What would you do?

I'd stick with the 222 for the cool factor

Stick with 222. You have a really nice cartridge with a bunch of really good guns looking for a place to call home at really good prices. Then if your not a fan sell it as a package deal.

222 really isnt all that old of a caliber made in 1950, its been around as much as most of your common calibers. Its only 14 years older than its brother 223 which was first made in 1964. Both are fairly new calibers for as long as guns have been around.

Gun calibers are like fads. 222 had its hay day, but 223 since it came along later, more people jumped on the band wagon for 223 and the more people that jumped on the more and more companies produced more and more 223, so that pushed 222 into the dark.

Me personally i much rather have 222 in my safe than 223. Keep the 222, have fun with it.

For a starting gun a 22LR is had to beat. But finding 22LR ammo these days is hard. Save the 222 for the second gun.

Depends on what the rifle will be used for.

The 222 is good for target and small varmint to 200 yds. A 243 win may be used for varmint & deer to 400 yds. Hodgdon Youth Loads can be loaded for the new shooters, reducing recoil.

Boho said:

Its time to buy a rifle for my 10 yr old son. My girlfriend enjoys shooting so she would use it too. A few months ago I went to an estate sale and the lady running it told me to take everything on this table for a dream of a price. It was a load of RCBS reloading tools. This guy must've been a match shooter in the 70s or so. My question is, I now have all the tools and a little brass for 222. Would you buy that older caliber to go with the tools, or sell it and buy a newer caliber and new tools. I see good condition used 222s at a good price.

Click to expand...

Given your situation I would be shopping for a good rifle like an older Remington Model 725 chambered in 222. About 20 years ago I ended up with a Remington 725 and rebarreled the gun in 223 but saved the original barrel and stock. Simply because I was not setup for 222 and had a new barrel laying around from another project. The 222 Remington is a great little round with a very strong following.

While I have seen many overpriced I have seen some excellent Remington Model 725 chambered in 222 in the $500 to $600 price range. Anyway, be it a nice older Remington or other make rifle I would stick with the 222.

Just My Take....
Ron

To me the 222 brass is a piña to get. I don't see much of it. Not sure if you could size up 204 brass to use. I don't see the difference in the two performance wise. My ex brother in law had one in a rem 600 Mohawk. Seems to me they shoot he same. If it was the 222 mag. I'd usenit

I'm also throwing in a chip on .243

You know he's gonna want hunt with his first rifle, and he may want more than rabbit.

I don't know texas' hunting regs. Here we can hunt deer with 22, some places you cant. Maybe you don't want his first hunt ruined with sub-optimal shot placement on a caliber that requires absolute precision on shot placement for success- maybe you do.

He's gonna be all jitters on that first game shot- and I know on mine I wished I'd had a bullet the size of my head. I lucked out and got what ended up being a passable single lung, out the other side on the neckish area shot. It was a 30 caliber bullet, not sure that mattered. I'm glad it expanded, cuz that deer RAN, and I can't imagine what it would've been without a well made , big bullet.

You can go from squirrel to deer pretty easily based on bullet and charge with a .243, something else you'll also get to teach him along the way.

With that said, old rifles, and old reloading kit are cool... But vintage is not everyones bag of tricks, and I'm certain you could steer him into a standard marketing stream like Hornady, or RCBS, and let him make his own choices.

If he's earned the right to hold one, giving him the choice on what to hold- and all that entails, requires, and possibly limits, isn't that far fetched.

Don't let the tail wag the dog. A set of Lee rifle dies is only about $30. If you can get a good deal on a used rifle, great. You wanna buy new, that's fine too. I wouldn't let a set of used dies and some small quantity of brass influence my decision, either way.

I think a .22 would be the ideal first rifle. Right now the ammo is scarce but it should be back in supply in the near future, hopefully. .243 is a great round but a young shooter would have to have lots of money for ammo. When I got my first rifle it was nothing to go through 500 rounds of .22 on a weekend of shooting. I rarely shot less than 100 rounds whenever I took it out for several years. Also, a .22 gives a young shooter an idea of the power and just how lethal a tiny bullet can be. It is a bit more forgiving than a .243 or .223. for a beginner.

Buy a caliber because you inherited $30 dies for it? I don't think so. Inherited a bunch of reloading equipment? Sell the parts you don't want and fill in for a caliber you do want. Is 222 your dream gun?

For a 10 year old, a .22LR bolt gun is best. But that's assuming a bit of practice with a BB gun which should come first.

For years, I had a Winchester M70 in .222 that was a tack-driver. Unless you're planning on reaching out beyond 250 yards, the .222 is plenty of gun. IT is really a wonderful caliber.

I would guess you'll have less difficulty finding reloading components for the 222, than you will for 22 lr ammo.

GS

I wouldn't go out and buy a gun just because I got a really good deal on reloading dies and/or components for a specific cartridge.....unless that cartridge interested me and it was financially feasible to do so. If I were 10 again I think Id rather have a rifle that I could someday reload for AND go to any gun shop (or big box store) and buy ammo for. .222 don't fit that bill. I think I'd prefer a .223 if I were 10. But then again I'm knocking on 30 and I'd still rather have a .223 over a .222.

IMO a good rimfire rifle will teach a 10 year old how to shoot well better than a centerfire. I also agree there is no reason to buy a rifle only because you have a set of dies for it. Lee rifle dies are $30 and RCBS rifle dies are $35 so buy what you want, not what you have dies for.