In need of small caliber rifle advice

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Ccctennis

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I am a reloader and I have a 220 swift. I use it for yotes and various other varmint. I have a 17hmr which I love except for it being rimfire.

I need some advice. I would like a small caliber centerfire rifle for plinking, target practice, ect. But I want it to be easily reloadable.

I look through the reloading manuals and see lots of small calibers I know very little about. I am looking for something that doesn't use a lot of powder like my swift does. Should I be looking for 17 Vartac, 219 bee, 219 zipper, remington fireball ect.

So many choices. I do have about 10k .224 projectiles currently so maybe something in the 22 range?
 
Looks like 22 hornet would be hard to beat for you application. Uses ver very little powder and you already have the projectiles.
 
Ccctennis said:
I need some advice. I would like a small caliber centerfire rifle for plinking, target practice, ect. But I want it to be easily reloadable.
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223 Remington will be the easiest to find cases and factory ammunition is readily available.

Most of the other cartridges mentioned will have case availability issues at this time.

I also shoot 221 Remington Fireball, 22 Hornet, 17 Remington. Except for the itty bitty 17 caliber bullet, I do not find any of them difficult to load for.
 
22 Hornet. It is a fun cartridge to hand-load and a real hoot to shoot.

While I managed to get a Ruger M77-22 Hornet to shoot, I would recommend a CZ rifle as a Hornet platform. Lil Gun is a very good Hornet powder.


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.22 Hornet with 13 gr of Lil Gun and a 45 gr bullet gives you 2800 + fps and a whole lot of good shooting. In a decent rifle it should shoot 1.5" @ 200 yds.
 
TexasPatriot308 said:
22-250....the best and you can handload in lots of ways, different rifles have different twists, but it is just so versatile.
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The OP already has a 220 Swift.:confused::confused::confused:


The 22 Hornet would be a good choice if the 10K bullets you have are 45-50 grainers.

.20 Vartarg, 20 Tactical and 204 Ruger are good choices also and will make a dandy varminter.
 
Ccctennis said:
I am a reloader and I have a 220 swift. I use it for yotes and various other varmint. I have a 17hmr which I love except for it being rimfire.

I need some advice. I would like a small caliber centerfire rifle for plinking, target practice, ect. But I want it to be easily reloadable.

I look through the reloading manuals and see lots of small calibers I know very little about. I am looking for something that doesn't use a lot of powder like my swift does. Should I be looking for 17 Vartac, 219 bee, 219 zipper, remington fireball ect.

So many choices. I do have about 10k .224 projectiles currently so maybe something in the 22 range?
Click to expand...
17 Hornet is a centerfire cartridge that is re-loadable, you can also take down a yote with this round too.
 
Ccctennis;

Take a good look at the CZ527 rifles. Currently in catalog are: .22 Hornet, 222 Remington, and .223 Remington. Those three, with the possible exception of the Hornet, could use the bullets you have on hand. The guns are known for accuracy, and have the single-set trigger. The .223 CZ527 is even available in a left handed platform if that's of interest to you.

T'were me, and it was, I picked the .223 version of the gun and am quite happy with it. I also have Mr. Swift for serious business in dog towns. In my opinion if you have a Swift, you need a .22-250 about like you need to take up dropping bowling balls on your foot for fun and profit.

900F
 
.22 Hornet and .222 Remington brass can be challenging to find by times. Midway(just an example) lists the former by Winchester and Remington. 'Seasonal' only for Winchester and no back order for the Remington. Ditto for the .222, but they're listing Hornady at $28.99 per 50. 100 Lapua on sale at $52.99.
Bee's, Vartac's and Zippers are pricey and not always available too.
.223 is kind of boring, but it's versatile and readily available everywhere.
 
I agree. I do not need a 22-250. I have the better version that rifle.....:) The Swift!

I do have lots of 223 brass for my AR so that isnt out of the question. I am a fan of the odd calibers. I do not mind tracking down brass for guns. I usually am more turned on by harder to find guns and ammo. I will see what CZ has to offer!!!
 
If you have 10k 224 projectiles, sounds like you need a new caliber to hoard. Find something in 32-20. Bolt or lever action. You will really like it.
 
No one else has mentioned them, so I will. Consider something in 6mm Remington. Bullets are available from 40 grains to 120 grains. I have both a .243 and a 6mm, the .243 is a model 700BDL and the 6mm is a model 600 Remington. There is not a smidgen of difference between the two. I have loaded 75 grain JHP's over 35 grains of IMR 30-31, for pests, up to 100 grain Nosler Partitions over max charges of H-1000 or H-4831, for deer..........Robin
 
You have 10,000 .224 bullets to use and want something with a smaller case capacity so that you don't need to use as much powder. The question seems pretty straight forward to me........22 Hornet.
 
I have been thinking lately that a bolt action rifle chambered in 5.7x28 would be a lot of fun. thinking of it as a kind of center fire replacement for a 22lr since I have not been able to purchase any at a reasonable price for quite a while now, and I refuse to pay more than 5 cents a round and even that is too much IMO. Figured I could cast boolits for it and have a reloading cost of roughly 5 cents per round, maybe a bit less depending on what powder I use. Time will tell if I ever actually take the plunge.
 
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captain awesome said:
I have been thinking lately that a bolt action rifle chambered in 5.7x28 would be a lot of fun. thinking of it as a kind of center fire replacement for a 22lr since I have not been able to purchase any at a reasonable price for quite a while now, and I refuse to pay more than 5 cents a round and even that is to much IMO. Figured I could cast boolits for it and have a reloading cost of roughly 5 cents per round, maybe a bit less depending on what powder I use. Time will tell if I ever actually take the plunge.
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Who makes a rifle in 5.7X28? I didnt seem to find one on gunbroker? What platform does it come in? I am intrigued!
 
Ccctennis;

Here's another couple of thoughts for you to mull over. The .221 Fireball is not much more than a 222/223 case shortened and the SAAMI pressure raised. True, that's simplistic, but the point is, you have all the components to do it, except the platform. Then the above comment about the 6mm's got me to thinking, particularly because I have one. It's my primary coyote gun because of the high wind conditions around here. But that thought train led me to the oddball .256 Winchester magnum. And that's just a .357 case necked to accept .257" bullets. But, there ya go: Different, with a large enough bullet to be a short-range predator killer, and relatively quiet in a rifle length barrel. A few Marlins were produced in it, but their value now would most likely exceed your utility level. OTOH, Ruger produced a very few single-shot handguns based on the Blackhawk in the caliber. How cool would that be to have the matched pair? But, that's probably a number that exceed's a year's tuition at a state college. Might be better to rebarrel something. Of course, CZ did produce the 527 in .221 Fireball, and you might find one of those easier than creating a .256 WM rifle.

Highly unlikely that the 10K bullets he has would be suitable for the Hornet.

900F
 
I have a CZ in .22 Hornet. If I had it to do over, I'd really consider a Fireball. Either gives decent velocity with just a little powder, no recoil (see your hits) and low muzzle blast
 
Almost all my projectiles are 55 grain or less. I do have about 800-900 75 grain for my AR-15.
 
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