.222 twist vs bullet weight

bewsher500

Well-Known Member
what bullets in the lighter range are people using in their .222's?

I have a good 50gr Vmax and 50gr SP load at the moment but have been offered some 34gr at a very good price.
am I going to struggle to chuck these down a BRNO Fox barrel without 12 bore looking targets?
 
what bullets in the lighter range are people using in their .222's?

I have a good 50gr Vmax and 50gr SP load at the moment but have been offered some 34gr at a very good price.
am I going to struggle to chuck these down a BRNO Fox barrel without 12 bore looking targets?

No reason at all they would not shoot well. 222's typically have a 14" twist. This is more than is required for a 34gr bullet, but no big deal. I used 40's in the 222 for a while, but I prefer the 50's personally.

Anyone shooot many Muntjac with the 222?

I am think of taking mine along to Suffolk next February for our culling weekend. Would use 55gr Hornady BTSP in it.
 
Dont shoot any muntjac with mine but shoot plenty roe deer. Its knocks them
down no problem what so ever. Thats using the same bullets as yourself. Hope that helps.
 
I have shot 35 grain Vmax and 34 grn Dog Town in my Winchester. I didn't drive them too hot but they were under MOA.~Muir

(That said, there is no guarantee that the bullets you get will shoot well just on the principle that some guns don't like some bullets. I get larger groups with 52 grain Nosler Competition bullets then I do with bulk-packed 50 grain Speer TNT's. Go figure.)
 
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No reason at all they would not shoot well. 222's typically have a 14" twist. This is more than is required for a 34gr bullet, but no big deal. I used 40's in the 222 for a while, but I prefer the 50's personally.

Anyone shooot many Muntjac with the 222?

I am think of taking mine along to Suffolk next February for our culling weekend. Would use 55gr Hornady BTSP in it.

Yes, the .222 will take muntjac down very well. I've shot a number using the Federal 50gr SP factory cartridges which I was given when I bought the rifle. They hold together well and will pass through both shoulders without excessive damage, furtherest taken was just over 100 metres. I'm trying to replicate this load at the moment with Hornady and Sierra 50gr SP's. Muzzle velocity / energy is not a problem, av. 3,130 fps with 21 gr of IMR 4198 through my 20" barrelled T3 but these bullets are perhaps not quite as tough as whatever is in the Federal load. I wish I knew what they are as they also perform well on fox. I have an accurate load developed for fox with 40gr V-Max but in my experience the 50gr SP puts them down with a bit more authority.
 
Yes, the .222 will take muntjac down very well. I've shot a number using the Federal 50gr SP factory cartridges which I was given when I bought the rifle. They hold together well and will pass through both shoulders without excessive damage, furtherest taken was just over 100 metres. I'm trying to replicate this load at the moment with Hornady and Sierra 50gr SP's. Muzzle velocity / energy is not a problem, av. 3,130 fps with 21 gr of IMR 4198 through my 20" barrelled T3 but these bullets are perhaps not quite as tough as whatever is in the Federal load. I wish I knew what they are as they also perform well on fox. I have an accurate load developed for fox with 40gr V-Max but in my experience the 50gr SP puts them down with a bit more authority.

I load for my .222 with the hornady 50g sp. they are verry very accurate and fox and roe deer dnt go very far. Very good killing load. I use hogdon benchmark powder, 23.5grn wrks very well in my rifle.Very fast very flat and no meat damage watso ever, neat entry hole and nice neat exit hole. Better than any of the factory stuff i have used before i began reloading
 
I am really looking for experience of running sub 40gr rounds through the .222
as muir points out there seems to be some thoughts that they dont like being pushed too fast

just wondering if there is anyone over here who has used the Dogtown rounds to good effect and whether there is any first hand evidence of the speed issues or what they do to targets. they are Sp rather than BT as I understand
 
I shot a few foxes and hares with the BArnes Varmint Grenade, (36 gn I think). It was OK, shot reasonable groups. That was out of a HB Sako 222.
 
I use 40grn Sierra Blitzkings over 21grns reloder 7 in my Steyr Mannlicher with Federal match 405 primers. She is a 1:9 twist and dates from 1986 and has been shortened and also well used. I have had 3 shots touching at 168yds. Shot her at 200yds this saturday with quite a stiff left-right breeze and got 4 ex 5 within an inch (although about 6" to the left of the bull) so not too shabby. For sure the crows and magpies dont like it!

The only problem IMO with going less than 40grn in a .22c/f is the poor BC of the bullets, but I guess if you are sub 200yds it probably makes little difference. My shooting buddy uses the 35grn V-Max in his hornet with very good results.
 
From the gunsmiths my cz527 loves norma 40grn vmax hornady, foxes crows etc hate them! Home loads v max with cci primers and 20 grns of reloader 7, but my rifle hates winchester ammo it wont group under 4" at 100yrds! With them, each rifle has its own preferred diet!
 
I really struggled to get reloader 7 so went for Viht N130 and use it to load for 3 222's (Tikka M55, HW66, CZ527)


I'm currently using 22.1 grains with a 40 grain V-max, Lapua match brass and CCI 400 small rifle primers loaded with hornady new dimension dies. I get half inch groups at 100 meter at a speed of 3484 fps (average over 10 shots) with a 25+ year old tikka M55 that still has its original barrel.


The CZ527 likes Hornady 50 v-max/blitzkings with 21.3 grains N130 and the HW66 likes 55 grain Hornady SPWC #2266 with 20.6 grains.

I did use a couple of hundred dog town 34 grain HP bullets that I got free. They where very explosive being pushed at just shy of 3700 fps with 21.5 grains of N120 the drop after 200 yds is massive which is why I went back to 40 grain V-max


Hope this helps


Rick
 
i tried the 36gn VGs and found them truly awful, no expansion at all and not particularly accurate,
the 34gn DGs were much better but as stated once past 200yds the drop of accuracy and velocity was very noticeable,
40gn v-max or blitzkings using R7 or N110 are superb, out to 300yds they are still accurate but both have crept up in price lately so i bought some Sierra 40gn hollow points yesterday to try. will keep you informed with my findings
Jonty
 
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