New to me 222

[Harter66]

So I have this Savage 340D 222 and it came w/4 boxes of ammo 55gr SP Rem. I shot a few of those (all 20 in a box) and while ol' Wile E would be in a whole lot of trouble to at least 250 yd the Pdogs are pretty safe past 100. Before I cast the chamber/leade/etc I need to get a new rod . Those that work in 284, 308, 355 and up don't work well ,something about 1/4'' rods.

After much searching the 55gr Bater boolit and 22-55 RCBS seem to be the prefered w/the Seaco 221 next. The Bater gets good marks or #$&* . It looks like love or hate. Neither the #221 or 22-55 get that. So that narrows that down .

Now I'm going to tip toe in to no mans land . IF you were to presue 200# ''hoof weight'' game for the express reasons of eating not sport would 1 be better off to choose an FP or stick w/the above. I don't care about hide holes in fact IF it were applied ,it would be likely 50-60 yd shots necks and vitals period.
(I have way better suited tools for the job so lets keep this to applied eating not ethos please. I've seen the go wrong w/a 222 on a mulie ,not my mistake but I was right there,2 identical rifles 1 308 1 222 honest mistake by a 13yo juiced up on his 1st hunt).

I've also seen in the 223 that Unique isn't always warm and fuzzy does that hold true in the 222 as well?

93543
93544

[JeffinNZ]

Such the shame the .222 has fallen from grace. It's a great round. You know, the vast majority of the deer cullers in NZ during the 50's and 60's used the .222 Rem. Those boys lived and breathed hunting and took neck shots.

[KYCaster]

I still have lots of work to do, but my Savage 340 seems to like the lighter boolits best.

Best results so far are with NOE's copy of 225107.....37 gr. FP. Less than 2 MOA up to 2500 FPS.

Jerry

[MT Gianni]

[QUOTE=Harter66;2576217
Now I'm going to tip toe in to no mans land . IF you were to presue 200# ''hoof weight'' game for the express reasons of eating not sport would 1 be better off to choose an FP or stick w/the above. I don't care about hide holes in fact IF it were applied ,it would be likely 50-60 yd shots necks and vitals period.
(I have way better suited tools for the job so lets keep this to applied eating not ethos please. I've seen the go wrong w/a 222 on a mulie ,not my mistake but I was right there,2 identical rifles 1 308 1 222 honest mistake by a 13yo juiced up on his 1st hunt).

[/QUOTE]

Friend's father had two big game rifles, a 222 and a genuine 333 OKH. He killed Elk with both. He knew anatomy far better than most being a Veterinarian and could place it where he needed to. If I had to, I wold rely on 60 gr bullets and close ranges.

[Harter66]

Like my 65' 110 this 1 has an odd measured twist of exactly 1-11. I'd sure like to be able to lay some slow powder in behind some 60s but somehow I doubt I'll get so lucky w/this lil'bitty case. I'll have to ''settle'' for GCs and the usual powders.

[white eagle]

the 222 is a cutie aint it?
I have one as well mine is a Rem.model 700 classic

[Old Dawg]

I have an old SAKO L46 with a 14" twist. It kills deer fine using a Sierra 63 grain Semi-SP and 19.1 gr IMR 4198. I use conservative heart-lung shot.

[Harter66]

It is a sweet lil' round.

I'm probably going to try to patch patch these also. I think this 1 will shoot 60 gr being as the lead bullets are shorter as a rule than jacked. Then I can get back to jacked speeds, in the mean time rocks, paper, golf balls, chucks and maybe a yote should be more than enough to keep me amused.

[quilbilly]

I have 3 triple deuces of which two are shooting cast. Both of the CB shooters, a T/C Contender and a Savage 24V O/U, love cast and Unique. The designated J-word rifle only seems like it likes those bullets launched at the maximum velocity but is wonderfully accurate out to 300 yards (ground squirrels beware which is why I took it to the last NCBS and used it on the ground squirrels up on Winnemucca Mountain).
My second seer I ever took almost 47 years ago was a mule deer and I got it with a 222 in 24v noted above. It dropped like a stone but I had modified the load to get better expansion with those .224 jacketed bullets of the day. I surmised then that those explosive bullets would expand well at a reduced velocity so loaded that 222 for an estimated muzzle velocity of 2400 fps. My assumption was right for then but I don't know about today's jacketed bullets. That deer was taken at a range of about 50 yards if memory serves.
If I were hunting deer today with a 22 centerfire, that flat nosed bator would probably be my choice but I now hunt deer with a muzzleloader.

[GabbyM]

Just ordered a CZ 527 in 222 Rem last week. Chomping at the bit waiting for it to come in. They’ve not even shipped it yet.

I bought a hundred pieces of Lapua brass from Powder Valley. Glad I did it’s beautiful stuff as usual. Spent last evening and most of today trying to convert 5.56x45mm into 222 Rem. I have two pieces of brass finished. They end up about 1/16th inch long and I’m a bit short on a trim tool. Cutters in those Lyman’s aren’t much account. Will just say my big stash of 5.56mm brass is pretty safe from this 222.

My 22 mold is a Lyman #225646. Listed as a 55 grain but they are 60 grains finished. Looks pretty big next to a 225415. It should do fine in the 14 twist. I really don’t want to buy another mold. Will be loading over 2400 and 5744 to see how it does. Have some RCBS 55 FP and 225415 Lyman’s here to test also.

[quilbilly]

My local Sportsman's Wharehouse has dozens of bags of 222 brass (rem. I believe) if you have any trouble finding any.

[Harter66]

I received 60 Rem and 20 Hornady. I will take you up on that I saw some about a yr ago at their place in Reno. Now to decide on a boolit and find a couple powders to try.

[GRUMPA]

If your having issues finding the 222 cases you should go into the VS section of the site. In there look for my name and open the page and check the thread I have on it.

[GabbyM]

To enable getting this converted 5.56mm brass trimmed of it’s 1/16th inch excess neck. I dropped $70 + $6 shipping on a new case trimmer. Wouldn’t of done it but it will also trim the 223 cases. The “World’s Finest Trimmer” from Little Crow Gunworks. Available through Sinclair or direct online. It chucks up in an electric drill. Uses a standard four flute end mill for the cutter. Since I Have about four thousand 5.56mm to trim. After they’ve been blown out in a military chamber they stretch a lot when sizing back down to 223 Minimum. So that’s how I talked myself into spending the money.

When I started forming cases the other day I was getting quite a few splits. So I annealed all the cases. That helped. Then it’s a matter of keeping the lube off the shoulder to avoid dents and folds. I unscrew the FL size die about 1 ½ turns. Expander stem is removed. Then use four or five strokes turning the die in a little over half turn between ram strokes. To keep the lube from migrating up the case. I remove the case after the first stroke and wipe it clean above half way.

I've loaded up a few Lyman #225646 over 12 gains of 2400. That should be around 2350 to 2400 fps. Will also load 14.0 gains of AA5744.

[donovansn585]

I just recieved a new bator mold and unfortunately it drops at .223 so I believe it's defective and if google bator mold problems you will find a ton of issues with them I would say only a few people get good ones.

[Harter66]

That sounds like what Ive read here off and on about them.