Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 222 Remington Loads

Tomorrow I pick up a mint Remington 788 in 222 Remington. My uncle got me hooked on messing with the 788s so I look forward to shooting this one. My question is what powder does everyone prefer? Not asking for charge weights, just what performs well. When you search info on it, H or IMR 4198 seems to be a go to as well as H322. I have access to IMR4198 at a local store, but just curious if anyone has good luck with the powders I have on hand. I have a very good supply of benchmark, varget, 8208 and H4895. I plan to shoot 40 and 50 gr vmax. Any info is much appreciated!

Of the powders you have probably benchmark is the best bet to try first..........
The triple deuce is my favorite cartridge and my favorite powder is VihtaVuori N130 with 40-50gr bullets. H322 works OK, to me the 4198's are overrated in the 222.
I am a fan of Varget but not in a 222, too slow of a burn rate and so bulky you cant get enough in the case to get any velocity

Benchmark with the 50's

why is 4198 over rated in the 222?

I’ve shot em all and until recently, H-322 was the most accurate by far. JB has chimed in on a few 222 threads mentioning LT-30. I couldn’t find any until recently. LT-30 knocked H-322 off the throne by a significant margin. Just little bugholes every time.

I shoot a Sako Vixen with a Bofors barrel and a Remington 700 Classic.

IMR or H 4198 is the traditional "go to" powder in the deuce...19.0-19.5 gr with a 50 gr bullet.Lots of others work and I particularly like Win748 in the .222

ingwe is right, but 4198 doesn't meter as well as some other powders. I have also used H4895.. Finding a poor powder is more of a problem than finding a good one. Love this caliber!!

My favorite .222 load has been the 50 grain Sierra Blitz (the under 3600 fps version) and Reloder 7, but a 4198, H322, H4895, and several others will work about as well. Use what you have.

I agree with Boatanchor - N130 is my new favorite for my 222. My old favorites were IMR 4198 and RL-7. I used 20.0 grains of 4198 and a bit more RL-7. I don't remember offhand what my N130 charge is. H332 was very accurate, but I got the best velocity with 4198 and RL-7, around 3,250 fps with a 50 grain bullet.

At one time I liked 24 grains of AA2200 under a 40 grain bullet, but I have been out of 2200 for years.

Favorite bullet is the 50 grain Sierra Blitz King.

Thanks for all the input. I went ahead and picked up a pound of IMR4198 just to try. Will likely try benchmark as well.

What’s the story on the accurate LT-30? Is it a temp stable powder? Never heard of it until Godogs57 mentioned it and then noticed the store I bought the 4198 from today had a lot of it in stock.

I ended up with two 722 222’s. The second one because a friend passed away and the offspring needed some money. I have not shot that one yet. The first one like the 4198’s.
It like H322 also. The 222 is a great cartridge. I got 4 or 5 boxes of Nosler ammo with the second 222, never dreamed I’d be shooting factory ammo in my 222.

I've got a 788 in 222 as well. It is my truck gun and is responsible for dispatching a lot of critters. I only load it with 55 gr varmint bullets strictly for hunting and use IMR 4198. Haven't seen any difference between H 322 an 4198 for accuracy. The H322 meters much nicer than the 4198 but seems to foul a little quicker. If I want to make tiny groups at the range I use my Sako A1 and I have loads in both 4198 and 322 that shoot equally well. How can 4198 be over rated if it is so consistently accurate? There are lots of different powders that work great in the 222. Use whatever powder is the easiest for you to acquire and I'm sure it won't take you long to work up a good load. My most accurate load is a 53 gr. match bullet over IMR 4198 at 2960 fps. which is no where near max velocity but will always print 5 shot groups under 1/2 inch @ 100 meters if I do my part. I load closer to max for the 788 since it's my hunting rifle and I want results rather than tiny groups. Good luck with the rifle. I'm sure you are going to enjoy it.

Try Reloader 10X----22 gr. with 50 gr. VMax----IT'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!

Hip

I like LT-32 a trifle better in the 222. LT-30 seems to be more suited to the 17 Hornet.

Benchmark is good with the 50's (throw AR-Comp in there as well), but both are essentially IMR 3031 without trying to cram powder in the case.
I'd bet if you had one gun and all you tinkered with is a pound each of whatever you think is the best 222 powder you'd come to a different conclusion than what you started with.

If you repeated it again you'd come to another....Remington test shot 40x's with IMR4895, another good 222 powder.

My first 222 I would tinker and mess with and come to conclusions, only to find when I needed to "burn up" the stuff that shot mediocre two weekends worth previous, they shot bugholes....