222

bperdue21

I have a Remington Varmint Special 222 and would like to know some better loads for it. I have been shooting 20.6 gr of imr 3031 with sierra match hps and it produces groups between 3/4 and 1/2 inch. i am looking to make this better. my load is just a tad under the book and am figuring it is running at between 2600 and 2700 fps. i have just about every powder and don't mind paying for different stuff. it does not like the V-max bullets, so leave those out.

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

FrancF

I got to look in one of my books. Some where I have the old benchrest load for it.


NRA Life Endowment Member

nononsense

Bart,

If your rifle is producing very consistant groups, I would continue with the load work up. However, if the groups seem to be inconsistant, I would have look at the rifle first. Bedding, scope mount, scope, crown, etc.

But my guess is that instead of "my load is just a tad under the book and am figuring it is running at between 2600 and 2700 fps.", you are really at the low end on the charge scale. My books start where your load is right now.

"Warren Page, shooting editor of Field & Stream, was also a benchrest pioneer and a close friend of Walker. He and Walker found that the first .222 loads (48-grain at 3,135) had bullets a bit too stiff for good expansion. Page recommended upping bullet weight to 50-grain, velocity to 3,200 fps, and making bullets with thinner jackets. The resulting load proved highly effective. Remington began chambering its model 722 for the new round in 1950."

My notes indicate that accuracy loads are about at the 3050 fps. to 3100 fps. mark for the Sierra MatchKings, not the 2600 - 2700 fps. that you report. And while we're at it, are you using the 52gr. or 53 gr. MKs? The reason I ask is because the 50 gr. VMAX is a boat tail and that may be the reason behind your rifle not liking the VMAX's. The 55 gr. VMAX is a flat base and might behave better. I've seen this happen in other rifles. But I have also shot huge amounts of VMAX's through numerous .222 Rem. rifles and never had a problem, even to the extent of shooting the Hornady factory .222 Rem. cartridges loaded with VMAX's with excellent accuracy.

Powders that work for me are:

V V N-130

Ramshot TAC

Norma 200

AA-2320

Here is an update article on loading for the .222 Rem.:

http://www.gunsandammomag.com/reloads/222_remington_revisted/

Best.

bperdue21

thanks alot, i am using the 52 gr match and the 55 v-max's were what i tried. the groups are very consistent. i was just wanting to cut them down to 1/4 or less. have shot at least 100 rounds of the load and the groups are nearly identical. i will see what it will do with an upped charge. thanks again.

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

sandwarrior

I had a Winchester 70 HB that loved 22.5 grs. of XMR2015 behind a 52 gr. Sierra. That was The best group I ever shot from any rifle, .013 5 shot group. I loved that load.

Otherwise we typically used 23.5-24 grs. of 4895 behind 50 grain. sieeras. I would try that with Hornady A-max also. -Good luck

We have the second amendment so that all the rest are secure....UNK>

JustC

IMR4198 and 4895 have been OK for me thus far. The 4895 needs to be compressed a tad though. Try ~19.5-20.5grs of 4198 with the 52gr BTHP[}:)] This is with an old rem788

why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?

mrbruce

Most all the 222's I've worked with liked 4198 at about 3000 fps with a 50-52 grain flat base bullet.

Gun control is hitting what your aiming at.

bperdue21

been a while, but got some good results with a max load of IMR 3031 and the 52 gr Sierra Match HP. the group is no longer vertical, it is now circular. shot from remington 700 varmint special with 4-16x bushnell elite 4200 off bipod at 100 yards. the top left group (5-shot) is about the size of the end of my pinky ,the rest is sighting in. also 2 shots into the other target were identical to the top left group. lets hope this pic works. also disregard the one to the right, i must have been a little shaky.

I'm not an expert, but i did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

nononsense

I would have to say that it looks like you have that cartridge and bullet combination fixed right up! Excellent shooting and reloading.

Best.

bperdue21

well i took your first bit of advice and stayed with what was already good, just pushed it on up to that velocity. i had looked at the load once before, but did not like the fact that the case was nearly filled with powder. i wasn't very "up" on compressed loads and it looked not so safe at the time, so i erred on the side of caution. the hornady book says max of 22.3 so that is what i went with and there isn't much room left. regardless, thanks for your help.

I'm not an expert, but i did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.