222 rem what would you get ?

[Amazed]

Well I have had a change of plans as I carnt afford the spends on a custom so I swapped to 222.

What would you be looking for in a gun? make,model, new, used ?

I won't set a max price but it would be something off the shelf.

For eg. I have seen a new sako 75 a1 varmint but at a grand I may be saving for a while lol.

 

Will be using it as a daytime gun mainly for long range rabbits crows etc so weight not a problem.

 

What would you get ?

 

Thanks all

Karl.

[bicykillgaz]

My old man had a sako (I think) in .222 but had problems with the front sling stud keep pulling out!

 

I'd get a cz mate not quite as refined as some makes but they won't shoot any better especially as I'm guessing you'll be loading your own. Seen a nice one on gun watch not too long back for not a lot of money. Kexby had a m595 .222 with 6x42 Swaro on it for £400 not long back and he's good at finding decent rifles at the right price too.

[Amazed]

My old man had a sako (I think) in .222 but had problems with the front sling stud keep pulling out!

 

I'd get a cz mate not quite as refined as some makes but they won't shoot any better especially as I'm guessing you'll be loading your own. Seen a nice one on gun watch not too long back for not a lot of money. Kexby had a m595 .222 with 6x42 Swaro on it for £400 not long back and he's good at finding decent rifles at the right price too.

Thanks mate may be worth piping through one day for a gander

[tweedledee]

older 59 series tikka

[bicykillgaz]

Thanks mate may be worth piping through one day for a gander

I'll txt you the number mate he'll certainly do his best to get you a decent rifle on a budget.

[Gimlet]

I bought a tidy heavy barrelled BSA CF2. Admittedly I knew its history. It may be old but its extremely accurate (sub 1" at 200 yds with factory ammo) and a great off-sticks rifle. The weighty barrel makes it very stable. It also gets some range use and performs very well, embarrassing many smarter rifles. .223s and .204s are more fashionable at the moment and there are plenty of good value S/H .222s about. When I was looking for a new .308 I came across several. (Doesn't it always happen that way?) Two that stood out were a mint Sako 75 Varminter for £800 and a Weihrauch HW 66 for slightly less at Ladds of Crediton. I'd have been very happy with either if I was in the market. That was a year ago and obviously they'll be long gone but prices haven't changed much and it gives you some idea of what's out there.

Bide your time and look for a quality rifle. Try small ads on here, Stalking Directory and Guntrader. And keep an eye on dealers sites. They keep turning up but people have cottoned on and they don't hang around like they once did.

[Grandalf]

Tikka

[kent]

A nice old Sako Vixen or 75 varmint. There are some real Jems hiding away in safes having seen little use over the years. A 595 tikka as a third choice provided it had the metal bottom iron / mag, if it didn't I should just as well buy a T3 for the parts availability. For price an old Bruno but I have never seen a varmint

[Underdog]

The 222s I owned were a beesa cf2, a hw66 and a rem700.

A buddy had a cz for many years.

If I wanted a 222 today I would grab a cz.

My buds would shoot a 40grn BT at 3950 ish fps and was mustard on long crows n stuff.

The hw66 I owned was rubbish and soon gone.

The beesa had a cracking trigger but no better than the cz. The remmy was great for me shooting off hand (at the time in my late twenties).

Another friend has a sako 75 in 22-250 and is a quality item and expensive....out my league but very very good.

Best wishes.

 

U.

[casts_by_fly]

Karl,

 

I'd go either a CZ for no muss no fuss out of the box shooting (maybe an upgraded or tuned trigger) or find an older sako that is worn in a little in the action and put a new barrel on it. The little sako actions are sweet, but you'll have to look a little bit.

 

 

 

Underdog,

 

I'd be curious to know what your buds load and barrel are that are pushing a 40 gr to nearly 4k. I'm not calling BS on it, but that is certainly pushing the limits. In a 223 I'm pushing them to nearly 3700 with a 24" barrel and that is a max load. PM me if you want.

 

thanks

rick

[colin lad]

I got a 2nd hand cz 527 for £300 and its great i picked up some reloading gear of here for £75ish and now have great long range rabbit gun which also does fox and small deer to sensible distances

and its very accurate

 

Colin

[Frenchieboy]

I too have a CZ 527 in .222 fitted with a Simmons WTC and it is surprisingly accurate with factory ammunition but even more so with the home loaded ammunition I am running through it. The trigger is sweet and it's nice and light, perfect for lamping foxes or for long range vermin shooting with.

I don't think you can go too far wrong with CZ rifles - There might well be better out there but CZ (to me) represents pretty good value for very little money!

 

Edit: Without trying to hijack this thread Colin Lad what loads are you using in yours. Mine loves 52gA-Max pushed along by 18.5g of H4198!

Edited October 10, 2013 by Frenchieboy

[r1steele]

I gave my mate my old .222 BSA CF2 a few years ago (now regret it) and it was an absolute cracker. It's still killing 50+ foxes a year and I had a little shot with it about 6 months ago and it is still as accurate as ever. Any of the rifles already suggested will do what you need.

[Underdog]

Karl,

 

I'd go either a CZ for no muss no fuss out of the box shooting (maybe an upgraded or tuned trigger) or find an older sako that is worn in a little in the action and put a new barrel on it. The little sako actions are sweet, but you'll have to look a little bit.

 

 

 

Underdog,

 

I'd be curious to know what your buds load and barrel are that are pushing a 40 gr to nearly 4k. I'm not calling BS on it, but that is certainly pushing the limits. In a 223 I'm pushing them to nearly 3700 with a 24" barrel and that is a max load. PM me if you want.

 

thanks

rick

this one always gets a stir!

He worked a load up on remmy brass and rl7.

I witnessed it shot over the chrony lots of different occasions.

I remember it being very flat compared to my 222 loads. I witnessed a 400 ish shot on a squirrel in wind and he killed it. He thought nothing of chucking beyond 600! Obviously not hitting much at that but got very close on occasion.

Most 222 are loaded to pressure lower than 223. So data is throttled back a little but the case head is the same. I dont advocate going over listed max. I am only relating what I witnessed.

I have pushed 222 but in all honesty did my longest ever fox at 388 paces with a hpbt 52grain bullet doing a leisurely 2850fps! Fox was walking!

Lol...those days are gone!

My favourite powder for 222 is BL-C2. Very forgiving but needs mag primers and full cases.

I was concerned with the use of n110....Karl mentions using it. I will check later but if it is anything like h110 it may not like a partially filled case...I may be way off though....usually are!

 

U.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Underdog

[Amazed]

I was looking at and getting very interested in a remington 40xbr but sadly it's sold. Lovely looking gun

I do fancy a varmint barrel but have yet to find a CZ 527 one. I know they made them!

Just to throw a new question in to the mix.

What's the barrel life like (just for arguments sake running hot loads ). ?

Karl.

[bicykillgaz]

Edgars are showing them mate- http://shootingsports.edgarbrothers.com/pages/CZ-527-Varmint.aspx

[Amazed]

Edgars are showing them mate- http://shootingsports.edgarbrothers.com/pages/CZ-527-Varmint.aspx

I quite like that even if I need a flag for the end I love my hornet CZ

It's deffo on the list of possibilitys thanks pal.

 

I noticed ho the rem 700 hasn't had a mention ?

That's on the list too

[bicykillgaz]

Pretty sure you could afford to lose a few inches, not sure I'd fancy carrying it my cz452 varmint weighs enough. I'd go for a standard barrel mate unless you really really want a varmint.

[Underdog]

I mentioned a 700. Mine was a mint bdl. It was good.

Varmint barrels really were for constant shooting. Is that what you want?

 

U.

[Amazed]

Yes you did sorry underdog

If I got the CZ I wouldn't shorten it it's not that long ha ha

 

Anything on the barrel wear subject ?

[colin lad]

I too have a CZ 527 in .222 fitted with a Simmons WTC and it is surprisingly accurate with factory ammunition but even more so with the home loaded ammunition I am running through it. The trigger is sweet and it's nice and light, perfect for lamping foxes or for long range vermin shooting with.

I don't think you can go too far wrong with CZ rifles - There might well be better out there but CZ (to me) represents pretty good value for very little money!

 

Edit: Without trying to hijack this thread Colin Lad what loads are you using in yours. Mine loves 52gA-Max pushed along by 18.5g of H4198!

hornaday vmax 50grain with 22.2grains h322

 

Colin

[Underdog]

Don't sweat over barrel life. Rattling rounds down one after the other is what does throats in and rusting does most damage to barrels on average anyway.

 

222 is kind on barrels....I remember reading some jibbajabba years ago about longer necked cartridges being kinder to throat errosion!

How true it is I dunna know.

 

U.

[kent]

I think the big one on barrel wear is the amount of powder going down the bore, next is how large the bore is (larger = longer), after that its heat of burn (not all powders are equal). The whole neck thing just sounds good IMO and has no hard evidence to add to what is just a theory

[Gimlet]

this one always gets a stir!

He worked a load up on remmy brass and rl7.

I witnessed it shot over the chrony lots of different occasions.

I remember it being very flat compared to my 222 loads. I witnessed a 400 ish shot on a squirrel in wind and he killed it. He thought nothing of chucking beyond 600! Obviously not hitting much at that but got very close on occasion.

Most 222 are loaded to pressure lower than 223. So data is throttled back a little but the case head is the same. I dont advocate going over listed max. I am only relating what I witnessed.

I have pushed 222 but in all honesty did my longest ever fox at 388 paces with a hpbt 52grain bullet doing a leisurely 2850fps! Fox was walking!

Lol...those days are gone!

My favourite powder for 222 is BL-C2. Very forgiving but needs mag primers and full cases.

I was concerned with the use of n110....Karl mentions using it. I will check later but if it is anything like h110 it may not like a partially filled case...I may be way off though....usually are!

 

U.

 

Don't want to steer the thread off course, but I think this is relevent. I also use RE7 and I struggle to get anywhere near 3950. At 3700 with 40 grn Hornady Vmax the dets are as flat as pancakes. I'm using Federal brass. What's the twist rate of the CZs? My BSA is 1:14 and 24". How much do the different actions affect the pressures you can run? And how much difference does brass make?

We're getting into ammo and reloading territory but if the OP plans to roll his own for a particular purpose it might be a consideration when it comes to rifle choice.

My rifle shoots 40 grn most accurately at 3200 - 3400 fps. Get up to 3500 and they start to open up but up above 3600 they start to come back in again. I'm a rookie reloader so excuse my ignorance, but how much can this velocity preference be predicted by action, barrel length/twist, powder/brass combination? And with Kent's post in mind can you predict a point - in terms of speed and powder load - where you're starting to threaten the life of your barrel? Or is every rifle really a law unto itself?

[bullet boy]

Tikka T3-Fantastic rifles!