Pop's ole .222

[velocette]

I've had my dad's .222 Remington for about 5 years after rescuing it from
another family member that allowed it to - - - well shall we say - - - suffer from neglect.
It was the first rifle my dad ever bought, around 1955. A Remington 722, plain jane rifle. No checkering no fancy stuff, no heavy barrel and a cheap scope. (He was raising 4 boys on a working man's pay) He used it to shoot woodchucks, (ground hogs) On a good day, He would take me with him, carrying my trusty winchester single shot .22, which I never got to shoot.
He's gone now 11 years.
I got his rifle about 5 years ago in sad shape, rusty, dented dull, you've seen them like that too.
Refinished it, glass bedded it, re-crowned it and put a decent scope on it.
I commenced to TRY to get it to shoot. Much frustration, I could never get much below 1" at 100 yds with different bullets, powders, primers, etc.
Until yesterday. Finally, I found what that ole rifle wanted, 5 rds, 100 yds, from a bipod, no bags or rest, just a shoulder.
I hope he's lookin down with a smile.

Roger

 

[gpb]

Congratulations for restoring a fine old rifle. I have always had a high regard for the .222 Remington cartridge and the 722 Remington rifle. That combination seemed like such a natural paring. Sort of like the S&W K frame and the 38 Special cartridge.

It’s sad that the .222 Remington is losing favor. It is a naturally accurate and efficient round. Your story is causing me to think about looking for an old 722 in .222 to restore to its former functionality.

Is there any chance that you can post some pictures of the rifle? Before and after would be nice.

 

[velocette]

GPB
Photos from about 3 years ago. Looks the same today.

R

 

[Woolecox]

What a treasure. Congratulations.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

wished I could find a model 788 in .222, got one in .308 and .22-250, they are low priced tackdrivers and I guess that is the main reason Remington quit making them. one in 7mm-08 is also on my wish list. brand new they sold for about $200, if you can find one at a gun show they are almost 3 times that price.

 

[StrawHat]

The 722 is a good rifle. I had one in 222 Magnum and it was a good shooter. Also had the long action version, Model 721, in 30-06. Sold it to a friend of my brother and it is used as a meat gun. It always gets the meat!

 

[loose noose]

Beautiful rifle, I've got a Savage in .222/20ga in the 24V, it seems to like the 45 grn. Hornady bt hp in front of IMR 4198 powder, and a federal sr primer. It'll shoot under a moa for the first 3 shots, and then the pencil thin barrel starts to open up quite a bit. Shot a lot of quail, and coyotes with that when I first got it.

 

[gpb]

velocette:

Thanks for posting the pictures. Very nice rifle. It looks good and shoots good, can't get much better than that.

 

[jstein650]

velocette, I gotta ask, what load changed your 722's mind? BTW, good work on the gun!

 

[NCsmitty]

I have had one some 40+ years now and it has a worn barrel, but is still capable of a 1" group using the obsolete 50gr Nosler Expanders that I still have, and 21.5gr of H322.
It has the finest trigger of any rifle that I own, and has been that way over the 40years since I dialed it in with lock-tite. And that long 26" barrel with it's sight hump, only hints at the potential of that wonderful old design with the plain jane stock that they had.

Congratulations, velocette, you did a fine job restoring that old 722.


NCsmitty

 

[husker]

Nice

 

[velocette]

jstein650;
The load is, Sierra 52 gr HPBTmatch bullet, neck sized Winchester brass & primer, 22.6 gr of Hodgdon H335, seated to magazine length. Brass was TTL & primer flash holes reamed.

Roger

 

[WardenWolf]

Very nice. I admit, though, that if I had something in .222 I'd probably have the chamber lengthened to shoot .223 and shoot lightweight varmint loads out of it. My Father had a Winchester Model 70 in .225 Winchester that we sold. In hindsight we probably should have rebarreled it, but it was in an awkward obsolete caliber; rimmed cartridge so it couldn't be easily converted to .223, and short action so it couldn't be easily converted to other cartridges.

 

[303tom]

WardenWolf is correct, the .222 Rem. has not gone out of favor. It has only gotten better with the magnum & the .223 Rem, plus you can still buy em for around 10 or 11 bucks a box............

 

[Hopkins]

Your gun is a rare .222 if its finicky about loads to get accuracy. The triple deuce is one of the easiest in general to reload for and get 1/2 MOA or better results. The caveat being that the barrel and bedding are in good shape.

 

[velocette]

Hopkins;
I was looking for better than sub 1/2" groups.
Mostly I got 5/8", 3/4" etc. Than the final step with the .42" X .21"
Remember, all were shot from a bipod & shoulder. No bags, no rear rest

Roger

 

[gunownerz]

Glad to see gun neglect become one more step in elimination.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

That's a good story and a great old rifle. Putting the rifle back in shape is a good tribute to your dad, well done!