.222 Remington build advice

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Spike928

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Hi, new to the forums and am looking for advice, my plan/hope is to build a .222 Remington benchrest setup, and am hoping that some of you all would have some advice on it, ie, chamber dimension, barrel length, if you got something that works let me know. I know that there are alleged more accurate caliber's, PPC. etc, etc, but have a real nostalgic hankering to do .222, thanks to any and all responders.
 
Build it as a regular benchrest rifle and hope it shoots well enough to win. I don't believe there's any "build" advice that would have any effect on the outcome.
 
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When I started shooting NBRSA matches they hadn't invented PPC's yet. I truly believe that if you were to build a deuce using today's actions, barrels, triggers etc then use current brass, powder and bullets
You would end up with a rifle that would be competitive. I'm not saying it would consistently beat a ppc but I don't think you would be any way handicaped. You'll will often hear someone speak of wind drift etc but most of these fellows have never had a truly good 222. Ask Walt Berger Stan Bucthul or George Kelbly.
 
Don't be concerned with people being negative about 222's. They can be great little rifles if you put all the goodies on a good action - that can be a trued Remington. I have a custom 222, a custom 6 PPC. a made up 6 BR and a made up 223. The made up ones are built on Remington actions. Their accuracy falls in the order above. The best group for the 222 is 0.063" Go ahead get your feet wet, you'll love it. By the way it may cost you more then you think by the time you get it to shoot great. A lot of people say to buy a used 6 PPC, $1200 to $1500 put on a new barrel, $400 and pay the gunsmith about $375 to do the work. This sometimes works to be as cheap as building competitive 222. Good luck and have fun. Al.
 
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Thanks guy for taking the time to share, I appreciate it, I ordered up a barrel from Lilja on Thursday, so I'm looking at 12-15 weeks to finalize the rest of my build. I am hoping somebody will hop in an give me a starting point on reamer specs and such, I'm still up in the air on either using a trued Remington, or stepping up to a custom action. Once again thanks.
 
Spike928 said:
Thanks guy for taking the time to share, I appreciate it, I ordered up a barrel from Lilja on Thursday, so I'm looking at 12-15 weeks to finalize the rest of my build. I am hoping somebody will hop in an give me a starting point on reamer specs and such, I'm still up in the air on either using a trued Remington, or stepping up to a custom action. Once again thanks.
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I'd do a .250 neck and zero freebore chamber, If I were to build myself another .222. It'll shoot just fine. Keep in mind...Most people that say you can't beat a ppc...shoot a ppc. Both are great cartridges.

The deuce will have it's tongue hanging out a little at 200 yards vs. the ppc, though. But well within what I'll call shooter error. Neither go where you want them to if you pull the trigger at the wrong time.
 
You may want to check into the .222x35. The one I had many many years ago built on a XP 100 action shot very well and was absolutely the easiest thing to make shoot I had ever owned. Loading for it was dirt simple. 52 grain Bergers and just about any of the suitable .222 powders would get the job done. Especially T322. Nowadays with Lapua brass a .250 neck turns up perfectly. Dan Dowling did mine and he might still have that reamer or one like it. I'd kinda like to try one again myself.
 
.222 Build

Spike928 said:
Hi, new to the forums and am looking for advice, my plan/hope is to build a .222 Remington benchrest setup, and am hoping that some of you all would have some advice on it, ie, chamber dimension, barrel length, if you got something that works let me know. I know that there are alleged more accurate caliber's, PPC. etc, etc, but have a real nostalgic hankering to do .222, thanks to any and all responders.
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I have a lead on a Bat SV w/.222 bolt face. The guy is asking $1000.. He says he bought for a build, but all plans fell thru..
Contact: heaviestfattestvarmint@hotmail.com
If I haven't deleted,, I have some pics of the action. IF I could see how to shoot , this action would be
in my inventory The best thing about this action,,,, no waiting I still have the pics
 
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Dave B said:
When I started shooting NBRSA matches they hadn't invented PPC's yet. I truly believe that if you were to build a deuce using today's actions, barrels, triggers etc then use current brass, powder and bullets
You would end up with a rifle that would be competitive. I'm not saying it would consistently beat a ppc but I don't think you would be any way handicaped. You'll will often hear someone speak of wind drift etc but most of these fellows have never had a truly good 222. Ask Walt Berger Stan Bucthul or George Kelbly.
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Not to rain on anyone's parade but I think you will find that Walt,Stan,George,Mike, and Bill have all given in to the 6ppc. As fond of the 222 family as I am I'm afraid it's glory days are over if you intend to get really serious. On the other hand if nostalgia is important to you, go for it!
 
Just to re-iterate, I have no I repeat no dreams or delusions of being competitive in benchrest as a goal, just a hankering to build a .222, and my thinking is might as well do it as right as I can. Thanks again for all your advice and opinions! And keep them coming I have at least 4 times the info now as when I started.
 
Why would you wait on a lilja when you could do a little searching and get a krieger or bartlein in stock? I just got 2 last week a 14 and 8. For a rimfire i may look around for a lilja if somebody had one but wouldnt look too long.
 
Dusty Stevens said:
Why would you wait on a lilja when you could do a little searching and get a krieger or bartlein in stock? I just got 2 last week a 14 and 8. For a rimfire i may look around for a lilja if somebody had one but wouldnt look too long.
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If I was looking for a in stock barrel I'd probably find me a krieger or a bartlein, in fact I've bought a few, but I have no problems waiting for a Lilja. And it's what I want to do so I shall do it. Thanks just wanted to clear that up. :)
 
This works pretty well:


This is a BAT SB action, in 222 Rem. with a Krieger barrel, Jewell trigger and Kelbly HCFB stock. Though I am not an experienced BR shooter, I am able to shoot this rifle at 1/4 MOA regularly, achieving 100 yard groups like this. (Click the thumbnails for a larger view of the pics.):



One advantage of the BAT action is that it can be converted to 6PPC or any other of many cartridges with just a different barrel and a different bolt from BAT Machine. The only tools I will need are a barrel vice and a barrel wrench, whenever I want to switch cartridges. I am in the process of converting mine to a switchbarrel rifle in 6BR and 222 Rem. by just this method. I have a bolt on order and soon will order a second Krieger barrel.

I cannot comment on if this is possible with other actions. The BAT is my only centerfire BR rifle ever. I went with this set of components, based on the recommendations of my gunsmith Russ Haydon. Russ also says my choice of 6BR will fit my desire to use it as a long range varmint rifle. I had been thinking of .243 Rem. but Daryle (at BAT Machine) and Russ both suggested 6BR as a better fit for an old disabled shooter such as myself, who is mainly interested in shooting as a learning experience and doesn't need any trophies. That is exactly the same reason I first went with 222 Remington for a short range bench gun. Some BRC members have severely criticized my choice of 222 Rem. I can only wait for the flood of criticism over my choice of 6BR.:p

For my BAT .222 rifle, my best accuracy load has been 22.2 gr. of H-322, with a Berger 52 gr. FB and a Remington 7 1/2 BR primer in Lapua brass. The load is right out of the Hodgdon Powder on-line recommended load table.
 
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My Opinion!!! Go for it!!!! I shot a .222 when I first started then switched to a PPC, when the Crazy Duck Shoots where going I had a .222X35 and I know Stan shot a .222X45, the 35 and 45 being shoulder angle, great shooters. Does the PPC have a edge? without question, but I still to this day, prefer a .222X35. As someone has already stated, the .222X35 was just so easy to load for. Let me know how you made out, OH!! one more thing, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, go for a bullet that does not weigh 51grs, 52grs MAX
 
Slowshot thats a sweet looking set-up, are you a fellow southpaw? Bill and everybody else thanks for the votes of confidence, Im glad that you all have gotten my concept clearly. My current hope or plan is to try and build a varmint/benchrest repeater, something along the lines of a classic Remington 40x. So maybe getting away from the pure benchrest style. Any thoughts or advice on this train of thought?
 
Bill Gammon made a good point that needs to be repeated. If accuracy is the goal, build the 222 to shoot 52 grain bullets. I don't know why!
 
Spike928 said:
Slowshot thats a sweet looking set-up, are you a fellow southpaw? Bill and everybody else thanks for the votes of confidence, Im glad that you all have gotten my concept clearly. My current hope or plan is to try and build a varmint/benchrest repeater, something along the lines of a classic Remington 40x. So maybe getting away from the pure benchrest style. Any thoughts or advice on this train of thought?
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Why yes, I am left handed. It has been quite an adventure searching for high quality left handed rifles that I could afford. Many fine rifles that I would like to own are made right handed only. I am a member of another site (Rimfire Central) that has a lefty sub-forum. In that sub-forum we discuss both rimfire and centerfire left handed firearms. Through that site, I have found many of the rifles in my gun safe and rifles I owned for a while and later sold.

This summer, friends have introduced me to the fun of shooting in the woods, at gravel pits and other safe locations that are not gun clubs. As a result, I have pretty much lost interest in shooting at my club, except for load development and sighting in new scopes. Though I have a disability that precludes holding up a rifle to shoot off hand, I have found or made equipment that overcomes that limitation. I recently ordered a left handed CZ 527 in 204 Ruger. Based on my experience with a CZ 452 American (22LR) I am sure I will be happy with that rifle, when it arrives. When that arrives, I will have two left handed centerfire rifles, one ambidextrous centerfire rifle and three left handed rimfire rifles.

You really do not need to build a left handed Varmint repeater, There are several fine varmint repeaters built left handed, for example Cooper and CZ make high quality left handed varmint rifles. I doubt you could build your rifle cheaper or of higher quality that you could find among existing commercially built offerings. As I said, I am a big fan of CZ and plan someday to buy a Cooper Varmint extreme in either 22-250 or 220 Swift. Here are links to the CZ and the Cooper:

http://cz-usa.com/product-category/rifles/micro-centerfire-rifles/

http://cooperfirearms.com/varmint-extreme
 
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