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I am toying with the idea of adding another coyote/varmint rig to the stable. looking heavily at the Fireball, under 20 grains of powder, mild report and in my opinion plenty of punch at 200 yards.

Wondering what barrel lengths, optics and loads you Furball shooters are using. Any and all advice is welcome.



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CZ 527 in synthetic stock. 40 or 50 grain VMax. CCI Small Rifle. Lil' Gun. Hard to go wrong with that combo. Love mine.


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Thanks CrowRifle. What kind of optic are you running?

I was thinking either a fixed 4x or 6x or possibly a 2-7x of some type.


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My 221 fb is a Sako A1 action custom gun. It has a 24" barrel. I shoot 40 grain ballistic tips over Lil Gun powder.
It is scoped with a Leupold 4-12X A/O. That's more scope than needed in most cases.
It has killed few called coyotes.

Last edited by dale06; 02/21/16.

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10gaugemag: I have a pair of Varmint Rifles in caliber 221 Remington Fireball.
I love them both!
One is a factory stock Kimber of Oregon Ultra-Varmint Model.
This model has a semi-heavy, stainless, 24" barrel.
I have a straight 12 power Leupold scope on it and it is VERY accurate indeed.
This Rifle prefers the 40 grain Berger hollow-points.
I have killed Coyotes with this Rifle but I mostly Hunt Ground Squirrels and Prairie Dogs with it.
Indeed the mild recoil, mild report, mild barrel heating and mild powder charges are all important attributes of this Rifle and the 221 Remington Fireball cartridge.
My other 221 Remington Fireball is a plain Jane Remington 700 Classic - again with a 24" barrel of sporter weight.
I have a Leupold 4x12 variable scope on this rig and it shoots extremely well for a sporter weight barreled Rifle!
This Rifle prefers the Nosler 40 grain Ballistic Tips.
To tell the truth I am secretly searching for another Remington 700 Classic in 221 Remington Fireball to add to my arsenal - I LOVE this Rifle.
Brass life of the 221 Fireball is FOREVER, apparently.
Speaking of 221 Remington Fireball Rifles my old friend Dr. (Dentist) Robert Mitchell of the Puget Sound country about 18 years ago convinced the Custom Shop at Remington, somehow, to build him a Remington 40XB-KS in caliber 221 Remington Fireball.
His Rifle had a 27 1/4"barrel and was a single shot.
Doc Mitchell let me shoot it one dead calm February morning there at the Seattle range.
I tell you, shooting THAT Rifle was just an amazing and rewarding experience!
I won't even bother telling you how small the groups were I shot with it that morning - you might not believe me.
Let it suffice to say - the 221 Remington Fireball IS an inherently accurate cartridge!
I say you should GO for the Fireball Rifle idea.
Don't over-look the kind of rare Remington 700 Classics in 221 Fireball as I have two friends that also own them and they both shoot very well.
Good luck to you.
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I have a Rem 700 LVSF which I had cerakoted in black...put in a McMillan Classic and after market trigger...Talley Lights and a VX2 3x9 wide duplex...I shoot 40gr Sierra HPs over AA 1680...very accurate and fast...works well on called yotes and cats...I have a few custom rifles, but catch myself with this one more than the others... [img:right]http://[Linked Image][/img]

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I have the Remington 700 laminated stock version - forget the model number. It has a nikon 6.5-20X. I use 40gr Vmax and Ballistic tip over RL7. I'll switch to lil gun when I use up my current bottle of RL7. Shoots great. I use it for ground squirrels here in Idaho.

I like it as you can see the impact through the recoil. If I had to have one varmint rifle, the 221 would be it.


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I've heard talk around my clubs varmint match that the 221 is really close to a downsized ppc, no idea how true that is. I had a 527 sporter for a short time prior to moving to the 17 rem. After a case head rupture in my primary deer rifle the day before season, the 221 was pressed into service. A 7 point hot on a doe at bow range can attest to the 221s effectiveness.

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Back when my 527 was still a 221 my best groups came from 19grns of RL7 behind Sierra 40gr HP's.....

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I feed my Rem Classic 221 FB RL-7 and 40gr Nosler BT's


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Originally Posted by alibi
I've heard talk around my clubs varmint match that the 221 is really close to a downsized ppc, no idea how true that is. I had a 527 sporter for a short time prior to moving to the 17 rem. After a case head rupture in my primary deer rifle the day before season, the 221 was pressed into service. A 7 point hot on a doe at bow range can attest to the 221s effectiveness.

You have a PM alibi.


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RL-7 with a 40 grain pill of some flavor seems like a popular combination wherever I look with Ballistic Tips and Sierra HP's leading the pack.


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My Fireball is a Sako L461 with a 22" Douglas #4 stainless barrel. Put together in '89. Current favorite load is 19.5 gr of Winchester 680(no longer available) and 40 gr V Max bullet. just under 3500fps mv. AA1680 comes real close to the same speed and accuracy of the 680.


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I have a reamer and gauges for the Fireball and have built three. I did one in a 700 with a 12 twist 26-1/2" barrel that was quite fast with 40 grainers at 3400. This was with LilGun powder. I got tired of trying to make the 223 action feed and eject properly (it extracted fine of course) and rechambered it to 223. Then I bought a new CZ 527 in the Fireball. Great little rifle. It's an efficient little case. Quiet and accurate. Unfortunately I moved out the CZ when I acquired a Sako AI Hunter in 17 Rem.

Last edited by rembo; 02/22/16.

"after the bullet leaves the barrel it doesn't care what headstamp was on the case"
"The 221 Fireball is what the Hornet could have been had it stayed in school"
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CZ 527, 4X Leupold

Nosler 40 grain BT
0.98 grams Lil'gun, but sometimes RL-7.
NEVER had a 3 shot group larger than a nickel. My kids can hit oranges out to 250 easily. Great rifle, superb round.

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Mine is a laminated stock version (model 700) and it's one of the most accurate rifles I own. I've read that there were only 200 made.

At one range session it put 10 of the Berger 40 gr. hollowpoints in 0.55". Sierra Blitz Kings don't do quite as well but they're close. IMR 4227 has done the best in my rifle.


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RL7 19 grains, 40 grain Nosler BT. Dead sheit all day long. Mines a set back and rechambered .222 mag Sako Vixen. Perfect action for the .221. I've carried mine all over Oregon and killed more coyotes with it than I can count, including one at 450. Perfect 200 yard squirrel gun. Quiet, easy on the barrel and brass, accurate, no recoil, perfect cartridge.

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I've got a CZ 527, it's the most accurate factory rifle I've ever owned. Reloader 7, any old bullet under 52 grs. shoots great with 205M primers.

It's a scary good little rifle and cartridge, and good out to 300 yards easy on PDs, probably a bit less on coyotes, but it'll kill 'em if you hit them right.


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Rembo: I have a 221 "re-chambering" story for you!
My friend "Mad Jack" from Yelm, Washington bought a new Ruger Model 77 V/T in 223 Remington about 12 years ago.
He and I Hunted Colony Varmints, with him using that Rifle, for a couple of years.
That 223 Remington was quite accurate and I kinda wished he would offer to sell it to me like he has done dozens of other times with various guns he grew tired of.
Anyway, instead of selling me the gun he decided to have the barrel set back and re-chambered to 221 Remington Fireball!
I pleaded with him repeatedly NOT to do so - but alas he did it anyway.
Well to make a long story short that re-chambered Rifle shot even better than when it was a 223!
I mean it shoots extremely well with now about a 25" barrel instead of the original 26" barrel.
This is another of the reasons why "I" consider the 221 Remington Fireball to be an "inherently accurate" cartridge.
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My .221 is a 700 LS. Its only kill so far is this small buck, DRT with a 45 gr Barnes X. I shot a B-I-G coyote (looked like a wolf) with it last June at about 180 yards. He spun around a couple times, biting at himself, almost went down, got his sh*t together and left. I never found him. I was shooting a 45 gr Hornady SP and suspect it didn't exit because I never found blood. I think a heavier bullet might have punched through and maybe I'd have found him. Oh well, at least he won't be eating any more fawns... I generally use AA 2015 & RL-7 and the Remington wears an early '90s vintage Bausch & Lomb 4-12x40.

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