Companion Handgun Cartridge

[Armored farmer]

The things we do for one nice do-(almost) all setup. One big bore barrel for medium/large game and an easy to swap over to barrel for the smaller to medium stuff.
Btw. I was looking at some data for the .224 Valkyrie. It looks very promising to adapt to a 12-14 inch barrel. Maybe even a 10 inch with the right bullet.

Adaptors available for .223 down to .22lr or. 22magnum.

 

[Patocazador]

My suggestion would be 221 Remington Fireball. A bit more zip than 22 Hornet, less report than 223 Remington.

This what I would choose also.

 

[Sneakshot92]

This what I would choose also.

I have a couple 22 Hornets and brass life is not so great. If you were to get a 223 barrel then you have readily available brass that you can load with Hornet specific bullets and low pressure Hornet loads or use the regular 223 bullets and be able to utilize the full power of the round. Or anything in between. Makes the most sense to me.

ETA: If I had owned the two 223 Handi Rifles before I owned my first Hornet I would not have bothered with a Hornet. Either of the two you mention the brass is expensive and the case necks are prone to splitting at max loads after a couple reloads. The 223 brass will hardly notice that pressure. Just my thoughts.

Not a bad reasoning, but I'm not trying for max loads in the smaller cartridge. I'm thinking more along the lines of a reloadable improvement over the 22 magnum. It should be noted from my original post about the range limit on coyote. I failed to mention that my intended overall max range on the small cartridge is 150yds for the serious work. Anything beyond that is paper punching or plinking.

 

[WestKentucky]

223 is near perfect. .256 is awesome but it’s a pain to form and factory brass is laughably hard to come by, and expensive when you do.

if you go that route... take a POS 30-30 sizing die to a chop saw to make a mid-way forming die. Anneal, size to 30, anneal, final size, inspect for cracked necks, trim, load. 30-30 forming dies are easy to make the midway former and a lot cheaper than a $200 set of forming dies that do the same thing.... but still, avoid .256 unless you have some odd fascination or sentimental tie to the cartridge... like your dad getting one (marlin 62) for his 13th birthday and teaching you to deer hunt, shoot using a scope, and how to reload with it some 30 years later...

 

[Sneakshot92]

They're both kind of classic (I'd get the Bee) and I think either would be fun. But then again, I like loading for cartridges that are not quite mainstream. If I was in your shoes, and I was just going for "useful" and easy to get ammo for, I'd get a companion barrel in .223.

I've been talking to a few other friends and one of them actually has a set of Bee dies that he's willing to loan me to do my load developing if I go that route. Kinda hard to pass that up! He says he even has some load data for faster powders that he was going to try for what he calls 'popper loads'. Basically just mild loads for 75 foot shots on typical barnyard pests.

 

[Sneakshot92]

223 is near perfect. .256 is awesome but it’s a pain to form and factory brass is laughably hard to come by, and expensive when you do.

if you go that route... take a POS 30-30 sizing die to a chop saw to make a mid-way forming die. Anneal, size to 30, anneal, final size, inspect for cracked necks, trim, load. 30-30 forming dies are easy to make the midway former and a lot cheaper than a $200 set of forming dies that do the same thing.... but still, avoid .256 unless you have some odd fascination or sentimental tie to the cartridge... like your dad getting one (marlin 62) for his 13th birthday and teaching you to deer hunt, shoot using a scope, and how to reload with it some 30 years later...

Hmm. If I was nuts and had more time I would consider it when I look at the pile of once fired 357 brass I've got.

 

[Weflyfast]

Coys can be tough kritters....take a look at the 204 Ruger....

 

[Swampman]

As several folks have already pointed out, the .223 would be the easiest and cheapest route to achieve the performance you specified (although probably a little "overkill" unless downloaded).

Judging from the fact that you already chose .357/.44 Bain & Davis as your primary caliber, my guess is that you're not necessarily looking for the cheapest/easiest/fastest varmint round and are instead looking for something more unique.

I don't know squat about the .218 Bee, but the .22 K-Hornet would fulfill your stated needs perfectly and is much better suited to low power .22 magnum level loads than .223.

.218 Bee and .22 K-Hornet are also rimmed, which to me is a worthwhile advantage in a single shot.

 

[Trashyshoots]

I have a 12 inch 223 barrel and a 12 inch 300blk barrel, both have been used with excellent results on yotes on my sisters farm out past 150 yards.

While they're not off the beaten path cartridges, I dont argue with results.

 

[Sneakshot92]

Coys can be tough kritters....take a look at the 204 Ruger....

Yes they are. But then again i'm good at the headshot game when it comes to varmints.

 

[Sneakshot92]

As several folks have already pointed out, the .223 would be the easiest and cheapest route to achieve the performance you specified (although probably a little "overkill" unless downloaded).

Judging from the fact that you already chose .357/.44 Bain & Davis as your primary caliber, my guess is that you're not necessarily looking for the cheapest/easiest/fastest varmint round and are instead looking for something more unique.

I don't know squat about the .218 Bee, but the .22 K-Hornet would fulfill your stated needs perfectly and is much better suited to low power .22 magnum level loads than .223.

.218 Bee and .22 K-Hornet are also rimmed, which to me is a worthwhile advantage in a single shot.

I did have a thought the other day while looking around at my once fired brass. I've got a couple hundred 32-20 cases from when I had one for a short while. It is the parent case for the Bee so I could neck them down and have a nice starting point or I could get a bullet mould and cast some swc's. This would get me back into a fantastic little round that fell out of favor ages ago.

 

[JWF III]

.219 Zipper. A little on the different side. Good performance. Easy to pluck rim. Can be made from common .30-30 Brass.

Wyman

 

[Sneakshot92]

Thanks to all who replied. I've decided to go for the 218 Bee and see where it takes me.

 

[Sneakshot92]

.219 Zipper. A little on the different side. Good performance. Easy to pluck rim. Can be made from common .30-30 Brass.

Wyman

I was toying with the idea of a 22 Jet actually, but a wanted to experiment with more low power loads using cast (enter the 218 bee). In the end the availability of dies without having to buy them won me over.

 

[jmohme]

My absolute favorite light centerfire for my Contender is 32 H&R magnum.

 

[GarrettJ]

My absolute favorite light centerfire for my Contender is 32 H&R magnum.

I would really like to find an inexpensive .32 Mag Contender barrel. Unfortunately, that caliber isn't really common in the Contender, and I've already looked into what a custom barrel would cost, and decided I can't justify it at the moment.

 

[jmorris]

The 221 Fireball was invented for handgun length barrels.

I do have a Contender barrel in .22 Hornet but it is a rifle barrel, no problem with case life but I really only size enough of the neck to hold the bullet, leave the rest untouched.

 

[jmohme]

I would really like to find an inexpensive .32 Mag Contender barrel. Unfortunately, that caliber isn't really common in the Contender, and I've already looked into what a custom barrel would cost, and decided I can't justify it at the moment.

Check at edstc.com
Sometimes Ed has them. Usually in 10 inch bull barrels.

 

[jmohme]

Oops! Double tap!

 

[Frulk]

If you can find a barrel, .327 Fed Mag would be my pick. An honest 100 yard furred varmint cartridge. At the range this past weekend I was getting 1450 FPS with 120 gr. hard cast TCGC’s using #9 out of a Ruger Single 7 with 7.5 inch barrel. And still had room to push it just a little harder. Plus, it’s a straight walled case so you forgo all that tedious bottle necked case prep work.

 

[AJC1]

I would be shooting that yote with the 357 if your barrel was 6" or longer. With little practice at that range with standard s and w sights on the 636 I hit 5 out of 6 on a 10" gong at 100. Drop a red dot or practice regularly and one pistol will get er done.