221 Fireball "Gopher Slayer"

[Suputin]

Just finished this long time project. This rifle has been more than a year in the making. It kinda got interrupted by my breaking a leg last fall.

The longer I shoot gophers the more I realized that most cartridges are burning too much powder which causes barrel overheating too quickly. In a field polluted with thousands upon thousands of gophers this becomes a serious hinderance to continued shooting.

The solution was a small, efficient cartridge that could spit out lightweight varmint bullets at high speed without burning up the barrel. I think I have found that in the 211 Fireball, which is basically the .223 shortened by 10mm.

I am very happy with how the rifle has turned out. It isn't too heavy to carry or shoot offhand but should be plenty accurate to typical gopher shooting ranges. And it is simply gorgeous.

The rifle was built at Alberta Tactical who as it happens is my employer.

 

[Ardent]

Awesome little cartridge, the best of the .224" centerfires.

 

[Cummins4x4]

Sweet rig, great cartridge. How do I get a job at ATRS? That would be my dream job big time!!

 

[roberti11]

Very nice

 

[Bandits]

Great looking rifle!

One question, does the brake do much?

 

[angrysoldier]

nice liitle rifle, how is it on gophers and bunnys?

 

[Bull's-Eye]

Looks really nice! I would love to see a range report.
So would this cartridge basically be inbetween a .22 Hornet and a .223?

 

[TargetNorth]

It's a real beaut! The scope looks like it's mounted a bit high, any reason for that or am I incorrect?
Barry

 

[Bear_Blade]

Beautiful rig, nicely done!

 

[Suputin]

The scope looks like it's mounted a bit high, any reason for that or am I incorrect?

You are correct. I like the Burris Signature Z rings but they only come in stupid extra high for the 30mm size. Am trying desperately to get a lower set of rings made so I can use the offset inserts.

nice liitle rifle, how is it on gophers and bunnys?

I only got it together the other day so haven't even shot it yet. Prob do a quicky test tomorrow.

 

[marcons]

is it wrong that i want to have ### with that rifle? its awesome

 

[Suputin]

is it wrong that i want to have ### with that rifle? its awesome

Uhhhhh YES!

Boy am I glad you live in NS.

But you are right, it is ###y. Glen, our paint guy, outdid himself on the stock. It was his interpretation of ATACS camo. The paint is air-cure Cerakote if anyone is wondering.

 

[marcons]

LOL

yea you are so lucky you are in alberta and im here on the east coast!

one question, why not go with a full paint job? i think it would look just a bit more awesome with the barrel and scope painted like the stock.

 

[dan belisle]

221 is a great little cartridge, between the 22 Hornet and the 223 as mentioned. I've only ever used it from a handgun, but it works quite well from even that somewhat limited platform. Good choice, and a nice looking rifle. - dan

 

[Suputin]

Range Report

I got the 221 out for its maiden trip to the field.

The paint job looks even better in the tan-green grass we typically see in spring and fall here in Calgary.

one question, why not go with a full paint job? i think it would look just a bit more awesome with the barrel and scope painted like the stock.

Cause I really don't like that look. I think the black offsets of the metal bits make it look even better. I have seen a few of the total cam jobs up close and to me they look terrible.

Today was really just about getting some rounds down the pipe to lay down the moly coating and get the thing zero'd and do some basic chronographing. Once it was zero'd there were a couple of rounds left so I shot a group at 100 yds just to see how it would print.

I am pretty impressed so far. At this point the rifle had about 15 rounds through it so the moly coating process is not nearly complete. The bullet was the 36gr Barnes Varmint Grenade which I understand doesn't have a very good reputation for accuracy. I was shooting off a bipod with only a 10x scope. The group measures .326" and the velocity is just shy of 3500 fps. This thing should be a serious varmint killer once the gophers come back in the spring.

 

[Cummins4x4]

Looks very promising. Wondering how effective the brake is? I am looking at putting one on a 223.

 

[Suputin]

You only need a brake on a small .224 centrefire if you really want to spot your hits. They don't move all that much especially the heavy barreled varmint rifles like this one. The Fireball has very little recoil.

 

[Cummins4x4]

You only need a brake on a small .224 centrefire if you really want to spot your hits..

Thats exactly what I have in mind. Got spoiled shooting my 204. The 223 has just enough recoil to lose the sight picture and I think that ATRS brake would do the trick.

 

[noneck180]

hhh

 

[brad555]

They are a great little cartridge, you don't need the break I always see the hits in the scope. Try 40 grain V-max's with RL-7 or 50 grain V-max's with Lillgun, my shoots really good with either. With Lillgun you should get over 400 rounds to a pound. I have no trouble making gopher hits to 200 yards and the odd time past with ease. With the 40 bullet the "splat" factor is close to the same as a 223 and 55 grain bullet. I might try mine on a coyote this winter just to see how it performs. They are also great for kids to step up from 22lr to something larger.