I have an old Sako Rhiimaki in .222 Remington. I had my gunsmith scope the barrel and was informed that it was pretty rough right where I told him to look. Looks like I'll be putting a new barrel on it. I like .222 Remington but I have been bit by the wildcat bug. Is .222 Remington Kilborne Improved worth the effort?

For those who don't know; Lysle Kilborne is the "K" in .22 K-Hornet. He also improved several other small capacity cartridges such as .222 Remington.

Thanks
Dan

if you want to real improved the good 222 REM try to use a 223 AI run short , problem of the 222 is the very long neck wich make a loose a powder volume with running 223 AI short to 222 lenght you get a shorter neck far bigger powder volume and just need to recut 223 AI base so no need of real custom die

fire forming is done with false shoulder , 6.5 cal expander before full sizing in 223 AI shortened full sizer , that allow you to get the right headspace and a small shoulder

good shooting

DAN TEC

DJ,

The idea above from Dantec is way too complicated unless of course that's what you want.

Lysle D. Kilbourn worked for the Lyman Gunsite for a while and his loads for the K-.222 Remington are in the Ideal Handbook #40.

The practical person would not bother with any improved cartridge but it's small a diversion that makes a few happy.

The velocities in that book show a 238 fps gain when going to the "K" by adding only 0.5 grs of 4198! And the 55 gr bullet gains 169 fps by adding 1.0 grs of 4064. There is no mention but Santa Claus will be here on 12-25 so be sure to ask for one.

If you look at the 222 Rem case you will see very little body taper and a 23 degree shoulder. Not much to improve!

If you do change the chambering make sure the new cartridge is not too long for the magazine.

The thing to do now, if the smith said the gun is safe to shoot, is to go out and shoot it. If it shoots well this is all that matters.

I appreciate dantec's input but at this time I do not want anything that cannot shoot factory ammunition. My first wildcat is a .244 Remington Ackley Improved and I specified a neck as tight as practical that could still shoot factory ammo.

I've seen those velocity figures. Loading manuals are very optimistic about velocity. I had an Ohler up until 1998 when it and the 4Runner it was in was stolen. Measured velocities were almost always lower than the velocity predicted by the manual.

The gun is safe to shoot and shoots OK but nothing worth gloating about. I had it in for pillar bedding and free floating when I asked the smith to scope the bore. It felt rough when I ran a patch through it.

Thanks again.

Some fireformed or "improved" enthusiasts will always load them hot or make up velocities. Your right that the numbers are not only exagerated but that the so called improvement is just imagination. However cartridges like the Hornet would be better if they headspaced on the shoulder.

The cutting edge in .224 is the twist options that open up a wide range of new bullets. This is a place to look when ordering a new barrel.

I might just keep that old Sako barrel after the bedding work and try it again. A patch will not feel a rough spot very well but a brush will. When I feel a brush getting rough, usually from too much fouling, I run a patch thru over a brush with an compound such as Rem Clean. This seems to smooth out the fouling. Of course the smoother the bore the longer they will go without the compound.

It would be nice to be able to keep the orginal Sako barrel in that cartidge.