Gentleman, I just got a Rem 722 in 222 Rem. Got it on GB. Pick it up tomorrow. 26 inch barrel. Appears all good. My question: I ain't never had nor shot a 222 Rem, what's the skinny? Enlighten me. I saw this rifle and for some reason it tickled my fancy. A 50s iconic varmint rig. I AINT gonna rechambered to 223. Gonna be my walk about coyote rig. Will start to hand load for sure, but need to get some brass so I figure I'm gonna buy factory loads and get to know her. Any thoughts BS or otherwise is all good. My 1st 722.

If going the factory load route I would use a 50gr. Hornady and use the brass with a close approximation of the same.

I've never had a 722 but have loaded for 3 700's in 222. The Hornady 50 gr. V-Max with RL-7, R-10x or H/I 4198 work very well. Never used LT-32 yet with 50's but that's another great 222 powder.

and its really not hard to resize a 223 down to 222...

I do so when loading for a friends old Savage 340 bolt action once in a while.

222 brass is easy to find... I dont see a reason to start out with 223 and also you will need to trim
222 is a forgiving caliber that many loads will shoot well
I doubt any varmints will be able to tell the difference if they were shot with 223 or 222

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


This. 50 grainers will be your friend.

I've had a 722 in .222 for a good while and I've shot it a lot, the last few years almost exclusively with a 50 Sierra Blitz and 20 grains Reloder 7. However, your gun will likely shoot accurately with many combinations.

I heartily recommend LT32 for the little .222 Remington. I got better results with 50-grain V-Max than 40-grain BTs, but other guys have seen it the other way around. Velocity wasn't high---about 3050 fps, but accuracy was astounding. My charge was 21.2 grains and 21.0 was about as good.

EDIT: I should have said my charge was 21.0 grains and 21.2 was just about as good. Another CRS moment.

Nosler 40BT if they'll shoot for you. Gets the most for the least.

I've used the Speer 52gr FB HP in my combo guns on coyotes and it flat wacks & stacks them. The 40 gr NBT has worked well for me also. I load them with Benchmark.

Zengela: A Remington 722 in 222 Remington was one of my very first centerfire Varmint Rifles back in the mid-60's.
Reliable and simple guns these are, and usually very accurate - even with their somewhat long and slender barrels.
The 722 Remington in 222 Remington that I own and shoot on occasion (special occasions!) is VERY accurate with its period correct Lyman 10 power scope.
This 722 in 222 Remington really likes the Nosler 40 grain Ballistic Tips and H 322 powder.
I would recommend a variable scope with a fair amount of power at the top end - like a 4x12 or 4x16 to get the most out of the gun, accuracy wise.
Best of luck to you and be sure and let us know how it shoots.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have five 222's, four of which are 722's and they all do well with H-322 and 40 grain Sierra Blitzkings, Nosler Varmageddons or Ballistic Tips. They'll go somewhere around 3300-3400 fps out of the 26" barrels.

Good advice from navlav8r: 40 gr Sierra Blitzkings shoot best in my Rem 722. The rifle has a slow twist rate, and some barrels won't shoot the heavier bullets well. For my rifle, I have to push 50 grainers very hard to get good accuracy. Those little Blitzkings on top of 21.5 gr of 4198 are awesome.

I forgot to mention my rifle is a 788.

I'd whack it to 18 or 20 inches and thread it for a suppressor.....

I worry about you sometimes.....

Maybe. We should all worry about ourselves sometimes!

My only other comment is while the standby .222 powder still work well, I've had even better results from LT-30 and LT-32--30 with bullets under 50 grains and 32 with 50-55's.

Cool rifle & great caliber.. I usually use 4198 & 50 grain bullets. Enjoy👍

I haven't owned a 722 in 222 for awhile, but have owned at least a dozen since 1980. I mostly shot 50 grain Sierra Blitz over 22 grains of 3031 in them. Shot my first 'cat, my first coyote, and my first pdog with a 722 in 222. Wish that I still had that rifle, but I had to sell it when we were struggling to keep the bank from calling our loan on our first business. I never had a problem getting accuracy with bullets up to 53 grains.

The PPU 50 gr SP has been a very accurate factory load in my 222. For handloads I use the hornady 50 gr SP and 4198. The groundhogs hate it 😀

I've shot a lotta Blitz also, but never the Blitzking. Speaking of cats, I watched a feral Tom take a broadside 50gr Blitz from about 20yds and it didn't exit. I watched a millisecond of vapor escape the entrance hole......very cool.

Hornady SX's were always accurate and performed well on smaller varmints/rodents/feral feline also. The 50gr TNT is one of my favorites for the .222. Accurate and extremely violent energy dump for the little cartridge.

Well @#$%%& looks like I did myself well with this purchase. Nah, not gonna chop the barrel off at 18.5 and throw a brake on it with a sawed off pistol grip. I gotta say, this 722 is pretty neat. A very sound action. Seems strong. I will admit, I am not a Rem 700 guy, but this 722 seems cool. Now I think I want a 300 Savage and 257 Roberts in 722 as well. Gotta get my retro old school rifles up to snuff. This gun is a bit different than what I am used to. Long pencil thin little barrel. Gonna be fun to play with it.

About 21 grains of R7 and a 50 blitzking works very well for me

Varmint, it has a correct period scope. Tasco 6-24 with small fine cross hairs, I don't like it(I will warm up to it)but it stays put I want this as a retro correct period piece, not some old rifle with a super-dooper slick new scope thrown on top of it.

Zengela: I owned a Remington 722 in caliber 244 Remington for a time.
Invested in it as a for profit gun and thus I never shot it.
You might put a 244 on your wish list as well.
There is a collector over in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana and he has six or seven Remington 722's in 222 Remington Magnum.
He brings them to all the shows and prices them VERY high - I think so no one will buy them?
Tasco 6x24 huh.
Dial that baby up and let us know how it shoots.
Good luck.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

If the scope is the older "made in Japan" they are a good scope. I used one for silhouette shooting for a number of years, I kept waiting for it to fail tracking or otherwise break but it never did. If there is a downside to them it is that the optics are not up to todays scopes but they are certainly good enough for varminting or punching paper.
I sold it to a friend in the early 90's and he is still using it, but it is now on his Sako Varminter.

drover

ya did good pilgrim!

revel in that for a while and enjoy..

don't let the naythesayers rain on your parade...

load her up and take her out and enjoy it!

I have one that likes 40 gr Varmageddons and LT-30. It shoots other combinations ok but likes that one the best.

I'm surprised that Don/Savage99 hasn't jumped in to tell you how bad Remington 722s are.

Regarding a period scope, I've always thought that a Lyman All-American 8x40 AO mounted via Leupold Detacho-Mount rings/bases looked good and worked well on 722 varmint rifles.

The good old Savage 340 .222 keeps on shooting.

My home grown 700 222 with 24" sporter barrel likes Benchmark behind 52gr SMK's and RL7 behind 40gr Vmax

My favorite load for 222 is 20 to 21 grains of 4198 with a 50 gr bullet. My gun really likes Nosler 50 gr BT.

My 722 shoots really well with 21 grains H322 and a 50 grain SP. It is the later version with the 24 inch barrel.

22.5 grains of Benchmark behind Sierra Blitzking 50 gr has done 1/2 moa for me. My 722 is easily the most accurate factory rifle that I own.

I use RL- 7 21 gr, W-748 26,5 gr, my best groups are VV-133 22.5 gr all loads with Nos 50 gr BT.