Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles which one

222 or 223 that simple..

222 (.)

How far away will you're shots be taken?

Both are very good. I have one of each.

I went the 223 route for the simple reason it was the only choice in the gun I wanted. If I'd had a choice I may have gone the 222 route only to say I own a Triple Deuce.

Take a wild guess what I'm going to tell ya.

223

paj..,

.223 Ammo and brass are everywhere and always will be. The .222 will one day be a handloading only situation.

That day will be a LONG time coming. If the intended targets were mostly varmints with an occasional deer up to 150 to 200 yards, I'd probably go with the 222. If I wanted the rifle to do more than that, I'd probably go with the 223.

The 222 case has a longer neck than the 223 which, in my opinion, makes for better handloading. The world record bench rest group (at 100 yards as I recall) is still held by the 222.

Some folks prefer one over the other for some reason, but IMHO most of us could have either one and not fell like we have the wrong one. I found a rifle I liked locally in .223 so I bought it, if it was in .222 I would have bought it. In this case it was the way the rifle felt in my hands.

Easy choice...223...either factory ammo or handloading.....

Shouldn't the question be between the .222 mag. and the .223? If I remember correctly the reason behind the .222 mag was to compete for the military contract. Ballistically the .222 mag and the .223 are twins.

As to which one, I think it all depends on if you find a rifle you like and what's it chambered for. I'm a lefty most likely any rifle I find over the counter for a lefty will be .223. So for me a .223 would probably be the way to go.

223 will be cheaper in the long run and less headaches.

Not really the same ballistically, unless you adhere to SAAMI for each. The 222 Mag is the 223 AI, with a hair more capacity wise. There are a ton of 204 cases out there, they work fine. Granted, Nosler is the only "factory" ammo.

If you adhere to SAAMI specs, the 222 will never be the same as the 223, but by handloading you are basically looking at 150fps.

Few cartridges really "die", look at the 416, the BP's etc.

Personally, I wish there was room for all of them!

Hmmmm, interesting. I guess if a guy reloads and wants a .223AI the .222 mag. is the way to go. One doesn't have to screw around with wearing out a barrel fire forming .223 cases.

Thought I might stir up some dust with that one....

That was my feelings, plus having a different case to boot.

Don't get me wrong, there are very few flies in the 223 AI. I like messing with "different" stuff, so I have a Sako 21" bbl Vixen and a 700 Remington 24" 1-9 twist (getting built) in 222 Magnum. Yesterday my 40 gr. loads hit right at 3,800 and fifties hit 3,350 from the 21 in gun.

Not trimming cases is an advantage and being able to fire (widely available) factory ammo in an AI gun is another (I have never trimmed any 222 cases except after the first firing, never needed to ). I would NEVER fire a 223 in a 222 Mag., so the factory ammo issue is there.

I think the case stretching issue is more prevalent in more tapered cases like the 22 Hornet, 22-250 and 257 Roberts, where an AI chamber makes a lot of sense trimming wise.

The nice thing about making 222 Mags from 204 cases is that the shoulder is pushed back and taper is added to the case. You can effectively get a snug fit to your chamber at the first sizing and not having to fireform to get AI ballistics.

A looney has so many good choices.

So HawkI if I understand you correctly one can merely neck a 204 case up to .224 for a .222 mag or one could merely buy .222 mag brass and go. Brass for both rounds is readily available so it doesn't look like brass for the .222 mag is going away any time soon and one has a .223AI without much trouble.

The plot thickens!!!

Essentially, yes. However, R-P 222 Mag brass is all on backorder with some places giving a re-stocking time and others do not. I believe Remington quit making it, but do not know for certain. I do know I bought plenty.

Making the cartridge out of a 204 is as easy as a pass in the FL die, adjusted for a snug chambering.

Just yesterday I fired 200 reformed and 200 new R-P cases with nary a diff accuracy wise.

I don't believe the AI is much trouble either, but it does require a barrel set-back if using the same barrel from 223 to 223 AI; the 222 Mag chamber will clean up a 223 without set-back, at least my 'smith said so. Something to know, especially if you own a Contender style SS.

Well I'm a courious cat so I hope you don't mind my bugging you on this .222 mag thing.

On www.stevespages.com/page8d.htm I printed the drawings for the .222 mag and the .204 Ruger. The .222 mag has a 23 degree shoulder angle and the .204 Ruger has a 30 degree shoulder angle. So one would just run a .204 Ruger case through a .222 mag die to form the .222 mag case?

Yes, simple as sizing the 204 in the 222 Mag FL die. The 222 Mag also has more case taper, so the foreward portion of the case is sized down as well.

The shoulder is also not in the same area; it will be pushed back (the 222 Mag has a longer neck than the 204). This is where you can adjust the die to get the shoulder set to match your chamber.

The only cases this can cause problems with are ones that already have visible defects on the shoulders or case mouths; they don't make good 204's either and belong in scrap (or turned into 222's, which I have done only for experimenting).

I have used Nosler 204's and Winchester 204's. The Nosler's were great precision wise (almost zero runout for all 50 the first re-size and loading) but were not as long. Winchesters worked great for economics; Haven't tried anything else.

I was also thinking initially of making a 22-204 Ruger, which safariman here has done. Necking up the 204 with no changes, but I landed a 222 Mag. Sako Vixen Varmint and was happy, so happy I have a 700 at the 'smith to make a 1-9 twisted 55 to 69 gr. deer/pig/varmint rifle in 222 Mag. Can't let the 223 AI guys have all the fun!
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff127/nkhoff/P5040012.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff127/nkhoff/P5040013.jpg
Here is some pics from yesterday, shooting out of a slave stock (ordered a McMillan from Rick).