J
Jack
Guest
Nice .Thanks
J
Jack
Guest
Museum
That is where this stuff belongs
That is where this stuff belongs
J
Jack
Guest
Okay that is pretty cool . I need to buy his book .
Mike Bryant
Active member
Jack, check out abebooks.com. There are a couple of copies of "the Accurate Rifle" available on Abe Books.
J
Jack
Guest
J
Jack
Guest
I found a 1st edition of The Accurate Rifle . A friend of mine has a couple of them . What luck I will post a pic when I get it .
Wonder if there is any way to clean that jacket without destroying it . I was thinking of taking it to the cleaners but worry they will destroy it . I would rather have it looking dirty than shredded.
Wonder if there is any way to clean that jacket without destroying it . I was thinking of taking it to the cleaners but worry they will destroy it . I would rather have it looking dirty than shredded.
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I found a 1st edition of The Accurate Rifle . A friend of mine has a couple of them . What luck I will post a pic when I get it .
Wonder if there is any way to clean that jacket without destroying it . I was thinking of taking it to the cleaners but worry they will destroy it . I would rather have it looking dirty than shredded.
The jacket is just fine as is.
I had a 222.5 and it shot very well...wish I had it back. I got caught up in a moment at the Super Shoot and sold it to pay for a PPC I had bought. It was on a rather nice laminated stock and shot like the hammers of hell.
Mike Bryant
Active member
That seems a benchrester's malady. You sell an old and proven rifle to try to get the newest and greatest and wind up wishing you had the old one back.
J
Jack
Guest
I picked up a signed copy of the book . Signed in 1973 .I kinda feel story for the guy that never got his book .Not sorry enough to give it to him though. A buddy of mine ( the same one that sold me the rifle ) said his dad had got a few of them from Page for himself and some friends and for some reason this one never got delivered to the person who it was made out .
Attachments
johnkruzan
New member
Jack; 222.5 Shilen Rifle
Jack, First of all the Jacket and patches are "To Kill For" Cherish it. Now about the rifle and the caliber. There are several good articles about the 222.5 cartridge, in the Bench Rest Primer published by Precision Shooting in 1997. Essentially it was developed by pushing the shoulder back on 222 Rem Magnum brass about 1/10 inch then trimming to length. Mine is a tight neck requiring me to turn the brass to .008 thick. Depending on your chamber dimensions you can get some really long case neck lengths to play with, which results in a very wide range of bullet seating depths. I shoot H-4198 Powder between 22.0 grains to 22.7 grains using Rem 7 1/2 primers and Hornady 53 BTHP Match or Bart's 52 gr HP bullets. One of my initial 5 shot groups measured .047 with 22 grs of 4198; Hornady 53 gr BTHP Rem. 7 1/2 Rem 222 Mag Brass; shot off of a folding table using a 8.5X25 Leupold with a Varmint Hunter Reticle. Scared the hell out of me; and I'm still trying to duplicate it. The brass is easy to form, just takes time. I suspect any good gunsmith can take a standard 222 Rem. Mag die and shorten it 1/10th inch for resizing. I have an RCBS set of 222 Rem Dies shortened by a friend that will work very well. However, I use a Wilson Seater Die in .223 Rem to seat my bullets. I neck size with a Redding .223 Rem Competition Neck sizing die using a .244 bushing. Redding will make you a set of custom dies but they are pricey. I'll not get into forming the brass here, but if you need help with that you know how to find me; and I'll help all I'm capable of. You'll need something like a Skip Otto forming die to push the shoulder back that much; I do it in three steps.
Now about the rifle. The following information comes from Mikel Shilen (Ed's Daughter) at Shilen Rifles, phone
972-875-5318. Shilen started making the DGA action for public consumption in June of 1974 with serial number 101. Mikel has her Mothers DGA rifle which is serial # 100 in 222 Rem. My rifle is serial # 210 and left the Shilen plant, July 22, 1975 and is stocked with a fiber glass thumbhole stock painted brown with just a hint of gold metal flake. With the barreled action in the stock the only marks visible on the barrel is the caliber inscription: 222.5. When you remove the barreled action from the stock you should find some further markings on the bottom of the barrel just in front of the action. Mine is marked 6T75SM and deciphers as follows (according to Mikel Shilen phone conversation April 13, 2010) 6=June, T=Turks (employee who barreled the rifle)75=1975, SM= Select Match (grade of the barrel) Mikel said they quit making the DGA action rifles in 1991. The markings on your barrel are probably similar and the foregoing will give you an idea of how to interpret them. I read somewhere that Ed Shilen was a fighter pilot and flew an aircraft dubbed the DGA (Damn Good Airplane) and that's where he came up with DGA for his rifle (Damn Good Action)
I talked to Randy Robinette (Sp ?) who shot a 222.5 years ago and he said he felt safe shooting any load suitable for the 223 Rem in a 222.5. I tried Varget, Benchmark and 8208. My rifle didn't like them. Some day I'm going to try H335 because it was Walt Berger's go to powder in the 222 Rem; and maybe I'll get around to talking to Ed Shilen about what powder he shot in his 222.5
I notice where "The Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" chimed in and said he'd had a 222.5 and made the mistake of parting with it. Well, I have to confess I made a mistake with my Shilen DGA in 222.5. No, I didn't sell it, but I did have a Hart heavy varmint 8 Twist barrel in Tactical 20 made up for it, and I can assure you it's a Prairie Dogs nightmare.
But, all this has me stirred up to the point where I think I'll swap barrels later this week and revisit the
Shilen DGA 222.5
Thanks for bringing the subject of the 222.5 up and thanks to my friend Greyfox for bringing the thread to my attention. I've enjoyed this and I hope my ramblings are of help to you; and others. John Kruzan
Jack, First of all the Jacket and patches are "To Kill For" Cherish it. Now about the rifle and the caliber. There are several good articles about the 222.5 cartridge, in the Bench Rest Primer published by Precision Shooting in 1997. Essentially it was developed by pushing the shoulder back on 222 Rem Magnum brass about 1/10 inch then trimming to length. Mine is a tight neck requiring me to turn the brass to .008 thick. Depending on your chamber dimensions you can get some really long case neck lengths to play with, which results in a very wide range of bullet seating depths. I shoot H-4198 Powder between 22.0 grains to 22.7 grains using Rem 7 1/2 primers and Hornady 53 BTHP Match or Bart's 52 gr HP bullets. One of my initial 5 shot groups measured .047 with 22 grs of 4198; Hornady 53 gr BTHP Rem. 7 1/2 Rem 222 Mag Brass; shot off of a folding table using a 8.5X25 Leupold with a Varmint Hunter Reticle. Scared the hell out of me; and I'm still trying to duplicate it. The brass is easy to form, just takes time. I suspect any good gunsmith can take a standard 222 Rem. Mag die and shorten it 1/10th inch for resizing. I have an RCBS set of 222 Rem Dies shortened by a friend that will work very well. However, I use a Wilson Seater Die in .223 Rem to seat my bullets. I neck size with a Redding .223 Rem Competition Neck sizing die using a .244 bushing. Redding will make you a set of custom dies but they are pricey. I'll not get into forming the brass here, but if you need help with that you know how to find me; and I'll help all I'm capable of. You'll need something like a Skip Otto forming die to push the shoulder back that much; I do it in three steps.
Now about the rifle. The following information comes from Mikel Shilen (Ed's Daughter) at Shilen Rifles, phone
972-875-5318. Shilen started making the DGA action for public consumption in June of 1974 with serial number 101. Mikel has her Mothers DGA rifle which is serial # 100 in 222 Rem. My rifle is serial # 210 and left the Shilen plant, July 22, 1975 and is stocked with a fiber glass thumbhole stock painted brown with just a hint of gold metal flake. With the barreled action in the stock the only marks visible on the barrel is the caliber inscription: 222.5. When you remove the barreled action from the stock you should find some further markings on the bottom of the barrel just in front of the action. Mine is marked 6T75SM and deciphers as follows (according to Mikel Shilen phone conversation April 13, 2010) 6=June, T=Turks (employee who barreled the rifle)75=1975, SM= Select Match (grade of the barrel) Mikel said they quit making the DGA action rifles in 1991. The markings on your barrel are probably similar and the foregoing will give you an idea of how to interpret them. I read somewhere that Ed Shilen was a fighter pilot and flew an aircraft dubbed the DGA (Damn Good Airplane) and that's where he came up with DGA for his rifle (Damn Good Action)
I talked to Randy Robinette (Sp ?) who shot a 222.5 years ago and he said he felt safe shooting any load suitable for the 223 Rem in a 222.5. I tried Varget, Benchmark and 8208. My rifle didn't like them. Some day I'm going to try H335 because it was Walt Berger's go to powder in the 222 Rem; and maybe I'll get around to talking to Ed Shilen about what powder he shot in his 222.5
I notice where "The Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" chimed in and said he'd had a 222.5 and made the mistake of parting with it. Well, I have to confess I made a mistake with my Shilen DGA in 222.5. No, I didn't sell it, but I did have a Hart heavy varmint 8 Twist barrel in Tactical 20 made up for it, and I can assure you it's a Prairie Dogs nightmare.
But, all this has me stirred up to the point where I think I'll swap barrels later this week and revisit the
Shilen DGA 222.5
Thanks for bringing the subject of the 222.5 up and thanks to my friend Greyfox for bringing the thread to my attention. I've enjoyed this and I hope my ramblings are of help to you; and others. John Kruzan
J
Jack
Guest
J
Jack
Guest
How much of it do you think that will get ?
J
Jack
Guest
Jack,
I bought an old Hart Benchrest gun in 222.5. I got the dies, made up brass, shot the gun and had a lot of fun with it but because it had a convex shaped forend, it was a PIA to shoot and I quickly tired of shooting the gun. I took the scope off it and traded the gun (Hart #269)for a modern 6ppc gun.
With that being said, I have over 100 pieces of 222Rem mags that were formed into 222.5s if you are interested in shooting your gun. I can also provide the loads that were working for me. Please e-mail me if interested.
Chris
PS I did get a couple of .150 groups with the gun but they were the exception.
I bought an old Hart Benchrest gun in 222.5. I got the dies, made up brass, shot the gun and had a lot of fun with it but because it had a convex shaped forend, it was a PIA to shoot and I quickly tired of shooting the gun. I took the scope off it and traded the gun (Hart #269)for a modern 6ppc gun.
With that being said, I have over 100 pieces of 222Rem mags that were formed into 222.5s if you are interested in shooting your gun. I can also provide the loads that were working for me. Please e-mail me if interested.
Chris
PS I did get a couple of .150 groups with the gun but they were the exception.
J
Jack
Guest
anyone shoot 222.5
I think your going to find out that the 222.5 pushed back version is the same as a 223 Remington
Case capacity etc should be very close. The real differance is the long neck on the 222.5 Vs the shorter neck on the 223.
Check it out. pretty sure i'm right n that from past reading.
If I remember correctly the 222 mag was sent in for trials by Remington for the new M16 rifle.
After initial testing The DOD decided hat a shorter case with a shorter neck would be better. the 223 is 1/10 inch shorter then the 222 mag.
The short neck being more desirable then the long neck in automatic firearms .
I think your going to find out that the 222.5 pushed back version is the same as a 223 Remington
Case capacity etc should be very close. The real differance is the long neck on the 222.5 Vs the shorter neck on the 223.
Check it out. pretty sure i'm right n that from past reading.
If I remember correctly the 222 mag was sent in for trials by Remington for the new M16 rifle.
After initial testing The DOD decided hat a shorter case with a shorter neck would be better. the 223 is 1/10 inch shorter then the 222 mag.
The short neck being more desirable then the long neck in automatic firearms .
J
Jack
Guest
Thanks to all who posted information about the 222.5 as well as the other information about Page and the book . The book has proved the rifle did belong to Page as well as the jacket .
I took the rifle and the jacket to the Shilen swap meet and showed it to some of the folks there and found out some useful information unfortunately Ed Shilen was not there when I was so I did not get a chance to talk to him , I really hoped I would have seen him there but maybe some other time .
As it turns out Page list a load for 222.5 in his book .
I took the rifle and the jacket to the Shilen swap meet and showed it to some of the folks there and found out some useful information unfortunately Ed Shilen was not there when I was so I did not get a chance to talk to him , I really hoped I would have seen him there but maybe some other time .
As it turns out Page list a load for 222.5 in his book .
After I sold the 222 1/2, a fellow mentioned one day that he simply fire formed 222 cases to fit. That didn't sound right but that's what he said. I actually determined that the rifle would group better across the day by making short necked cases from the 223. Strange but true...and then I foolishly sold it and rid myself of the aggravation. Foolishly/aggravation may be viewed equally as in I wish I had the rifle back but probably wouldn't fool with it anymore.