Desert Fox
Handloader
- Aug 14, 2006
- 1,965
- 3
I always cheered the underdogs. And that extends to the type of cartridge I choose. That is why I own rifles chambered for caliber such as 6MM Remington who lost favor to 243, 280 Remington to 270, and of course 222 Remington Magnum which was dumped in favor of 223. I believed Gene Stoner made a mistake in favoring 223 over the 222. I know the difference is very minute but a few more grains of powder equates to more velocity hence more energy. As a varmint round, this cartridge is much better than the 223 IMO. The longer neck is every handloaders dream. It also help that the cartridge is inherently accurate capable of benchrest accuracy, just like it's smaller brother, the 222 Remington. With carefull handloading, this cartridge will leave the 223 in the dusk and withen striking distance of the 22-250 realm, as far as velocity goes.
My 40XB Remington chambered for this round is one such rifle. The killing power of the 222 Remington magnum is quite impressive. I used to load the 53 grain Sierra MK for varminting but the bullet always never expand beyond 400 yards. Even a small target like the ground squirrel sometimes survive a direct hit and live long enough to crawl into their burrows to die. all I see, to confirmed the hit, was the traces of blood on the ground above the burrows. I now use the 40 grain V-Max or the excellent Ballistic Tip. The two bullet is almost identical that my rifle can't tell the difference. This weight is well suited for the 14 twist barrel of the 40X; Accuracy is excellent. I don't know how much longer this barrel will hold it's accuracy. But when time come to replace it, you bit it will be another 224 with 14 twist. And the chambering, you got it, 222 Remington Magnum
My 40XB Remington chambered for this round is one such rifle. The killing power of the 222 Remington magnum is quite impressive. I used to load the 53 grain Sierra MK for varminting but the bullet always never expand beyond 400 yards. Even a small target like the ground squirrel sometimes survive a direct hit and live long enough to crawl into their burrows to die. all I see, to confirmed the hit, was the traces of blood on the ground above the burrows. I now use the 40 grain V-Max or the excellent Ballistic Tip. The two bullet is almost identical that my rifle can't tell the difference. This weight is well suited for the 14 twist barrel of the 40X; Accuracy is excellent. I don't know how much longer this barrel will hold it's accuracy. But when time come to replace it, you bit it will be another 224 with 14 twist. And the chambering, you got it, 222 Remington Magnum
