Found agood deal on a 222rem. I've been looking for a bolt action 223 in a heavy varmint rifle. I found a great deal on a very lightly used 222. I want it but, do I need it? I'm already looking at brass and dies, so I guess my mind is made up. Any help with loads and bullets would be helpful.

if you don't own one then you need one.
40gr v max 10grs imr4227 2000f/s great turkey lod sighted in at 75yrds.

I like 55 grain cup and core Winchester bulk packed or Remington bulk packed or core lokt all do the job. I also shoot 58 grain RCBS cast bullets and they seem to shoot well with whatever load I've tried. With the jacketed cup and cores, have been with many youth that have taken deer--one shot every bit as dead as with bigger guns. Bunches and bunches of jackrabbits with the cast bullets.

E-Mail me your E-Mail address and I'll send you all my data. roger

one of the best cartridges ever made h335 , h322, rl7 50 gr bullet

I use TAC and 45 grain bullets in my Sako 222, FYI!

"It's not hard to make a .223 shoot well, but it's hard to make a .222 not shoot well."

There is no real reason that the .222 has to be held to lower pressures than the .223 in similar rifles. It will shoot a 50 grainer just about as fast as a .223 will fling a 55 grainer. Pretty much any bullet from 40 to 55 grains works fine, but I prefer the classic load of a 50 at 3200 fps for most everything in my several .222's. H335, 4895, AA2200, and a dozen other powders work great in a .222.

I've loaded for three Rem 700's, one 788, and an A-bolt II in 222 Rem. Only one of the 700's couldn't shoot less than .5" 5 shot groups. I use to have an arbor press and Wilson neck and seating dies. I seat 50 grain Nosler BT's to kiss the lands under as much Benchmark as possible, which is usually 24 to 25 grains with the discontinued Gold Metal Match nickel plated Federal brass. With the shorter throats I tap the bottom of filled case on the table to get the Benchmark to settle and make room in the neck for the bullet. Fed 210M primers. This is my coyote load. Bullets go in clockworks, but rarely exit, with massive internal damage and one tiny hole in the pelt. I've only gone coyote hunting once in the last 10 years, due to my busy oilfield job, but now that I'm out of the oil field, that will change. I have to admit that I love the 222 purely out of sentimentality, as an 80 year old benchrest shooter (Irv Riegles) introduced me to the 222, and taught me how to handload. There is just no practical difference in accuracy with factory rifles and properly tunes loads in 222 and 223. Plus the 223 has plentifull brass and a slight velocity advantage. I love the 222, but the 223 is the logical choice.

One can never be a true rifleman or a red blooded American unless he has in the past or presently owns a 30-30 Win. mod. 94 carbine and a .222 Remington!

I only own two varmint rifles, and have used them both on deer on occasion. A 222 Rem. mod. 600, somewhat modified, and my SAKO L-461 custom rifle in 6x45...See no need for anything else. H-322 is the killer for accuracy 99 times out of a 100 with the 222 and 223.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm bringing it home, and looking forward to a lot of testing. I really enjoy working up loads for new rifles. I almost wish we had prairie dogs in Arkansas.

Never had one. But, I learned the lessons well with a .222mag and now .223. IF you want to save the pelts use lighter bullets. 35gr IF under 150yard, 40gr for all the rest. Neither will exit, a 50 and 55 will exit and blow big holes too.

Good luck and much fun with your new find.
George

I've owned and shot a couple different 222 Rem's for almost 5 decades. I cannot imagine being without one.

I built my first English walnut stocked rifle on a Sake Vixen circa 1975. I still have the rifle and the kids (all married adults now) use it often for practice in preparation for big game hunting but it lacks the accuracy it once had since I've abused it with over 10K rounds and poor cleaning habits. I'm going to re-barrel it for sure.

My favorite has always been the 50 grain Hornady spire with H322 or RL-7.

What a sweet little cartridge!

Have fun with it.

Zeke

One word of caution: you need to be extra careful if you also have a .223 as a .222 cartridge will chamber and fire in a .223. Don't ask me how I know.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
One word of caution: you need to be extra careful if you also have a .223 as a .222 cartridge will chamber and fire in a .223. Don't ask me how I know.

How was the group....LOL

loading for 222 is as fun as any other cartridge.
I currently load for 2 of them, A modern action full stock Mannlicher Steyr and an oldie but goodie Ithaca HB made in Finland.
With the steyr I have been loading 40gr vmax bullets with a magnum primer and 21.5gr of reloder 7.
Vihtavouri 133 powder works great with 50gr TNT bullets.
And the HB is currently loving the 55gr SPSX Hornady bullet with only 23gr of Win. 748 powder and a CCI 450 magnum primer.
My old Kimber 222 custom Classic loved shooting 50 gr TNT with 23.1 gr of h322

my favorite brass is some Lake city that was in 223 that a fine old gentleman re worked into 222.
FS

One of my favorites! I load for three different .222s in the house. The 1 in 14 twists like 50 grainers and Ive got a Ruger #1 with a 9 twist that seems to digest anything I put in it...

I took a .222 along to Africa. Very handy with duiker, klipspringer and dik-dik, and maybe even a Tommie, if you have a clear shot.

I've shot PG in Africa on cull, and deer in the USA with a .222 and the 60 gr. Hornady..Mostly head shots on the cull but also a few Kudu cows behind the shoulder to see the results, in every case it put them down either on the spot or within 20 yards. The PH said, "well boy, what didja expect? nothing lives with its heart blown about?"

My .222 is a deer rifle. I have not polluted its bore with varmint bullets.

Carlson Hiway,
Good on ya mate!

quote:

My .222 is a deer rifle. I have not polluted its bore with varmint bullets.

Your .222 is also a splendid Sako L461 Vixen, possibly the finest small-cartridge rifle and action ever built. Judging from the posts on the Sako Collectors Club forum www.sakocollectors.com, it appears that Sakos are extremely well regarded in both Australia and New Zealand.

My ten year-old grandson killed his first deer last fall with a Sako L461 loaded with 60-grain Nosler Partitions. It happened to be a .223 rather than a .222, but the deer didn't seem to know the difference.

A man who appreciates an old Sako. Nice.

Yep the Trebley will get the job done, took this Buck in the week end with 63gr Sierra semi point #1370 broke rib on the way in & shoulder on the out but stayed under the skin, it was raining heavily so he was soaking wet, I loaded a bunch of these in 223 for chopper shooters & was told when they changed over from the standard 55gr it was like using a 243 & this was on some fairly big Red Stags

I have 4 small Sakos right now but have had tens of them over the years from 222Rem to 6mm/223 looking at doing a 357Max Rimmless on one soon !

Thats a very fine fallow buck Sarge, looks like you shot it in your backyard...

What bullet is the 63 grain? Is that in a .222 or a .223? Just wondering if it will definately stablise in a .222

OK I just looked it up - is it a Sierra? I would like to try it out.

Funny when you show a photo of any game shot people always comment on how open or easy it looks & they can only see a few feet & half the time you drag them into the open for the photo or they were in the clearing as that is where you hunted them to, heavy bush all around & the Does stayed out a bit later as it was raining & foggy giving them a false sense of security !

That's a great buck. Hunting is good in morning fog they stay out later.
Why did you delete your photo?

what loads are you fellows using? I'm getting pretty good groups so far, but the only powder I have on hand for this round is IMR8208xbr. the best groups so far have been with 40gr Nosler Varmageddons. I'm ready to buy more powder, just looking for recomendations.

Actually, the .222 will digest a wide variety of powders and do well, however, H322 is one of the best. A fine ball powder that works well with the small case.

I found with my 222's using any of the recommended powders, what wont work was the question. This was true of both cast and jacketed bullets. My .223 will shoot jacketed but not cast.

Just starting to load for my first .222 Remington, a Savage 24V. Results look promising so far with IMR 4198 and 50 Gr Hornady SX's. 748 and 55 grainers are also often recommended.

Thank's for the replies,I now have H335 and H322 I hope to load some bullets and try them next week.

I use H4198 which does very well for me with 50 - 55 grain bullets, and including the 60 grain Hornady.

I also have used compressed loads of Varget (in Norma brass which can hold the most if you trickle it in) which does well also with 55 grainers.

Life is too short to be trickling powder. H322 and H355 both meter so well that you can set your measure and just verify every 10th drop or so. Does well with a dipper also.

Mine loves 22.5 gr of H322 and 52 gr Sierra Matchkings.

Not too happy witht the new Sakos, but the old L Series and especially the L461 is my all time favorite for a small varmint cartridge..My 6x45 was built on a round top L-461, its my walk about varmint rifle, and its killed its share of African PG and our deer and Pronghorn antelope..

What Jmbrown said is the same load I use in my 222 Rem. Always under a 1/2 inch group or better.

quote:

Originally posted by Jmbrown:
Mine loves 22.5 gr of H322 and 52 gr Sierra Matchkings.

I prefer the 53gr (flatbased)matchking

Sierra 50gr Blitz kings-----vaporizes praire dogs

Just picked up a Sako Riihimaki L46 in .222 today. It is absolutely beautiful, with a full Mannlicher stock, super light, and looks like it seldom been used. I've ordered two new magazines for it as well as original Sako rings. I'm going to mount a Bushnell 3x9x40 on it, then take it to the range. I'll post pictures ASAP.

I was really fun to pick this nice sako up in 222. Loaded some Re7 and 50 gr sierra's was great fun.
Elton