Working With Factory
222 Remington Ammunition James E. House
success and it displaced several older cartridges (both factory and wildcat) in popularity. It soon established an excellent reputation for accuracy and dominated benchrest competition. With a 50-grain bullet having a muzzle velocity of about 3,200 ft/sec, the 222 is a good 200- to 225-yard cartridge, but shots at 250 yards can be made, as I know from experience. Following Remington’s lead, oth-
Although others are available, these six factory loads were tested.
with a 22 rimfire, my desire for a “real” varmint rifle also began at a rather ear- ly age. An older acquaintance had the rifle of my dreams, a Winchester Model 43 22 Hornet. It was a very impressive rifle for a teenager. As I progressed in the sport, my next step was to a 22
A
lthough I pursued varmint hunting from an early age
WMR bolt-action made by Mossberg. It shot well and accounted for a con- siderable number of groundhogs and crows, but it wasn’t a real (read that as centerfire) varmint rifle. In 1950, Remington introduced
the 222 Remington varmint cartridge that was mated to the Model 722 bolt- action rifle. The 222 became an instant
er manufacturers chambered rifles for the 222, but some of them, such as the Sako, were rather expensive for some of us. Savage eventually introduced the Model 340 which was a rather inexpen- sive and unprepossessing sort of rifle. As I recall, the price was somewhere between $40 and $50, which allowed me to buy one. Somehow, I got an old Weaver K4 attached in a side mount and I had a varmint rifle. The Savage 340 allowed me to dispatch varmints easily out to 200 yards or so. It was the Savage 340 in 222 that
got me started in reloading. Before that, I had loaded some ammo for a hand- gun and a converted Mauser using the equipment owned by a friend. I got the cheapest tools possible and used only IMR 4198, but I was reloading. At some point, I thought I needed a 30-06 so the Savage and I parted company. Moving forward to 1964, I again
This 222 Remington Model 700 ADL and I have been together for nearly half a century.
Page 94 Winter 2013
found myself in a situation where var- mint hunting was possible, but by that time I was back to owning only a 22 LR. I found a nice used 222 Remington 700 ADL with a Weaver K4 that I bought for $110. I used that rifle with great success and got more involved in re- loading, which necessitated a press and other accessories. In order to feel really equipped, I added a Weaver K10 and I finally had a serious varmint hunting outfit. This continued for many years, but in a moment of weakness I sold the rifle to my brother, a move that I regretted almost immediately. As it turned out, my activities changed and in a very rare move for him, he sold the
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