Ok I need to know something. Somehow I got ahold of 222 remington and 222 remington mag, are they the same or different. I could get calipers but I'd thought I'd ask first.

Oh Ya there rcbs dies.

Yes they are different and RCBS did make dies for both.

Ok Thank You.

The 222 mag is the base case for the 204 Ruger.

There are three cartridges that are very similar: 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 222 Rem Mag. None of them are interchangeable as manufactured although they have the same base diameter and look quite a lot alike.

The primary difference in the .221 Fireball, .222 Rem, .223 Rem, and .222 Rem Magnum is the length of the body. You could actually load any of them with a set of .221 dies properly set up in the press for the specific cartridge. I load both .223 and .222 Magnum with the same die set.

the 222 Rem Mag is deader than olies owl..brass has become hard to come by and they are hard to sell..I would dump it and get a 222 or a 223..but of course that's just my opinion of the cartridge, its had a fate it didn't deserve but that's not in question here..

Just run a .204 Ruger case through a .222 Magnum sizing die and you're all set!

Hip

Agree with Mr. Ray A, Ditto with Mr Hipshoot...I too use 204 Ruger cases for my 222 Mag and originally when the 204 Ruger first came out and no brass was available I used 25 - 222 REM MAG's to get my 204 up and running and a borrowed 20 221 seater, then sizer to squeeze down the necks until my dies arrived.

I have one of each of the 222 R's left and several of the 223's...basically/roughly 2 gr difference in H2O per step...a bit of difference in pressure levels BUT I/they all can be loaded to the same pressures even thought the SAMMI ratings are different with the 223 being the highest, and the all produce about an added 100 fs per step...

Nitpicking aside...when I use the same bullet and the same powder loaded to the approx same pressure I get ~3450, ~3550 and ~3625 fs as long as the barrel lengths are the SAME LENGTH...but that is NEVER the case...the 223's have barrel lengths fro 16" to 24", the 222 is 22" and the 222 Mag is 26".

That I can say is the drop over the ~300 yds I usually stick to with these shooters isn't worth a hill of beans and is just barely discernible because the wind, miss judging the distance and other conditions cause the most misses.

My 222 Mag works best and is most accurate with the bullet stuffed into the lands ~0.015" and the pressure WAY up there...the chamber and dies fit perfectly, with just enough squashing to slip snugly in the chamber and just enough clearance to release the bullet and 30 or more reloads per case.

The 222 R is just as good and I've gotten 45 reloads out of ONE case ion a test I did just to see.

The 223's are another story...The AR wears out brass in 10-15 reloads. Even though I've matched the sizer to the chamber I cant stop the stretching and eventual head separation...the 20" NEF...I CAN'T find A LOAD THAT SHOOTS BELOW 1" and the brass comes out a bit bent...bad chamber so that barrel will turn into a stub barrel for some other caliber and the 24" Ruger just keeps on putting out those bugholes with anything I feed it...it basically walks around the house/garage/vehicles loaded up for eventualities.

I have several sets of Redding Bushing dies so I just change bushings and fiddle the lock rings whatever case I'm loading for...or mix and match from all the other sets of dies I've acquired.

Lee has cheap die sets that will work for all of them.

LUCK