I have just purchased a .221 Remington Fireball to be used for varmit hunting at night. Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a good load to use. I may try some Lil' Gun powder with a 45 grain Speer Spitzer. Anyone have a better idea.

Lil Gun, AA1680 and 40 grain Hornadys Vmax, 50 grain Noslers, and 50 grain Sierra Blitzkings over CCI Small Rifle primers have worked well for me.

I tried the 35 grain Hornadys but never could get them to group very well.

I have, I am sure, one of the only Fireballs in Africa. Mine shoots beautifully with 40 gr V-max's. Our South African powders are different to yours, so for interest sake only, 16gr S265 for 3400fpswww.graaffreinetsafaris.co.za[/URL]. I have not yet gotten a heavier bullet to shoot as well.
Know the dassie (hyrax)? I have countless on the ranch and this cartridge was made for them!
[URL=www.graaffreinetsafaris.co.za]

My 700 Rem LS rifle likes 18.6 Gr of Re7 powder, Hornady 40 Gr V-Max bullets, Fed 205 M primers, in a Rem case. Under 3/4 inch five shot 100 Yd groups. The Feb 2007 issue of Predator Xtreme has a two page artical about the .221 Fireball

I have a CZ and it absolutely sings with AA1680 in Rem .221 cases with the 40 V-Max and 7 1/2BR primers.
RL7 was accurate but quite slow. That could well be the lot of powder I was using.
The 1680 was faster than expected and incredibly accurate for a factory rifle, very pleased to be sure.

i'm using 19 gr of RL7 and a 40 gr nosler BT. Its a great load, but you have to use a long drop tube and shake the case a bit to get it all in. You'll like the little 221, kinda of like a super hornet with low noise and good ballistics