NEW GUN: REMINGTON 700 LS 221 FIREBALL

BCD 45

BCD 45

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Hello. Just bought a new addition to the family, a Remington 700 LS 221 Fireball, laminated stock, new in the box. It also came with a new Bushnell Elite straight 10x tactical scope but I'll be selling it. Never owned or shot a 221 FB so what do you guys recommend, powder-brass-primers-bullets? Anything against Nosler brass except price? Got a person that will give me $225 for the new laminated stock. Would you sell it & put it in a HS Precision stock? I will be putting in a 12 oz. Calvin Elite trigger. Thanks for any help or advice you can give me. I forgot, I'll be purchasing Forster dies for it. Thanks,
Jim D
 
Think you'll be happy with it. I'm in a H&S stock but the laminate would be fine. I use lil Gun and Nosler 40 grain BTs. Mine has a 3-9 on it so the straight 10 power would not be a bad choice for me. Also I use Remington brass just because.
 
I would shoot it before getting rid of anything.Fireball not exactly a long range cartridge so the 10 power wouldn't be to bad a choice for optics.
 
I can't imagine that round in a rifle. I'm one of the people that owned a Remington XP100 in that cartridge. It was pretty much equal to a .22 Hornet in the XP100. Also, with very little work it could shoot a ragged hole for 3 shots.

Can only imagine it gets even better in a rifle.
 
Most folks here know that I'm quite a fan of that cute little round. I shot my CZ 527 in .221 so much that it was necessary for me to send the rifle off for a new barrel late last year. Came back shooting better than ever as I took a hapless ground squirrel at a lasered 307 yards. Considering how small our local whistlepigs are I was plenty pleased with that.

Lil gun has been my powder of choice for years but as of late I have really taken a shine to the new CFE Blk. Just shot five touching at 100 yards last week with that powder. I'm not ready to toss out all my leftover Lil Gun just yet but CFE Blk sure is showing promise as my new favorite.

I have an older 5-15X Bushnell 3200 on my rifle BTW. I personally think that makes a great combo with the Furball. I have no plans on changing it.
 
Rustydust, anyone, do you use small magnum rifle primers? Noticed that H CFE BLK recommends Rem. 7 1/2 magnum primers. Thanks,
JD
 
19 grains of reloader 7 will put 40 v-maxes into 1 ragged hole out of my lvsf in 221 fur ball with rem 7.5s. 40 bt's do well too.
 
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Originally Posted By: Texas SwiftyRustydust, anyone, do you use small magnum rifle primers? JD

No. I nearly always use CCI BR-4 primers in my .221 FB. I have gotten best accuracy with those. I have not tried the magnum caps with the CFE BLK but they might do very well for all I know. I have tried magnum primers in some of my other guns that take the SR cap and did not get the accuracy that I did with the BR-4. A real pity because the BR caps have gotten stupid expensive.

And are the 7 1/2 primers considered magnum primers? I have lots of them and I have not found "magnum" on the box anywhere. Just "Small Rifle Bench Rest Primers".
 
Rusty, I'm sorry, I didn't read well. At Hodgdon's load data for the 221 FB listing the components it's written like this: PRIMERS: Remington 7 1/2, Small Rifle Magnum. I didn't see the comma the first time.
Jim D
 
I use Lil Gun or RL7, prefer Lil Gun, 40 grain Nosler ballistic tips or Barnes Varmint Grenades in the 30 grain hornet variety. I use CCI 450 primers and have no problems.
 
Don't forget AA1680 as a good Fireball powder. Also, Nosler brass works for me, but get some Lapua if you can find it.....
UPDATE: Looks like Midway has Lapua brass on sale now!
 
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Thanks guys. My buddy has some 1680 to try & I just ordered some RL7 and 2# of the new CFE BLK. If I get accuracy along with the velocity Hodgdon's lists with the CFE BLK, that's what I'll be using. 3500 with a 40 Berger, WOW! Let the trials start!
JD
 
Keep us posted on what load(s) work best for you, Bill. Especially the AA1680 powder as that is one I have yet to try.

No matter what, sounds like you are headed for some fun. Sure does.
 
Do ya'll think one 221 FB brass is better than the other? I don't have a lot of time right now to fiddle fart with brass so Nosler vs. Lapua? Thanks,
JD
 
Originally Posted By: Texas SwiftyDo ya'll think one 221 FB brass is better than the other? I don't have a lot of time right now to fiddle fart with brass so Nosler vs. Lapua? Thanks,
JD

You know what? I have used R-P brass for years with no complaints at all. I just keep on firing them until the primer pockets get too loose to safely hold a cap in them before I toss them. But on a whim I bought 200 rounds of Lapua brass from Midway a few months ago and man- this stuff is nice. All super uniform and annealed with no need to size them. Just put primers and powder and bullets in them and go to shooting. Does it shoot any better than my R-P brass? I dont know just yet for sure. But I did shoot a 5 into a dime 100 yard group with them a couple of weeks ago so for sure they show promise.

I cannot comment on the Nosler as I have not tried any of that. Matter of fact, the .221 Lapua brass was the first Lapua brass I ever bought in my life. Starting to see why people like it so much I can tell you that.
 
You sure welcome, Jim. You sound like a right nice guy.

Are you sure that you belong here with us misfits?
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R#7
AA 2200
4198
AA 1680

Back during the squirrel wars, I had two loads for my 221

the short range load was with 16.8g of AA1680 and the long range load was with 18g of 1680, bullet was the 50g Speer tnt. Lot numbers of powders are different, and my barrel had a country mile of free bore, so work up to these loads.

Don't forget Blue dot, I shot 12.0g of Blue Dot with a 40g what ever, velocity is good, accuracy great. I would advise you to start off your load development at 9g and work up, use thick cup primers as Blue Dot is not low pressure loads, and stick with 40g bullets for flat trajectory. My velocity was in the area of 3000 fps, and I shot 600 rounds in between cleanings, went 900 rounds on one trip. Always weigh every charge with Blue dot if you are using a RCBS uniflow or Redding powder thrower, as these big flakes will jam(bridge), giving one light load and another heavy load.

My last 7 shots with that 221 produced 7 dead crows from 175-225 yards, it was a custom TC built by a crappy builder that used a reamer with a throat so long that I could not touch the lands with a 63g Sierra. The 221 still managed 5/8" groups.
 
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