loads for 222 rem.

longbomb

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Feb 20, 2008
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i've been looking for a load for 222 rem. using 40 grain v-max with varget powder or other powder that is good for extreme temp. change. right now i shoot 20.0 grains of imr-4198 with 40 grain v-max with 1 hole groups but need a load for cold weather.
 
Why do you need a cold weather load? does your load not shoot well in the cold? It is hard to beat 4198 either IMR or H- with a 40 v max.

I shoot H-4198 with a 40 v max all year round hogs in the summer and fox in the winter. I push them harder than you are and they are great.
 
i read that the cold affects the way the powder burns and was told the same by an expirience shooter.how many grains of 4198 are you using with that 40 grain vmax.
 
i read that the cold way the powder burns and was told the same by an expirience shooter.how many grains of 4198 are you using with that 40 grain vmax.


The cold can affect burn, but the bottom line is you just need to shoot it and see. It is likely you will lose a few FPS in the winter but it might not make any difference as to how it shoots. I don't like having two loads for a rifle, it is hard enough to get to know one rifle :) If you were shooting bench rest it would be an issue, but for varmints I dont see a problem. Mine is a 1/2 MOA gun or better all year round.

21.5 grains of H4198
WSR primer
40 V- Max light in the lands
3580fps

"This is a max load and may not be safe in your gun work up with care"

I work up all loads in the summer is I can (all max loads) so I wont have problems in the winter.

I have seen max loads worked up in the cold that caused big problems in the summer. I sont think you will see problems with H4198

The old 222 is a blast for G-hogs and fox. And on a calm day the little A-Max can get out there and still so some damage.
 
thanks for the advive rimfire. i think ill just stick with the load im using and see what happens when winter comes.
 
Good luck with it. Im sure you wont need luck with a 222 :)

If it is shooting good, I would leave it alone and crony it. If groups starts to open up in the winter (cold) you can crony it and see how many fps you lost and bump the same load up a little to get it back in the node. Most often this will work if you feel the need to tighten it up a little.
 
Rimfire, just curious .... just getting into the long range game. I have a old savage .222 remington with a weaver scope. Just wanted to see what kinda ranges that come out of the .222. Is 500 yards too far? farther? not as far?
just curious. I am gonna build a rifle the next few years in a hotter caliber ( 22-243, 6 mm ackley , or 243 ackley ) but wanted to start shooting now with what I had. Thanks for you help
 
Could someone answer the above question please .I too would like to know the range of my 222 on coyotes ?

Long bomb what range are your one hole groups at?
 
thanks for the advive rimfire. i think ill just stick with the load im using and see what happens when winter comes.
i try to use extreme powders too. i have no plans of changing my .222 load of 20.5 of imr-4198 ever. bert - i have shot over 250 coyotes. i have more powerful rifles for longer shots. the 40 in my estimation is less "powerful" than the 50 baltip out of my three .222s. 200 to 300 yards is about the limit to reliably take a coyote . beyond 300 yards they are a so small of a target that even with the more powerful rifles it becomes quite challenging for me.
 
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The 222 was the 1st varmint rifle that I bought for myself in 1983. I just figured the other day looking back over my records that I've shot close to 10,000 rnds thru that gun since then. I shot it at the range last month for fun at 200 yds 3 shot groups ran from 1"-2.5" I'm pretty happy with that.

As for how far I would try to kill a coyote I wouldn't try a shot much over 300 yds. My longest shot on a ground hog that was stepped off 485yds (long before the days of a laser range finder). That was off a bipod and it had taken 3 shots to get the elevation using 50 hornady sxsp and they didn't do more than one small hole in and that was it. Shot hit solid in the chest. Yotes are pretty tough critters and I don't think there is enough power to kill them reliable every time much beyond 300.
 
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Rimfire, just curious .... just getting into the long range game. I have a old savage .222 remington with a weaver scope. Just wanted to see what kinda ranges that come out of the .222. Is 500 yards too far? farther? not as far?
just curious. I am gonna build a rifle the next few years in a hotter caliber ( 22-243, 6 mm ackley , or 243 ackley ) but wanted to start shooting now with what I had. Thanks for you help

I like heavy bullets but my 222 would only shoot 40's. I use a 6BR with 107 for longer shots and a 65-284 in the past. The little 222 is a lot of fun but I try to limit shots to under 400 on fox 300 being even better because light wind can cause all kinds of problems with the little 40 v-max. Conditions dictate distance, I have taken a few G-hogs at a little over 500 on dead calm days but not exactly easy. Other days I missed the wind and watched the impact a couple feet off:rolleyes: It is what it is, a little cartridge that's a lot of fun for closer shots and less noise.
 
Isn't 4198 supposed to be pretty stable across temperature ranges?

I have a Rem 700 ADL synthetic in 222 that I bought new about 6 years ago.

At that time I also bought about 600 to 700 rounds of the rem factory 50 grain power-lokt hollow point loading. That rifle dumps that round into tiny clover leaf groups at 100 yards. So as of yet I have not had to reload for it. But soon will be.



It is a dandy rifle and cartridge.
 
I have some experience with the .222. My grandpa bought his in the 60s and handloaded quite a bit for it over the years. I have shot mostly, but not exclusively, factory loads through it since he passed away 15 years ago. One thing grandpa tinkered with was 55 grain bullets. He wound up loving them. He didn't mind sacrificing that little bit of muzzle velocity for the better downrange performance, and his old rifle was extremely accurate shooting them. The rifle, by the way, is one that Marlin made for a few years in the late 50s and early 60s that has a bull barrel and Sako action. It's still a tack driver, a sweet handling rifle, and my personal favorite because of the connection to my granddad. Anyway, to the point of the question, Grandpa trusted the 55gr. bullets out to 500 yards.
 
Took another fox on Friday night with the Tikka .222Rem whilst out with a mate. I wasn't happy with the Zero though for the longer range shots because the rifle was zero'd at 100 which gave me a drop of over 3 inches at 200yds.

I checked out exbal this morning to find the point blank range for 1.5", Exbal suggested 161yds was the best I could get with this rifle/ammo combination, so I set off down the farm to get the zero set up at 160yds.

IMG_03331.jpg


I fired 3 warm up shots then aimed 1 shot at a clean target to find where the POI was. I altered the turrets to compensate for the error, placed a fresh target up at 160yds and fired 6 shots at the target.

IMG_1414.jpg


The group above is a 6 shot group at 160yds which equates to .390moa which I thought was amazing for a little factory Tikka T3. The rifle is a totally factory rifle without any custom mods what so ever, I have spent many hours neck turning, batching and preping the cases so I have put some hours in developing the load, but it just goes to show what can be achieved with a factory stick and a little perseverance.

Please forgive the large Diamond target, I am using a 3-12x50 Zeiss Duralyt scope so I need a biggish target at 160yds to aim at.

LOAD DATA.
Rem Cases
Rem 7.5 Primers
50 grain Sierra Varminter Bullets
19.8 grains Viht 120
Seated Base to Ogive 1.767" (100 thou jump)
3050fps
1033ft/lb @ muzzle.
ES over the 6 shots was 22fps.

 
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