220 Russian - 220 Beggs - 22 PPC

T

Tony C

New member
I'm interested in learning more from shooters who have experience with the 220 Russian, 220 Beggs, or full-length 22 PPC.


Tony


PS (Feel free to email or PM)
 
I would think it would be dam hard to beat a 22ppc .100 short. Mine shoots lights out. the cases are easy to make as well. Some say they are a pain in the neck to make, but they really are not. I like trying different things, and i have often thought about the beggs stuff. I have talked with several of the older shooters who had done the 220 russian thing 15 years ago. they say it will shoot, but no better than a ppc. So i guess its up to the individual. I say go for it!! Lee
 
The short 22 PPC is an excellent choice. In fact, any choice is excellent if it shoots. Truth is, there's gonna be some that shoot and some that don't in all the variations making the choice one of little concern. I'd go with the one that's easiest to deal with.
 
I have a 22 PPC that I just had done for vermin. Shoots great and makes good use of all of the leftover 6 PPC brass! A light load with 40 grain V-max creates some excitement in the field.
What do people do with old 6 PPC brass?

MAC
 
I took the 220 Beggs plunge and like it. I don't see any evidence of it being much of a challenge to the 6 PPC but it is a very easy round to work with and a lot of fun.

I got the Hornady dies from Gene and copied Gene's dimensions for a Kiff reamer----except for a shorter freebore to try some lighter bullets for PD shooting. There is a slight mismatch between the reamer and the sizing die at the base which causes clicks at the top of the bolt lift but I haven't tried to relieve the chamber for this.

I think Gene has resolved this difference----maybe he'll chime in and clarify this. However this difference has not interfered with the fun of casual shooting.

I won the first club match I tried with the Beggs and fought hard to get last place in the next. I suppose that makes me a middle-of-the-pack shooter but the round should rate better.

I fired 25 consecutive rounds one day----100 yds--- when the wind was almost constant from right to left for a long time---very little change in flag pattern.

I saved the targets and had Mickey Coleman measure them-----.141, .156, .152, .137 and .057 . Note that these targets were not fired under competitive conditions and there was no moving backer to verify each shot. Obviously, neither Mickey nor I can validate such targets under serious BR standards---but---they
are what was shot on that particular day.

The 220 Beggs is a very easy way to go for a casual shooter and I've enjoyed it.

A. Weldy
 
Tony don't think just because you chamber this up that the groups posted above will be the norm. It takes a lot to shoot 5 groups that well. A hole lot in fact. Good luck and happy shooting. Lee
 
Lee

That's true -with any combination I believe. I sold a rifle a few months ago to a friend. He chambered three barrels before finding the one that he felt shot like he wanted with his bullets. It's been a WINNER with that barrel...
 
Lee, Tony

Let's face facts----this was a lucky day in the life of a greenhorn shooter who'll most likely never repeat this trick.

I've never seen such a simple wind pattern last so long. Most shooters on the range that afternoon shot better than normal. These conditions were a gift.

Tony,
I tried a PM back to you but am not sure it left here. If you don't get it I can E-mail it to you if you'll PM your address.

A. Weldy
 
Here's another fact to face while being humble. The rifle was able to capitalize on those fine conditions and shoot that very impressive string of targets. I'll be content to show up with that rifle just in case those conditions show again. Never know when you'l find a cookie out there.
 
Lucky

"I got the Hornady dies from Gene and copied Gene's dimensions for a Kiff reamer----except for a shorter freebore to try some lighter bullets for PD shooting. There is a slight mismatch between the reamer and the sizing die at the base which causes clicks at the top of the bolt lift but I haven't tried to relieve the chamber for this.
I think Gene has resolved this difference----maybe he'll chime in and clarify this."
Click to expand...
____________________________________________


In an email discussion, I asked Gene about this:

The Lapua 220 Russian case right out of the box measures slightly over .4390 to .4400. The original chamber for the Beggs cartridges was specified to be .4400 at dimension 'A' which is .200 in front of the bolt face. The Hornady sizing die is .4400 at this dimension and this didn't give enough squeeze on a fired case to prevent 'click-at-the-top' after the cases were fired several times with hot loads. The Beggs II chamber spec increased dimension 'A' to .4420 which solved the problem. In those chambers that were cut with the old reamers, it's a simple job to polish out the rear of the chamber with 320 on a split dowel. It only takes a minute or two while the barrel is still in the lathe. Gene Beggs"
Click to expand...


Tony
 
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Tony, thanks for posting Gene's reply.

Gene discussed this with me but I didn't remember the details.

Might be wise for me to have my reamer reground by PTG if I decide to do any other 220 Beggs barrels.

A. Weldy
 
Lucky Shooter A said:
Tony, thanks for posting Gene's reply.

Gene discussed this with me but I didn't remember the details.

Might be wise for me to have my reamer reground by PTG if I decide to do any other 220 Beggs barrels.

A. Weldy
Click to expand...



Allan, there is no need to have your reamer reground to the Beggs Mk2 dimension unless it would just make you feel better. The .002 increase in diameter at dimension 'A' can be quickly and easily polished out with 320 and a split dowel after the chamber is finished. Most gunsmiths polish the chamber a little bit anyway and it takes almost no time to do. This must be done in the lathe. Glad to hear your enjoying the 220Beggs. Let me know if I can help you with anything.

Gene Beggs
 
For those who have had the 220 Beggs, can you tell a difference in accuracy with the turn vs. no-turn necks?
 
" What do people do with old 6 PPC Brass"?

macflyboy said:
I have a 22 PPC that I just had done for vermin. Shoots great and makes good use of all of the leftover 6 PPC brass! A light load with 40 grain V-max creates some excitement in the field.
What do people do with old 6 PPC brass?

MAC
Click to expand...


I make Ink pens and Keyrings out of mine!.......CYA next month @ Folsom...........Jan
 

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Humm. I have had 3 full size 22ppc barrels, two on the same action and one on another..different neck diameters.
one shot great, one shot ok and one not so good..
I have never seen the beggs cartridge or the .100 short..what is the major difference between them?
I have been interested in the 6 beggs. possiblely will have a barrel chamberd in the future..I was playing with my 6ppc today..Errr!..it will shoot but it can be tempermental..one day i will learn how to tune one..Im starting to become familiar with what this barrel likes, only took 25 rounds to find what would shoot in a hole today.
 
The 220 Beggs worked out great for me as I had bought a bunch of the IMR XBR 8208 for my 6 PPC's and never could get the 6 PPC to shoot with the XBR like the first bottle I had of the stuff. Anyway Benchmark had been my go to powder for the 220 Beggs and I had heard that XBR was a off spec batch of Benchmark so I tried the XBR in the little 220 Beggs and right away realized I now had a use for the XBR I had on hand . The stuff worked great in the 220 Beggs with 52 gr. Cheek bullets and the 220 Beggs doesn't seem to be as picky as to the different lots of XBR as my PPC were .

Rodney
 
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