CZ 455 caliber conversion?

[Gryff]

Hello all,

CZ rifle noob here. Please forgive if I ask any silly questions.

I bought a 455 FS (Mannlicher stock) in .22WMR a few years back. Thoroughly enjoy the rifle. It's my understanding that you can swap calibers with the 455 series, and I have an interest in converting the gun to .22LR to take advantage of my larger supply of LR ammo. Is this just a matter of swapping the barrel? Do I need to swap the magazine also?

Also, because the 455 FS has the full-length stock, anything other than a barrel of the same length is going to look terrible on the gun. CZ's specs list the barrel at 20.5". Can I assume a CZ 21" barrel would work?

Thanks all.

[david s]

The magazine well also needs a spacer and pin to accommodate the shorter 22 L.R. magazines. CZ-USA in the past offered different 20.5-inch barrels with sights in 22L.R and 17 HMR for the Full Stocked rifles, the 22 L.R. barrel came with the needed spacer. Oddly enough longer barrels with the same profile look pretty good in a Mannlicher stocked CZ 455. On RIMFIRECENTRAL a member that goes by Signalman built one using a 24" barrel without sights, if you search the forum, there are photos. As long as the barrel has the slimmer American profile instead of the thicker Target/Varmint barrel profile and is long enough the barrel should swap.

[david s]

                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                 
The 22 L.R. spacer and pin on the left and the difference between the 17HMR/22 Magnum (top) and 22 L.R. (bottom) magazines.