Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .223 A.I. (Seriously)

the 222 rem mag necked down to 20 cal is now a 204 ruger

Wrong.

You are correct Tikkadude, but I think what prairie_goat is getting at is that the .204 is not simply a necked down .222 Rem Mag. Its shoulder was also moved forward and shoulder angle increased to (I think) 30 degrees.

Correct.......

The 222 mag case is the parent of the 204 Ruger, but the shoulder is moved forward .075" and given a 30 degree shoulder.

Both have a 1.850" case length.

My picture shows that plain as day.......

parent case...........thx for clarification TinCock.......

for my current hod rod 20 cal...its a 20 Practical.......

actually a tad faster than my previous 204R.....in the same barrel

had the 204R rechambered to the 20 PT......

but thats cutting hairs.......same as the 223AI vs the 222 mag

a dead p/dog is a dead p/dog

While the .22-204 looks really appealing, brass availability/variety look a bit sketchy. It does look like it would have as much more capacity over the .223a.i. as the a.i. has over the standard .223.

Another tidbit I ran up on; in a lot of comps, there is a .308 and .223 only class. A.I.'s have to compete in the open class with everyone else.

Also looked some more at the .22BR. Really interesting little cartridge...............

Had my heart set on a .223 A.I., but, dangit, the more I read, the more I waffle.

The decision between the 223 and 223 AI should not be that difficult. Build it as a standard 223 and shoot it for a while, if you are unhappy with the performance then open it up to 223 AI.

drover

The 22-204's capacity has, at most, a hair more than the 223AI. The beauty lies in no fireforming, just neck up and go.

The easy button would be a plain 'ol 223 7 twist in a 28" or 30" for max velocity, as weight & portability is not a concern.

Just go with the .223AI. The brass is cheap and plentiful, FF'ing is simply shooting the rifle with 100 fps less velocity, trimming is non-existent, and if you want to compete get yourself a bolt head and a barrel chambered in something more competitive, like 6 BR, 6 Creedmoor, etc.

.....Yeap.....

223AI is ok for pigs.

I'd do vanilla .223 which is what I've come back to after the other offerings....

No fuss whatsoever. Dial a couple clicks more than what's been mentioned this far....

Jeez Butch, that thing looks like some of the groundhogs that got in front of my .25-06.

What load?

Actually shot by a friend on his ranch. He has a huge amount of them. He hunts them with a conventional bow. I'll send him an email.

Makes a purty good squirrel gun with 75 AMaxes.....

I have an idea that if I like a 17lb. .223A.I., I'd also like a 7lb .223A.I..............Just sayin'............

Oh, it's a magical round....

Yep. Magical in its velocity gains, seemingly in violation of the laws of physics (or maybe guys are just loading the 223 Ackley to higher pressures ).

Is the 6 Dasher magic too?

TONS of competent reloaders pushing that cartridge to .243 speeds (long bbls, I know) and yet the .223AI is the magic one I guess.

As a reloader, I look for sticky bolt lift and primer pocket longevity as that's all I've got to go on.

.223AI formed brass, 75 ELD and 8208 will bump 3,100 fps in a 21" bbl with long brass life.

Hodgdon states 2,800 in a 24" bbl with a 75 JLK fwiw.

So if I back down to 3,000 fps is it still magic?