard model but a clean rifle with a decent reblue. I worked on the barrel soaking and cleaning with USP Paste. 

I installed an old Lyman tang site and headed up to the range last evening.  I fired several five shot groups at 50 yards and this one was my best. I was shooting Norma Match 22 coated with SPL. 

I was tickled to say the least. Love these little Low Walls! 

I forgot to mention the group measured .604

High Noon