Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Favorite bullet for the 222?

My 722 really likes 40gr Nosler tipped Varmageddon and LT30.

Ive had up to 4 222s and presently have 3 here.

I usually just use 40gr. BlitzKings with LT32 and a Fed 205. Coyotes arent on the menu with that bullet, but Id imagine it would work inside 200 yards if kept in the soft spot (lung area).

For the smaller varmints, it pops nicely out to 300.

+1 here

I use a 50 gr Blitz King. This was with a load of VV133, 23 gr. I used CCI 450 with this load for kicks. Shot out of Remington 700 Varmint Special (1967)

Gary...you know me...Ive used pretty much all the bullets mentioned in my .222s...it just depends on what application you are talking about. Frangibles for buck toothed colony varmints ( and maybe coyote fur saving) and 40 NBTs in the brain for pigs...but you knew that!

I have shot literally truck loads o deer with my 222 using 55 gr Sierra game kings , and imr 4895. A great combo, and the bullet performs really well on deer.

That’s a good looking pig Tom. Was that on the most recent TX trip? Makes me miss my 77 .275. Then again, I remember why I sold it and it’s ok lol.

The most accurate load I've found for my 788 is 21.0 grains of LT-32 under a 50-grain V-Max. Five-shot groups average well under 1/2 inch. Velocity is a bit lower than what I got with H322, H4198, and X-Terminator, but I don't care.

JB likes LT-30 with a 40-grain bullet. I have not tried that.

I'm changing over to 50-grain Ballistic Tips when I load my next batch and I'm confident it will be every bit as accurate.

BLC2 powder produces 1/4" groups all day long using a Rem 700 ADL bought from Walmart discounted to $119.00 clearance. I lucked out on that one. Went in to buy a combination license and saw the deal. 25 years ago. 50gr SX .

x3, shoots better than the Sierra Blitz in my Tikka. I use 4198, both H and IMR. The Hornady 50 SP (non SX) also does very well.

40s over Lil Gun ended up my go to........50-52 if you want to pop a deer, but the 40 BT might do if thru lungs or neck.....again, IF you want to take a deer. The 40s will do in about any critter Coyote and down.

IIRC, that Lil Gun runs 40s about 3600, maybe more. Flies flat

Thanks for all of the insight. Gives me a place to start. I really wanted to shoot 50-52s but 40s will do just fine for my intended uses.

I’d still like to find some 50g spitzers and maybe I will before this rifle is completed.


Has anyone used the 40g Berger flat base hollowpoints? I ordered a couple hundred from midway to try out. Good bullets are hard to come by right now and these were available.

In the past, Sierra 50 gr. Blitz and/or 52 gr. HPBT Match (and 55 Hornady SP's) were my go-to's for .222, .223,, R2 Lovell, and .22 Maximum Lovell - all in the low 3000's fps. I'm currently enamored of another one - the Berger 40gr.flat base varmint/target. That little bugger sizzles out of the barrel of my 26" .223 Browning Low Wall at nearly 3600 fps and prints boringly repeatable sub-1/2MOA groups at 100 and 200 yards. I can't attest to how well it carries out beyond that as our suburban Maryland range doesn't extend past 200, nor have I shot any creatures big or small with it, but I should imagine it would be effective on small ones given the bullet's construction and velocity.

...a 50 grain Speer TNT over H322 has always worked for me, enough powder to get @ 3200 fps and rock on.

Ky221: Several of my 222 Remington Rifles prefer the wonderful yet humble (and its a Spitzer) Sierra 50 grain Blitz bullets (not the BlitzKings).
I have shot amazingly small groups with these bullets especially from my Remington 40XB-BR in 222 Remington.
They also perform wonderfully well in the Colony Varmint fields (Rock Chucks on down) along with spectacular results (terminally) on Crows and some other types of flying Varmints.
Have not done as much in the way of Predator Hunting with them but have on occasion with no complaints.
Be sure and try these out in your 222 - and they are a bit cheaper than many other bullets.
Good luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

For pdogs I usually shoot 40 vmax or BT. For yoties I used to shoot 50 Sierra blitz. I had a few of the yoties run off.... don’t know if the blitz was blowing up or what. I switched to the regular 50 gr Sierra and no yotie has escaped since. I just bought a bunch of the discontinued 50 Sierra SMP and will probably feed those to my 222 till I use them all up. I generally use H322 in the deuce.

Of the bullets you list, I would use the 40 grain ballistic tip. Though I don't own a .222, I have used them in .221 FB and .223.

My favorite bullets for a classic like the .222 would be 45 grain hornet bullets (Sierra or Hornady ... Hornady's is a pointy bullet, Sierra's is a round nose) and the 50 grain Hornady SX. Before the introduction of the polymer tipped bullets, those were my choices for the .223. I wore out my first .22-250 shooting the 50 grain SX and H380.

Another bullet that would be interesting (for short range because of the very low BC) would be the 35 grain VMAX which seems meant for Hornet use. I've pushed them out of a .22-250 and they'll hold together but whatever they hit surely does not.

The 40 gr Nosler BT and 40 gr V-Max open a whole nother dimension in the 222, they go together like bread and butter.

drover

40 vmax for me, always seemed to make varmints “pop” a bit more than NBTs in my experience. A bit cheaper too

40 VMax (or similar) for me as well. RE7 or one of the 4198s will shoot pretty good in my 700V. And fast too (if you are into that kind of thing).
Cheers