Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints 221 fireball

I’ve had a 700 classic in 221 fireball for a few years. I’m going to get serious about working up a pdog load for it before I head back out for my next trip to the dog towns. The rifle shoots ok... nothing to write about but adequate. Best ( most accurate) load I’ve found so far is 50BT over H322. It seems to like hornady 45 gr Hornet bullets quite well also. Anyone have any experience with the fireball with these bullets vs 40 grain polymer tips in the dog towns?

Thx, Ben

322 is a pretty slow burner for that case. I really like Lil Gun for velocity and accuracy. Did you try it in your Fireball, by chance? I'd run 40's at 3400 for PD's.

A second on the 40's, they are devastating on PD's. V-Max or Nosler Ballistic Tips, just choose which ever shoots best in your rifle and go forth and slay stuff.

drover

All I use anymore is a 40 grain V max. 40 grains is the best weight for the Fireball.

Was using 19 grains of reloader 7.

Now using CFEblk.

I’ve tried lil’ gun, 4227, 4198, Rl7. Honestly don’t know why I tried the 322 but it shot better than anything else I had tried. I’ll probably revisit the 40’s and play with seating depth to see if I can improve their groups.

Thx, Ben

A 40g NBT and 19.0g of RL7 is my go to load in my CZ527and I couldn’t imagine needing anything else.

If it won’t shoot with a case full of RL7 and a 40 on top. It likely ain’t gonna shoot anything.

Been thinking of switching over to CFEBlack, what’s your load?
I’ve been using Lapua & Norma brass. Big difference in point of impact between the two types.

My laminated stock version really works with the 40 gr Blitz King or Nosler Varmagedon (tipped) with IMR 4227. The 40 gr Ballistic Tip didn’t do quite as well.
They’re a bit expensive but the Berger 40 gr “Varmint HP” is really, really accurate. On one occasion I got 10 shots in just barely over half an inch...as best I could measure it was .55”.

1680 in 40 - 55 grain bullets .

20.5gr. 40gr. vmax = 3550fps straight out of the Lee manual .

I use 40 ballistic tips in my custom/Sako 221FB. Dont have powder data handy, but think I use H 4198.

40 gr tipped and reloader 7 or lil gun

19 grains Reloader 7 40 grain ballistic tip. Dead coyotes by the truck load.

20.5 CFE BLK with a 40 Nosler bt Rem 7 1/2 and lapua brass.

My 527 loves 1680 with the 40 NBT.

20.6 was the most accurate.

20.8 was max and it was good for my AR 15.

I found some CFEBLK today locally and brought a few lbs home. I primed the last 45 pieces of new 221 brass I had and tried 19,19.5,20,and 20.5 gr of CFEBLK with 40 gr NBT’s. I used the same “jump” as the 50 NBT’s seemed to shoot best at which was a pretty good distance off the lands. All loads shot very well.... I think I have found my new Fireball pdog load. I didn’t have the chronograph set up but if I get around to it I’ll try to remember to post the results. I didn’t measure any of the groups but through the scope I would guess they were all in the .5-.6” range. Hodgdon web site shows 20.8 gr CFEBLK 3543fps.... should be one helluva pdog load!

Ben.

I think the time I chronographed a 20.8 load out of my Remington, it was 3600 something.

That was a 24 inch barrel though.

This.

Benbo: My Kimber of Oregon "Ultra-Varmint" in 221 Remington Fireball with 24" heavy barrel just LOVES the Berger 40 grain hollow-points and IMR 4227 powder. Superb accuracy here.
My Remington 700 Classic in 221 Remington Fireball gives rather good accuracy with Lil'Gun powder and the 40 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips.
Enjoy your Fireball Rifle they are useful, accurate, efficient, long lived and FUN guns.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I had a 700 LVSF in .221. I put a Jewell trigger in set at 6 ounces and mounted a Leupold 4.5-14X AO on in dual dovetail mounts and rings.

I played with a few different powder / bullet combinations. It showed a preference for the 40 grain VMAX and Ballistic Tip with either IMR 4198 or AA 1680. The best combination for accuracy was 4198 with the Nosler bullet, but the least accurate, 1680 with the hornady, was real close behind, quicker to load a lot of shells with, and a fraction more explosive on impact so that's what I used. The best load was a hair over quarter inch, the worst just under half. I decided I could live with it but it seemed the squirrels could not.

Tom

AA1680 will give you the longest barrel life, by far.

AA#7 is terrible to get out of the barrel when you start examining with a bore scope.

Many years ago, I had a custom 221 with zero freebore on a Rem 700. I shot the 50g Sierra blitz at 3200 with H322, used a cci br4 which is a thick cup primer, also use a 55g Sierra lead tip blitz for coyotes that was the hammer of thor on them, 3000fps.

Later on, I had another rifle with the same reamer used. I learned the value of AA1680 on squirrel fields with a short range load and a long range load, barrels had around 25,000 rounds of barrel life.

A 221 FB with a good match chamber with zero freebore is unbelievably accurate.

Agree: Lil Gun and 40g V-max does amazing things.

An example of one-

After trying a few powders and bullets, I ended up with 1680 and 50gr blitzkings in my cooper. I started with lil gun and rl7, but 1680 was the most accurate for me.

Once again....a person needs not try anything above 40 grains.

Only thing better than the 221 Furball.......is the 20-221 (AKA the 20 Vartarg)

Been running this one prob 14 yrs now...totally amazing in a dog town

Normally run 40 V Max..this summer switched over to 32's...Nosler & Hornady

AA1680 & H4198 for fuel.....picks up the dogs & turns 'em inside out even at 300+ yds

Round estimate down the tube ? 8K would be close....keep chasing the lands with the OAL

Go with Jim’s recommendation of 40gr bullets and AA1680.

i ended up using cfe blk with 35 or 40 gr. v-max bullets.

Ed

Keith: I "believe" the great accuracy that is possible with the 221 Remington Fireball - not only from experiences I have with my 221 Remington Fireball Rifles, over the years, but with a "factory" Remington 40XB-KS that my old friend Doc Mitchell "co-erced" the Remington Custom Shop into producing for him. The Rifle had the long stainless heavy barrel and was a single shot.
One calm foggy day at the S.P.A.A. Range in the tide flats of south Seattle my friend let me shoot his 221 Fireball 40XB-KS Rifle with a 24 power Leupold scope.
It simply was a "one hole" gun!
Exquisite trigger, no recoil and it seemed shot after shot went into the same hole!
I made Doc Mitchell promise to sell me that Rifle if he ever got into the mood to sell it.
IIRC Doc had that Rifle set up with a 52 grain match bullet - I forget the rest of the particulars.
Another example, was owned by my good friend Jack from Yelm, Washington.
Jack had an extremely accurate Ruger 77 MK-II V/T in 223 Remington - it regularly would shoot groups (5 shots at 100 yards) at or just over 1/3"!
After a couple years Prairie Doggin with it he had the barrel removed and re-chambered (shortened a tad!) into a 221 Remington Fireball - against my "sage" advice at the time I might add.
Anyway that 221 Remington Fireball shot even BETTER in the new caliber!
Yes I have great admiration for the accuracy capabilities of the 221 Remington Fireball.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

To read this thread a guy would sure think that the Fireball would get more respect than it has. I really like the cartridge, but I haven’t seen a factory loaded box of .221’s for sale on a shelf in years. I bought a Cooper years back because I liked the wood in the stock, but always wished that it was a .222 instead. Good to read that the 40 grain BT works that well on coyotes. I always figured that the 50 grain Remingtons would be my coyote load. Not many varmint shooting opportunities here in the Midwest.

Ream your Cooper out to .222...you might have to change the follower, but that's no biggie.
My favorite varmint rifle is a Remington "build" using a .221 fireball reamed out to .222 Easy Peasy cause the deuce is the parent cartridge.

Dont fugging listen to this guy.

First little switch to 222.....then he gets you to change to 223AI.

He is a bad......bad man.

....and lastly he introduces you to the .270 Winchester! His depravity knows no bounds!!!

I know guys rechamber rifles all the time, but like most of you, I'm getting a little gray around the muzzle and eventually either one of the kids or someone else is going to end up with a nicely wooded Cooper marked ".221 Fireball" on the barrel and if it was rechambered for something else, that reads like it could be a disaster in the making to me. I did lay in a bunch of boxes of factory .221's for $3.00 a box when a guy at the range sold off his own Fireball.

keep telling you guys

20-221 is where its at !

https://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/20caliber/#20VARTARG

And I'm going to try to get up to your neighborhood and do a little predator hunting this fall's watch out!

I might darken your doorstep to see what kind of whiskey you have!

You will smoke a turd in hell for that...

Brass is very important in the 221.

Rem brass will give up primer pockets around 150 fps less than Lapua or Formed Lake City brass.

Correction, I use LilGun, 15.0 grains and 40 bt. Very accurate in my rifle.

I would like to have me a Vartarg, but not if I had to get rid of my Furball to do it. Just too much love for that little round.

just have one of each !

No more room in my safe and wife says no more safes. Besides, I got (gasp!) a few toys that don't come out of the safe all the much anymore as it is. Be fun though!

This.