222 Good Load

[roc1]

I am buying a old 788 Remington in 222 and would like someone to give me a good load for it.
Thanks
roc1

 

[Blackrock]

55g Midway Dogtown bulet and 19.8g of IMR 4198. YMMV

 

[NCsmitty]

I have used 21.5 gr of H322 with a 50gr Nosler Expander for years and have a small supply of the now obsolete bullet. Any of the budget soft points or the 50gr V-Max or Nosler BT should provide an accurate load to try.
The 222 Rem remains a viable, inherently accurate choice for varmints or target, and a joy to load.



NCsmitty

 

[hairtrigger]

I am a big fan of the 222rem I have found them my rifles seem to like many different loads, it is an ususual rifle that is picky

 

[GooseGestapo]

Bruce Hodgdon recommended using BLC-2 at 25.0g under the Hornady 50gr SX. This isn't real fast at 3,000fps but is text-book accurate with .222Rem.
Hornady at one time used this load to test initial lot productions of bullets. This was mentioned in their Third Edition Manual circa 1980. If they didn't shoot under 1/2", the "problem" was investigated..... Typically a loose or out of spec core punch according to the #3 Manual.

For accuracy, H322 was very popular at one time with the BenchRest crowd. But, as mentioned, H4198 was also popular. I'd also be inclined to try Hodgdon's BenchMark. It's been stellar in my .223 and .22-250 as well.

It's hard to make a decent .222 NOT shoot well.

I'd also take a hard look at the Sierra Blitz-King, Nosler Ballistic Tip and Hornady V-max 50gr Bullets. 40gr bullets can be pushed faster, but will use larger quantities of powder leading to faster barrel throat erosion. Something that was/is important to the BR crowd. The 50gr bullets have less wind drift, too.

 

[Cemetery21]

24.5 gr - 25.0 gr. of BLC-2 with Hornady 50 gr SP or SX worked for me back in the day. Many powders in that burning range work great in the deuce. I usually go for ball powders so I can drop charges without trickling.

 

[roc1]

Thanks guys I will try several different powders. I have a bunch of Vmax bullets I use in my 22-250 and 223. I wanted to try different powders anyway.
roc1

 

[wj kerr]

Hello 20.5 grains of reloader 7 under a 50 grain seirra blitzking half inch groups out of my cz 527 at 100 yds . 22 grains of h 322 under a 50 grain nosler bt. 20 . 5 grains of vit n 120 under a 40 grain hornady v max . Note this is a over charge in the hornady manuel but safe in my rifle with no signs of pressure. Regards wj.

 

[idahoglock36]

I have an old 788 222 that I still shoot all the time. Beat to heck but still a shooter.

I use to shoot the 55-SX with 4895 and it shot great. I recently pick up a bunch of 40 grain VMAX for a really good price. Yesterday I tried a 40 VMAX with 24.5 BLC-2. Shot under a 1" at 100 and very little recoil.

You will love the 788.