218 Bee with a fast twist

[Stix]

Now Bill..

Listen mate...

No... ... ... seriously....

Mate, a classy guy like you cant be running around with a single shot 22 cal Martini with a nice bead blasted stainless barrel on it, with a bin-scabbed $10 bit of bloody wood on it...

i mean...

The gun gods will be sending lightning bolts your way with them kinds of shenanigans...

Take the stock off & send it to me for correct disposal, and go and get yourself a decent piece of timber for your bee...!
Ill even pay you the postage & the $10 it cost you to remove it from the bin...OK...?!

Actually...NO...!!

Why stuff around....Just get with the program & buy yourself a Howa Mini bolt action in 223 with a 10 shot mag for pete's sake, & send the whole lump of plant & mineral extracts to me...


That wood has just had me crack its cousin & is lifting my desk....!!!

If thats not a dam hot sexy gun worthy of centrefold of the year...

...by crikey....

Dam that is every bit of gun class, gun porn, gun sex, gun erotica & gun suave & gun elegance all rolled into one...& a 1.5lb trigger...WOW...

That is just dam sexy...that gun is my Dianne Lane of the gun world... I NEED to meet it in person...

You shouldnt post pics like that Bill...i might stalk you & stare at you while shooting it at the range...dribbling on my shoes...

[Stix]

Now that ive got that out of my system...

What scope 7 rings you running Bill...? (looks a balanced match to me-i like it... )

Do you know how the rail (?) i cant zoom in so assume its a rail) is attached...?

Where does one get new extractor...?

And, this "German action spring"...stupid question (but i dont care because im still horny from those pics last page), but what is this spring, what does it 'spring' & where does one get one...?

And why no hole to clean in the back of the action...?

(Im about to get some work done on mine hence the questions... )

Cheers

[Bill]

thanks Stix for ya kind words, it certainly is a bit different and not at all a classic martini. It started life as a hornet but Sportco used a softer grade of steel and the chamber bulged when I tried to up the load hence why it got a decent barrel.

Ring are $22 Millet vertical split alloy. George builds quite a few custom martini's and upgrades the action spring with a new 1 from germany. Lock time is dramatically improved and so is the action snap, which aids accuracy. Ill see if he has any spare springs as it really is a massive upgrade (paid $20 from memory).

Bushed action and upgraded firing pin. I might even get around to cerakoting the block to finish it off. new extractor was made up.

rail is attached to the top of the barrel with a couple of bolts and the forend has the usual hanger arrangement. Ill take a few more pics tmw.

I would like a hole in the back but I reckon it detracts from the looks so cleaning is only done from 1 end.

[Stix]

Thanks Bill...

Id love some pics of the forend attachment.

I havnt seen many apart, so i dont know what is deemed "the usual".

Mine is also sportci built & has a round nut with a rather loose connection dovetailed into barrel.
Ive heard of many that are apparently welded or threaded nut to barrel, but never seen it.

The mods with the action screw sound great--i want one, so any contact detsils of where to get would be appreciated...

Also, with regard to cleaning...i agree with you on the looks.
Ive asked thst when mine is done that the hole be threaded & a nice threaded plug be made to fill the hole...
But then that will catch solvent etc so ive second thoughts on the 'plug'.
However, im going to get it done purely to avoid touching the muzzle--its so finniky to clean from tge muzzle & need twice as much room, & im over all that...so a rear hole to attack from behind it is...!!

[Bill]

the rail is very very well attached





Delrin insert supports the timber and protect it at the same time. Fibre glass bedding to keep things stable.

[Stix]

Great stuff Bill...thanks,,,!!

That looks like the original Sportco nut (dovetailed forend attachment)...well its the same as mine that is still original anyway.
However the slot for mine is pretty sloppy.

Is that some sort of bedding you have in the barrel channel i see...?..if so i gather its just to aid in keeping the barrel central in the channel...

Also, & if so, do you torque up the screw to fit the forend...?
And do you know if the barrel is against the forend or is it sitting slightly higher...?

(And that timber looks even better close up...!! )

[Bill]

no the original nut but very similar, as you can see a slot was cut but he wasnt happy so he cut it again, it is pretty snug.

Yeap fibreglass bedding just to support the barrel and allow no movement. The rifle will produce a nice 8-10mm 5 shot group at 100m if it s not too windy. If I pump too many rounds thru it groups open up a bit but thats what happens when she gets real hot.

I can tighten the screw as tight as I like but generally I don't go overboard as I have seen a cut nut deform the slot in the barrel. Barrel is free floating towards the forend but it is only 18inch and a varmint profile so it wouldnt make much difference.

I have a spare BSA martini frame that I picked up at a gunshow years ago for $25, Kanagroo logo ontop. I might get a mate to machine a cleaning hole and get the action cerakoted. If I do that and it comes up OK Ill swap out this frame, hopefully headspacing will remain OK as this frame is tight.

[madang55]

Just acquired a Martini in 218 Bee. Waiting to see what twist it has. Am told it was used for bench rest. The last owner say he has had trouble with un-burnt powder or powder residue creeping into the chamber, making it difficult to extract spent rounds. He thinks he may have needed to reduce loads. I'm thinking it could be a number of reasons. A worn chamber throat, cases that had been 'turned down', or not enough charge to expand the case to seal the throat against 'back-wash'. Anyway.....everything I can find says that one is setting the bar a bit high if you want to use projectiles heavier than 55 grains in the 218 Bee. I think of the 218 as a Hornet with attitude and I would never use anything above 50gr, more like 40gr, making 45gr the heaviest I will probably venture to with the 218. The end life of this Martini will probably be as a Hornet, its a love affair I can't kick. Or....maybe.....the 350 Legend has my attention, and I am having some spectacular results with the 300 AAC.. Decisions, decisions. Also, from what I have learnt so far is the typical twist in the 218 was 1:16. 1:14 were around ?

After much stuffing around................Actually,
the rifle may have started out as a 218 BEE, however. I was having a lot of difficulty with chambering, extracting, grouping etc and I noticed the fired cases
were different. I asked a few questions and it turns out that someone had created, re-chambered to 218 IMPROVED, or attempted to do so and
I found out the hard, long way that the chamber was something of a disaster. It was very rough and needed polishing, which I managed and
after trying some more reloads with the neck sized cases, still no joy. Through some further trial and error I then discovered that the lands were so far in front of the chamber,
that even seating the longest projectiles right to the end of the case, they didn’t come in contact with the lands. There was no way this rifle was going to “shoot” in its current state.
The rifle is now with a gunsmith being converted to 22 Hornet. He is cutting the 218 Bee chamber off and re-chambering the same barrel.

[Bill]

bloody hell madang55 that's a shame about the chamber, either way you ll be back to square 1 with the 2 Hornet, goodluck

[bladeracer]

After much stuffing around................Actually,
the rifle may have started out as a 218 BEE, however. I was having a lot of difficulty with chambering, extracting, grouping etc and I noticed the fired cases
were different. I asked a few questions and it turns out that someone had created, re-chambered to 218 IMPROVED, or attempted to do so and
I found out the hard, long way that the chamber was something of a disaster. It was very rough and needed polishing, which I managed and
after trying some more reloads with the neck sized cases, still no joy. Through some further trial and error I then discovered that the lands were so far in front of the chamber,
that even seating the longest projectiles right to the end of the case, they didn’t come in contact with the lands. There was no way this rifle was going to “shoot” in its current state.
The rifle is now with a gunsmith being converted to 22 Hornet. He is cutting the 218 Bee chamber off and re-chambering the same barrel.

What twist-rate is the barrel? Were the lands eroded or actually cut that far out? Perhaps it was built for VLD's with a tight twist and a long throat?