Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Choosing a Varmint Cartridge

I build my own single shot rifle barrels and I need some help choosing a cartridge. Here are my requirements.

- Rimmed cartridge
- 22 caliber
- Typical MV of 2800-3200fps with 40-55gr bullets
- Good brass availability
- Good die set availability
- 1:14" or 1:16" ROT

What would you choose?

Rimmed and "good" brass availability kills it.

shi itty twists and light bullets don't help, either.......

if it has to be a rimmed case, I would probably do a 17 ackley hornet

Maybe not everyone's varmint cartridge




but seems like a plain-ol' 308 Win. works just fine
























ya!

GWB

I did something like that a while back to rebarrel a Savage 1899. I went with a 219 Zipper except I specified a 1:8" twist to add more versatility in bullet selection and use.

As long as ammo is made for the 30/30 one should be able to form brass and make ammo. Used dies can be found relatively inexpensively and without much trouble though new dies can be kind of expensive - at least to my comfort level.

22 Hornet is your huckleberry. With 40 grain VMax bullets you should be able to get the velocity you are looking for. Stick with the 1/12 or 1/14 twist. Fast twist won’t work with that small of a case and won’t get you anything but poor performance. You might consider the 35 grain VMax bullet for better velocity, I started using them in my 22CCM to get it to shoot a bit faster…

Shrapnel,
What about the 218 Bee or the Mashburn Bee? I have a bag of brass.

Perfect! I didn’t mention that because of brass availability. The Bee is a tad larger powder capacity and will suit you well…

I like the idea of a 219 Zipper. You can get 5.6x50R Mag brass(RWS and S&B), it is kind of like a 222 Rem Mag on steroids with a rim, I shoot one for predators in a combo gun. You can also get rimmed 222 Rem bras from Bertram, it used to be the go-to for Martini conversions down under. All have the very the counter dies.

With the 219 Zipper and making brass from 30-30 you might want to make a few and then decide if you want to do a no-turn chamber or turn necks.

Shrapnel beat me to it but the 22 Hornet fits you requirements on the lower half of your velocity range.

Years ago, my dad used a 219 Zipper Improved (28 degrees) in a Winchester 1885 High Wall with 50 - 55 gr. bullets; he used 30-30 and 25-35 brass to form cases.

I remember that it was a groundhog killer.

His varmint battery consisted of a 22 Hornet, a 222 Remington, the 219 Zipper Improved and a 220 Swift, of these he really loved the custom Hi-Wall in 219 Zipper Improved.

StarchedCover

The 1940's called. They want their rimmed stuff back.......

If'n it ain't broke, no need fix'n it.

That's what the blunderbuss said....

Mashburn Bee helps a lot with brass stretching and head separation common with the standard Bee.

Lazy twist and rimmed cartridges make sense for some single shots and for the velocities you want. A fast twist probably isn't going to be an advantage for the velocities you are wanting with the weight of bullets you expect to use.

If you are going the Zipper route you might want to look into the 225 Winchester as well.

Rimmed 222 might just cover all of your bases.

If you want relatively inexpensive dies the .22 Hornet or K Hornet would work with lighter bullets and newer powders. If you want more power I would suggest the .219 Improved Zipper or the .219 Donaldson Wasp. Dies are available in a much higher price range. The Zipper or Wasp would require case forming if you don't mind the hassle.

Why rimmed, you using a Martini action or something?

22 K Hornet would be my suggestion. Because of brass availability. The Bee is another if you have brass already.

.22 Hornet or some variation thereof would get my vote. For the parameters mentioned in OP, it would make the most sense.

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Hornet or K-Hornet