Neither.
My preference is the .218Bee.
I’ve owned a half dozen.22Hornets. Each rifle had its own issues. Fortunately, the one I still have, I’ve managed to work out most of its issues.
Never owned a .221 FireBall, but really wanted a REM M700 VTR I saw once. Couldn’t swing the price at the time.
My .218Bee I acquired in 2017 is a Marlin 1894CL. Only thing I’ve done to it is lighten the trigger and shoot it. It obviously hadn’t been shot but maybe a box or two when I got it. The more I’ve shot it, the better it shoots. It wears a Leupold Vari-X II 2-7x. It looks like it grew there. Accuracy is 1.25MOA, but I’ve shot better groups with it recently. (5 shots, not just lucky 3’s).
I’ve got three .224” molds suitable for it but haven’t pursued them as I bought first 100 Armscor 40gr RNHP’s , then bought 1,000! Cost little more than 1,000 gas checks. They are intended for the .22 TCM but are perfect for the l/a Bee.
Opening day of 2017, I shot three does. All were at 17 to 40yds. One head shot, two heart lung. Only one ran any distance but still didn’t make it out of sight. All bullets exited after wreaking havoc in the lungs or opening up the cranial cavity.
I’ve shot more deer with a Hornet than any other cartridge except the .30/06 and .257Roberts. 40+. With reasonable shot placement it just works... even with a .22mag equivalent of a 50-55gr bullet over 6.2gr of #2400 for ~2,000fps. I can’t recall losing one.