222 Appreciation

[Ed D]

Sometime in the 1990s I bought a Bullberry .222 Rem 12" match barrel for my T/C Contender, the old one with the Cougar frame. Never used it for hunting as upland birds was my thing, but have done a lot of paper punching and banged a lot of steel with it. It's not only the superb rifle-like accuracy that impresses me, it's also the mild mannered way it shoots and handles. I also had a 14" (maybe 12"?) .223 barrel that I wore out long ago. By comparison, the .223 was vulgar to shoot, with huge fireballs coming out the muzzle, the horrible noise and exaggerated muzzle flip. The .222 has always been a pleasure to shoot, and that barrel still looks like new inside and out despite the few thousand rounds I have put through it.

I currently have a Remington 700 in .223 Rem that I customized. I love that rifle and it has always been a tack-driver. When I wear out the barrel, guess what caliber I'm goint to have it rebarreled in?

BTW, although the .222 Rem isn't popular in the US it's popular in countries that don't allow its citizens to own firearms in military calibers.

EDIT - PICTURES ADDED 08/26/2022:


My T/C Contender with .222 Rem barrel and Burris 2x-7x LER scope.


I shot this group a couple of years ago. She can shoot like that all the time, but unfortunately, I can't.

Ed

 

[cuznguido]

Been reloading and shooting longer than I want to admit. I am fairly new into the 222, maybe 3 years now. It is an old outdated cartridge and anemic I heard from many, yet more than one I looked up to said it was an accurate easy to load and tune cartridge.
Well I bought a brand new one, Howa Mini, restocked it with a Boyd’s varmint stock. I have tried numerous powders and numerous bullet weights and designs. The tough decision was which one was enough better to choose. One of the last bullets I tried was the varmagedon 36 grain. Superior speed and as accurate as any of the other great load combos.
Powders, I chuckle as I can’t say which one is any better than another. I found the mid range to upper midrange to be a sweet spot. I honestly plan on using up a bunch of odds and ends and discontinued powders in this one.
Brass is spotty but can be found. I got PO’d and just made a few hundred out of virgin 223, problem solved.

I would be seriouslly interested in your procedure for resizing the brass, if you feel like sharing.

 

[AWS]

I anneal down into the shoulder, use Imperial sizing wax and run through my 222 Rem FL die without the expander ball. I trim with a mandrel free trimmer, C&H, Wilson, Lee Quick Trim and chamfer. Then size again with the expander ball in.

If I don't anneal enough of the case the shoulders wrinkle.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

I have had my share of 222's along with 22/250s and they are both excellent cartridges. My "Tongue in Cheek" comment was made to question the 222 being a 400 yd cartridge. It is NOT. 250 yds is more it's wheel house for reliable varmint kills and certainly no more than that when shooting in the wind out West on Prairie Dogs.
I don't think there is such a thing as overkilling when it comes to varmint shooting. Prairie Dogs with a 22/250 , that is where the term "Red Mist" came from.

Sir having shot one for quite a few years ,it is definitely a 300 yard, and possibly 400 yard varmint getter. Hornady 35 grain superformance at 300 yards is packing about 350 ft lbs, plenty enough for coyotes and gh';s, the 50 grain superformance is packing close to 400 ft lbs. Now i'll agree with you on one thing first you've got to hit them,and in my book 300,to 400 is a poke considering, I only shoot varmints, I can do it, done it, but since the 204 came in existence the 22/250, and 222 have gone to new homes, just saying.The venerable 204 was a varmint hunters orgasm ,guaranteed.

 

[mikeinct]

I concur w the above. For 350 to 500M I prefer my Tac 20. Beyond that I'm reaching for the 243Win.

 

[SShooterZ]

One of my favorite calibers. I’ll always have at least 1 in the safe.

Is Bob Green doing work again?

 

[Bob3700]

Sir having shot one for quite a few years ,it is definitely a 300 yard, and possibly 400 yard varmint getter. Hornady 35 grain superformance at 300 yards is packing about 350 ft lbs, plenty enough for coyotes and gh';s, the 50 grain superformance is packing close to 400 ft lbs. Now i'll agree with you on one thing first you've got to hit them,and in my book 300,to 400 is a poke considering, I only shoot varmints, I can do it, done it, but since the 204 came in existence the 22/250, and 222 have gone to new homes, just saying.The venerable 204 was a varmint hunters orgasm ,guaranteed.

Out West where the wind never stops blowing, it would be a challeng to consistently hit a prairie dog at any range over 300 yds. Your windage adjustments will more than not be holding off of fur to connect. That ends up being a cr*p shoot. Ur hit percentage is going to go down. Bullet selection will also be important as u need one that will expand at the lower remaining velocities. The 22/250 and 204 are much better choices if u want to hit dogs at those longer ranges and make consistent kills.
Nothing against a 222, great cartridge. Just use it within its capability.

 

[dgeesaman]

One of my favorite calibers. I’ll always have at least 1 in the safe.

Is Bob Green doing work again?

Bob is semi retired. I know he cut down on the range of work he does but I didn’t ask for details. I do think he still enjoys chambering work.

 

[moorepower]

I think Howa only produced the Mini in 222 for a short while on its original introduction - certainly it's not been listed for a long time as far as I can see. As the then new rifle design received some magazine reviews 'down under', I always wondered if this early build had the Australian / New Zealand markets in mind where I understand the triple-two still has a considerable following.

Sounds nice - pleased for you that it shoots well. (I like the 1500 Mini - have a 6.5 Grendel in an Oryx stock.)

I have a Mini in .222. It shoots 50 Vmax very well, so it has to be at least a 1-14. Some day I will stick a tight patch down it and measure for sure.

 

[moorepower]

I anneal down into the shoulder, use Imperial sizing wax and run through my 222 Rem FL die without the expander ball. I trim with a mandrel free trimmer, C&H, Wilson, Lee Quick Trim and chamfer. Then size again with the expander ball in.

If I don't anneal enough of the case the shoulders wrinkle.

That's the step I am missing! I have read so many guys just run through the sizer, and it's not working for me.

 

[moorepower]

Out West where the wind never stops blowing, it would be a challeng to consistently hit a prairie dog at any range over 300 yds. Your windage adjustments will more than not be holding off of fur to connect. That ends up being a cr*p shoot. Ur hit percentage is going to go down. Bullet selection will also be important as u need one that will expand at the lower remaining velocities. The 22/250 and 204 are much better choices if u want to hit dogs at those longer ranges and make consistent kills.
Nothing against a 222, great cartridge. Just use it within its capability.

As ironic as it sounds, 4 out of the last 5 years that I went to Wyoming, out of 12 days, I had 1/2 of a day when the wind was over 7mph.

 

[Ray123]

Still enjoying the 222, bought thousands of rds of brass for it years ago...down one 222 now. But I'll always have a 222. Back in the day it was extremely popular. I knew a guy who killed elk with it, when I thought a 25-06 was too small for elk...it was popular up north for Walrus, seal, and even polar bear...222 and sometimes the 220 Swift, were widely used with that old factory ammo 50 gr SP for 222 and 48 gr SP for the Swift....no premium bullets used, most weren't invented yet...and some used the really big game rifle, the 30-30 Winchester lever action, with those expensive factoty bullets, costing almost $5 a box.

 

[Kittitas George]

Still enjoying the 222, bought thousands of rds of brass for it years ago...down one 222 now. But I'll always have a 222. Back in the day it was extremely popular. I knew a guy who killed elk with it, when I thought a 25-06 was too small for elk...it was popular up north for Walrus, seal, and even polar bear...222 and sometimes the 220 Swift, were widely used with that old factory ammo 50 gr SP for 222 and 48 gr SP for the Swift....no premium bullets used, most weren't invented yet...and some used the really big game rifle, the 30-30 Winchester lever action, with those expensive factoty bullets, costing almost $5 a box.

You reminded me of back when the salmon trollers would shoot the sea lions that were stealing the salmon on the line, before they could be reeled in. Impossible to sell a fish with huge bites out of it. The guns were stored against the overhead in the wheel house, easy and quick to grab. Many of the SCUBA divers in SE Alaska had yellow tape on the seams of their wet suites so they weren't confused with a sea lion or seal. WOW, that's a lot of years ago, early1960s. Many of those fishermen also had a 'big gun' 270 or '06 stored against the overhead also, if the opportunity came they'd shoot a deer on the beach. Many didn't earn a living, they earned an existence.

 

[Juppe12]

This would be nice .222 to own
valmet M76 (AK)



https://www.asetalo.fi/aseet/kaytetyt-aseet/kivaarit/valmet-m76-222-kayt-/2777/

 

[AWS]

Lots of odd rifles were chambered in 222 Rem, Ruger Mini-14, Browning BLR, Rem 760 plus a variety of European drillings and combo guns. I believe that the semi-autos were intended for countries that didn't allow military cartridges for use by civilians.

 

[hpshooter]

Lots of odd rifles were chambered in 222 Rem, Ruger Mini-14, Browning BLR, Rem 760 plus a variety of European drillings and combo guns. I believe that the semi-autos were intended for countries that didn't allow military cartridges for use by civilians.

I believe that J&G Rifle Ranch was selling Colt AR-15's in .222 Rem. in the late 70's early 80's that were over runs on a contract for a middle eastern country. Almost bought one.

 

[JSH]

I would be seriouslly interested in your procedure for resizing the brass, if you feel like sharing.

I used trim die to form in. Imperial sizing wax.
222FL die with internals removed, FL sized against shell holder.
Expander mandrel then to the trimmer. (If you don’t have one, short stroking over decap expander should work) It helps I am a die junkie. Have a bunch, number would embarrass me if I counted, over 100 different calibers 20 years ago. Lol, just acquired one I have lusted after for a long time, 224 Clark.
Inside and outside chamfered.
Then back into the 222FL die again just to get the neck right and make sure the shoulder is good.
I also anneal when done.
Similar to what I did to make 221/20VT/17FB. These have to be neck turned.

There are some 3D printed jigs to go onto the mini harbor freight chop saw to make various cartridges. I used one for the 221FB. Saves a lot of work.

Mini chop saw has paid for itself.
Did I save much? Maybe not, but I produced what I needed of good or better quality than what was available. Virgin brass, chop saw and extra blades, a couple of dies and some time.
221 brass was bringing close to $1 each if you could find it, for a while anyway. 222 wasn’t easy to come buy and not far from $1 shipped.
I bought 223 in large lots to save a few $ split some with buddies when I had extra.

Checked the twist on my Howa mini it is a 1-12” best I can tell.