Who Knows the 222 Remington?

[Mark W]

No, went with .246 neck. I figure I'll turns necks to get about .002 clearance and see how it goes.

Mine is also a .246 neck. I’m anxious to see how your project turns out. I might try one of those barrels myself.

Told my wife I was gonna order a Leupold VX-3 (CDS, side focus, 30mm). She put the kibosh on that. Said I have enough scopes already.

Obviously she does not understand.

Trust me, my wife doesn’t understand either!!

 

[AccelR8]

Had to turn it to about .993" in order for the lug to fit. 20 tpi, thread fit into the action is just about perfect if I do say so myself! Bolt nose clearance right now is .013", which is the smallest it can be given that there's a shoulder in the action that the barrel cannot extend beyond, at least not without deviating from the original tenon design, and the bolt nose stops shy of that shoulder by about 10-12 thou. Bolt nose clearance with the original barrel was about .025-.030.

Fun stuff.

 

[AccelR8]

All back together. Off to the range then. Report at 11.

 

[Brians356]

Not bad for 2 year old ammo in a 55 year old rifle.

My 1975 Sako L-461 Vixen, 222 Rem, H4198, CCI #450, 40-gr V-Max moly.


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[AccelR8]

Well, I wish I had pictures of little tiny groups but the truth is I'm a little disappointed. Maybe I shouldn't be, first time out with a new barrel and zero load development. Plus, the wind was crazy. 13-15 mph continuous with gusts to 24 mph, coming from anywhere between about 3:30 and 5:30. I thought I did a decent job of shooting between the gusts though.

I got some H322 and had on hand some Hornady 55 grain SPSX. I shot 5 at 1.5 grain above the starting charge (Hodgdon data) at 50 yards to get on paper. Then I went to 100 yards.

I had loaded four groups of five rounds, each group going up .3 grains. I shot them round-robin. Cleaning every 5 rounds (barrel break in, you know... ).

One group had a half-inch vertical dispersion and one and three quarters inch horizontal. Wind, right? Except that the group just previous to it, .3 gr less powder, looks just like it but turned 90 degrees. One and three quarters vertical and a half inch horizontal.

Best group of the day was exactly one and one quarter inch and looked like a 5 on a dice; four shots making a square and a shot right in the middle. Can't blame anything on wind there.

The loads all seemed very, very mild. I did not take my chrono so I don't know speeds but they are all within published data.

Oh well, try different bullets I guess.

 

[AccelR8]

My 1975 Sako L-461 Vixen, 222 Rem, H4198, CCI #450, 40-gr V-Max moly.
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Great group!

edit; I started to write "Too bad about that flyer" but I wasn't sure you'd realize I was joking.

 

[Brians356]

Great group!

edit; I started to write "Too bad about that flyer" but I wasn't sure you'd realize I was joking.

That's nothing to joke about, sir.

Of course, that was the best group I could dig out. I consider it 1/4 MOA even with the "flyer". It only serves to illustrate the potential of a good Sako in 222.

I did a lot of testing of powder charge with bullet touching the lands, and saw 5/8" to 3/4" groups. Then someone suggested changing the bullet jump, and immediately I saw a pattern of improvement with .020 and .030 jump really tightened up. As this Sako is a hunting rifle, I stopped at the .020" jump shown and never looked back. Since then (20 years ago?) I have adopted the methodical approach of Erik Cortina as described in the forum archives.
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[Brians356]

the wind was crazy. 13-15 mph continuous with gusts to 24 mph, coming from anywhere between about 3:30 and 5:30. I thought I did a decent job of shooting between the gusts though.
...
One group had a half-inch vertical dispersion and one and three quarters inch horizontal. Wind, right? Except that the group just previous to it, .3 gr less powder, looks just like it but turned 90 degrees. One and three quarters vertical and a half inch horizontal.

Not sure I would switch bullets so soon. Nothing wrong with 55 SPSX. A windy day like that is not optimal for testing. I would wait for a calmer day, and jump back to that 1/2" of vertical group (discarding horizontal spread) and try 0.2 or 0.3 grain increments either side of it, concentrating on vertical, and looking for indication that the barrel is near a swing reversal. Then start changing the bullet jump 3 thousandths at a time.

See Erik Cortina's load development thread.:
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/long-range-load-development-at-100-yards.3814361/
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[Drop Port]

My 1975 Sako L-461 Vixen, 222 Rem, H4198, CCI #450, 40-gr V-Max moly.

View attachment 1148937
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That was my load before I went to the 52 Berger. The 40 V-Max shot as good or better than the Berger at 3580fps Only problem was they were nearly falling out of the neck, only held in by about .050" so I tried the 52's

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

Well, I wish I had pictures of little tiny groups but the truth is I'm a little disappointed. Maybe I shouldn't be, first time out with a new barrel and zero load development. Plus, the wind was crazy. 13-15 mph continuous with gusts to 24 mph, coming from anywhere between about 3:30 and 5:30. I thought I did a decent job of shooting between the gusts though.

Below is a 200-yard score target I shot in a local factory class match with my 1980s-vintage Remington 700V in .222. (Yes, somebody crossfired with a .30-cal on target #1.) It wasn't a very windy day, but you can see for yourself on the sighter ("S") target how much the bullet was being blown around. I was holding all over the place to keep them in the 10-ring on the record targets. And this was with a set of wind flags on each of a dozen benches, so I had a good read on conditions. If you're shooting without wind flags, you aren't going to shoot small except by accident/luck.

I was shooting Remington brass, 24.0gr H322, 52gr Bruno FB, 7-1/2 primer, 6.5-20x40 Leupold. The 10-ring on a 200-yard hunter BR target is 1" in diameter, X-dot is 1/8". I still have this rifle, but now use it mostly for coyotes.

 

[Brians356]

Only problem was they were nearly falling out of the neck, only held in by about .050" so I tried the 52's

You don't need much neck engagement, but that's dicey. My 222 load catches .120" neck on the bearing surface, so seated touching the lands would be .100" which is about as low as I care to go.
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[AccelR8]

The way I had prepped my brass was, I ran all my brass through my standard, non-bushing full length resizer. Then I turned all the case necks to give me a .244” neck on a loaded round. Worked good, after a bit of trial and error.

I had expected that after firing, the die would not resize the neck portion and this turned out to be true. It barely touches the neck and does not provide anywhere near enough tension, again as I expected. My way around this was to order a Lee collet neck size die to use after the full length die. Since nobody around here stocks anything for the 222 I ordered one. Should work OK.

Anxious to get on with load development, after dinner today I ran all my fired cases through the full length die. Got my brand-new collet die out of the package, took it out of the box. Read the directions just to refresh my memory. Took it apart and added a touch of lube, put it together and into the press, adjusted just like Lee says.

Ran the first piece of brass in. Nothing. Another one...nothing. No neck resizing whatsoever. Huh. I thought this would work. Took the die out of the press, turned it over and dropped a case inside, which disappeared into the die. Well that ain't right. Look at the caliber marking on the skirt of the die...22-250! Son-of-a...

So I have a few choices now in order to carry on...order again and wait, or I can repeat my first process of sizing new or fired brass and then neck turn. In order to get brass I can pull down some factory ammo I have, or form some out of fired LC 5.56 brass, which I have a lot of and have done before...order new brass and again, wait...

 

[Brians356]

Took the die out of the press, turned it over and dropped a case inside, which disappeared into the die. Well that ain't right. Look at the caliber marking on the skirt of the die...22-250! Son-of-a...

That reminds me of a not-too-similar moment, but I like telling it:

My buddy and I were sniping California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) in Nevada, shooting up to granite boulders in a steep box canyon. My buddy shooting 22-250, me 223 (both R700s). We were sitting close together on the ground, elevating using shooting sticks, taking turns spotting for each other. While I glassed, waiting for him to fire, I heard a "tink" followed by "Damnation!" He had groped for a round out of his cartridge box while watching a squirrel through his scope, but grabbed a 223 round out of my box by mistake, chambered it and pulled the trigger. Makes me sweat even now.
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[AWS]

Built this, Savage action, Shaw Barrel, SSS trigger, Boyds stock and Vortex 6.5-20x40mm target dot. Very utilitarian but gets the job done.



And won this with it.



Then there's the hunting rifles in 222 Rem

Model 70 Meopta Artimes 1.5-6x40mm






The Sako 1-4x20m Leupold



I like the 222 Rem,

 

[AccelR8]

Nice rifles and nice bike too!

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Not sure I would switch bullets so soon. Nothing wrong with 55 SPSX. A windy day like that is not optimal for testing. I would wait for a calmer day, and jump back to that 1/2" of vertical group (discarding horizontal spread) and try 0.2 or 0.3 grain increments either side of it, concentrating on vertical, and looking for indication that the barrel is near a swing reversal. Then start changing the bullet jump 3 thousandths at a time.

See Erik Cortina's load development thread.:
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/long-range-load-development-at-100-yards.3814361/
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Never had too good luck with Hornady 55 gr SPSX in my 222. Try some 52 grain Berger match with IMR 4198.

 

[sw282]

1990 l was at Ft Hood TX as a guest of Uncle Sam.. Saw my first prairie dog on that trip.. l think l also saw my first issue of VHA magazine. From then on I was HOOKED/obsessed with prairie dogs.. lt was so bad l completely quit deer hunting!! That's when l assembled a battery for my first prairie dog CHUUT. No lnternet then so l bought locally. Found a Win Mod70 HV in 243 and a Winchester Model 670 sporter in 222 Remington!!! A 3.5-10 VX3 went on the 222 and 6.5-20 for the 243. May 93 l was free from Uncle Sam with a CK once a month too. Not too long after l was back in TX. PDS was my mission. Not training troops. l booked a shoot with a TX DPS employee who was also a part-time PD guide. My ammo was store bought S@B 50gr sp for the 222... 243 l think l shot some factory stuff around 60gr.. My plan was to use the 222 out maybe 200yds and the 243 beyond... l had only shot the 222 at 100yds. Max on our public range... l was impressed with BOTH guns. l liked the 222 BEST!! Setting up that first day outside Plainview TX l remember my first prairie dog. l took aim on the little sentry standing face forward. Hit him square in the chest at app 50 yards. Upon impact l saw a bit of red mist.. What remember most was launching his whole head STRAIT UP!!

 

[Mark W]

Well, I wish I had pictures of little tiny groups but the truth is I'm a little disappointed. Maybe I shouldn't be, first time out with a new barrel and zero load development. Plus, the wind was crazy. 13-15 mph continuous with gusts to 24 mph, coming from anywhere between about 3:30 and 5:30. I thought I did a decent job of shooting between the gusts though.

I got some H322 and had on hand some Hornady 55 grain SPSX. I shot 5 at 1.5 grain above the starting charge (Hodgdon data) at 50 yards to get on paper. Then I went to 100 yards.

I had loaded four groups of five rounds, each group going up .3 grains. I shot them round-robin. Cleaning every 5 rounds (barrel break in, you know... ).

One group had a half-inch vertical dispersion and one and three quarters inch horizontal. Wind, right? Except that the group just previous to it, .3 gr less powder, looks just like it but turned 90 degrees. One and three quarters vertical and a half inch horizontal.

Best group of the day was exactly one and one quarter inch and looked like a 5 on a dice; four shots making a square and a shot right in the middle. Can't blame anything on wind there.

The loads all seemed very, very mild. I did not take my chrono so I don't know speeds but they are all within published data.

Oh well, try different bullets I guess.

Any updates on your progress with this setup?

 

[AccelR8]

Any updates on your progress with this setup?

Not yet.

I had planned a range trip last Thursday when the weather forecast was favorable. Spent lots of time prepping ammo. But then, as always seems to happen whenever I plan something like this, a big emergency at work required my presence. Of course when all is said and done, it was really no emergency at all, but that's another story.

My plan now is to go on Tuesday, the weather is forecast to be about the best we can ask for at this time. I'm not so concerned with precipitation or temperature, but it's been very windy lately.

I'll report back with results.

 

[AccelR8]

Is it just me, or does anyone else appreciate the aesthetics of a good-looking cartridge? Getting stuff ready for the range tomorrow, I have that "High Hopes" song stuck in my head!