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222 Remington
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The 222 Remington was created in 1950 by Remington and was the first commercial rimless .22 cartridge made in the United States.
Since we are big on American-made here at Lynx Defense the 222 Remington is a special round to Lynx Defense. Time to dive into the 222 Remington cartridge!
Overview of 222 Remington
The 222 Remington is a unique cartridge in that it has no parent case, whereas most of the cartridges we have covered to date have a parent case that they originated from.
The 222 Remington is a rimless bottleneck cartridge that has been an extremely popular target round until the 1970s.
However, with the invention of the 223 Remington cartridges, this round has really lost its shine in the modern cartridge landscape.
Purpose of 222 Remington
The 222 Remington round was originally made for the Remington Model 722, which is a bolt action rifle.
The round was quickly adopted for varmint hunting and bench shooting but has since been replaced by the faster 22-250 Remington and .220 swift rounds.
The 222 Remington round is not extremely popular in the United States but remains a popular round in many European countries.
The European market is likely the only market that still demands the 222 Remington cartridge and thus, the only market keeping it alive.
Performance of 222 Remington
The .222 Remington performance is only slightly less than the more common 223 Remington.
A 55 grain 222 Remington round travels at 3,095 feet per second with 1,170 foot-pounds on target.
Compare that to the same 55 grain 223 Remington round which travels at 3,240 feet per second with 1,265 foot-pounds on target.
While these two rounds are close in performance the 223 Remington clearly edges it out in performance.
This is likely why the 222 Remington was abandoned for the 223 Remington. Both bullet diameters measure in at .224 inches.
Guns that Shoot 222 Remington
There aren’t a ton of guns in production today that chamber 222 Remington. Since Remington made the 222 Remington naturally, they chambered a Remington 700 in 222 Remington.
There are very few guns on the market today that feature the 222 chamber, you will likely have better luck on the used market locating a 222 Remington gun.
Remington 700
The Remington 700 is as iconic and American as McDonald’s. So it’s no surprise that Remington made the 700 for its 222 round.
The 222 Remington was mostly made for bolt action rifles but the 223 Remington was quickly the love of most shooters and military.
Since the release of the 223 Remington very few manufacturers chambers for the 222 round.
222 Remington Ammo Price and Availability
Like most of the non-common caliber ammo, 222 ammo is hard to find during the 2020-2021 ammo/gun craze.
If you do find 222 ammo it’s typically extremely limited and extremely expensive due to its scarcity.
You can check some of the larger hunting-based stores like Lucky Gunner, Sportsmans Guide, Optics Planet, or Sportsmans Warehouse for in-stock 222 Remington Ammo.
Grab a gun also offers a wide selection of 222 Rem ammo whether it’s in stock or not will depend.
Reloading 222 Remington
One of the easiest ways to restock your .222 rounds is to reload them yourself. Doing this is an extremely time-intensive process so if you want to get started reloading be ready to study up and get ready to spend some time.
Nonetheless, you can easily find reloading supplies for the .222 cartridge.
Lee Precision Dies is probably one of the most popular due to their reloading presses being affordable and readily available.
FAQ
With rounds like the .222 Remington, a lot of questions come up. Here are some of the most asked questions.
What is a 222 rifle good for?
While the .223 round has eclipsed the 222 round it is still widely renowned as a great bench rest shooting round.
You can also find 222 popular among varmint and predator hunters.
Do they still make 222 Remington?
Yes, 222 Remington ammo is still in production today. It is largely still made for the European market as new rifles are rarely chambered in 222 Remington.
What is the difference between a 222 & 223?
The biggest difference between 222 and 223 is the 222 bullet grain weight is around 50 grain and clocks in at 3,100 feet per second whereas 223 is 55/60 grain bullets training at the same speed.
The bullet drop profiles on the two rounds will also be slightly different since the bullet weights are different for the two.
What happened to the 222 Remington?
222 Remington Magnum and 223 Remington both excelled while the 222 Remington fell out of popularity with the military and civilian markets.
Want to learn about another popular round very similar to this cartirage? Take a look at the .22-250 Remington.
I don’t mean to be nasty here but this blog has a lot of misleading information in it. First of all, it is correct that the 222Rem was developed for benchrest competition in Remington’s 721 and 722 rifles. These of course were forerunners of the popular later 700 in 1963. The US military was seeking a light recoil, fast shooting replacement rifle in the late fifties to compete with other NATO countries who also were seeking the same. Remington introduced the 222 Remington Magnum which had the same rim dimensions as the 222 but a longer case and altered shoulder angle. It was actually the cartridge first tried in Gene Stoner’s AR system after his 7.62 (.308) AR10 had been built so it would conform to the NATO standards of a small caliber. The 222Rem Mag had issues in the AR platform so military and Remington engineers redesigned the 222Rem Mag to be something in between the original 222 Rem and the Mag. Because they were dealing with countries which did not use King George’s math system, it became known as the 5.56×45 mm cartridge for bullet diameter and case length. In America, we don’t like Mickey Mouse math (mm) so a commercial version which was ever so slightly different than the NATO spec version was developed to sell to American gun owners . This whole story can be found in a wonderful book “American Rifle, A biography” by Alexander Rose published in 2008. It is unfair to compare the original 222 to the commercial .223 because they were developed for two entirely different weapon systems. The tip of the hat has to go to Remington’s Mike Walker who designed an entirely new cartridge not based on any previous case. Wikipedia has a totally erroneous description of the original cartridge as being developed for the military’s AR-15 rifle. They didn’t even exist then! It only goes to illustrate the rampant ignorance which exists in published media about this excellent little cartridge. This writer uses it as his favorite little prairie dog rifle with proper hand loads that achieve devastating kills out to 500 yards at velocities exceeding 3500 fps with 50gr bullets! So, if you’ve read this far, please, quit comparing it to its offspring and think of it as the father of Shaq or some other super star who sprang from an honorable parent. It stands on its own.
In 1957, I bought a Savage .222 and had a 8 weaver
scope on it.
I would shoot a bullet into a cardboard box set at 100 yards then sight the rifle in on that. Many times after sighting the rifle in, the next rounds would be touching or through the same hole.
I would bet people that I could hit a dime at a 100 yards.
I very seldom lost the bet.
I once shot a jackrabbit at 410 measured yards.
I hand loaded most of rounds.
The triple deuce has largely been a niche cartridge since the advent of the .223 Rem. However, the .222 Rem still garners a faithful following by hunters that recognize the cartridge for its short to medium range accuracy coupled with ample knockdown power. Light varmit loads, like the 30 grain Barnes varmit grenades, produce excellent results on small to medium sized varmits and predators out to 300 yards without excessive pelt damage. While the .223 can arguably produce equivalent results and at longer ranges, the .223’s higher velocities and downrange energy often equate to more undesirable explosive impacts. In the end, both are great cartridges.
I have a an old 180 series Euro Mini 14 in .222. Side-by-side to a .223, I see no real difference between the two. Makes for a cool rare piece to show and tell. Most of the gun ranges I go to usually end up saying “You mean .223 right?” I proceed to hand them the ammo and rifle to look at.
Unfortunately the 222 (aka triple duce) has been held to 50K pressures while the 223 is at 55K pressure. there is very little difference if both work at same pressures with same weight bullet. The military adopted a slightly longer round, half way between the 222 and the 222
But the 222 rem has a much better reputation for accuracy than the 223. True the 223 rifles are usually AR types with short barrels. This gives them lower velocity and poor accuracy, aka AR accuracy (about 2″ at 100 yards, ok for combat). Most AR shooters also handicap themselves with heavier bullets, and need special twist barrels.
The 222 Rem is a fine cartridge, known for accuracy, often still used by benchrest shooters. The 222 Rem is very easy to reload, ussing a wide variety of powders.
222 has been a great varmint cartridge for me. I have reloaded it.