Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles My PERFECT 222 Rem load.....

All I ever shot in my benchrest Heavy Varmint 222 rifle was IMR-4198. That was 40 years ago, and it still shoots in my two 222's today, different rifles than my BR rifle. 19.6 gns of it with a 50 or 52 gn bullet will give 3 shot, one hole accuracy at 100 yards, using a 20x scope. Same load back then, and today.
Other powders also shoot, especially TAC, H-335, H-322, RL-7 to mention a few off the top.
I seriously feel that it is difficult finding a load that won't shoot in the 222, provided that good components are used.

I found a load with H322 and the 50sx Hornady bullet worked best in my Rem Md 7. This load will shoot 5 shots in around .5 inch at 100 even with its lite little 18.5 inch barrel.

Dennis.

You gotta stick with what works. Isn't it nice that the 222 isn't finicky about what it digests?

Nobody shooting 4064 in the deuce..?

Ingwe

Have ran '15 and Varget with a 55 Sierra Blitz.

Shot great but too much dinking for me.

Long time ago, & back in Australia, I used to shoot the 50 Sierra Blitz over 24.(Something ?) grains of W748, in my Tikka M55.

Extremely accurate & very deadly on pests / varmints (Rabbits, feral cats, crows & foxes).

Paul.

Yes, and for those who are not aware of it, Steve makes great .313 and .314 jacketed soft point hunting bullets. They turn those old 303 British rifles with sloppy bores into right fine shooters!

With apologies for the brief hijack.
Ted

Thanks Ted. I don't know if I'll be making any this year. There hasn't been much call for them. I'll decide closer to hunting season.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled thread.

I'm going to try a few powders and different weights in my 222s this year. I'm confident that 60 grain bullets made from RF cases will stabilize. They measure 0.688 inches which is a hair shorter than the 53 grain Sierra MK. If all goes to plan, I should be able to get between 3000-3100 fps. That's with 748, BLC2 and H322. I'll try some others as well, but will try these first.

Just tapped into the last jug of AA2200, but mostly for 223 loads. According to the data I downloaded and printed, they're showing 21grs as a max for the triple deuce and 50gr bullets, but we know how them things go these days. ;O)

Haven't loaded a 222 round in years, but am overdue fer it and there's a lonely M788 in the back of the pile that ain't barked in some time. When I was shooting it, used 19grs of IMR 4198 and mostly Hornady 50gr spire points. My kid killed a mess of woodchucks with that thing when he was younger.

BLC-2 and IMR 4198 was my go to powders in the 222 Rem and still two of the best. I have been thinking of building myself another 222 and have already purchased the reamer with .246 neck and the Head Space gages, now just need a action in LH

Sounds like a fine recipe.

What datum is the ogive?

Short, blunt 60's, even the 63 Sierra SMP can do well in a 1-14 222.

My .222 likes 22 grains of H322. Might be old school, but it shoots tiny groups.

I use a 6S ogive die, but do not push the bullet completely into the die when I'm point forming.

I've tried making bullets with and without a lead tip and shot them from my 223. I left the meplat wider (made OTs) because I was lazy and did not want to bother with the extra step of putting them through the tip forming die. Accuracy was the same.

The very first cartridge I reloaded back in the '50s was the .222 Rem. The rifle was a used 340 Savage bolt action. The load was 19.5/I4198 and whatever primers were cheapest, probably Dominion/CIL. The bullets were home made from used .22 rimfire cases, 50 grains in weight, that a friend manufactured. That friend is still around and in his '80s. Funny how 50 plus years later I can still remember this kind of detail.

About a year ago I replaced my .223 with another .222, a Tikka heavy barrel. Not using home made bullets anymore but the caliber still shoots as well as ever.

This thread has been a trip down memory lane.

Jim

Here are some homemade 50 grain bullets made from Lapua 22RF. I load them for my 222s. These use 19.0 gr. of 4198. They move along at a little over 3100 fps. Push them any faster and they'll come apart.

Steve, can you draw a line where the core is?

They remind me of how Berger makes, or appears to make its 30 grainer.

Thanks for sharing!

If you cannot see the line well enough, I will try making it thicker.

Berger's Varmint bullets are just their version of a time tested, thin jacketed bullet. The front collapses upon impact and the critter suffers from blunt bullet trauma. Varmint Grenades are the same.

Thanks, it shows up just fine!

Timely thread for me as I took my new to me sako vixen out for the first shots yesterday. Using imr4198 exclusively in 40 and 45 gr. The 40 gr nos bt shot into less than 1/2" with 21.5 gr and the 45 gr tsxfb would do no better than two shot into 1/2" and a flyer about 3/4" out with 21.0 gr being my best. I think I need to work with seating on the TSX as I was unable to get it deeper than 2.12 w/o the redding seater wanting to crimp the loads. That is only .04ish off the lands.

Any ideas on thes loads from the experts here and thanks for the thread?

Since many here reload the 222 Remmy, I will pose a question here rather than begin a new thread.

In pouring my load of IMR4198 into the cases my RCBS funnel (size 22-50) sometimes does one of two things both of which cause spillage of powder; it does not close around the case mouth and powder runs down the side or it closes too tight and when I lift it up it picks up the case with it and drops it if I am not fast enough.

Anyone else have this problem? Suggestions to correct? or is it just "operator error"?