Anyone researched target quality loads for a 222 Rem using varget or WW748? I have used these very successfully for my 223 so I was wondering...
Peter.

Sierra lists 748 for a all of their bullets in .222 Rem. Varget is better with heavier bullets in the .223. With light bullets Varget fills the case, there may not be enough case volume to use Varget in .222

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Anyone researched target quality loads for a 222 Rem using varget or WW748? I have used these very successfully for my 223 so I was wondering...
Peter.

The 222 was the benchrest round for many years and there were a number of benchrest loads used for it including Reloader 7 and 4198 and Ball C lot #1.
If you research the old match reports you will find some of the data listed. At one time some of it was listed in Rifle Magazine.

Thanks Sam, I will take a look. I agree about the Varget and heavier bullets.
SR, I am aware of the powders you mentioned as I have been shooting informal BR for 20 years or so using Bergers, Bruno's and others. I have used 4198, and RL7, but Varget was not around back then. My favorable experiences with the powders I mentioned in the 223 led me ask if anyone had used them (successfully) in the 222. That and the fact that I have quite a bit of the powders I mentioned in the OP.
Peter.
PS. the best load I have is with VV N133 but hat is expensive and often hard to find.

52/3 Sierra benchrester and 25-7 gr BLC-2.
Been a bughole shooter for decades.

Depends on the gun & shooter - tell us about your triple deuce

I had to look it up since it was my first rifle load but I loaded some 50 grain Vmax loads with IMR-4198, from 19.8 to 20.6 by .1 grain increments. I shot 19.8 to 20.3 but don't have any group info. I loaded up to 20.6 but didn't shoot past the 20.3 load. I haven't done anything with it since. I may have chrono data someplace but I don't recall. Sounds like an early Summer project.

Varget is probably too slow but might be worth a try if accuracy is the only consideration. Back when I had a Remington 722 in in .222 it really liked 52 gr. Sierra's and IMR3031.
C.G.B.

quote:

the best load I have is with VV N133 but hat is expensive and often hard to find

Peter,

I share your pain. VV's are easy to locate here in The Fatherland and like all powder is expensive.

Personally, I prefer VVN-133 for the .223 Remington, although for many who like to their powder to do double duty use it for both .222 & .223 Remington.

If you really want to see the preverbial One-Holer out of a .222 Remington (Keppeler Heavy Barrel 3-position rifle w/20X scope) try 21.5 grs of VVN-130 with either a 50 gr. Speer TNT or Sierra/Nosler 52 gr. HP's.

If I was stateside and looking for the .222 magic combo I'd go no further than the old standby which is 19.5-20.0 grs. of IMR-4198 with a reputable 50 grain HP.

Hmmm, I have some VV130 and some Speer TNTs!!Never used tme in my serious guns though. I will give it a shot.
Thanks, Peter.

quote:

PS. the best load I have is with VV N133 but hat is expensive and often hard to find.

This is why I NEVER use powders that are not readily available round the country and have been established for 10 or 15 years. It is too much trouble to drag all your crap to the range to develop a load for a powder that is often MIA or AWOL or discontinued.
RL7 was a poster child of that problem. It was discontinued several times and I quit keeping up with it. I do not know if it is still available to this day.

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Originally posted by sonofagun:
Depends on the gun & shooter - tell us about your triple deuce

Thanks for not telling us - I mean is it an off the shelf gun or custom bench rig? And what level of accuracy you shooting for - MOA or 1/2 MOA or what? Could make a difference.

son, was your question addressed to me? if so here we go:
Rem 788 in 222 Rem
Rem 700 HB in 222 Rem
Rem 40X in 222 Rem. Rebarrelled by Tooley. tight neck.
Would you like to see targets? The original question was for target quality loads using specific powders. I am already familiar and have used the old standards. These were standard 20-30 years ago.
The 700 HB has a Leupold 24X. The 40X has a Weaver 36X.
With all due respect, I don't need you to teach me about benchrest. Now, can you please answer my original question?
Incidentally as mentioned I am using Bergers, Starke's, Bruno's and Cauterico's. Do you have some others in mind?
I expect 1/2 MOA or better from all my 222's. The 40X I expect in the 2's using custom bullets, straight line bullet seater etc. The HB is new to me so I am starting load development,hence my question. Now, let me repeat. I know about, and use RL7, VV133, IMR 4198, IMR 4895. I was asking a specific question.
Peter.

quote:

I was asking a specific question.

With the knowledge that you have on the subject, do you actually expect to transplant a load and use it as is?

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With the knowledge that you have on the subject, do you actually expect to transplant a load and use it as is?

Nope, just a starting point for a powder that is not normally associated with the caliber! I thought that as I was just starting out with a new (to me) gun, the 700 HB, that I would see what else was out there. I use VV N130 in my 6mmBR but I was at the range the other day and met a guy with a rail gun who also shoots a 6mmBR and he had a good load using, guess what, Varget! Have not tried it yet as I have to check it out.
Peter.

Hmmm, now wouldn't it be nice if you found one load that worked best in all three?



Let us know if u do.

Still working on it, but, so far, 52 JLK's and 21 grains of H322 seems to be the best in two out of the three. Have to get the 788 out and try it again. I am out of Bergers.
Peter.

Well I found some loads for the 55 gr bullet using WW748 on the Nosler web site. 22, 23 and 24 grains. Have loaded up some Speer 55 gr, SP's and will try them out.
Peter

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
PS. the best load I have is with VV N133 but hat is expensive and often hard to find.

I'll second that.
My pet load is 52 SMK/N133/22.5. It groups 5 around .2 MOA at 100 m out of my Blaser R93 Jagdmatch. NB : Hornady 52 A-MAX behave the same.

I am not a competitive shooter.

However, I stumbled into a few Rem40X some years back.

One of them is a 222.

It wears an original Rangemaster stock, free floating 26" Shilen, no glass, no pillars, and a 3lb trigger. I was not in a position to create handloads back then so I tried lots of factory stuff. I feel very fortunate to find the Remington 50gr PLHP puts a box-20-into about a dime size ragged at 200yds. So I bought 2000 of them same lot number.

I find this thread most interesting and hope to try some of the loads suggested in the next few months.

I have no plans of entering any contests. I do however under close supervision occasionally allow a youngster to shoot it and so far it has made lots of smiles. Doesn't kick. Not too loud.

Andy

My first two competition BR rifles were .222's. This was back in the 70's. After a lot of experimenting I decided to use IMR 4895, as much as I could get in a case. It was a tad slow for the case but was amazingly accurate.

Years later I was told by an old shooter who would know that when Remington shipped 40X BR rifles they always included a test group shot with that rifle and with the load used hand written on it. He said the majority of the groups were shot with 23.5 gr. of 4895.

I'm in the process of putting together a lightweight "carrying" rifle which will be a .222. I have all the dies needed and lots of duece match bullets and a store of 4895. A year from now (I'm slow at making stocks) I may get to shoot it.

Just to drive BR shooters nutz I will moly coat the bullets...

Wow Dick, thanks for resurrecting this thread! I just sold the Rem 700 HB in 222 Rem. but I still have my Rem 700 HB in 308! My Rem 40X that I had rebarrelled by Tooley is up for sale on GI. I bought it from Bob Pease quite some moons ago! However I will try your IMR 4895 suggestion. Time flies!
Peter.

Peter, I have only worked with one trip deuce in a 788, but it really liked BL-C(2). I loaded between 23.5 and 25.5 grains if memory serves (check the load books!) and it shot 50s, 55s, and 60s from Hornady all to one ragged hole at 100. The only problem with that rifle in particular was that the front receiver screw was torqueing the action. I added brass shims to free float the barrel (wasn't my rifle...) and loosened the front action screw, and that rifle shot very well after that.

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My pet load is 52 SMK/N133/22.5.

That's the same load I run and it works in my rifle just fine.