218 Bee

OldPPC said:
It's been 40 years since I last handled that little 218 Bee. I sure do miss that gun. Have you considered something in the .17 range? Lots of 'em around my neighborhood in the hands of some pretty capable varmint shooters; you might like that.
http://www.castleofevil.com/othersites/17cal/main.htm
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I have a Savage 93R17. I also have a Ruger 10/22M-17HMR switch barrel being built. They are ok for mid range shooting but I am very interested in centerfire load development for longer ranges. That's why I bought the 220 Swift in the first place. While I have heard of 17 cal center fire, I have never even seen one in person.
 
I looked at a 43 in 218 in about 1962. Was in college and had no money and now no gun. As I recall it was about $45.
 
.218 Bee current prices

langenc said:
I looked at a 43 in 218 in about 1962. Was in college and had no money and now no gun. As I recall it was about $45.
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Have you checked prices on a Winchester Model 43? It boggles my mind what these rifles are selling for considering it was a poor man's Model 70 when they were first introduced.

Lou Baccino
 
Win 43

Take care with the Win 43, because they were discontinued because of design problems with set back of the bolts. They develop excess headspace. I had one that did.

best, nrb
 
nrb said:
Take care with the Win 43, because they were discontinued because of design problems with set back of the bolts. They develop excess headspace. I had one that did.

best, nrb
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Yes,the bolt handle and a lug opposite it,are what handles the pressure.
In 1951,the NRA issued "Volume 2 of Reloading Information" by Al Barr.This was NRA Handbook No. 6.
It contained chapters on the Bee and the Hornet and anyone interested in these two calibers should try to locate a copy.
I suspect most folks got in trouble using 2400 or 4227 in the Bee.In those days,there wasn't much choice in powder selection.
Barr shows a pressure of 35,000 (CUP in those days) with a load of 15 gr IMR 4198 and a 50 grain Sierra Spitzer with Winchester cases.
Barr makes the statement "it hardly seems possible to get enough 4198 in the case to cause really excessive pressure above the safe working limit."
There can be a significant difference in case weights between Winchester and Remington.It's been a long time since Remington produced .218 cases,so any you find,inspect them closely.
 
chino69 said:
Have you checked prices on a Winchester Model 43? It boggles my mind what these rifles are selling for considering it was a poor man's Model 70 when they were first introduced.

Lou Baccino
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With any bolt action rifle, I come up against that old left hand problem. There just are not that many left handed rifles made in any particular model.

I saw a 218 Bee lever gun on Cabelas today. Of course they were asking $1300 for it. Lever guns are not famous for accuracy so I'll pass on that one. For about the same price, I saw a recently sold Browning Low Wall in 22 Hornet. Now that would have been a good rifle for me. I'll just have to wait a while for the right rifle to show up.
 
Slowshot said:
Recently, I have noticed several Martini rifles chambered in 218 Bee. I am interested in what kind of accuracy you have gotten with this cartridge and with what action. As I mentioned elsewhere, my large action Martini was chambered as a 218 Bee by Bill Sukalle and later the chamber was sleeved to 22LR. Now I am a bit sorry that was done.

Currently, I am learning load development with my Ruger No. 1. I am finding the 220 Swift cartridge that it is chambered for to be a bit much. Yesterday, with 40 gr. bullets pushed by 38.5 gr of IMR 4064, I fired three rounds at 100 yards and punched a one inch hole through the backboard of the target stand I was using. The backblow of the shreaded wood destroyed the center of my target. That's a bit of overkill for me. It's rather difficult to measure your group size when your bullets are destroying the target and the backboard.

I enjoy hand loading but I am thinking of selling the Ruger to go to a milder caliber, so I am interested in your experiences with the 218 Bee. It uses less than 1/2 the powder of the 220 Swift and is reported to be quite accurate out to 150-200 yards. None of the ranges near me have more than 200 yards available anyhow.

I would rather not go to the more expensive cartridges such as the the 22 PPC or the 6mm PPC. The cost of brass alone seems a bit much to me.
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Thank you for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.
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