Accuracy king of the small cals?

[Lightfoote]

Curious if there is a general consensus on which small/varmint cartridge is known for easy accuracy. I know the 6ppc is notorious, as well as BR/Dasher family for bench rest. In the 20-22 caliber range what would you build for an absolute eyeball puncher? 222rem had a good run, Vartarg seems pretty popular here, 22ppc?
Lots of variables I know but, look forward to hearing opinions. I don’t have much experience in this realm yet.

 

[Precisionhunter417]

Just about every 222 i have seen was capable of outstanding 0.2” or better accuracy. Though i have not seen many that were factory chambers. A few were dedicated BR setups with Hart barrels and Shilen actions from the late 90s easily shot 0.1s and even 0.09” on calm days. I vote 222 remmy.

 

[AWS]

I'm in the 222 Rem group, it is one of my go-to predator calling rounds. Barrels stay good for a long time, barrels that look like junk still seem to shoot well and it seems harder to find a bad load than a good one. It kills well too.

 

[Evlshnngns]

RESULTS 2024 | UltimateBenchrest.com

If you scroll through this you will see 22ppc, 220 beggs, 222.....

The Beggs and ppc have an advantage of a stronger case head, little more forgiving at high pressure.

 

[jcm24m]

I have 4 different calibers in the PPC family. 17-20-22-6mm. All are real hammers in accuracy.
My 22 PPC with the 53 grain VMAX killed 31 prairie dogs without a miss at ranges of 175-350 yards last summer. By the way, the 6 PPC does not make the trip prairie dogging.

 

[ricco1949]

20VT and 222.

 

[No manches"]

1 More vote for the 222 Rem.
Incredibly accurate

 

[Lightfoote]

Curious why the 222 is or would be more accurate than a 223? The longer neck?

 

[ELR LVR]

Curious if there is a general consensus on which small/varmint cartridge is known for easy accuracy. I know the 6ppc is notorious, as well as BR/Dasher family for bench rest. In the 20-22 caliber range what would you build for an absolute eyeball puncher? 222rem had a good run, Vartarg seems pretty popular here, 22ppc?
Lots of variables I know but, look forward to hearing opinions. I don’t have much experience in this realm yet.

I have not seen a 22BR that will not at least shoot .2's or better
Always shoots even better if you put some load development time in
Once you find a load, a 22BR almost always just shoots accurately without even trying hard
just point and pull trigger - Hit

 

[HankInWisconsin]

.222 +1

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

204 Ruger.

 

[Evan]

For fast twist, heavy bullets, I have found the 22 PPC superior to the 222 and the 22 PPC and 22 BR are tied up accuracy-wise. The 22 PPC takes 2 grains less to hit the same good node. That said the 222 is amusing to shoot at 1000 yards because it defies belief that 22ish gns of powder behind a 90gn bullet can work so well.

My fast twist 20 Vartarg shooting 55gn bergers is a very consistent performer, even after 2000 rounds down it. It is still knocking on the door of 1” groups at 600 yards, burning only 17.5gns to do so.

 

[Lightfoote]

Has anyone messed with the 22arc yet? It’s basically a 22ppc so I’m thinking it should be just as accurate

 

[Evan]

Has anyone messed with the 22arc yet? It’s basically a 22ppc so I’m thinking it should be just as accurate

It’s actually closer to a 22 Grendel and is just a hair under a 22BR in capacity. I would expect it to perform very well given my bookend experience with the 22PPC and 22BR.

A key piece of “accuracy” is that the case capacity matches the burn rate of an available powder, with the additional variables of bullet, throat design, and barrel configuration. All the “most accurate” combinations have all these variables in balance.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

I have 4 different calibers in the PPC family. 17-20-22-6mm. All are real hammers in accuracy.
My 22 PPC with the 53 grain VMAX killed 31 prairie dogs without a miss at ranges of 175-350 yards last summer. By the way, the 6 PPC does not make the trip prairie dogging.

Yep,.. the .22PPC or, .22GT launching, the Fabulous 53 grain, V-Max with, a 1-12 twist, 23- 24 inch, .690 to .705 dia muzzle ( A 10 Pound, Lt. Varmint ) AND,.. "Braked",.. FOR,. "Me" !
A PD and Sage Rat,.. "Super Rifle" to WATCH,. the "Splodies" !!!
Build WITH, a "Purpose",. in Mind !

 

[K22]

222 with 50 grain bullets and IMR 4198 - hard to imagine something better out to 250 yards and under. I took a bunch of ground hogs with this outstandingly excellent cartridge.

However, in testing their bullets, Sierra several years ago reported that the 223 Rem was every bit as capable of the 222. The advantage being an extra 100 ft/sec on average.

 

[K22]

Curious why the 222 is or would be more accurate than a 223? The longer neck?

In testing their bullets, Sierra reported that the 223 was every bit as capable as the 222.

My own experience with both from a pure accuracy standpoint is I would defer to the 222. This is just about the perfect cartridge design.

 

[L.Sherm]

I dont know how accurate Google is but I Google the 22 Grendel and ARC it says Grendel - 35.0 H20, 22 ARC- 34.6.
My 20PPCAI in the 3 cases i did were 34.1 - 34.3. If the Google #'s are correct i bet truly theres not much difference in all 3.

 

[L.Sherm]

I dont know how accurate Google is but I Google the 22 Grendel and ARC it says Grendel - 35.0 H20, 22 ARC- 34.6.
My 20PPCAI in the 3 cases i did were 34.1 - 34.3. If the Google #'s are correct i bet truly theres not much difference in all 3.

My guess is a 22PPCAI would have the same as an22 ARC case and maybe push 35.0

 

[STS]

.100 short 22PPC