Ruger 10/22 to HMR modification?

I have a Ruger 10 22 that I'm obviously doing some heavy modifying to and I was looking at upgrading the barrel when I ran across the idea of changing the barrel and bolt to.17 mach 2. After further research I think I have come to the conclusion that.17HMR would be the better route if it's even possible. So far all I have done is upgraded the stock and got a BDC scope from Nikon for rimfire rifles. Could I turn my 10 22 into a.17HMR? Is this something I can do with just a barrel and bolt? Or would it require a new receiver and stock as well? And if so a new trigger assembly as well? Or are the triggers universal on.22 and.22 magnum? Thanks for all your support to all my.22 fans especially my Ruger 10 22 fanatics! Keep plinking!

Added (1). Or would the.17 mach 2 just be a better option, Id be getting a volquartsen barrel and bolt if I go that rout.

Ruger, along with other companies, tried to make semi auto.17 hmr rifles, it just didn't work.

Ruger made one called the 10/17, it was a failure and so was the Remington 597 chambered in.17 hmr.
They were recalled and everyone got a refund.

So after you spend probably over $1, 000 making this rifle, you will have a unreliable jamming POS.

The hardest part would be in making a suitable magazine, as the.17 HMR is considerably longer than a.22 lr, and thus won't come close to fitting in the factory magazine. And as a result, you'd likely need an elongated receiver. By the time you're done, practically everything would have to be replaced. The 10/22 can't really reasonably be converted to any other calibre.

I'd save the money and frustration and buy one of these:

http://www.alexanderarms.com/index.php/17-hmr-released.html

This is the only functioning semi automatic 17HMR on the market. It is solely designed on the.17 Hornaday Magnum Rifle round, not a.22 long rifle or anything else.

.17 caliber rimfire rounds don't work well in semi-autos. The incredibly lightweight bullets don't have enough inertia to operate the bolt, so unless you were to design a very specific gun for it, it simply wouldn't cycle very reliably.

It doesn't matter if you're using.17 HMR or.17 HM2, either. Neither one would cycle the bolt reliably, especially not a bolt designed for a bullet that is close to twice the weight of a 17-grain.17-caliber bullet.

Stick with a bolt action.17 HMR.

I don't know of any 22lr/22mag to 17hmr2/17hmr conversions that have been successful. Volquartsen seems to be the only company capable of making a reliable 17 auto-loader. But their conversions don't work well. Just by the Volquartsen and save yourself a lot of grief.

You would have to buy a receiver for a.22 Magnum 10/22 in order to convert it to.17 HMR.

You would have to go with the.17 HM2 conversion.

If you go and do this, I recommend that you order the heavy bolt made by Volquartsen and replace the factory 10/22 bolt. Be very careful when installing the new bolt, as the guide rod and spring are not attached to the bolt handle, and if you do not get the guide rod seated properly into the pocket at the rear of the receiver and let the bolt go forward, you will not be able get it back into its proper position and will not be able to pull the bolt back.

Even after doing all of this, you may still have problem with this conversion. Check your spent brass for doming of the base, and or, deformation of the case just ahead of the primer rim. Also I would recommend getting a set of headspace gauges for the.17HM2 and check the headspace before firing the gun.

I did ths conversion on one of my 10/22's and in the first hundred rounds, I experienced one primer rim separation. Then I started checking all of my spent brass and found that the bases were domed and some deformation of the cases ahead of the primer rim.

After checking head space, I saw an ad for the Volquartsen heavy bolt for the.17 HM2 conversion and ordered one. After replacing the bolt, with a very great deal of difficulty because the guide rod slipped out of the pocket at the rear of the receiver, I took it out to the range to test it out.

I still sometime get some slight doming of the base of some of the rounds, but nothing like before I changed bolts. One other thing about this conversion is that the 25 and 30 round magazines do not work very well at all with the.17 HM2. I've good luck with the factory 10 round magazines though.

Hope this helps you out.