Hamilton 27

[Chris W.]

Got a Hamilton 27 given to me a few years back. Bore is poor, needs a relining. Other than the bore, it looks to be in good functional condition. Anyone here ever relined one of these ?? This one is marked for 22 short and long. ( not marked for 22LR ) Wondering if it's worth the effort and if it could safely be chambered to take the more common 22LR ?? Could make a fun gun for the grandson, but want to keep it safe. Bore now has deep pits in the bore, could be holes in it about mid bore. Thanks,
Chris

[n64atlas]

The 22lr high speed didn't come out till 1933 or there abouts. You could chamber it for 22lr but I would only shoot standard velocity ammo in it.
Getting hard to find longs and the liners are the wrong twist for 22 short. Most liners are 1-16 twist, I think the 22 short takes a 1-22 twist. The action and pins might not be heat treated good enough to shoot the higher pressure 22lr high speed.

[Chris W.]

That could end up a problem long after I'm gone. Sounds like after the reline some testing is in order. Although in good condition except for the bore, gun looks cheaply made at best. I know this thing dates to well before 1933.
Chris

[Jim in Salt Lake]

Hey Chris, if I were you, I think I'd look for another candidate rifle for your grandson. Here's a link that talks about Hamilton 27 rifles: http://www.nrvoutdoors.com/HAMILTON/HAMILTON%2027.htm They made these rifles from 1907 to 1930 so they're old. It looks like the barrels were made for low power shorts and longs, I'd also be leery of using high velocity long rifles in them. If the rifle has no family significance, I'd look for something already chambered for long rifle ammo. Years ago, I bought my son a Savage Stevens Favorite, they started making them again in the mid '90s I think. They look very much like the Hamilton. You didn't say how old your grandson is, my son started shooting that Stevens when he was 5.

[Chris W.]

Good article Jim, thank you for the link. My main concern is that this rifle will be passed on when I pass and might end up being fired. Upon closer inspection, it has a brass insert for a barrel, good visible rifling, but deep pits, could even be holes midway down the bore. n64atlas pointed out the twist rate problem being mismatched for a 22 short or LR. It looks like if relined with a modern insert to work successfully, the action would have to stand the pressure of a 22LR. Guess before I buy a liner, need to break it down and have a good look at the parts, pins etc. in the action, don't want it to blowup either. Only other option I can see is to plug the chamber so it can't be fired to make it safe and a wall hanger. That has it's drawbacks as well. I know as a kid I most likely would have attempted to remove the plug and use it. Could drive a taper pin in and silver solder it in place for insurance. Haven't decided yet, guess I need to take it down and have a good look. Thanks,
Chris

[Jim in Salt Lake]

Yeah, the kid factor is what I was thinking about, too. When my brothers and I were kids, we'd feed our .22s whatever ammo we could find and afford or were given. We shot shorts, longs, long rifles, CB and BB caps, etc. One of our neighbors had a couple of cases of shorts leftover from some carnival or gallery he had been involved with. They were old and we had a lot of miss fires. We would have shot anything that fit in the chamber and let the bolt close. Fortunately, our rifles were all "short, long, long rifle" marked.

[Chris W.]

Kid factor has to be considered for sure. So there are 2 options. Option #1, make it safe and functional. Option #2, make it permanently non operational. Don't like option #2 much as it also destroys some of the collectors value now and in the future. So does option #1 with a relined barrel. But option #2 could end up being the only safe thing to do if the action won't stand the pressure of a modern LR in a fresh liner. Grandson already has a Chipmunk single shot rifle, he is going to have something to shoot either way.
Chris

[Chris W.]

It looks to be in good shape other than the barrel, after a full take down and inspection. Brownells has a liner with a twist rate of 1-20, should work out for a liner. Think if I chamber it only to take 22 short and long like the original, it should be good to go. Twist rate should be close enough to work well with shorts. This thing never was a match rifle new in the box. Think this should keep the 22 LR out of the gun if it won't chamber. This one had to belong to a city kid at one point, not shot much, not much wear. Think the ammo made in the day with no cleaning is what did the barrel in. Should be a fun project,
Chris

[dave]

It was a very cheap rifle when new and is now 100 years old (more or less). Why would you even think about using such a cheap piece of junk? Its for a collection only. Label it as dangerous to shoot, should take care of the future. I would not shoot one myself much less give it to any kid, law suit ready to happen, much less your grandchild?

[Chris W.]

Good question Dave,
thinking that it is indeed cheap, but would be more than safe if only fired with 22 short ammo, or the new 22 super Colibri powder-less rounds. 22 LR ( or any high pressure modern round ) would not chamber due to a short chamber, and this keeps high pressure rounds out of this rifle. It will end up as it started, as a cheap high powered pellet gun. Tags get lost more often than not. Only other way to treat it would be to make a permanent non-op by driving a taper pin in to the chamber and welding solid. ( a option to be sure ) My first choice is to safely pass on firearms that are in working condition, VS non-working hunks of iron. Would never put grandkids safety at risk, repaired, it will be as safe or more than the others going with it.
Chris

[dave]

You said it was chambered for short and long, long case and LR case is the same. A LR will chamber, may force the bullet a 'lil deeper which may raise pressure and yes it was made when 22 ammo was probably much milder, and you never know what a kid will try no matter what he is told!
PS: A 'long' is a LR case with a 22 short bullet, very inaccurate and useless round.

[Chris W.]

Yes, the case is the same size, but the bullet is longer ( by quite a bit ) in the LR round. The LR requires a longer chamber than the 22 long requires. 22 long is no longer manufactured except for a commonly found low pressure round made in Mexico, 22 Super Colibri, perfect low pressure round for this rifle. That round duplicates the factory OAL for a 22 long. I am going to cut my own chamber, and can cut the chamber short so the LR will never chamber in this gun, easy to do. Cutting a short chamber will only allow 22 short and 22 long to chamber and close the action. Guess this project is definitely more trouble than the rifle is worth. More about preserving a working history for the future.

[slumlord44]

Relining with the 1-20 liner chambered for .22 Long and being careful how you feed it is the right thinking. There are tons of old .22's out there that are safe if used with standard velocity ammo. I have a lot of Stevens boys rifles that I only shoot standard velocity long rifles in and a few that I only use standard velocity shorts or CB's in. As far as a gun for my grandchild to shoot on a regular business I would look for a current production Savage model 30 that is a modern day version of the Stevens Favorite.

[Chris W.]

The liner idea didn't work out. OD of the liner from Brownell's is .312. After drilling all of the stuff out of that barrel I found I needed one that was about .460. Lucky enough, I paid a visit to a local gun store, and sure enough, he had a good 1/20" twist .22 barrel laying in a pile of parts that I got for $20. Some turning to fit the ID of the tube, turn off some of the .22 LR chamber so it will only chamber .22 long, and we are good to go. Should finish this one sometime Monday. No, the grandson won't shoot this one regularly, he has a nice little Chipmunk single shot already that he uses often. Not only will this one be safe to shoot, but safe to pass on as well. In fact, with the new all steel barrel, think it's safer to fire than when it left the factory new. Grandson will get to fire it and see how kids had it 100 years ago and what a rifle that costs $1.50 looked like.
Chris

[Chris W.]

Project turned out nice, you can't tell about the new barrel from the outside except the crown on the end of the barrel had to be different. Even shoots well with 22 shorts hitting pop cans regularly @25 yards or so. Can't recommend this job to anyone that doesn't have a lathe at home. Sure the grandson will like it but it was much more work and time than the rifle is worth. The only positive is I preserved some working history.
Chris