i'd rebarrel to 223 -- wide selection of match grade ammo, and you can load from subsonic to 3200

I have cz 557 in .221 fb it's nice little gun. I bought because it was a few hundred cheaper than the same gun in the hornet and available ( no hornets available at the time ) which I used to own and foolishly sold. I like the fireball but for me I preferred the hornet for a little less noise and greater difference too my .223. I intend to give it a real work out next month.....maybe I'll come to like it a little more then.

The fireball's are fun to shoot, I have three, 20 VT, 221 FB and 17 FB. I really like the 17 if it is not to windy, the 20 and the 221 buck the wind a bit better. All of them hit hard and are a blast to shoot, get one and you'll want more. All of them are Cooper 38's, the 20 and 221 have shot .25 inch pretty regular. the 17 will only shoot about 1/2 inch, it is my worst shooting Cooper, but it is definitely Minute of Prarie Dog. Good Luck

I still trying to figure out the 270 vs. the 30-06...about the same configuration me thinks..take your pick..I still like the old 222 Remington best, but I'm old and sot in my ways..I back it up with a 6x45 anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by Gale Johnson:
The fireball's are fun to shoot, I have three, 20 VT, 221 FB and 17 FB. I really like the 17 if it is not to windy, the 20 and the 221 buck the wind a bit better. All of them hit hard and are a blast to shoot, get one and you'll want more. All of them are Cooper 38's, the 20 and 221 have shot .25 inch pretty regular. the 17 will only shoot about 1/2 inch, it is my worst shooting Cooper, but it is definitely Minute of Prarie Dog. Good Luck

Just to add a little from across the pond here, I have long since relegated / sold my 1:8 Border cut barreled, Tikka M595 in .223, in favour of the little .17 Fireball, as quoted in this thread, "A blast to shoot"... I have no need to shoot the 69 grain pills anymore, & this little Fireball sends every Fox to chicken heaven,will shoot pretty much flat to 220 yards with a real surprising punch, great for use in public cemetaries too!, as to brass, I certainly don't mind paying £80.00 per hundred formed down .221 either .. it's worth it for the pleasure of shooting it,I only fell into the .17 ballpark as my local licensing bods were freaked when I said I was applying for a Twenty "TAC"

A friend of mine is a 221 fanatic with four different 221 rifles. He uses AAC-2200 and 40 grain BT's in all of them. Velocity with 2200 is a little slower than with Lil'Gun, but when your barrel gets warm to hot, you don't see the velocity and accuracy start jumping around. The hornet is a neet little round, and plastic tipped bullets and Lil'Gun have breathes new life into it. However, I would go with fireball. I am a .222 man at heart.
Matt

I have 2 FB's and love them both!
One is a 700 that went through Speedy's accuracy shop, Hart sporter weight barrel, etc. that shoots in the high 1's if I do my part.
The other is a factory stock LS 700 that also shoots very well.
I've never owned a Hornet, never liked the looks of the case but these Fireballs are winners.
I also own a pair of .222's, first one is on a L461 Sako action, Douglas barrel,custom wood that shoots little bitty groups and the other is a factory stock 722.
The 221 is a hard act to follow!

Stepchild

I'm coming to this discussion very late, but would be interested in knowing whether the .221 FB can match the accuracy of the .222 Rem. The triple deuce was a perfect cartridge design, with ideal powder capacity for the .224 bore, and won many BR matches back in the day before the PPC came on the scene. So my question is: Can the FB equal the deuce in rifles of the same quality with glass of the same quality?

Brass, by the way, isn't a problem in Canada, where we can pick up Lapua .221 Rem. brass for about $1/case Cdn. or about 77 cents a case in USD.

The .221 is a shortened .222 case with the PSI raised from 42,000 SAMMI Max in the .222 to 52,000 in the .221 so I sure don't see why not. As noted in the "Accurate Arms" load data the the increase in allowable PSI for the .221 lets it duplicate Triple Duce performance.
My CZ 527 .221 using .2tenths under the max load for Accurate 1680 with a 40 grain V-Max chrono's just a titch under 3,600 FPS and is a solid 1/2 inch and less shooter and it's bone stock except for a little trigger tweaking. Have a top smith do his magic on an all in .221 and I think the difference between it and a .222 would be in the shooter, both are great rounds.
As to the original question of the comparison between the .221 and the .22 Hornet I think it's like comparing apples and cantaloupes, not the same critter at all. I use 40 V-Max's in both rounds and while the Hornet clocks right at 3,000FPS the .221 bests it by near 600FPS and that is ballisticalley significant. My K-Hornet using the same projectile is right at 3,250ish FPS so it's more of a real comparison IMO.
All that said, I have all three and none of em are going anywhere any time soon. All are at the top of my personal favorite list along with the same cases necked down to either .17 or .20 caliber. What can I say? I'm a small caliber junky .