.222 to a .223.....or good enough alone.

D

darkman

Inactive
I will preface this by saying I am not a collector and I shoot everything I own.
Upon the death of my father, all his guns went to me. One in particular, is to me, an anomaly........222. I know this rifle was purchased in the late 60's, it is a Remington, the action is a 40X and it has a very heavy, Hart Barrel. There is an extremely long Redfield Scope that was purchased at the same time. This rifle, I know has less than 20 rounds ever put through it; I was with him that day at the range. My fathers health diminished soon after he purchased and never took it out of the box again. I feel like a bull looking at a bastard calf..........I don't know if I should rechamber for .223 and shoot it........or just leave well enough alone and sell it.........or bite the bullet (no pun intended) and shoot it. I am not a re-loader and have tried to trim my gun safe down to .308, .223, 9mm and .45. along with my milsurps. All thoughts and comments welcome. Any idea how much this rifle would be worth on the market?
 
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The 222rem was considered the most accurate cartridge in the world at one time.
Shoot it and be glad you have it:)

And if you find 222remmag ammo, don't buy it. It is a different cartridge than 222rem.
 
If there isn't a lot of sentimental attachment to the rifle, just sell it.

If you are somewhat attached, re-chamber it to .223 Rem.


I am a big fan of .222 Rem and .222 Rem Mag, but they aren't cartridges for people that don't reload.
 
If it was me I would keep it and shoot it! 222 rem is a great little round. If nothing else it was your fathers all the more reason in my book but I'm weird with family stuff like that.
 
I would hold onto it for now and not modify it.

Shoot it if you want.

It may have some serious value so do not jump the gun just to get something out of the way.

At worse sell it to someone who will treasure it and carry it on.

It like crushing old cars, they have heritage and history and even if not worth big bucks its a crying shame to loose them.
 
If it's an early 40x should have the blue barrel.

Hart made trigger 2oz trigger for Remington (Mike Walker) in the early years and there was always question on barrels from Hart and the early 40x had heart stamp on some 40x barrels for the 22rimfire/centerfire late 50's. 57/58.

In the 60's they started changing the 40x with different models the 40XB and 40XBR.

40x have certain collector value depending on model and options. Last year I sold the last two I had one was the heavy 40XBR other light 40XBR and I got more for the light 40XBR it was a 6x47 with 2oz trigger and it had the box and paper work (test target).

I would shoot the rifle as is and I won't change a thing on it enjoy what your Dad liked
 
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Sorry for your loss.

If you don't need the money, keep it. Shoot it or not. That's a special gun AND it was Dad's. But DON'T let it own you. Yeah, you will want to reload if you shoot it. Might be a good excuse to get some basic reloading under your belt too someday.

However, if cash is king as well as the clutter factor applies (which I appreciate especially if small spaces and/or married), find someone special, a good home, and sell it at a fair price. As I said it is special and many a benchrestish/varmint shooter would LOVE that rifle, and respect its provenance.

None of those thought-out paths are wrong or even better than the others my friend.
 
Rechamber it to 223 and love it.
Your father bought it in the late 60's when 222 was a round with a bright future.
The 223 was picked by the military and the 222 faded.
If your father bought a similar rifle today I bet he would buy a 223 not a 222. I doubt you will offend him.

I had a similar problem with a police positive in 38 SW. I would re-chamber it to 38 special, but the heat treating isn't right, so it wouldn't be safe.
 
I had a similar problem with a police positive in 38 SW. I would re-chamber it to 38 special, but the heat treating isn't right, so it wouldn't be safe.
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You could have replaced the cylinder.
.38 S&W is still available and fairly popular with those that still shoot the old Pocket Breaktops.
 
I would re chamber to .223. It seems like it should be a fairly simple job. The rounds are so similar in dimensions.
 
The problem with a simple re-chamber of the original barrel you're going to have a 223 with a 1-14" twist. Ammo availabilty(that works with that twist) will still be limited and the advice to start reloading will still apply.

The 222 is the most accurate round I've ever shot or reloaded for. Buy factory ammo and enjoy it a little, or start reloading and enjoy it a lot..... then re-barrel to whatever round(and twist) a few thousand rounds from now when it stops being the most accurate rifle you've ever owned.,

Tom
 
The problem with a simple re-chamber of the original barrel you're going to have a 223 with a 1-14" twist.
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Good point. I didn't realize that 1 in 14 was the standard twist rate of the .222. Why such a slow twist?
 
Tough decisions. . . .Why not just shoot it? You should be able to find 222 ammo. . .I would shoot it and own it because it was my dad's. Other's have mentioned the pitfalls going to 223.

Selling it is fine, but due to the 222's lack of current popularity, wouldn't fetch enough to be worth selling to me.

Good luck, tough decisions, but there are no wrong decisions.

Also, starting reloading is not a bad idea. I do it to keep my oddball and mainstream caliber's happy.
 
Good point. I didn't realize that 1 in 14 was the standard twist rate of the .222. Why such a slow twist?
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The cartridge was originally intended for bullets no heavier than about 45 grains. As such, a 1:14" twist rate was good enough.

Only when a few more "modern" .22 caliber cartridges started getting heavier bullets stuffed into their necks, did the faster twist rates become more popular. When the .222 Rem was in its prime, a 1:14" twist rate was standard for a .22 caliber cartridge (from rimfires to the .220 Swift).
 
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