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Anyone familiar with .218 Bee?

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mott555:
Hey guys, registered a while ago but haven't really been around. Oops.

Anyway, I recently inherited an old bolt-action rifle chambered in .218 Bee. I forget the model number but I can get that after work if anyone wants to know what it is (no it's not for sale).

I have one old box of .218 Bee ammo that is probably older than I, it was stored with the rifle. And I am unable to find anyplace that has it in stock. MidwayUSA at least has it listed but always out-of-stock.

I know the thing is ancient and might just be a collector piece now, but it's in fair condition and I would plink with it if I could reliably source ammo. Any tips?

Other than that, any thoughts/info about the .218 Bee? As best as I can tell, it looks like it might be a predecessor to the .223 Remington as it's a .22 centerfire cartridge.

mott555:
After reading online I found that the Winchester Model 43 was one of the very few .218 Bee bolt-action rifles, and I'm pretty sure it's one of those.

Found ammo listed on a dozen different sites but every single one was out of stock. I guess I'll look for brass next, I have a buddy with a handloading press so that might be an option.

Given how rare the ammo is, I guess this thing will not see much action, but it would be nice to have a small stockpile for it just in case.

gsd:
Finding .218 Bee is nearly impossible, (but you probably already knew that).

You can form it from .25-20 brass, but that is alsa gaining a reputation as hens teeth.

My best suggestion would be to visit Midway, scheels, gander Mountain, and all the other outdoor supply websites and set up an email notification.  they show they stock it, but don't have any.

mott555:
Impossible is the right word.

I need to see if my Hornady reloading guide has this caliber. Some cursory Internet searches seem to indicate it uses normal .224 bullets, if that's true then that makes everything but the brass easy. I'm not sure but my guess is brass might be easier to find than full cartridges, unless everyone who still uses .218 is into handloading too.

FarmerRick:
Try the gun shows. Fremont is this weekend, Lincoln is the next.

Also, look at smaller gun shops and possibly Gun Unlimited in Omaha.

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