to .222 or not to?

[Don Fischer]

I think the closest to a one hole group ever shot was shot with a .222, .009" at 100yds. The best shooting rifle I ever owned was a 222.

[LaOtto222]

Look at my handle. I had a 700 BLD varmint special in 222. It was my only center fire varmint gun for years. There was nothing this side of 250 yards that was safe, including black birds that were barely 2" across the chest. I could put 3 shots into 1 hole every time, time after time at 100 yards. It loved Hornady 50 grain SPSX over a medium load of BLC2 and a Remington 7 1/2 primer. I had a Busnell Banner 10X mounted on it and life was good. I shot the barrel out eventually and rebarreled it in 221 Fire ball. I now have many varmint guns and no 222's. it is going to be fixed one of these days. Good Luck and Good Shooting

[roxalt]

well, the trade for the 788 .222 with my son is in progress.  i mailed him 2 45# Bear Kodiak Magnum recurves and a bunch of other stuff, and he's mailing me the 788, all his brass, and lee loader.  my dad caught wind of the trade, and he wishes he could get the 788 back, too.  in a few days it'll be back in my hands, and hopefully getting shot regularly.

BTW, any of you guys shot nosler 60gr. partitions in .222?  what load?  i'm thinking i'd like to use this rifle for doe antelope next year.

[LaOtto222]

I had a 788 in 222 years ago. It shot very well. If I remember correctly, it liked about 24.9 or so grains of BL C2 in a WW case; 50 grain Hornady SPSX bullets. I also think that I had good results with IMR 4198 too. I went with the BL C2 because the 4198 would not meter worth a darn. I do not recall what I set the OAL length at. I think I just guessed and it shot well; so I just left it alone. If I also remember correctly, it was not real finicky abut what it liked. However, I never shot any 55 or 60 grain bullets out of it. I am not sure it would even stabilize a 60 grain bullet. I think they were a 1-14" twist barrel, I know my 700 was a 14" twist barrel. I shot mostly 50 grain bullets with a few 52's and 45's thrown it. This much I do know for sure - I traded the 788 for a BDL 700 VS in 222. I thought the heavier barrel and fine looks would be better than the 788 I had. The looks are much better, but all I got was a heavier gun that was much more picky about what it liked. I got no accuracy advantage at all. With loads the 700 liked I could shoot into .250" quite regularly and always under .5", but the 788 did that too.

[ToadHill]

Have a .222 Marlin Sako that my dad bought in the late 50's.  It was a great shooter then and it still is.  Took down a woodchuck just last year at a little over 300 yards.

[Catfish]

You can not go wrong with a triple duce. My wife has a cousin that brought a Rem. 722. .222 in 1960 and told me it just wasn`t accurate any more in 1997. He fired a couple of 100`s rounds a year through the gun. I brought it home and put 50 patches of Sweets 7.62 through the barrel and number 50 was just as blue as number 1. Getting tired of swabing the barrel I took it out and tried  it, 5 shot`s under 1/2 inch. I put some more finish on the stock and took it back to him. I figure in another 20 years I`ll clean some more copper out of the barrel.

[harrys]

Buy tht 222 it's a great round and has won many a bench rest shoots. If u shoot it enough it will amaze u I have been shootin it for 40 yrs and seems I always get it out ,even with havin a 22-250,204,22 hornet,and 25-06 it's just a pleasure to shoot.

[Bobby_2506]

I just shot my first ever one hole shot group with a 222. I put this one together with a Remington 700 action coupled with a Douglas air gauged barrel set in a H-S Precision stock topped with a Leupold VXIII LR 4.5x14 with a 30mm tube. The ammo I use is a Sierra Matchking 52gr HPBT bullet sitting on top of a charge of 19.5 gr of IMR-4198 using a Federal Small Rifle Match primer. This combination did the job for me. I just can't say enough about this caliber.

[Autorim]

The .222 is one of the all time classic cartridges and is one of my favorites. I bought a 721 many years ago. I eventually glass bedded it into a M700 stock and cut a couple of inches off the 26 inch bbl. My son now has it with the original 6X Weaver that has been rebuilt.

I still have the Browning by Sako in .222 which is one fine little rifle. I rank the .222 with the .257 Roberts, .270 Win., 30-06 and 45-70. Other cartridges may perform better under certain circumstances, but all of the above have been proven in the field and on the range for many years.

I also have a Hornet,a couple of .223's and a 22-250, but the .222 is still my favorite out to 200 yards or so.