Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles What's the heaviest bullet I can shoot out of a 222?

I've got a 222 coming that I need to start working up loads for.Would like to shoot something heavier than 52-55 grainers,which is my bread and butter in my other 222s.

I'm interested in trying the Hornady 60 grain SP,Nosler 60 grain Partition,and the Sierra 63 grainer.

Any chance any of these will shoot worth a damn in a 1-14 222?

Thanks,
WB.

Norma says no, and several other good sources as well. Conventional wisdom says no heavier than 55 gr. in a .222 with std twist, and 50 gr. is better. Why not risk $20, buy a box of 60's and find out for yourself?

That's what I'm planning on doing,just asking to see how bone headed it is.

I'm fairly certain the Hornady 60 SP would shoot fine,don't know about the Nosler or the Sierra 63 though.

WB.

I've had 4 .222's with 1 in 14 twist. They all shot 40 to 52 gr. bullets very well. Some of them put up with 55's but didn't shoot them as well as the lighter bullets. None of them shot 60 + gr bullets worth a dam.

A 22-250 is powerful enough to stabilize the shorter 60 grain bullets ok, but loses it with the longer ones. A 223 does ok with a 55 grain with standard twist. It is more powerful than a 222. 50 grainers sound about right for you.

Think I'll try to find a box of Hornady 60 grain Spire Points locally.If they don't shoot,I'll just stick with my old standby Speer 52 grain HP.

WB.

Both the 63 grain SMP Sierra and the 70 grain Speer SMP will stabilize in a one in 14 or one in 12 twist, even at 222 velocities...that is what they were originally designed for...heavier bullet, slow twist, 222 velocity...

That's my experience,too. It's the LENGTH of the bullet not the weight that dicates twist. The longer the bullet the faster the twist needs to be to stabilize it.

O

One of the more accurate bullets in my 1 in 16 22Hornet is the Hornady 60gr SP. At a gues. I'd say you could use the Speer 70gr semi-point. Depending on the BC of the 70gr semi, the 60gr SP might be flatter shooting.

Speer's 70 gr. Semi-Spitzers are what I shoot in my 1:12 twist 222 Rem. over a compressed load of Win. 760/H414. They shoot quite well; I even took a deer with one of them at around 80 to 100 yards with my 222. In fact, thus far, no animal I've hit with one of these got away.

They're also my bullet of choice in a 223 Rem. & a 22-250 (also with 1:12 twist barrels). I like them so much, I bought a lifetime supply in case Speer decided to stop making them. I took a deer with one of these out of my 22-250 at 360 yards; one shot, DRT so they're flat shooting enough.

My Cooper 223 has a 1:14 twist. It will put 40 & 50 grain Vmaxes into one hole ususally but won't shoot anything above 55 grains worth a hoot. Recently I tried 60 grain Partitions and they ran about 1.5" in a gun that shoots most lighter bullets in the .1's and .2's.

Trying to turn a cartridge into something it wasn't designed to be is the first step on the road to insanity. My dad was one of those guys. He developed varmint loads for .270's, a 7RM, an 06 and them tried to shoot 60gr bullets in his .22Hornet. This usually meant he never knew what anything was sited in for. He had fun but he dealt with frustration better than me.

I prefer to just buy another rifle and shoot one load in it. One of the great selling points of the 30/06 is it's versitility. Golly, it shoots everything from 110gr bullets to 220's. Good luck with getting them to both hit the same side of the planet.

Great info guys,thanks.Guess I will buy a couple boxes of this and that and see what works and what won't.I have a bunch of the 70 grain Speers,as they shoot really well out of one of my 22/250s.

I mainly want to shoot a heavier bullet out of this particular 222 (an Anschutz),because I want to deer hunt with it.But my grandfather and father have killed a mountain of deer with the 222-grandpa used whatever factory loads were on sale,and Dad used Speer 52 grain HPs.

But both of them are WAY better shots than me.But what is strange is that most of dad's deer he shot with the 222 with the 52 grain HP,were body shots.99% of grandpa's he shot between the eyes.

WB.

I shoot 15-20 does a year with a .223 shooting the 52 grain Speer HPs. I shoot them in the neck and 99.9% are dead in their tracks.

Guys,

How does one tell what twist rate you have without calling the manufacturer ? This is a special production run Ruger 77 MKII 222 stainless with black synthetic stock. I've only shot factory Remington 50gr and reloaded some Nosler 50grBT & Hornady 50grSP.

Ken

know how to do the old cleaning rod trick to measure the twist?

put cleaning rod in there all the way.. mark a point right at the muzzle on the cleaning rod.. slowly remove the road letting the rifle twist turn it as you remove it... as soon as the mark comes back top dead center, make another mark on the cleaning rod right in front of the muzzle...

then measure the distances between the two points... if it is 14 inches, your twist is one in 14, if it is 12 inches, your twist is one in 12... etc...

not rocket science, but close enough for government work...

If you can find some round noses they should shoot ok. I use 70 gr pointy bullets with the tips cut off to 60 or 65 gr.

This rifle (Rem Mod 7) has a Hart Stainless .222 1/14 twist 20" barrel..



It shoots Sierra 60gr HP's @ 2657 fps...



And last week I set the (so far) record for the gun,
Prairie Dog at 556 yards, plus a bunch of 'em at 250 to 300.

It also shoots 50gr BT's very well, but the 60's are worth a try.

WCB, my old Sako Vixen 222 has a 1:14 twist and handles the 70 gr Speer just fine.

Ted

I've never had great luck with 60 grain spitzers even in 1-12" twisted 223s. However, two heavier (shorter) bullets, the Sierra 63 and the Winchester 64 have shot quite decently in most 223s and several 222s I've loaded them for. Don't make the mistake of simply following formulas. Each rifle has rules unto itself.