Your 22 centerfire caliber choices, and why?

[Ugly Sauce]

I've shot enough coyotes to kind of leave a bad taste in my mouth, (with a 7.7 Arisaka no less!) so I don't shoot them anymore. But, if I did, I would not feel under-gunned with my .22 Hornet, and would not rush out to get a .22-250, (my little brother's weapon of choice) a .222, etc. I do have a .223, but I'd grab the Hornet instead. The Hornet has "soul", the .223 is kind of like that girl that everyone "dates". I've kind of been considering having my Hornet barrel threaded for a suppressor, if I do I'll probably have it K-Horneted at the same time. That will be a nice rig.

 

[Frostbite]

My only 22 caliber centerfire is an ameliorated .223/5.56 Ruger American Predator. It was bought solely for practice at the range. Recoil is inexistant and the ammo can be economical for the not yet reloading crowd of which I am still a part.

 

[FL-NC]

223, for obvious reasons. In reality, I can legally and efficiently hunt the 3 largest species of meat critters in my state (deer, hogs, turkey) with that 1 caliber, besides using it for defensive purposes and even multi gun matches.

 

[rkittine]

I have .222, .223, 5.6mm, 5.7x28, .22-250, .221 Fireball and .22 Jet. They all do what I want them to do, but the .22-250 is for me, the most versatile. That and the .223 are probably the ones to have the most varied factory ammno currently available for them if you don't reload.

Bob

 

[Offfhand]

Ruger No.1's in .22 Centerfire calibers are hard for me to resist, especially if they have pretty wood. Which explains this quartet of No.1 .22's, from top down, front and back, are: .218 Bee, .222Rem, .22-250 Rem and .220 Swift.

 

[MacAR]

The old, and consistently accurate 222 Remington

+1, I love mine. The guys here on THR helped me decide on it vs. a .243 back in the fall.

Right now, I own a 1963 Springfield 840 w/ 6x40 Bushnell scope in .222 Rem; with a case full of 4320 under 50gr V-max bullets, it will shoot little tiny groups at 100 yards. Since I've owned it, I have wreaked utter havoc on the local crow population; my farthest shot so far has been on a crow at 251 yards. Yes, it is a "cheap" rifle, but I cannot say enough good things about it.

I had a .22 Hornet, and it was decent enough but I had it before I got into handloading. I think if I'd have been able to load for it back then I'd have liked it better. One day, I'd like to find another one. Maybe in a single shot, that I could load cast bullets and light loads for and use for small game hunting. The one I had was an Iver Johnson Champion .410 that someone had cut the barrel off of and threaded a Hornet barrel into. It wore a 4x32 Bushnell on it and was decently accurate; if only I'd known then what I do now!

Mac

 

[rkittine]

I have always like the Ruger No. One and the Browning 78. Have a few of them.

 

[tbs]

22-250 with 8 twist.
View attachment 984169

 

[Garandimal]

55 gr. .223/5.56x45mm NATO... because that's what the Mini-14 likes.

... the only .22 CF I have.




GR

 

[Hanshi]

The only .22 centerfire I've ever owned is the .22 Hornet, and I've owned three or them. I kept the Kimber of Oregon .22H and took deer with it among other things. Love it and don't need anything else.

 

[Fyrstyk]

I love my Sako .222 Remington.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Two cartridges: the .223 (3 rifles) because it's cheap, plentiful (usually!) and functional, and the .22 K Hornet (2 rifles) because it's accurate, economical to handload and totally cute.

 

[BigBlue 94]

As many as possible!

221 FB, 22 Hornet, 22 Savage HP, 222, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift

 

[tallpaul]

.22 hornet and .223 here but I did grab a axis in 22-50 that was to good a deal to pass on so I will be trying. The 22 hornet I like for semi urban uses and the 223 just because it was cheap to feed and accurate... kind of silly not to have a few of em really...

 

[Offfhand]

Those cute little 1950's SAKOs were about perfect for mini-cartridges like the .22 Hornet, establishing a reputation for fine accuracy that continues to this day. This Hornet is high on my Like list. .

 

[swg1]

22 Hornet. I got a good deal on a contender is why I have it. A later good deal and next thing I now I have a contender pistol and rifle in that chambering. Range toys for the most part.

223 in a number of ARs and a 700 Remington with a light contour barrel. Figured it would be a good walking varminter for coyotes. Never happened. Range toy.

5.45x39, for a Romanian AK and for one of my AR's with an Adam's Arms piston kit. I picked that up and three cases of 7n6 when it was less than a dime a shot. Got it because it was cheap, and the surplus 7n6 has been excellent ammo.

Long gone 22-250 Remington 788. Most accurate rifle I ever owned. Sold to get myself through school at the time.

 

[tlf65]

I have two 222s a Sako Vixen and a Remington 700 both guns are more accurate than any 223 I've owned and if I need brass there is lots of 223 to reform.

 

[Armorer 101]

Have been a sucker for the nice CF 22s for some time, got a few in various configurations, most I built myself. The cartridges, 22H, 218 Bee, 222, 222R, 223, 22-250, 22-250 AI, 225 WM, 220 Swift.

The Hornet is a little quiet gun, fun to shoot in the #3, The Bee is a surprising little cartridge with the 35gr and 4227, it can easily run 3,500 fps and dust fair sized critters, makes a very good single shot. The 222 is a classic in the Vixen great first rifle for a youngster in a shooting house. The 222R in the Martini Cadet is one of the better Cadet conversion, the brass is Aussie but reloads with a 38 Spl shell holder and 222 dies. The 223 can be all things to the mid size case .224 cartridge guns, from 7-14 twist it can shoot most any weight 22 bullet on the market, just change gun by the rifling twist. The 22-250 is the first step in the reach out and touch them size. The 22-250 AI in a fast twist is a very long range, very accurate cartridge, with no real recoil. The 75 SMK will duplicate the 50 BMG trajectory and with a cam adjustable scope you can use the 50’s cam to be right on the money. Been there done that. The 225 WM is the largest diameter case the Martini Cadet can be safely chambered to, It gives a little Martini quite a bit more authority, duplicating the 22-250 in a rimmed case. The 220 Swift is older but is still a stellar performer, you just need to keep the velocity within reason unless you need practice re-barreling the gun. The selection gives me 2k to 5k and can red mist most anything within reason, as wished.

 

[Sniper66]

I shoot and reload .223 and .22 Hornet for varmint shooting...mostly prairie dogs. The .223 I got because ammo was affordable and plentiful at the time. I later learned it is easy to reload and there a many options. I've since killed 1,000s of p-dogs with mine, having found loads that are wicked accurate. The 22 Hornet caught my attention as a quieter alternative and required a minimal amount of powder. It became my go-to rifle for 100-150 yd p-dogs and .223 at longer ranges. I later discovered the 17HMR, which also does a fine job out to 150 yds and no reloading chore to follow. Hence the retirement of the 22 Hornet from it's duties as a p-dog gun. I still take it along, but don't shoot it much. Never did care much for the 22-250 for p-dogs. It's very loud and gobbles quite a bit of powder with every shot.

 

[Offfhand]

The basic concept of a .22 caliber centerfire cartridge is making a small, lightweight bullet go fast. Which yields a flat trajectory that makes it easier to hit small and distant targets like prairie dogs and groundhogs, or larger vermin such as coyotes at even greater ranges. So to this proposition the .224 CHeetah was created, which in terms of velocity, picks up where the great .220 Swift leaves off. But velocity is nothing without accuracy, which is why the late Ed Shilen put this CHeetah together to reach far out and touch by combining his BR style single shot bolt action with Shilen's barrel and stock. Shown here with CHeetah cartridge compared to .22-250, to give you some idea.

 

[2ndtimer]

My only .22 centerfire is .223/5.56. I prefer it to the 22-250 I used to own because it recoils less so you can spot your own shots. Also it can be loaded down to .222 , .22 Hornet or even .22 Magnum rimfire levels. I have 4 AR's and two bolt guns and the 1 in 12" twist bolt guns shoot 40 gr to 55 gr bullets extremely well, while the faster twisted AR's handle bullets 60 gr and above equally well. For longer shots in the wind, I would just as soon shoot a 70 gr Speer TNT HP or a 70 gr Nosler Varmageddon at 3500 fps out of my .243.

 

[BWS]

22-250,hands down. This '68 ADL with Sendero brrl and a highly modified new'ish, tupperware stock loves the 60g RCBS cast with a case full of IMR4831. Older 6-18 5* Redfield is the bees knees as well. Have a bunch of 223's and 3 or4 250's. All are dialed in and ready to go.

 

[Legionnaire]

.223 makes for a great walk around varmint rifle. My Model 7 is surprisingly accurate with 55 grain V-Maxes.

And an 8-twist .22-250 Ackley for when I feel like driving fast. Still haven’t finalized the load for this one yet.

 

[Elkins45]

The only 22 centerfire I own is .223 I already had an AR and I don’t really need a varmit gun all that much so I went with the caliber that I have dies and brass for.

 

[Picher]

.223 because... well, 5.56 and all that that entails.

.22-250 because I'm of an age when there was a long period of time that it was the end-all-be-all of its day.

Todd.

I've never seen a barrel anchored in that manner. The one closest to the muzzle looks like it's been damaged or altered. What kind of groups does that rifle deliver? Is the action free-floated? Normally, the action and first couple of inches of barrel are bedded, then the rest is free-floated.