222 Rem Loads

shelton573

Active member
Tomorrow I pick up a mint Remington 788 in 222 Remington. My uncle got me hooked on messing with the 788s so I look forward to shooting this one. My question is what powder does everyone prefer? Not asking for charge weights, just what performs well. When you search info on it, H or IMR 4198 seems to be a go to as well as H322. I have access to IMR4198 at a local store, but just curious if anyone has good luck with the powders I have on hand. I have a very good supply of benchmark, varget, 8208 and H4895. I plan to shoot 40 and 50 gr vmax. Any info is much appreciated!
 
As your starting to see it is pretty hard to find a powder of an appropriate burn rate that doesn't work in the 222 Rem. I've gotten good loads from 3031, 4320, 748, 2230, surprisingly I've never loaded either of the 4198's, in fact never bought a can as it didn't seem to beuseful in enough different cartridges to have on the bench. For plinking and small game loads you might want to look at Bluedot loads also, data is available on the Calhoun bullet sight.
 
LT30 and Exterminator work well and have been available for the last month. If 4198 doesn't work, 50 gr vmax is pretty easy to tune.
 
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Thanks for all the info! I went ahead and picked up a LB of imr4198 to try and will likely try benchmark. They have a bunch of that LT-30 in stock. Is it very temp sensitive?
 
H322 or H335 and the triple deuce, for the bullet weights you want to shoot, would be my first choice.
 
I have NO experience with 222. However...... I read an article someplace that Walt Berger's favorite powder for the 222 was h335.

Please follow up with this thread when it is all said and done.
 
I’ll keep everyone posted. Lapua brass showed up last week, dies show up today, rail and rings tomorrow, then it’s time to test. I can’t use h335 or any of the ball powders really due to temp swings that I’ll shoot in. I try to stick to all stick powder and typically the H Extreme powders when possible. Can’t wait to see how this thing does.
 
Originally Posted By: shelton573I’ll keep everyone posted. Lapua brass showed up last week, dies show up today, rail and rings tomorrow, then it’s time to test. I can’t use h335 or any of the ball powders really due to temp swings that I’ll shoot in. I try to stick to all stick powder and typically the H Extreme powders when possible. Can’t wait to see how this thing does.

Then H322 will be a very good choice for you.
 
Following. Looking at a 700 ADL in 222. Right now I have 2# of IMR-4891 and most of 1# of RL-7.

500 Hornady SXSP 50 grain and some 40 grain Sierras, both BK and HP. Looking for something with max explosion. Make the feathers fly so to speak.
 
Originally Posted By: MoYoBomberFollowing. Looking at a 700 ADL in 222. Right now I have 2# of IMR-4891 and most of 1# of RL-7.

500 Hornady SXSP 50 grain and some 40 grain Sierras, both BK and HP. Looking for something with max explosion. Make the feathers fly so to speak.


If you want a bullet to really make the fur fly on prairie dogs but yet is fur friendly on coyotes, try the Barnes 36 gr Varmint Grenades. I have shot a 222 for many years and this bullet using H322 is really a great performer.
I shot, and still have a bunch of rounds loaded with the Nosler 40 gr BT (orange tip) and while I really liked the accuracy I was getting splashes on coyotes so I don't use them for that any more. I use H322 with that bullet as well.
 
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