Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 222 Remington factory loads

I hope that most of you read the 1.21 is an average of 8 different loads and two different rifles. One really bad factory load - S&B specifically - brought the average up. But if you toss out the best and worst group size fired from each rifle, you get this.

Tikka T3 - 1.21 inches
Rem 788 - 1.15 inches

Not really an improvement, but the Rem 788 slid ahead of the Tikka by 0.006 of an inch.
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I'm afraid 223s are a flash in the pan. They won't be around much longer. The only 22 centrefires that will remain after next year will be the 22 Creedmoor and the 222 Remington.

Some other things I leaned were, in no particular order:

S&B didn't shoot well in either rifle. My spidey sense tells me that if I had to buy factory, stay away from this. S&B is cursed.

I must have got one of the bad 788s. It just couldn't beat the Tikka overall. Maybe the magic ran out.

I learned that spending a lot for ammunition doesn't guarantee anything except an empty bank account.

I learned that shooting hand loads groups tighter than any of these factory loads. Even shooting no frills, bulk bullets group better or the same as the top three loads.

(I got blisters on my fingers! Thanks, John!)