I just got a 10 inch Contender barrel in .221 and finally found brass. Can anyone give me a good load for 40 grain V Max bullets. I have A1680, Lil Gun, Tac, X Terminator and IMR 4227 for starters. I'm thinking A1680 might be the ticket. Lots of folks recommend Lil Gun, but Hodgdon does not list it for any load. That makes me wonder.

Can't help you as I am a new fireball owner. Looking for good loads also for the 40 grain vmax. I have H322 and varget.

Look in the Hodgon on line data for rifles for LiLGun data.
I like the following for 40gr bullets.
#1 LiLGun
#2 RL 7
#3 1680
#4 4227
Tested some AA2015 velocity was pretty low but accuracy was great. H322 and Varget are to slow burning for any decent performance in the 221.

A load that works for me is 16.0 LilGun and a 40gr NBT.
Regularly get 1.5" groups at 200 yds and 2.5 to 3.0 inch groups at 300 yds.

The 221FB is one of my favorite prairie dog and ground hog rifles. The recoil is so light that you can see hits and misses.

Steve

18.7-19 gr. RL7 and a 40 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip for me.

18.6gr Reloder 7, Sierra 40gr blitzkings for my cooper fireball.

18.4gr Reloder 7 with the Hornady 45gr spire point hornet bullet in a .221 TC Contender carbine.

been shooting the Nosler Varmageddon 40gr tipped bullets with H4227 in my remmy 700LVSF 221FB, down to my last couple pounds of H4227 now, when that runs out will see how IMR4227 and Reloder 7 do in that one.

Put me in the Reloader Seven fan club, too. I use ONE load for 40s,50s, and 52s, 18.5gr. Re-7. Seems to shoot all those bullets really well, and it's safe in my rifle.
My rifle favors the 50SPSX Hornadys, which is nice, since they're inexpensive compared to the poly-tipped bullets, but it shoots those pretty good, too.
My rifle distinctly favors 205M primers, though. I can double group size by using 7.5s, which is going the wrong way. I stick with 205Ms for that rifle.

I later found the rifle data with Lil Gun, but I am wondering why it was not listed in the pistol data. Could it be that it does not get a good burn in a 10 inch barrel? From the other posts it looks like I need to find some Reloder 7, but since I have both 1680 and Lil Gun I will try them first. Thanks guys.

Li'l Gun shouldn't have any problem burning fine in a handgun barrel.

In my particular rifle .221 Li'l Gun is the clear winner with 40's, but with 50's Accurate 2015, IMR8208 and TAC all get fine accuracy and top velocities. Neither RL-7 or Accurate 1680 is outstanding with any bullet weight, so it would probably pay to try as many as possible of the various powders people have mentioned here.

Lil Gun, hands down. Mine will do 15.5 under 40s.
You might want to also try Blue Dot in a short barrel under the 40s, somewhere in the 10.6-8 range tops (start a bit lower and be careful), because the BD burns fast, it might be a little quieter without giving up too much zoom.

I also use 15.5 of Li'l Gun with 40's, and it shoots well with any of the half-dozen bullet I've tried. Muzzle velocity is 3400-3450, depending on the bullet.

What sort of velocity do you get with the Blue Dot load?

I have no clue, John, no chrono. It's plenty splattery and very accurate, which is what I was after. I would guess 3200 based on the difference in recoil and "bang." The same powder charge (10.7) also works fine under the little blunt 35VMs, about the same group size. POI does change between loads, so I shoot through batches then rezero.
I bet Seafire can tell you the speed -- in fact, I think he did a full velocity workup for the Fireball in one of his data dumps. I know for sure he did one for 223 and BD which affirmed the point at which speed gains fall off, about where I shoot my 223 blue dots.

Lil Guns is excellent in a Rifle and should be shown on Hogdon's on-line data.

Hunterjrg: Both of my Varmint Rifles in caliber 221 Remington Fireball prefer the 40 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets - accuracy wise.
One Rifle does prefer IMR 4227 powder and the other likes Lil'Gun.
Another bullet that did well in my 221 Varminters was the 40 grain Berger.
Wish I could be more help to you in the direction of Varget and H 322.
Best of uck to you - you are gonna love the 221 Fireball cartridge.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

AA1680 -20gr w/40gr v-max/nbt

17.5 grains of IMR 4198 pushing 40 grain Vmax's. I tried heavier bullets, but accuracy was best with 40 grain VMax.

Hodgdon shows Lil Gun in the .221 rifle data, but does not show it for handgun data. That gave me pause, but I have loaded the first batch of Lil Gun loads and will go to the range when the weather breaks. The gun is a Contender with a 10 inch octagon barrel.

I have a little bit of Lilgun left. I can always use the varget and 322 for my 223 loads although with a new hornet and a fireball added to the collection I don't see my 223 being shot much.

Varget is probably too slow for the Fireball, though I haven't tried any in mine. Dunno about H322 in Fireballs, either, as it's probably too slow except maybe for the heavier bullets, which simply aren't the way to go in the tiny little case.

Varget is way too slow. Best powders will be on the fast end such as Lil Gun, 1680, 110/296, RL7, and 4198. My main issue was trying to figure out why Hodgdon listed Lil Gun only with rifle data and did not show a single load for pistol. My friend has loaded 4198 for 30 years, but the new powders seem to get much more velocity within safe working pressure.