222 Remington

[ammo.crafter]

Is there a resurgence of the .222 Remington?
What a great cartridge for target, wood chuck and reloading.

My first centerfire rifle was/is a Remington model 600 "S" bolt.

When I was a kid I would hit thumb tacks at 100yds!

Also my first experience reloading.

[Colorado Redneck]

Over the last 15 years I've enjoyed a couple of 222 Rem's. First was a CZ American. Very accurate. It wasn't endowed with a scope that had turrets to reset to zero, and the gun became boring. Then a few years ago a Tikka T3 hunter became available, new in box for a good price. Mounted a Leupold Freedom 6-18, and really have enjoyed it. 1/2 moa consistently with 40 gr Sierra Blitzking. Low recoil, trigger is nice and hairy. Richards stock in a colorful laminate. Wouldn't let it go for any reason.

[44 AMP]

My first centerfire rifle was/is a Remington model 600 "S" bolt.

Just curious, when you say "Model 600 "S" bolt, what are you referring to? The standard "dogleg" bolt handle that all model 600s have, or something else??

My first center fire rifle was a Model 600, in .308 Win, when I was 16. Over they years since I have obtained other 600 series rifles, in .243, 6mm Rem, .350 Rem Mag and also .222 Rem. They are all joys to me, being short, light and accurate enough for their intended uses.

My other .222 is a 10" Contender, which is scary accurate and quite fun, even with a low powered pistol scope. Also the gun that finally opened my eyes to the logic behind the .221 Fireball. The .222 holds a bit more powder than you can burn in a 10" barrel. A .221 doesn't.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by ammo.crafter

Is there a resurgence of the .222 Remington?

No, there isn't a resurgence. It'll never be a mainstream cartridge again. So It'll only be produced in limited runs of ammunition and firearms.

[mikejonestkd]

I have some experience with both the .222 rem and the .221 fireball. Both are excellent and accurate mild mannered cartridges. I do wish they were more popular but they both live in the shadow of the .223 rem, so they are slowly fading into the history books

[JasonD67]

During the height of the pandemic ammo drought my local gun shop only had a couple of boxes of .222 on the shelf and nothing else. Nobody wants it anymore. They’re probably still there.

[Ricklin]

I came close to owning an S&W Model 52, the infamous .22 Remington jet. Since I did not get the revolver I got rid of the jet ammo and dies that I had. I would not mind finding a tired shooter grade 52 I won't pay the collectors price the pretty ones bring. Strikes me as a very fun caliber. I also like the way the 52 can shoot .22 LR as well. Some guns came with a 2nd cylinder, others came with chamber inserts, a very few came with both.
I don't recall any rifles chambered in .22 jet, I've seen Contender barrels.

[flyer898]

The S&W .22 Jet is the model 53. The model 52 is the semi auto.38 wadcutter. Marlin made a prototype Levermatic model 62 in .22 Jet; it did not make it to production.
My first .222 was a 50s vintage 722. I made cases from .223 brass and it shot great with Sierra 52 gr. BTHP bullets. Now my .222 is a left hand Kimber of Oregon Custom Classic.

[snoeproe]

I Bought a 222rem a couple years ago for the boy. Picked it up at the local gun show. It’s a savage 340c. It had a side mount Pachmayr swing away on it with a 4x scope. Brought it to a local gun shop to upgrade the scope and had to buy a new mount for it. It currently has a side mount picitiny rail with a vortex 4x16x42. The boy can hit a 12oz water bottle at 200 yards with it now. We are happy with how it shoots.
I reload my ammo for it. It’s a cheap cartridge to reload.

[44 AMP]

If there is such a thing as an "intrinsically accurate" cartridge, the .222 Rem is one of them. It's literally a scaled down .30-06, and my experience is that the .222s are often slightly more accurate than the same rifle in .223.

.223 rules the roost, commercially, because of the fact that it was made to be the GI round, and so brass is common and cheap (relatively speaking), and ball ammo is cheaper than .222, or any other .22 centerfire round, so people pick .223 over .222s almost all the time, and the market variety reflects that.

Remember, .222 Rem ruled the 100yd benchrest circuit for many years, where match winning groups were measured in 0.00x inches extreme spread.

[snoeproe]

There are only a few manufactures who make the 222 chambering for North America these days. Today, the 222 is more popular in Europe than North America.

[flyer898]

I saw a Remington 600 in .222 Remington on Gunbroker this morning if anyone is interested. Not mine and I have no interest.

[old roper]

I still load for 222mag. Nosler makes cases and I had it build. Case little long than 223.

[hammie]

I had a rem 788 (stolen) and a sako L461 with a douglas barrel (son has it now) chambered for .222. Currently I own a recent Ruger #1A, chambered for .222 Rem. Three shot, 100 yard groups for the two older rifles would always be less than 1 inch. Shamefully, I haven't fired the Ruger #1A yet.

IMR 4198 was always my powder for the .222. Since the IMR powders have been discontinued, I wonder what would be a good substitute. (Yes, I know hodgens's offers a H4198, but is that just a re-packaging of the IMR powder?)

@Old Roper: If worse comes to worst and nosler stops offering .222 rem mag cases, could .222 rem mag be formed from .204 Ruger cases? I know that's not necessary now, but sometimes it is good to have a backup plan. The 6 x 47 mm was one of my favorite wildcats.

[flyer898]

@hammie among my left-hand Kimber of Oregon collection is a Custom classic in 6X47. Right after I bought it, I came across a bag of 500 .222 Rem Mag Norma cases. I doubt I will wear them out. I keep thinking about using it to harvest a buck.

[old roper]

hammie, I Have good supply for 222mag and I have 2 Ruger Single shot one is 6ppc .other 22BR. My elk rifle is Ruger #1 and K-P build it chamber for 30/338mag.

[hammie]

@oldroper: At the risk of getting too far off topic, isn't the 30/338 win mag basically a .308 Norma Mag? @ flyer: Cool!

Back to .222: I always used, IMR 4198 in the .222, but I'm getting low because I use 4198 a lot for a Howa 7.62x39, and also a Rem 700, .221 fireball rifle. Accurate 2015 looks like a pretty close substitute, and accurate powders seem to be available in my area. We're in our 70's now, but when MRS. Hammie was varmint shooting, the .222 Remington was her favorite cartridge.

[snoeproe]

Lots of good powders for 222rem loading. Benchmark, Varget, H335. W748.

[hammie]

Thanks snoeproe. As "44 AMP said earlier, the .222 remington seems to be a goldilocks cartridge where most powder and bullet combinations work and work well. I will take a look at your suggestions. I do want to stay with an extruded powder rather than a ball powder.

[Ricklin]

Thanks flyer 898 I was one pesky digit off, yes the Remington Jet S&W was indeed the model 53. Apparently shooters were not fond of cleaning cylinder bores with Naptha to avoid lockup.

[old roper]

Originally Posted by hammie

@oldroper: At the risk of getting too far off topic, isn't the 30/338 win mag basically a .308 Norma Mag? @ flyer: Cool!

Back to .222: I always used, IMR 4198 in the .222, but I'm getting low because I use 4198 a lot for a Howa 7.62x39, and also a Rem 700, .221 fireball rifle. Accurate 2015 looks like a pretty close substitute, and accurate powders seem to be available in my area. We're in our 70's now, but when MRS. Hammie was varmint shooting, the .222 Remington was her favorite cartridge.

Hammie, if you look at Sierra manual page 722 is Winchester mag. Page731 has .norma mag.