.222

[reload]

As for the sub-calibers I don't see much about the .222 remington any more! It is the most accurate cartridge in the world next to the 6mm ppc, but is easy to load, shoots almost any bullet weight with many types of powders and there is loads of information on this round out there. Maybe shooters are just looking for something new or faster and don't care about accuracy, but if you are looking for a great caliber to experiment find a .222 and find out what it is like to shoot small groups. Good Luck

[Mad Reloader]

The "Triple Deuce" is by far one of the best ever Varminting cartridges ever devised.

However, it's the "kid sister" of the .223, and the plethora of brass and ammo available for that Remmy offering have really made that one more popular in recent years....

There's also this phenom of the newfangled "Ultra mag" and "Super Short Magnum" cartridges that have just appeared on the scene in the last couple years, and there's a number of shootists out there--used to work with one at the place I'm employed at--that hurriedly discard their current cartridges and get the "New Thing"

(Oh, and imagine their surprise at the Reloading stores when they realize that the 7000 grains of powder in a 1# can doesn't go very far with 'em! Heard one guy grousing that his Ultra Mag rifle was going through powder at a phenomenal rate...)

.300 Winchester Magnum's suffering from a lot of the same thing lately.... :(

[catfishsr]

RELOAD



I HAVE 3 (NO PUN INTENDED).222 AND THEY WILL MAKE LITTLE BITYYYYY HOLES . MY 15 YR. OLD SON NOW HAS HIS OWN . HE LIKES SUPPRISEING THE KNOW IT ALLS AT THE RANGE WHEN HE CONSTANLY GROUPS NICE TIGHT GROUPS AND THEY CANT DO AS WELL WITH THERE .223/308S . MY FAVORITE 1 IS ONE I ASSEMBLED FROM A 98 MAUSER WITH A BULL BARRLE,DOUBLE SET TRIGGER AND ZIESSI SCOPE IT WILL GROUP 1/2 @100 YRDS ALL DAY LONG . ALL MAKES NICE VARMIT ROUND.

[Cal Sibley]

I have a .222Rem. in a 40XBR from the early 80's and would never part with it. It's the greatest little ego builder I've ever owned. I also have it's big brother, the .222Rem. Mag. and that's no slouch either. They are far and away my most acurate weapons. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Catfish]

Another thing about the .222`s that is amazing is that they never seem to wear out barrels. I`ve got a friend that bought one in 1960 and carried it in his truck ever since. It`s had 1,000`s of rounds through it and he findly quit hunting with it 2 tears ago because he wasn`t hitting with it any more. I briught it home and run some Sweets 7.62 throuh it, after 50 patches they were still just as blue as the first 1 was. I got tired of cleaning it and took it out and fired a 5 shot group at 80 yrd. to see if I had gained anything. 5 holes all touching. He had never run any copper soulvent through it. I put another coat of finish on the stock and took it back, I figure I`ll clean the rest of the copper out of it in another 20 or 30 years. :D They aren`t the flatest shooting guns around, but they`ve probibly killed more groundhogs than any other round.

[cowpoke]

Another loyal fan of the triple duece here.

It is the most fun rifle I have. It isn't fancy, just a Rem 700 ADL synthetic, but it is a shooter.

[Jim-Iowa]

Unfortunately there are very few new ones available.
And as you can see from the above posts, those that have them are not likely to give them up.
At least here in Iowa it is hard to find a good used one.
That is the reason I bought a Savage 10FP in .223 and load it to .222 velocities. When I wanted a new Bolt gun.
I do have a Savage 24 222/20ga my wife bought me for christmas 32yrs ago, and it is SWEET.

[hofts]

i have a 221 fireball that is a rem 700lvsf. it is a great little shooter
i believe that it uses shortened triple duece brass.

[Mad Reloader]

Hofts:

Funny you should say 'shortened triple deuce brass'---

The .17 Rem, .221 Fireball, the .222, the .223 or 5.56 x 45mm, and the totally extinct .222 Remington Magnum are all variations on the same case head...much like the .270, .25-06, 8mm Mauser, .30'06, 7mm Mauser, & 6.5 x 55 Swede are all variations on the same 12mm o.d. case head!

Since the .221--that same Remmy case head as its 5 siblings, just shortened down to the proportions of the .218 Bee almost--was out of production for a while, the only way one could get "NEW" brass was to attempt sizing down .222!

Thankfully, R-P revived the .221 just in the nick of time, bless 'em.

[Jack]

...and the 'totally extinct' 222 magnum case is the basis for Ruger's new .204- pretty much a straight necked down 222 magnum case.

[Mad Reloader]

Now, THERE'S a project out there for all you folks still in possession of .222 Remington Magnum rifles but have gotten critically low on brass....

(Much like using .220 Swift to rework into 6mm Lee Navy!)

[earschplitinloudenboomer]

hofts;

Around 20 years ago, before it was a sin to turkey hunt with a rifle, I acquired a neat little Interarms MK-10, Mini Mauser in .223.
I had my 'smith shorten the chamber end of the barrel and rechamber for the .221. Everything worked great except rate of twist in the .223 barrel wont let me shoot the lighter bullets.
53 gr and up stabalize fine, anyway, we are suddenly faced with a 'yote problem here in southern West Virginia. I think it's time to wipe the dust off the fireball, get a new pound of Ball C #2 and a box of 55gr spitzers. Fireball in a rifle seems every bit as accurate as the fantastic .222, am running mid .222 velocities, and the brass lasts forever!

[Rocky Raab]

That's a bit odd, because a twist that will stabilize 52-gr and up is more than fast enough to stabilize lighter ones. Usually, the shorter the bullet the slower the twist needed.

I suspect a harmonic problem or a throat configuration that make that rifle prefer heavier bullets.

I have two Rem 788s in 223 that are that way. One of them likes any bullet weight I feed it. The other sprays anything under 55 grains all over the place. But it'll snug 55s or 60s into bug holes.

Fortunately, the one that shoots light bullets is my PD gun where I shoot all 50-grainers, and the other one is my coyote gun where I'd rather have a heavy bullet. If it were the other way around, I'd have sold both of them by now.

[earschplitinloudenboomer]

Rocky Raab;

You are probably right, the reamer used, for some reason gave the chamber an EXTREMELY long throat. Will be going up in bullet weight for cayotes now instead of turkey, so everything should be ok. Started out with 45 gr bullets, several loads, several powders, the heavier the bullet, the better the gun shoots. Up to a 53 gr hollow point now, accuracy very acceptable, when the weather breaks, plan to load some 55 gr spitzers.
Thanks for the advice.

[Cal Sibley]

My "totally extinct" .222Rem. Mag. in a Sako L461 single shot action with it's Hart SS heavy varmint barrel shoots in the .3"s (5 at 100yds.) all day. I still see a few at the range and in the woodchuck fields. I'd like to think they'll still be around when the .223 is dead and buried. It's been my favorite for many years now. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[BLUEDOT 72]

My totally extinct .222 RemMag. in an old 722 Remington still punches extinct touching holes at 100 and nearly so at 200 yds.
I love those totally extinct callibers....221, 222, 222 rm and even the not so extinct but barely equal .223.

[Jack]

I still have one of those extinct 222 magnums- a Sako L461 action and barrel in a Chet Brown fiberglass stock. Wears a 4-16 Weaver V series.
A rifle I'll never part with. Have enough brass stockpiled to wear out this barrel, and another one after that.
Took a friend of mine woodchuck hunting for a weekend. We used the 222 magnum Sako and a couple other rifles. By the end of the weekend, my friend was calling the 222 magnum 'the death ray', so I guess it works :D

[Hi Ball]

I just wanted to say that the .222 or Triple Deuce as some refer to the caliber, was without a doubt the most accurate caliber I ever owned or hunted with period.

It was easy on the fur and boring to shoot at paper targets. Why you could close your eyes and still print a group under 1/2 inch with factory ammo mind you, any day of the week come rain or shine.

I reloaded mine and for a light hunting rifle, it was fabulously accurate. It never had the distance of the 22-250 but then again the 250 was never as accurate as a general rule either. I would take another any day over the .17 or the .204.

[Cal Sibley]

I think a few feathers were ruffled by the phrase "Totally extinct .222Rem. Mag." There are many of us who are very attached to this caliber, and possibly we are overly touchy. There are more of them out there than you might think. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Mad Reloader]

If any feathers were ruffled on my account, forgiveness please!

For there are still a fair number of rifles chambered for same out there, most prolly in decent+ condition.

Getting hold of loaded rounds has been a bit problematical for several years, as none of the major manufacturers has rolled off factory ammo for quite a while. (Dangerous Dave the Old Western Scrounger is not exactly a "major" manufacturer, No offense Dave old buddy!)

For quite a while the dealy was hang onto that brass & reload it until such point as the casings wore out...because no more were to be had, and it's not like you could "de-shorten" .223 Rem to fit!

LUCKILY: The .204 Ruger...is apparently a .222 Rem Mag necked down to twenty-calibre, so all one needs do as of last year or so is to get hold of some brass of that ilk, run it through the dies, yada yada yada...and you have some .222 Rem Mag brass ready to go! ;)

To me--a cartridge is extinct when you literally CANNOT find any new ammo for it. (Anybody remember the Herter's .401 Powermag?)

But one can "Easycat" or "Mildcat", if not Wildcat brass in current production calibres in some instances--Jurassic Park on the Loading bench, if you will--to revive out-of-production cartridges.

(Like using .220 Swift to make 6mm Remington-Lee Navy, or .348 Win heavily reworked to make 11mm Mauser, or .38 Special shortened to make .38 Long or .38 Short Colt)

Once in a while...you're just out of luck though. .32 Long Colt being one, 7.62 x 38 Rimmed Nagant Revolver another as far as a box of loaded ammo goes. You can still use .32 Short Colt in the former--and reworked .32-20 for the latter("7.62 x 33" Rimmed Nagant Revolver), but it's just not quite the same. Only other option? Pay whatever Bertram Brass is asking and live with it.

To me--"extinct" means the ammo is no longer around outside of relict boxes turning up once in a blue moon.

And much of the time one can--if things are amenable--"clone" these Pleistocene and Mesozoic cartridges.

(.41 Swiss Rimfire...hey, sorry, that's all she wrote! Least you can still stuff .32 Colt Shortys into some of those "Calibre .320" Victorian leftovers)

Regards---

[kjd]

Hi guys hows it going?

Just thought I'd let you guys know that the 222rem is still very much alive down in Aus being a favourite amongst our farmers and hunters although not as popular as the 223 the ones that do own a 222rem love it!

I have a 222rem a Mod 70 Heavy Varmint and it is a great accurate rifle... but light weight it is not.
Here is a bit about me shooting with my 222rem
Hunting with my Winchester 222rem (http://hunters-hut.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=306)

Great forum you guys have here!