I saw a new Rem 221 fireball today and I really don't know anything about them.Are they a good calling round?Thanks in advance.

yotecaller...

I don't have any practical experience calling coyotes, but I would imagine that for shots under 250 yards, the .221 Fireball would be a great choice. It moves a 50 grain bullet ~2900+/fps and a 40 grain bullet ~3400+/fps, either of which should be plenty to humanely dispatch a coyote. Other benefits are low noise and very mild recoil. The new Remington 700 LVSF in .221 (which I have) is certainly a rifle that you wouldn't mind carrying around...it's light, and it has a 22" barrel, but keeps some of the benefits of a full on target/varmint rifle (medium contour fluted barrel, pillar bedded composite stock, etc.).

Rem first made it in an x-p pistol and until Kimber (old company)no one made a rifle unless a custom. I had one built on 700 with a chanyln barrel and it's a great shooter. Glad to see Rem come out with a rifle. It's just a short 222. It's also the parent case of the 17machlV. I mainly shoot 50/52 gr bullets but picked up some 40 gr to see how it shoot when I get a chance. Well good luck!

CZ came out with one this year I believe in the 527 American model. They are a bit more expensive than the regular 527s. Tom Purdom

You ought to see that case necked up to 30 and loaded with a 220 grain Sierra MK and shot in a suppressed rifle!!! NO NOISE!!! JUST DEADLY!!! As far as original, a good little number!!! One of the Remington LV would be a good walk around calling gun! GHD

I have a Rem 700 classic in 221 and it is a great rifle.
Mine shoots 1/2 inch all day. I have not shot anything but ground squirels with it but I am sure it will do a good job on coyotes at 200 yds or more. It is also good for shooting in populated areas because of the relatively low noise level.

My advice is buy it, shoot it, and enjoy it. You can never have too many toys.

Shep

Yotecaller: I have two Varmint Rifles in 221 Remington Fireball caliber. One is a Kimber Ultra-Varmint that I have had for 10 years or so and the other is the Remington 700 Classic that was offered a couple years back. I love the Rifles and I especially enjoy the caliber. It is very effiecient, accurate and relatively quiet. I have a host of close friends that have converted 223 Rifles to 221 Fireball. Why you ask - well the answer is this - the Fireball is an extremely accurate round! My good friend Jack had a Ruger 77V that was a 223 and it shot very well. He had the barrel set back and a chamber cut for the 221 Fireball and the 40 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips! The Rifle is now extremely accurate and the noise produced by it is very Prairie Dog friendly! If you know what I mean?
Also this caliber is slow to heat up a barrel! More incentive there. Another friend had a Ruger #1-B rechambered to 221 Fireball and the accuracy really improved on that Rifle also.
Both my Rifles have the 24" barrels and they have a certain and special place in my Varmint arsenal!
One Rifle that I have coveted since the day I saw it is a Remington 40XB-KS that was factory made in 221 Remington Fireball! Remington burped out a few of these about 7 or 8 years ago. A Doctor friend of mine got one of these and it shoots like a BR Rifle! I have seen it in a action at the range! Ooh how I want that Rifle! It has the 27 1/4" barrel and a black Kevlar stock! Oh what a sweetie!
I have been trying to find one of these ever since that run of Rifles came out. No luck as yet.
I have used my Kimber on several night Hunts with pleasing results! No complaints from me. With the right bullet this caliber could and should be very fur friendly. I have not been much of a fur saver in the past few decades but with prices going up like they did last winter I am planning on saving my fur a lot more often now. The modest recoil should help in calling situations especially when calling by oneself. You should be able to assess your own hits and misses pretty easily with the Fireball.
Good luck if you decide to go with one!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I was just a kid when the first fireball showed up at the sporting goods store.

I still don't have one, but I have Quickload, and I can tell that the .223 loads I am downloading with Blue Dot for most applications are not a quiet of economical as a 221 Fireball would be.

But the effort of another caliber is not justified. The 221 will not save a penny a shot, and the noise will still require hearing protection, so why invest another $1k in scope, rifle, dies, and brass.

I've got 2, a CZ and a Remington Classic. Great guns. if I had to choose one it would be the CZ. I've gotten mostly 1/2" groups with 10 grains of Blue Dot and 40 grain Ballistic Tips with the CZ. Very pleasant to shoot, relatively quiet and very accurate.

Right on, Varmint Guy! Couldn't say it any better. I'm using 40 gr. VMX's and running in the 3400's easy with AA2200 and T-680 powders. RL-7 ain't bad either. My 221 is doing everything my 222's are doing with light bullets and doing it with 20% less powder. As for range, I'm smacking squirrels out to 400 yds with no problem. My 700 Classic is going to be the number 1 coyote calling cannon this fall. Godsdog.

Pecos - quote [I would think of a Fireball as a 150 - 200 yd rifle. Yes it will hit and kill further but it's running out of gusto mighty fast.


That will be news to the literally thousands of prairie dogs I have shot with my .221 carbine Contender. In fact they learn after a day or so that 300 yds. is not only doable its expected. Another little tidbit ........is there something you can hunt or shoot with a .223 or a .222 that is off limits for a .221 (do you move up to a larger category of varmints)?

Varmint Guy:

Dale, have you ever tried RL 7 in that Little Puppy with a 40 grain Ballistic Tip?

When I was out shooting sage rats, a gentleman that does work for Darryl Holland ( you see his name in the Nosler Manuals) a local gunsmith with a Strong Following, was shooting one. His was a Winchester Coyote, and he just had the barrel turned back and rechambered for the Fireball.

He was doing some spectacular hits with that little rig out to about 300 yds. I was pretty impressed with the rig. He had it topped off with a Leupold 4.5 x 14 scope.

He indicated that RL 7 had no other powder close to accuracy that he was experiencing. He knew people at Nosler also, since he has chambered rifles for some of the Hiarchy, like Bob Nosler and Chub Eastman. So he got his 40 grain Ballistic tips in batches of 5,000, mailed to him personally from the factory. Pays to know people doesn't it!

Really peaked my interest in the round, especially the just turning back a 223 barrel and rechambering it.

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

I have a 26 inch, 221 Fire Ball barrel for my TC Encore!
With 40 grain spire points it clocks 3550 fps at 20ft!
A few months ago, I shot a coyote at a front-quartering angle! I aimed for the crease at the front of the front leg and the ribs, and that's right where I hit! I saw a puff of snow fly and as I later found out, a small piece of lead exited the other side!
The coyote ran about 25 yards (as I recall)!
The distance (according to my Yardage-Pro) was 325 yards!

For that load, I used a CCI 400 Primer and 19 grains of IMR 4198! Since I don't really like to use compressed loads, I've cut back to 18 grains of powder, but I haven't clocked it yet!

Well I got to bring the Fireball out for a good test fireing today.All I have for ammo is factory Remington 50 grainers until I get my reloading dies in the mail.But I was amazed at the accuracy.Most all my groups were 1/2 MOA or better.Granted they were only 3 shot groups but I can't wait to try some hand loads.I did have to do a trigger job on it before I brought it out.I would say that the trigger was higher than 10 pounds and I brought it down to around 2.I haven't been this happy with a Remington for a long time.I think after I get the right reload this rifle will be as good as my Savage 11 in 22-250.

Seafire/B17G: No I have not tried that powder as yet. I experimented with the following powders and lots of different small bullets with these powders so far: IMR 4227, IMR 4198, AA 2015BR and Lil'Gun.
I will put that RL7 on my list for this winters round of testing recommended loads.
The one "envy" attack that I had and can remember to this day was an old friend of mine that I had traded Model 70's with and shared Varmint and Mule Deer Hunting stories for decades with. His name was Jack Slack. He was manning the Leupold booth at the NRA show in Portland, Oregon as I recall. He was either part owner or just CEO of Leupold at the time. I forget. But anyway I am doing my best to impress him with some Varmint and Deer Hunting photos I had along when up walks a gun writer of minor import and he joins in our talk fest. Jack takes a turn talking to this rube and he reaches over and grabs a Leupold 6.5x20 and hands it to the scribe! Jack says "let me know how it performs for you"! The writer toddles off with his treasure and no instructions what ever on its return! I trundle away thinking man I wish I had a "free" Leupold Varmint scope myself. I am about out of visual range and I see Jack handing another scope to another "chosen one"!
Oh well.
I get along wheeling and dealing to come up with my wants, needs and such! I think that I probably "baby" (take care of) stuff I acquire "righteously" better than if it was given to me.
Yes there are a couple of good reamers and Riflesmiths out in the NW that have put out some very accurate Fireballs! I know - I seen em shoot!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have a 12 inch Bullberry barrel for my contender and this baby is the cat's A**! I have a 7x Burris scope on it and it shoots any load I put into it into less than an inch at 100 yards....I haven't tried little gun yet, but that is next. It shoots the hornet 45 grainers too fast though! When they hit the corrugated plastic target backer that I use (thanks to the real estate folks!) and the bullets explode on impact. The 40 grain v-maxes are much better. This barrel shoots better than any rifle I own.

regards,
graycg

gray - mine is a 16 1/2" Bullberry that rocks. With a decent load and a 40 gr. Vmax it will take out prairie dogs easily too 300 yds.

My 700 Rem.LS with a Burris 4-16X scope Ballistic Plex 221 Rem. likes RE 7 powder with 50 Gr. bullets. I have some test loads that I`ll shoot this week using Lil Gun powder with 40 Gr.V-Max bullets. The 221 Rem should make a good prairie dog rifle if I can get 1/2 in groups out of it.

If LilGun accuracy is not up to par, also try AA1680. Either of these powders gives fantastic speeds under the 40gr pills, then it's just which is most accurate in each rifle.

I have a spare Pre '72 Sako Vixen action laying about. Has never been made into anything.
I was thinking of a 221 FB with a 20" bbl. Just a walking around / quickie in and out pickup rifle.
What all would you do to it and what speed do you think I would get out of 20"?
I already have two orig. XP 100's in 221 FB, a Kimber Super Predator pistol in 221 FB and a knock out Kimber Super America rifle with all options in 221 FB. I have shot only one of the XP's and it could well be the most accurate of the guns I own and it just wears a 2.5 Leupold scope on top!

I had a Fireball built on a Sako 461. With a 22 inch barrel (which was originally a Sako 222), it was giving 3360 fps using 16.8 gr of ADI 2205 (which I believe is H4227). Lovely little rifle and cartridge.

Lots of good ideas here to try out!! I like this little round.

regards,
graycg

Why would you want a 221 FB and not a 17M4? Why 3400 when with the same case you can have 3900+? I have been intrigued by the 221 FB in the past but frankly find it�s to close to the 223 to offer any real improvements in that area and not enough different from the 22 Hornet to step up in that area. I guess I don't see what it offers over the .223 except less velocity and less powder consumption or maybe the possibility of going with a shorter barrel if that is what you are trying to accomplish.

I must say I think it would make a nice sage rat/ground squirrel round but again for those up to 150 yard shots the Hornet would be a better choice and over that the 223 is tough to beat. But again I think that all changes if that 221 case is necked down to 17 are you are sending out a 25 gr bullet at 4000 fps.

But who knows we need little excuse to get a new rifle.

1. the brass used for a .221 is far superior to any Hornet brass currently on the market.
2. in a rifle length barrel using Lil gun, R7 or AA1680 I get some very fast speeds using 40 vmax bullets. Faster than my .223 pistol barrel.
3. my .221 makes a decent 300 yd. pd gun a Hornet does not.
4. If I need more then we break out the 22-250s and the 6mms.
5. putting powder and bullets into the neck of 17 cal. brass does not appeal to me at all.

Can agree with all but #2, that one, while I am sure its true, is not relevant here.



Let me see if I can put words in your mouth here.



You are saying go from a 22lr to a 221FB then up to a 6mm?



where others may go 22lr to 22hornet to 223 to 6mm?

if we are strictly on the prairie dog gun rack I rarely use a 22lr......never seems to get the kill I want.
.221
.223
22-250
6mm
But I don't seem to see much effective range difference in the two smaller ones. Probably cause one is pistol length and the other is rifle.(300 yds.) Anything farther the bigger guns work better for me...alot has to do with the way they are set up also....scopes etc.
Next one up will be a 17HRM carbine........that will take care of the dumb/close/brave ones.

SKB2706 for dumb-close-brave prairie dogs the 17HMR is good out to about 180 Yds.I start out with a reworked Ruger 10-22 T using Win. power point HP on prairie dog pups then switch to the 17HMR .Todate have shot948 p dogs with 22LR and 17HMR ammo. I got the 221 Rem. to use as the dogs require longer shots. I have a hornet,.223 Rem ,22-250,220 Swift, 243 Win.and 17 Rem. but I get more shots using rifles with less muzzle blast. The 221 Rem. should work for me.