I have a barrel in this caliber on the way for my single shot. What would you guys recommend for roe deer and fox, the 45 grain or the heavier 53 grain Barnes TSX? I read somewhere that the latter might already be too long and not as precise.

I shot my 222 with Sierra 52 grain bullets very accurately for many years.
What rifling twist is the barrel going to have?
If it will stabalize the 53 grain bullet, you should be fine.
The 45 grain bullet should be accurate too, but more explosive when you hit an animal, and should kill like lightening.

Don

Most likely 1:14 twist, it should shoot regular 50 - 55 grain bullets quite well, apparently due to their lower density and thus, greater length, copper bullets like Barnes and others are more difficult to stabilize.

The most effective Deer bullet that I have used int he 222 or 223 is the 60 gr. Hornady in either the HP or SP...I have shot a lot of deer with it and culled in Africa with it..It is very effective and expands and holds together and mostly leaves an exit hole.

I have an old 722 in .222. Anyone know what the twist is in those?

60 grain bullets seem not to stabilize, I tried the Nosler Partitions once in my Anschuetz and could not get decent groups.

This is what worries me a little regarding the longer 53 grain copper bullets.

Remington 722's in .222 had a 1:14" twist. They shoot extremely well. I have had great luck with 50gr V-Max and Sierra 52 & 53gr bullets. Good luck, Peter.

53 grain tsx would not stabilise in my sako .222 with 1-14". gonna have a try with the 55 grain bonded bear claws next. should be shorter having a lead core.

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by NZ Hunter:
53 grain tsx would not stabilise in my sako .222 with 1-14".

Valuable advise, thanks a lot. My rifle has also a 1/14" rifling and shoots 55 grain Sierra SP well. I'll give the 45 grain TSX a try.

DUK,

Good advice here. I've a little Heym SR40 (no longer manufactured) .223 Remington, a Keppeler .222 Remington and .222 & .223 Remington Blaser R93 barrels. All are 1-14" twists and they've always showed a complete distain to my loading efforts of the Barnes 53 gr. TSX, Nosler 60 gr. Partition and Speer 60 gr RN's. While they have certainly afforded a reasonable level of hunting accuracy (1.5"+) I've yet to get these bullets to shoot anywhere near the Guilt-Edge accuracy one would expect from and receive with lighter varmint & match bullets in a .222 or .223 Remington.

I've haven't any expereince with the Hornady bullets - yet but certainly will keep those bullets in mind for future reference.

In .222 Remington the best combined accuracy (read:superb) & terminal pefromance I've had on European sized Roe Deer & associated vermin is with the Sierra 55 gr. SP's or HPBT Game Kings. I now exclusively use the HPBT's. Lots of good combinations with Norma 200, VVN130, H322, H335 and H/IMR 4198. The RWS 46 & 50 gr. "Jagd/Match" bullets & factory fodder although they entail the misnomer "Jagd" are great to obtain brass, for sighting-in and economical in their 50 packs are to be avoided using on game at all cost - they are VERY definately "Match" bullets; accuracy is incredible but terminal performance other than Foxes & Vermin simply isn't reliable.

Have fun with your new barrel.

Gerry,

thanks for the details. I still have some boxes of Sierra 55 grain Gameking I never used, this is probably the way to go and cheaper than teh 45 grain Barnes I liked to try. They are at Johannsen's not available before end of May, anyway.

DUKie,

Thx, is your new barrel for a K-95?. If so, let me knw how things go with it. I have a K-95 in 7x57R but have a BIG itch for a .22 Hornet or 5.6x50R barrel for it.

All barrels are a mystery unto themselves anyway but what the heck.

May final assessment was that the 55 grain Sierras are pretty mundane by today's standards in the .222 Remington; cruising along at about 2700-2800 fps muzzle velocity but that gives them good terminal performance (penetration & small exit wounds) without alot of blood shot meat & bone fragments in Roe Deer and at the same time enough reach for those Foxes out in the Wheat fields, too.

Varmint bullets in the lighter weights (40 - 50 grs.) which afford incredible .222 Remington accuracy are in all their variations way too explosive for the finely textured Roe Deer, Chinese Water Deer, Muntjac (hard, rubbery skin anyway) and other spieces of smaller Deer. Just happend I tried the Sierras and they worked. If Ray Atkinson says the Hornady's are good I'll accept his experience as fact, too. I've simply no experience with the Hornady's in .224" but love 'em in other calibers such as .284", .308" & .375".

Sierra 55 gr. HPBT GK (#1390), 21.0 grs. VVN130, CCI-450M Primer, RWS brass, 2.15" O.A.L.

Yes, I know that itch very well, check your PM for more details regarding your request.

I have a K95 with barrels in 6.5x57 R and 8x75 RS and just couldn't resist when I found one in .222 Remington. We are still busy with the import formalities from Austria but I hope it arrives one of these days.

I never shot any major game with the .222, used it mostly on the range. I killed 3 foxes with it one winter but that was factory ammo from RWS. If I remember it well I tried the Sierra 55 grain GK with 20.7 grain or so Vihta N133. A friend of mine has a K95 barrel in .222, too, he shot it the other day in Phillipsburg on 300 meters, it was most K95 barrels very precise even at that distance.

Hey Dirk,

We're on a mind-meld here - look at your message count & mine - same numbers excpet you're a coupla thousand ahead.

Play Lotto this weekend - for sure!

I agree with Gerry. I have used the 55 grain sierra sp in 222 and 223.In fact approx 1 week ago I shot a red hind through the ribs with this bullet at around 140m. The deer ran about 40m and expired. The animal weighed around 75kg guts out and head off. They work well.

+1 on the sierra 55gr btsp gameking. Superlative in my 222rem and fantastic in my 5.6x50Rmag.

They expand, hold together, are accurate - IMHO there simply isn't a better bullet for roe and 222rem/5.6x50R. The hornady 60gr sp is also good but less likley to shoot well in a 222 and seems to have no better terminal effect.

OK, thanks a lot to all of you guys, you helped me find a better and even cheaper solution which is already on my shelf.

I must be a lucky guy My Sako 75 in 222Rem shoots bullet weights from 40-63grs no problem-all group less than 25mm 3shots 100m.Haven't tried the barnes bullets,thinking about 60grs partition or 63grs Sierra SMP for Roe.I chrono'ed some loads the other day and they were ca 810m/s.Still got some bullet testing to do before I decide on the winner!

Gerry,any idea of velocity w your load?may drag my 50s vintage Rhiimaki out&try some 55grHPBT.BEST,kim

Hey Kim,

Hope al's well with you!

Those loads were trotting along at @ 2770 or so IIRC. I think that is part of the success story, average speed with resulting good, solid bullet perfomance.

just as a matter of interest,where do you guys aim for with the 222 on Roe/small antelopes?Neck,heart and lung area or break the shoulder?Haven't shot a Roe yet with the 222 so interested in actual experience with the cartridge.From what I've heard with suitable bullets and sensible ranges it does an ok job,albeit blood trails can be minimal.regards Toby

Toby,

Using the smaller calibers on Roe Deer require attempting to avoid bones, shoulder, leg, etc.

I tuck 'em jsut a smidgen high right behind the elbow. If you know how to make the shot you get the Heart & Lungs and if the shot is a little high, the top of the Heart with all the plumbing and a Lung Shot, too.

http://www.jagareforbundet.se/jaktskolan/deere.htm

The above a website (in Swedish) that you can practice on shots for the Wild Boar, Elk & Roe Deer. Gives you a pretty good idea of what to look for.

Trouble with Roe Deer is that if you let the shot drift a bit too far back; even as little as 3" behind the elbow you can poke one into the liver. I'll eventually kill them but we can all do a better job than that.

Also the shot needs to be as broadside as you can get it. Even a small angle will make a BIG difference on these small Deer. Especially, if they are feeding with their head & neck constantly in movment.

Waidmannsheil.

With regard to the Sierra 55 grain HPBT bullets, they are very accurate in my 22-250 that has a 1-14 twist. I get a 1/4" group at 100 yards for threee shots. There is something about that bullet design that works very well for good accuracy. I couldn't get any other 55 grain bullet to shoot as well as the 55 HPBT.

Don

My 222 shoots best with the 50 gr. Sierras, but I still get 1 inch with 60 gr. Hornadys, both HP and SP...I use the heavy bullets for deer hunting on ocassion, for the kids, and for windy Idaho chuck hunting...

The 55 grain Sierra Gameking bullets seem to perform well, I shot 2 roe deer last week in the Bavarian Alps, both chamber shots at about 100 meters, exit wounds, little meat destruction, one dropped on the spot, the other one jumped at the shot and went 40 meters downhill, the dog was happy to finish the job.

There was very little to no blood trail, so finding it without a dog in difficult terrain and at dark would have taken time.

Dirk,

Waidmannsheil!

Weidmann's Dank!

Nothing more rewarding than putting theory into practice.

I do admit that I did order the 45 grain .224 TSX, just to sastisfy my curiosity...

I think you made the right choice. If your barrel is indeed a 1:14 twist, the shorter 45 grain bullet will stabilize and be accurate. It will also penetrate plenty for foxes and small deer. DW

Range accuracy test with the K95 in .222 Remington, Barnes TSX 45 grain and Vihta N133 at 100 meters resulted in a 29 mm 5 shot group, slightly over MOA.

This is not as good as the rifle is capable of shooting with the 55 grain Sierras, amazingly the Barnes shoot to the very same point of impact.

More than satisfactory, still much tighter than "minute of roe deer", still, since I went to the range after work with my metabolism full of coffeine, I'll give it another try to see if I can't do better than than.

I also feel that N133 is a bit too slow but that's what I had at home in that range.

I tried N-133 in my 222 Rem, and it didn't give as good accuracy as Benchmark and Reloader 7, with 50 grain Nosler SP bullets. The best load is with 22.5 grains of Benchmark, with bullets seated to work thru the magazine.

My 222 does not seem to like Benchmark, can't get it to do better than MOA.

I bought a tub of H322 the other day, any one have any joy with this?

I shot two red stags in OZ with the 222 and 50 grain remington power points and was thoroughly impressed.
Both shots were behind the shoulder one at 100 yards one at 150.
both bullets held together like little advertisments, and were found under the hide on the far side.
Neither stag moved more than 30 feet.
The slower velocity makes a heck fo a difference, so for what it is worth I don't think that the X bullet is needed, nor perhaps even wanted in that caliber for what you are wanting it for.
Two stags I know is not enough to base a strong opinion upon, but when I added them to what I have seen in my life with the 22 calibers on game it impressed me at least.

I am not a big fan of .22 centerfires for hunting, but have just returned from a friend's farm after a few days of warthog and bushbuck hunting. He does a great deal of culling of especially warthog that are very tough, and is using his .222 with X Bullets.
Our powders are different to yours and I don't know his loads, except to say that they are very accurate and perform incredibly well on the animals. I was very impressed.

Hmmmm, red stag and warthog killed with that little .222 and a good bullet?

I might feel tempted to do some experimenting myself. Like I wrote, the nice thing with that barrel is that both 55 grain Sierra GK and the Barnes 45 grain TSX shoot to the very same spot.

The Sierra 63gr semi spitzer shoots very well out of the .222 and kills coastal these black-tailed deer just fine.

I've used it on bobcats and coyotes, it'll always exit but not badly.

The 36gr Barnes Varmint Grenade is a very good fur bullet, I've had no exits on bobcats or coyotes and only a few on gray fox.

I tried the Nosler 60 grain Partition once out of a different rifle, it did not really shoot well, like 60 mm groups or so, the Barnes and the Sierra Game King seem to be the better alternative.

DUK
If you have any of the Sierra 50gr or 55gr spitzer they will be just as good as the GK in the 222. For foxes they are a bit "hard" but perfect for what you want to do. HOWEVER...you will love the performance of the Barnes. It is one tough little bullet.

Perry