As said already .222 is a pretty good cartridge. But if you have access to lots of cheap .223r .. thats terrific .. and depending on the rifle you want to adapt to .223R you may find it is almost as cheap to find a good used .223R barrel somewhere and have it mounted on your action. I am pretty certain that most people that would say they could rechamber your rifle to 223 could also install/chamber a new or used barrel for you.
222 - 223
- Thread starter canuckiron
- Start date
The place i live in has comparatively cheap 223/556 ammo ( thanks to NATO invasion of Afghanistan and flooding this region with NATO weapons ) The corrupt to the core Afghan National Army is a never ending source of these things as they sell every thing they get from NATO bosses . I have couple of semi auto guns in 223/556 but wished to have a bolt action rifle in same caliber
The insane price tag attached to bolt action 223/556 bolt action rifle had always been a hurdle for me to acquire one .Plus most of the bolt action action rifles had the twist ratio not fast enough to stablise the new school heavy grain bullets so i decided to go the other way .
the other way was to see a bolt action rifle in 222 rem and to re barrel (NOT RE CHAMBER) it in 223/ 556. after the wait of 3 years i was able to find one BRNO fox Mod 2 in 222 rem .
the gun has gotten its barrel removed and now waiting with gunsmith to be rebarreled with a barrel of 556 light machine gun used by NATO having a 1/7 twist
The insane price tag attached to bolt action 223/556 bolt action rifle had always been a hurdle for me to acquire one .Plus most of the bolt action action rifles had the twist ratio not fast enough to stablise the new school heavy grain bullets so i decided to go the other way .
the other way was to see a bolt action rifle in 222 rem and to re barrel (NOT RE CHAMBER) it in 223/ 556. after the wait of 3 years i was able to find one BRNO fox Mod 2 in 222 rem .
the gun has gotten its barrel removed and now waiting with gunsmith to be rebarreled with a barrel of 556 light machine gun used by NATO having a 1/7 twist
sounds like a terrific idea ... The BRNO actions are outstanding in my opinion. Two things to consider when using a 5.56 barrel from an LMG is that a 'used' one could have had a high number of rounds fired in a short period and may have been significantly eroded. Also some NATO 5.56 barrels are chrome lined as well as their chambers and your gunsmith may have issues if he needs to ream the chamber for whatever reason... Such as correct head space. But sounds like a great approach! Have fun!!
The only reason for a 223 change up in my opinion is the source of cheap ammo. I have a 1980 Winchester 70 XTR in 222 and wouldn't alter it. It shoots any varmit that walks out to 250 yards and kills them dead. No need for a 223 . Hornadys new superformance varmit is the answer for the 222. A little pricey but does the job well.
My limited experience with factory loaded .222Rem Hornady brass is that it is poor and frequently splits. While the 222Rem is a very capable round - IMO having a plentiful source of .223Rem is an excellent reason for a change. And I like Zain's approach to the 'problem'
- Location
- Near Mount Forest, ON
Thanks for all the advice folks. I decided not to persue the rifle at online auction.
That was originally the purpose in doing the rechambering and it was a common job back in the late 1970s early '80s.
I had a couple Mohawks that were rechambered and they shot really well, a friend still uses one for Coyote hunting.
Personally, I don't condone the conversion as I really like the triple deuce but back in those days it was much easier to find 223 than 222 so I can see why some people did it.
Not a dumb question at all. On a very quick check comparing the .222 SAAMI drawing to the .223 SAAMI, I think it could be done by simply putting a .223 SAAMI reamer in the chamber and reaming it out. No setback required. You will notice that the diameter of the .222 is slightly larger right at the shoulder. However the length of the .223 to the shoulder measurement is significantly longer than the .222. You can do the math but I suspect exactly the same taper was used and at the .222 shoulder length, the .223 reamer will be the same size. Worth checking though as you do not want to be left with a little valley.
One issue which has already been mentioned is that the .222 typically has a slow twist. The barrel twist is not going to change and you will be stuck with the bullet limitations that twist puts on you. Have a look at this Berger Quick Reference Table to see what bullets will work for your twist. Typically 55 grains and less for a 14 twist.
