I appreciate all of your suggestions, really do. I think I'll stay with the 17HMR conversion (just happen to have a liner and liner reamer in the shop) and just extend the blade on the hammer down a bit. I'll need to do a double liner to fill the large .44 bore that's toast, but I think I can do that without too many problems. And I think I will keep the old wood and repair it as necessary because it really isn't that bad. One of the biggest obstacles to centerfire conversion is the percussion nipple which I removed. I'd need to do a lot of tig welding to fill the hole left by that. It should make into a nice little rimfire rifle that will be plenty of fun to shoot.
