coyota1, it's interesting that you mentioned barrel twist in your last post. I hadn't considered that, but with the 222 Mag I believe all the options you had in the past were slow twist. If you can't shoot the bigger bullets in the 222 Mag, that's all the push needed to kill it off. As I mentioned earlier, the 223 (and 308) have by now been tweaked to maximum performance, which is why they have grown so popular for many uses. The bullet I like so much in my 223, the 65 gr Sierra GK probably wouldn't work in a 222 mag.
Anyway, somebody mentioned the 300 Savage as the most underrated cartridge, and he's probably right. That one gets no respect, but should.