.222 Remington Magnum. Is it extinct?

dilly

dilly

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Does anyone know if it's worth looking at? It seems darn near impossible to find brass, let alone cartridges. Anybody use it?
 
Rifles in .222RemMag have not been made for many years. If you have a rifle, stockpile ammunition or brass. I have a 6x47 benchrest rifle - .222RM necked up to 6mm.
I have heard that .204Ruger is .222RM based. Don't know if these cases could be altered.
 
Yes, I think it is virtually extinct. If you have one, you may be able to make brass by necking up the Ruger 204 and bumping the shoulder back a bit. The problem is that the performance is essentially identical to the ultra common .223 Remington. Here are a couple of links to compare dimensions of the Ruger 204 to the .222 Mag.

222 Remington Magnum SAAMI
204 Ruger SAAMI
 
I have a model 700 BDL in 222 Remington Magnum. It is a second year production from 1963 with the then standard 20 inch barrel.
I was able to find some used brass shortly after purchasing the rifle. It seemsIMG_2910.JPG to wear well. A little later purchased a few hundred new in bag Winchester 204 Ruger brass.
Just have to run it through your 222 Rem Mag resize die and good to go.
Case capacity of 222 Rem Mag is about 5 % greater than 223, so velocity is a little higher.
 

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I have a 67 vintage BDL in 222 Rem Mag

BDL222RemMagLeupold25-8.jpg


No reason to buy one unless you have a lot of brass and reload.
And yes, it's more faster than a 223 Rem.
 
I would go through the trouble of finding brass then build a 6x47 to shoot heavies a little faster then my 6x45. I love the look I get when I show them a round and say that there is a 105gr bullet in there
 
As far as current production goes, I have noticed that Zastava lists the 222 Rem Mag as an option on their model 85 rifles. I have never actually seen one though.
"Dilly", I would say that if you happen to spot an older rifle in this caliber at a reasonable price you would do well to try to purchase it. Do not worry about ammo or brass. Properly head stamp brass always turns up at some point. Dies are readily available from RCBS at least , maybe others. Once you have the dies, you could use Ruger 204 brass until you spot some 222 Rem Mag brass.
 
Thanks guys. It's not that I want the cartridge for the novelty or for its performance. It seems like a pretty good one. I was looking at a gun on the Tradex site and was wondering if it would be worth the hassle of trying to load shells for it. If I could get a decent supply and some dies, I would consider it...but if it's a huge hassle, well that's a deal breaker.
 
I have a rifle that was originally chambered .222 that someone re-chambered to .222 magnum in the 60's. I also have a ton of brass for it and have shot unknown thousands of rounds through it.

I like it, but to me, it's not enough different from .223 that I would deliberately seek out rifle, brass and dies if I didn't have this setup already.
 
When the light rifle programs started back in the '50s, the .222RM was a base for experimentation. The shorter 5.56/.223 evolved from it.

I have a set of straight line hand dies used with a little arbor press for the 6x47 light varmint benchrest rifle, no threaded dies. I have used a .243 expander button to open up .222RM cases.
 
Probably related to a "no military caliber" rule. Mini-14s were made for sale in France in .222Rem.
 
Perhaps consider a 22-250 if you want more powder than a .223 Rem. It is popular and you are not swimming upstream when it comes to a factory gun, brass, and reloading tools.
 
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