Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Marble’s .22 Savage Hi Power .22 LR Adapter

Good evening, gentlemen. I have an adapter for my Hi Power. What is the correct way to use it? Can I use any 22 long rifle cartridge?

Thanks.. BP...

I have seen a few with split necks but don't know the cause. Maybe an oversized chamber neck area or head space. I have always used standard velocity rounds but I think HV's would be fine. I have several of them.

I have several too. While they are an intriguing idea, practically speaking they only work so-so. I chalk that up to the .223" rimfire bullets being asked to play well in the .227-.228" bores, after rattling out of generously dimensioned adapters. Beer cans at 50 paces aren't safe though, most of the time, nor would bunnies be if pot meat is one's quest, I suppose.

I've used mine in three different rifles and got the same mediocre results in all of them. Standard velocity ammo was all I ventured to try. As for cracked necks in the adapter, I also have one like that (which I do not use) and I can't say why it's so. Soft steel construction, mated to an oversize chamber neck (not uncommon in early Savages), exacerbated by high(er) pressure zippy ammo - or combination of all three? Dunno.

I have acquired a selection of various adapters for a few different cartridges, and none of them perform well enough to write home to Mom about - .32 S&W in .30-06 (a Winchester branded adapter) comes closest. I've been meaning to try to make the .22LR/.22HP adapters work better but frankly haven't found the time.

My idea is to introduce a proper diameter bullet into the HP bore by loading a .228" cast bullet into an adapter, and then fire it with a pinch of Bullseye powder in an empty primed .22LR case (several thousand of which I happen to be sitting on). Obviously that big of a bullet won't fit into a .22 rimfire case, but if I insert the charged case first and then thumb seat the larger bullet into the mouth of the adapter down onto the case mouth (the adapters I have possess mouths sufficiently generously large to do this) it might/should work in theory - BUT how much Bullseye to employ to drive a heavier than "normal" bullet, at a useful velocity without rupturing anything? In the end it's a matter of how far does one want to go......

(I have loaded my own .22LR's with both a custom mould I have and also with bullets from a Lyman #225438 without its gas check. 1 1/2gr. Bullseye works pretty well. It's an endeavor best carried out for no dammed good reason, when frittering time or feeling bored. Accuracy at 50 yards off the bench, with a bumblebee target rifle that'll normally print five Eley Tenex's into 1/4" or less, is around 1/2-3/4" - not all that bad in the whole scheme of things but would Mom care to hear about that also? I've also breech seated lead bullets into a .22LR chamber using the time honored old Schuetzen technique, with the same empty primed .22 cases that I bought for no other reason than "Why not". Accuracy was better than with fixed reloaded ammo, but still not up to factory premo target ammo standards.)

Thanks all. Question... how do you load the cartridge in the adapter?

BP...

Slide the firing pin out (if it's gummed up you may have to pry it back with a fingernail by prying on its collar visible through the window), eject the empty with a rod (or the skinny end of the firing pin), insert fresh cartridge, re-insert firing pin with the end with the t*t bearing against the case head, shoot, repeat. Take care to position the little tensioner spring away from the window on the side of the extractor.

One thing I failed to mention about these things is that one's firing pin smacks against the steel floating firing pin inside the adapter. Steel-on-steel doesn't strike me as a recipe for long life for a rifle's firing pin, but who knows....

Test fit it in the chamber empty first. I have a few and had one with a oversized neck that got stuck in the chamber... loaded. I had to pry it out. I also acquired one that has the neck roughly thinned down that I assume had the same issue. Being steel I don't think they will expand any when used, but I have not used any with the high power loads available today. Since they don't expand I don't think they fully seal the chamber, so you may foul it some if you use them a lot. With most of the other Marble's adapters the case of the cartridge extents out the front of the adapter.