I no longer reload, so price and availability of factory ammo is a huge issue. That makes the 223 my most used 22 centerfire by far, though I also love and shoot 22 Hornet and 221 Fireball every now and then. Shoot all three in both rifles and specialty handguns, such as the Contender, Encore, and XP-100.

My two favorite 223s are my XP-100 Varmint Special and my Winchester/Miroku 1885 Hunter. Both are easy sub MOA with factory ammo.

 

I no longer reload, so price and availability of factory ammo is a huge issue. That makes the 223 my most used 22 centerfire by far, though I also love and shoot 22 Hornet and 221 Fireball every now and then. Shoot all three in both rifles and specialty handguns, such as the Contender, Encore, and XP-100.

My two favorite 223s are my XP-100 Varmint Special and my Winchester/Miroku 1885 Hunter. Both are easy sub MOA with factory ammo.

The first centerfire I ever shot was an XP-100 221 Fireball and it was a hoot. Owner that shared it with me had a Kimber of Oregon classic model in the same caliber. Once I shot it too, I was hooked! The fireball got me started.

 

My top CF 22 is the 22-250, I reload it for velocities equal to the 22lr up to almost 220 Swift. I have two rifles, a Remington 700 and a heavy barrel Savage 112 BVSS. The reduced velocity loads are the most fun for me since I can shoot all I want and not worry about barrel life, yet still step up with a barn burner should the need arise. Here is a pic of my best reduced load at 100 yds. using the Savage, the rifle is capable of this everyday, however I am not.

 

What powder do you use for reduced loads ?

 

223 is readily available, and I don’t reload. I don’t shoot it much anymore, but it’s a pretty versatile cartridge.

 

Wow! Thanks for sharing these. Those 100 yard groups are awesome! I totally spaced out on 22-250 and 22 Swift, both of which I've shot a lot, but not recently. The reduced load challenge is a whole lot of fun to master, too. I've experimented a lot with Trailboss (TB) and got really great results. Seems that filling a cartridge to about 70% capacity with TB is almost a universal starting point for max accuracy. Wild card is bullet seating depth and overall length.

 

The only 22 centerfires I own are a couple of AR clones in .223 Wylde, plus a BSA Martini Cadet action that I had rebarreled decades back in 218 Bee. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the BSA. That said, I've been developing a yen for a Remington 788 in 22-250. We'll see how that goes. I have not discussed this with my financial manager yet.

 

My first centerfire rifle I bought was a 788 in 22-250. Still have it. I glass bedded it and it has a Canjar trigger which I have been told is rare for this model rifle. Bought in 1974 so I have had it for 50 years! Never has had a factory load shot in it! It taught me to handload which is easy for a 22-250. That rifle has covered hundreds of miles of walking the Mojave Desert hunting jackrabbits and coyotes. What happens to a jack when shot inside of 100 yards can only be called spectacular!

My second centerfire purchase was a Contender in 22 Hornet. If the 22-250 taught me to handload the .22 Hornet was a post graduate course in hand loading. I currently have a 10 inch octagon barrel in 218 Bee and a 14" .223

 

I kept my Ruger 223 and 22-250.

 

Do barrels last very long in the 22-250?

 

I was in Talos a couple of months ago. I see now they've put all the used stuff behind the counter.

 

219 Zipper, R2 Lovell, 225, all in custom Hi Walls. 22-250 early Ruger #1.

 

223 and 22 Hornet

 

I have been shooting a rem 700 BDL in .222 Rem for about 45 years. Its always a joy to shoot and almost impossible to find a bad load with a 52 or 53 gr bullet. But I admit that for the last 15 years I have been shooting a Re-barreled Savage 10 in .223 with a 1:8 twist. Horn. 80 gr ELD's out to 1000 yds has become my favorite challenge and taught me to hate the wind.

 

.222 remington. The most accurate 22 caliber I've ever shot at 100 yds. And that was with a Thompson Contender 14" barell in creedmore position with a 4x handgun scope
I could hit a dime every time back then but I was just 38 years old! Now at 73 I can't find a dime that's in my pocket.

 

My all-time favorite is a Winchester Model 70 Target in .220 Swift. It was made in 1953 and I acquired it from the original owner in 1975. It still wears the original Weaver 12X scope. The original owner was a friend of mine and he told me he worked too much and put less than 100 rounds through it, most of them handloaded using 37.5 grains (if I remember correctly) of 4064 with a 55 grain spire point bullet. I continued the handloading process using mostly the same formula but I eventually went to a 55 grain Ballistic Tip bullet. I also have shot it less than 100 rounds so the total over 70 years is around 200. I have not shot the rifle in 10-12 years but it was fantastically accurate.
Funny but true story. Years ago I hunted groundhogs with a couple of friends who shot .22-250's. I used to joke that they could shoot, pick up their bullet, load and shoot again, and only then begin to come near the range of my Swift. One day we were hunting and I spotted a groundhog diagonally across a field at about 340 yards. The hog stood up and I jokingly said it was a female. They did not believe. I then said it had fleas and there was one on the hog's left nipple. They laughed. I touched off the Swift, got up and told them I would be back. Walked across the field and brought the dead groundhog back, with a bullet hole in the left nipple. Perfect shot. Disbelief from them and I was smart enough not to try again.
As in many things, the older I get the more accurate the rifle was. It's very sentimental to me and I'm fortunate to still have it.

 

I used to joke that they could shoot, pick up their bullet, load and shoot again, and only then begin to come near the range of my Swift.

Razzing your friends i guess, as ballistically theres very little difference between 220 swift and 22-250.
A buddy of mine liked to do the same thing, he'd make out like his swift could shoot to the moon and my 22-250 wouldnt clear the pasture we were shooting in. However both rifles, his win70 and my rem700 both had slow tr barrels, optimized for 40gr bullets. I showed him the nosler load table for 40gr pills, the 22-250 had a nearly 100fps advantage over his swift. However shooting light bullets well over 4k will sure shorten a barrels life.

 

I really enjoy shooting my LTR in .223 but my favorite .22 CF is a VSSF in .220 Swift. With 53 gr. SMK's it is deadly on anything it touches. The majority of the nilgai I have taken is with that round.

 

In 1983 I bought a Browning B-78 (1885 High Wall) in 22-250. I mounted a Leupold 12X silhouette scope in Leupold bases and rings. It has a 26 inch heavy round tapered barrel. Back when I was hand loading I would push a 55 grain soft point around 3600 fps. I could push them faster but my groups would start to open up. It shoots about .5 inch at 100. I hate to say it but Hornady factory loads shoot just about the same as my hand loads. The groundhogs it has taken would fill a pickup. Although it is my favorite I have a Browning 1885 Low Wall in 22 Hornet that is pretty sweet too. Man, I sure love those falling blocks.

 

Over the years I have shot and reloaded 22 Hornet, 222, 223, 22-250, and 220 Swift. The 22-250 and Swift are fine cartridges (accurate and hard hitting) but they burn a lot of powder, heat up barrels in a hurry and are more expensive to shoot. I never had a consistent Hornet. The 222 is good, but I have become a 223 fan. I have two, one heavy and one very light and they are both very accurate, plenty fast and flat, and easy and inexpensive to load.

 

.223
.22/250 is another really good one, but I have not had one for decades.

 

I reload for .223, but the target below was shot back in 2007 with BlackHills ammo. A 3-shot group while sighting in my new gun at 200 yards. The rifle is a Cooper Montana M21 single shot with a Shilin barrel, twist 1 in 12. I stopped at 3 as on the second round I thought maybe I'd missed the target - I wasn't using a spotting scope to check. Then when I realized it was one hole after the 3rd shot, I quit as I didn't want to screw it up! Coopers were amazing back then. This particular specimen is I think exceptional, shooting 4 times more accurately that what Cooper guaranteed back then. IIRC I bought it new from their stock at Sportsman's Warehouse for $1,300. They had one on display and I asked the young man if he would please check to see if they had a prettier one. He came back smiling with this one. I threaded the barrel on the lathe, added the can, and reworked the trigger some until it was just right for me. The scope is a Leupold, one of those they made with the cut out in the bottom of the objective, so it'd sit lower on the gun - can't remember what they called them but after a few years they abandoned the idea for reasons unknown to me (though I'd sure like to know) - I've posted these pics before.

 

If I was never going to leave WI the only 22 center fire I would need is my CZ 527 221 piled up a bunch of coyotes over the years with it, and I am still loading the first 50 cases out of the bag dont think I will live long enough to start the next 50? If theres a chance of ever going back out west for PDs I will have to keep my savage 112 220 swift ugly old Laminated stock and after market trigger, made my longest shots ever with it. Last time out to range buddy says oh no another junk savage? I fire two rounds at 100 steel to foul barrel next one cuts top of bull following one same hole he says keep your mouth shut! I shoot the last one and it is almost a perfect one hole! I didnt push my luck and put her back in the case. Last one would be my CZ 527 22 hornet just a cool fun gun to shoot.

 

.223 Remington. I don't reload and it's commonly available.

 

5.56 wbp jack wearing east german furniture is my favorite. Still working on 5.56 beryl with element 5x. Steyr and vhs 2 are interesting options. Dog is innately always an option.

 

I'm a .223 guy. Not that I've shot any other .22 CF calibers. I shot service rifle and F Class TR. TR is .308 or .223 (non open) limited class. At one match a guy I knew asked me if I want to shoot a .223. It was a rifle owned by AMU member Brandon Green. Custom rifle with nice parts and optics. I take my first sighter and it's 1:00 - 9 ring. I started to correct and caught myself as it was the only shot I ever took with that rifle. l decided to take the second sighter with no change. Comes up 1:00 - 9 ring. Looks like spotter didn't move. 2 sighters were less than .750 apart at 600. Under .125 MOA @ 600. I'll definitely take that but would not bet on doing it again at will. One of the high points of my entire shooting 'career'. Problem was I'm no quitter. I keep shooting until I shoot some bad shots. Wind reading was my Achile's heel.
My other was after not shooting for six months picking up an AR at random out of a group and shooting a 96 in offhand at a no sighter leg match. It was one of the higher scores that day. Extremely satisfying to have done that. I was 2 for 2 with high points involving .223's.

That said I never got wrapped around any axles over calibers. I concern myself with marksmanship first, then rifle and then ammo. Marksmanship is the only variable you can control at any given moment while shooting the shot at hand. You can work on the rest at another time. Marksmanship will help in developing the loads, the rifle and make you less equipment dependent. That comes from my position shooter mindset where benchrest accuracy is not going to save bad technique.

I do look at a given caliber with consideration to component selection and availability. Sometimes the decision is made for you. SR, TR and Palma being examples.

It's all fun if you treat it that way.

 

That is one thing about where I live. Not too many 'varmit' calibers here. So that's one reason I don't have experience with many .22 CF's. I've only seen one .218 Bee case in all the brass I've picked up. Then .22 CF is not allowed on deer and that puts a kabosh on the .22CF. Add into that it's shotgun country due to duck hunting.
.22 just can't catch a break here.

 

I shoot the 223 probably the most, of the 22 caliber centerfire cartridges.
My favorite 22 caliber centerfire is the Remington 22-250, which has made some impressive connections on coyotes, way out there!

 

I’ve had the whole line up of factory CF .22s and quite a few wildcats. Up until the coyote plague I did a lot of varmit hunting. Groundhogs almost every evening, weather permitting. I had a couple 220 Swift but my favorite out of the bunch is a Remington 722 in 222. My longest shot was about 400yds with the 222s.
From 222 up I loaded 55gr bullets. Takes off bottom line of velocity but makes up for it in accuracy.

 

Dad had a 722 in .222 and who knows how many coyotes, deer, hawks (you could shoot them back then to protect the chickens) and javalinas he killed with it. He ended up giving it to his brother and I've been unsuccessful at getting it back. Great gun and caliber indeed.

 

In my area of small farms the .22 Hornet has served my needs for many years, I've never owned a .22 centerfire of more than .223 size, do have or have had .222 and .221 Fireballs. Seldom to never have a shot over 200 yards on vermin.