I want a .221 Fireball rifle (not pistol) to play with. I want it in a Rem 700 I think. Were these made? Does anyone have one to talk about? Good little riflr or Not?

Never had one. Only one I know of is the CZ 527 American.

Here's about a dozen 700 Fireballs.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SearchResults.aspx

If I'm not mistaken, it's still a catalogued gun.

I've owned the Remington 700 Classic and the Rem. 700 LVSF (Light Varmint Stainless Fluted).
Of the two the LVSF is my favorite. It is my idea of what a "walking varminter" should be. It as a 22" light contour stainless barrel, synthetic stock. Capable of MOA accuracy. Sweet little rig.
However you can't go wrong with a CZ 527 in the American or Varmint configuration. I have/have had several cz's. I really like the set trigger. They are also very accurate.
If you want to spend a little more you also couldn't go wrong with a Cooper model 21 in either the Varmint or Classic configuration. The Cooper however, is a single shot.

GWB



Remington 700 LVSF, chambered in 221 Fireball.





Typical group with the LVSF and my handloads.





Cooper Model 21 Classic (Tac 20)

I'm well pleased with my CZ 527 in 221 Fireball. Very accurate and in a nice compact package.

Joe A.

I got my daughter one of the rem 700 LVSF rifles in 221. With a max charge of RL-7 it'll put 5 50 gr v-max into a 1/2" group. Neat little round, very accurate, almost no recoil.

I have a CZ527 and got real lucky not only on how it shoots but the stick it came with as well. I know Remington made their yearly "Classic" in .221 one year a number back.
Personal opinion only and no attacks intended but in my opinion the Remington possibly has more attractive lines (you won't however get the furniture you occasionally stumble into with the CZ) but I'd be real surprised if the average Remington will shoot with the average CZ.
I will mention my oft re-posted advice that what ever ya get at least try the combo of AA1680 with a 40 grain V-Max and a 7 1/2BR primer. If that combo don't make ya I'll be real surprised. Nifty little round and the fact it's never been a bigger deal than it has always shocked me. In fact, I got 4 different rounds made with the .221 case as the parent case and I absolutely love all of em!

Don't get me wrong, I love the lil FB - BUT, if I wanted a quiet mild 22 for long bbl life, great accuracy, etc. I'd strongly look at a 222. I never had a tackdriving 223, but sure they are out there, but every 222, and 221 drove nails.

They are very similar in many characteristics, yet it may be easier to find brass and ammo in Deuce if it matters.

I could live w/both, but the 223 just NEVER has given me what I want in accuracy, in MY experience with the guns I have owned, inc. a HB 700, and M70. A good custom might change my mind, but a Deuce or FB is all I want to launch 40-55s, I'd go a 22/250 or 22BR for fast twist heavies.

Got the Fireball in the CZ. Love the set trigger. Try AA1680 and a 40 grain Sierra Blitz. Makes smoking crows almost too easy. Nothing like watching them disintegrate at 200 yards.

I have two of these little darlins, both are Remingtons, one has been completely trued and has a Hart sporter weight barrel and is one of the most accurate rifles i've ever had my hands on.
The other one is a Remington LS, a neat little rifle, laminated stock, heavy sporter barrel and shoots groups you can cover with a nickle or better and it's box stock other than being free floated and the trigger tuned to my liking.
I'm using 14.5gr.of Hodgdons Lil'Gun/40gr. Sierra spitzer and Rem 71/2 primers and both rifles shoot the same ammo. Almost 500 rounds out of a pound of powder ain't bad either. I bought the LS from a dist. in Minnesota a few years back. You might do search for Jim Briggs and might get lucky, I think I paid $450 for mine new in the box, should have bought more. It's an impressive round the load I quoted is Hodgdons starting load and goes around 3,200.
Strongly recommended. You ought to see what it does to a gallon milk jug full of water.

Stepchild

The Fireball is a sweetheart cartridge...

Only thing better is the 20 Fireball...

AKA the 20 Vartarg........

+1 for the 20 VT

GWB

Plus 2 for the .20 VarTarg.



But then the .221 is no slouch either.
Mine right after I got it, excuse the deer turds in the back yard .



It's first gopher. A 40 grain V-Max at 3,550ish FPS kinda wears out a gopher huh?



I guess as long as I'm singing the praises of Momma Bear and Poppa Bear in the .221 family (the .20 VarTarg and original .221 Fire Ball only in a rifle), I can't leave out the .17 Fire Ball, Baby Bear.



It's kinda a family affair for me .

Last but not least a guy looking at a .221 oughtta read this excerpt from the old "Accurate Arms" loading manual about the .221. My load is .3 tenths off the max load shown of 1680 with a 40 V-Max and it chronos in the 3,550ish FPS range and serious accuracy, love that load. Note the 52.000 C.U.P. SAAMI max in the .221 allows it to "duplicate" the performance of the Triple Duce with it's lower max allowable C.U.P. But then the .222 had to be the granddad of the .221 family as the .221 is derived from it only a bit shorter. Nice family .



Sorry for all the reposts.

+ 1 on your posts & reposts there Doug.
GWB

You guys should be 221 salesmen..
I'm sold.

But we are DMB, we are.
I work for CZ and my buddy Geedub gets paid by Cooper and sublets out to Remington on weekends

I have a custom built .221 on a Mini Mark X and I'm quite smitten by it. It has become my very favorite medium-range prairie dog gun using 40 grain Ballistic Tips propelled by AA 2200.

The Remington 700, either the Classic or the current plastic model, should be a good shooter (despite the fact that the action is far larger and heavier than required by the diminuative cartridge). The CZ 527 has an excellent set trigger and a reputation for accuracy, but shooters should refuse to purchase them until CZ fixes the backwards safety which presents an unacceptable hazard. They also need to trim a chunk of unnecessary metal off of the bolt handle in order to allow a scope to mount in its normal position instead of floating around in the stratosphere. A double stack, flush magazine would enhance the rifle's appeal considerably as a replacement for the single stack magazine which protrudes below the stock line.

quote:

Originally posted by montdoug:
But we are DMB, we are.
I work for CZ and my buddy Geedub gets paid by Cooper and sublets out to Remington on weekends

LMAO

So, let me tell you about my three CZ's; a 452 American 22 Prestige model, a 452 17HMR Varmint, and Hi grade American 527 in 223.
All are accurate. No flies on CZ's. Great wood on the Hi grades.
I do love the thought about a 221. I have most every other chambering in 22 CF, and the 221 would fit nicely between the 218 BEE and 222 Rem I have.

Remington also sold a limited number of 700 LS 221 Fireball rifles. The 221 is a fine 225 Yd prairie dog rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by bracer:
The 221 is a fine 225 Yd prairie dog rifle.

I certainly haven't found it limited to that range. Any .224-caliber rifle shooting "normal" bullet weights of 55 grains and under will begin to scatter pretty badly in the wind at extended ranges, even a .220 Swift. However, the .221 with 40 grain plastic tipped bullets at 3350-3400 fps has been about as reliable out at 300 yards as any of my larger guns. In a recent test on a reasonably calm day I had three out of three .221's take a piece out of a 3" orange bull at 425 yards.

What about building one on an XP-100 action?

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
What about building one on an XP-100 action?

That's frequently been done. It requires replacing the offset trigger, and usually the custom builder also replaces the dogleg bolt handle with one a bit more eye appealing.

As far as I'm concerned, if I were going to spend the money for a custom gun I would find an L461 or A-I Sako action. The Sako action would require no modifications for either function or appearance and therefore would likely be less costly in the end. I suspect that there is enough barrel shank on an L461/A-I factory .222 barrel that you could chop it, rethread and rechamber, and have a relatively small investment in converting a Sako .222.

I live in prairie dog country and started shooting them in 1949 when I was given a 22 RF rifle. Over the years I have shot them with 17 HM2, 17HMR, 17Fireball, 17 Rem, 204 Ruger, 22RF, 22 WMR, 22Hornet, 221 Fireball,222Rem,223Rem,22-250Rem,220Swift,243 Win, and some big game rifles. I load Re 7 powder in Rem cases with Fed M primers,with 40 Gr V-Max bullets for my 221 Fireball rifle. I limit my shooting ranges to where there is a good chance for a hit.Im past the point where I am trying to see how long a shot I can make with any round and burn up ammo on misses. The 221 is a fine 225 Yd prarie dog round but beyond it starts to get less likley with a rifle that shoots .75 inch five shot 100 Yd groups. A prairie dog pup weighs 6 to 8 Oz when they first come out in the spring with their rib and back area about two inches.

I'm new to this site and so far I like what I've been reading. I too enjoy shooting the smaller cartridges and have been searching for a .221FB as well. I stopped at one of the gun stores in my area and they had a used Rem 700 for $600.00, unfortunately I didn't have my wallet with me and when i came back a few days later it was gone. So now I am building one for bench work using a Savage dual port action and a Shilen match grade barrel on a benchrest stock. I would like to use a 1:15 twist barrel to try and get a little more speed with 40gr and 52gr bullets without overloading the powder. Has anyone used L'll Gun with good accuracy results? Thanks for your comments.

I have an original xp100 in .221 fireball and love it just the way it is but it would be really great in a light rifle too.