222 Remington HPBT bullets for predators?

Chas

Chas

New member


Getting ready to load up some . 222 Remington loads for a Valmet O/U 12 gauge / .222. I plan on using this for a close range predator gun, have used it for a while but never have shot anything with it.

I sold a Sako heavy barreled .222 rifle I bought years ago from a coworker. I had only ever used it once hunting groundhogs and with the passing of my folks, I dont spend much time hunting in groundhog country, so it went down the trail.

While I have a number of 55gr bullets for my .22-250, I have a few hundred 52 and 53 grain match HPBT bullets that came with the Sako (most of them have $7.00 price tags on them so you know how old they are).

I was wondering if anyone here has used them on live game, and if so, how did they fare? My concern is that they wont expand and pencil through a coyote or wolf. Will be using this setup where ranges are less than 100 yards. With the break action of the Valmet, I wont be hot rodding the loads.

Any experience with this type of bullet on predators would be appreciated.

Thanks
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I don't know of any company that recommends their target/match bullets for hunting. In fact some even say not made for hunting.

An inexpensive HP that seems to work across a variety of cartridges is the Speer 52gr HP Varmint bullet. I use it in the 222 Rem, 223, 5.6x50R Mag and 22-250. It has been my goto for a long time.

Model 70 222R 52gr Speer
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Sako Vixen 222R 52gr Speer
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Yup, combo guns 5.6x50R 52gr Speer
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I could go on but you get the picture.

There are a lot of good bullets out there to hunt preds with.
 
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At one time I had a Remington 788 in .222. Wish I had it back but we all know how that goes. I used 52-55 grain hollow points. I probably used Sierra because they would have been what I had for the 22.250. I think you'll really like how it performs.
 
Killed a pickup load of , woodchucks, p-dogs, and ground squirrels with 22 cal match HP bullets. Don't see why they won't work on predators.
 
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I looked to see what I had for powder in the cabinet and ended up using RL 7 with the 52 grain Winchester HPBT bullets that I have. Today was above freezing with drizzle so I thought I would test them out in the Valmet 12 gauge / .222 OU. I am not a benchrest shooter and I doubt that the Valmet could be considered a benchrest firearm. But once I got it dialed in, I shot this 3 shot group at 100 yards

Rq5stS9.jpg


I was pretty pleased with it and I then tried a #4 bucksot load at 25 yards with the shotgun barrel. It was was pretty much centred and I put 15 pellets into what would have been likely a kill zone on a canine at that distance. The full choke may not be the best as there were some pretty good gaps in the pattern. I didnt have any of my fathers magnum lead duck loads with me from the 70/80's, so next time out with try some #2 and #4s to see how they pattern.

Now need to see a critter while carrying it!
 
brock2013 said:
My go to bullet for coyotes is the Hornady 52gr bthp match. I’ve killed quite a few coyotes with them out of 223, 22-250 and my Remington 721 222 rem
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I second this. I’m shooting Noslers now, but this was my go to for a long time. Out of a 220 Swift, 22-250, and a 223 AI. I guess for expansion reasons, but it seems like I really had to get the speed up or I’d have an exit.
 
Chas said:
I looked to see what I had for powder in the cabinet and ended up using RL 7 with the 52 grain Winchester HPBT bullets that I have. Today was above freezing with drizzle so I thought I would test them out in the Valmet 12 gauge / .222 OU. I am not a benchrest shooter and I doubt that the Valmet could be considered a benchrest firearm. But once I got it dialed in, I shot this 3 shot group at 100 yards

Rq5stS9.jpg


I was pretty pleased with it and I then tried a #4 bucksot load at 25 yards with the shotgun barrel. It was was pretty much centred and I put 15 pellets into what would have been likely a kill zone on a canine at that distance. The full choke may not be the best as there were some pretty good gaps in the pattern. I didnt have any of my fathers magnum lead duck loads with me from the 70/80's, so next time out with try some #2 and #4s to see how they pattern.

Now need to see a critter while carrying it!
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That will work .
good luck !
 
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