those propellants in this application.) CONCLUSIONS
In the half-century since Rem-
ington introduced the 221, advances in bullets and propellants have extended useful range for this cartridge, from perhaps 225 yards to well beyond 350 yards. For most of us on most days this is about as far as we can routinely expect to make good hits on typical vermin. Formerly, those who chose to use a 221 because of the advantages it offered gave up a considerable amount of useful range. Now, those who choose to use a 221 because of the advantages it offers give up very little useful range. Goals for my next Richardson’s
ground squirrel hunting trip include wringing out my Savage M-40 with the new 22 K-Hornet chamber, seri- ously working the 17 VHA Contender Carbine, and testing 35- and 36-grain frangible bullets launched at near 3,800 fps from The Fireball. Who knows what other guns and loads I might shoot. But, if those are the only guns I take, I will not be handicapped at all … at least not for what I want to do. During two decades, I learned
many things from Roger – and the value of smaller varminting cartridges was one of those lessons. When I first heard about Roger’s Fireball, my only varmint rifle was a 22-250. I could not imagine needing anything else. I certainly did not understand that the 221 offered any varminting advantage. Now, I seriously doubt if I will ever again varmint hunt with a 22-250. For targets out to about 500 yards, the 5/35 SMc does everything I want, and if I ever want to take ver- min at truly long range I would prefer something more capable than any 22. As I noted when working with
this rifle ten years ago, barrel fouling is phenomenally light. After firing hundreds of full-power loads (using properly moly-plated bullets), removing powder fouling required running only a few patches soaked in Sharp ShootR Wipe Out through the bore (allowing the solvent to work a while after each pass). And, there existed not one iota of copper fouling to remove. Things change. With a known
target distance (as a laser rangefinder can provide), on a calm day, a shooter using a 221 rifle handloaded with the best modern components should find that the combination is fully capable for
Tested Bullets: Seating Characteristics In Test Gun: The Fireball Bullet Touching Data At Tested
Bullet
Nosler 35 BT-LF Hornady 35 NTX Barnes 36 VG
Hornady 40 V-Max Nosler 40 BT Sierra 40 BK
Rifling (in.)
Overall Stoney Point 2.001
1.943 1.899 1.922 2.006 1.994
1.598 1.547 1.577 1.536 1.605 1.587
Overall Cartridge Length (in.)
1.981 1.923 1.879 1.902 1.906 1.974
Overall Length -1.1
-0.6 -0.4 -0.5 -0.5 -1.0
Industry specified maximum 221 Fireball length is 1.830 inches. Therefore, it is unlikely that any of these loads would work in a well-fitted magazine (such as the CZ 527 uses). Charge correction for such loads using these bullets is quite significant. The CHARGE CORRECTION column lists necessary charge adjustment for otherwise similar loads at 1.830-inches overall length.
Stoney Point Length (SPL) is the measurement taken using the Stoney Point tool system with bullet just touching the rifling. SPL is related to cartridge overall length (COL) but SPL is more consistent because COL depends upon length of bullet ogive and tip and these lengths vary, often significantly. Generally, with this sort of load, a bullet-to-rifling jump of 20/1000-inch or less gives best accuracy.
For this study, I did no bullet-to-rifling jump experimentation; it seems likely that better accuracy awaits such testing.
Tested Sierra BK loads had far less than ideal shank seating depth for what I consider to be reasonable functionality. For field use, I will load this bullet only using the custom long-necked cases discussed in the text. Several of these tested loads in standard cases had less than my preferred minimum but likely enough shank seating depth for field use.
Something to Consider: The Frangible-Bullet Advantage 35 NTX At 3,800 FPS MV Versus 40 V-MAX At 3,600 FPS MV
(Standard Conditions At Sea Level With 10 mph Crosswind): (Maximum Loads In Tested Rifle) Range
Velocity 0 50
100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
3,600 | 3,800 3,333 | 3,481 3,083 | 3,185 2,846 | 2,909 2,622 | 2,649 2,409 | 2,404 2,205 | 2,172 2,012 | 1,953 1,828 | 1,748 1,658 | 1,561 1,500 | 1,392
Energy
1,150 | 1,122 986 | 942 843 | 788 719 | 658 610 | 545 515 | 449 432 | 367 359 | 296 297 | 238 244 | 189 200 | 151
Path -1.5 | -1.5
+0.2 | +0.1 +1.1 | +1.0 +1.1 | +1.0 0.0 | 0.0
-2.3 | -2.2 -6.2 | -6.0 -11.8 | -11.6 -19.6 | -19.6 -30.3 | -30.6 -44.0 | -45.2
Deflection 0.0 | 0.0
0.3 | 0.3 1.2 | 1.3 2.7 | 2.9 5.0 | 5.5 8.0 | 8.8
12.0 | 13.3 17.0 | 18.9 23.1 | 26.1 30.8 | 35.0 39.7 | 45.4
The above table reflects typical sea-level performance for the 35-grain NTX and the 40-grain V-Max at maximum feasible velocity in The Fireball but the general comparative results will hold true for any 22-caliber chambering. Toward far end of feasible effective 221-varminting range, the heavier (con- ventional) bullet has slightly less drop and significantly less deflection but the lighter (frangible) bullet will disintegrate explosively and reliably at a lower retained velocity (about 1,600 fps, compared to about 1,900 fps). This gives the frangible bullet about 30-yards greater functional range for use against smaller species of vermin. Because these lighter bullets generate 10% less recoil than 40-grain bullets, these also will allow the shooter to better observe more impacts. Therefore, to my way of thinking, for typical varminting the NTX and the similar Nosler BT-LF might produce superior overall performance. Because cost of core material in both bullet types is such a tiny fraction of overall cost, no good reason suggests that these frangibles should ever be priced significantly higher than traditional bullets are.
typical varminting on targets to about 400 yards (significantly farther on a hot day and especially at higher elevation). Next spring, while hunting at about 7,500-feet elevation, I intend to see just how far it will kill Richardson’s ground squirrels and cleanly dispatch blacktail prairie rats.
I am sure that Mike Walker (who
was intimately involved) would agree that no one would have suspected such capability in 1963, when Remington introduced the 221 Fireball.
Charge Correction For 1.83"
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