Thread: 222 1:14 twist pushing the limits

So I had a bit of a impulse buy a nice little sportco model 33 in 222
Shes a awesome little gun but as most older 222 rifles have it has the 1-14 twist
Due to my target shooting background i want to get it as accurate as possible and wanna play with match or good quality boat tail pills rather than the little 50gn soft points these rifles were designed shoot
These pills are only 2-3gn heavyer than the Traditional 50gn pills
But due to bullet design are much longer
Which most know has more to do with if a twist will stabilise a bullet than the weight of the bullet

Anyway the 2 bullets chosen for testing were the 52gn smk and the 53gn vmax

Thanks to the forum member who donated a few 53’s I can’t remember what the members name was but very much appreciate it

I went to my shooting spot but due to wet ground i was only able to shoot 50m

Still i had interesting results the 52gn smk stabilised and shot one hole groups at 50m ( as to be expected at close range)
The 53 gn vmax on the other hand 2 of 5 hit sideways and the ones hit properly shot shit

Bit boring but interesting results for 222 owners so thorght it post

I have inherited a classic Tikka LSA 55 in .222. I am considering rebarrelling in .223 and a 1:8 twist just to make it a little more useful and accurate with heavier pills.

50grn. VMax works well in my treblee

Originally Posted by chalkeye

I have inherited a classic Tikka LSA 55 in .222. I am considering rebarrelling in .223 and a 1:8 twist just to make it a little more useful and accurate with heavier pills.

Why
That’s a classic dude keep it classic and classy go for a new blued barrel
But keep it 222 or 222 magnum just increase the twist rate
222 magnum fast twist will beat a 223

Load the speer semi point spitzers. They are 70gr and designed to shoot in the old tikka / sakos 1:14 twist.

They will blow your mind

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

Why
That’s a classic dude keep it classic and classy go for a new blued barrel
But keep it 222 or 222 magnum just increase the twist rate
222 magnum fast twist will beat a 223

Keeping it .222 is also a very viable option. I am reloading so it doesn't really matter ammo availability wise. Fair point.

No real reason to go .222 mag.

Originally Posted by 300_BLK

Load the speer semi point spitzers. They are 70gr and designed to shoot in the old tikka / sakos 1:14 twist.

They will blow your mind

In my Sako I could not get the 70grain speers to stabilise, accuracy was horrendous, most disappointed, so it depends on the rifle; I don't think the .222 can push them fast enough in a 1:14.
However the 60 grain Hornady SP shot very well and is a good bullet. I tried the 53 grain TSX and it shot well enough for deer, around 1.5 inch groups, but that was the best it would do. But the 50 grain TSX shot very well if you can find them.
The best all round bullet was the very cheap 55 grain Hornady and the 60 grain SP.
I wanted to try the 64 grain Winchester, which supposedly shoots fine and it a good deer bullet but havn't found any to load.

Originally Posted by 300_BLK

Load the speer semi point spitzers. They are 70gr and designed to shoot in the old tikka / sakos 1:14 twist.

They will blow your mind

Is there much difference in drop at 100m compared with say 55gr???

Originally Posted by Bos

Is there much difference in drop at 100m compared with say 55gr???

Depends where the rifle is zeroed.

I managed to get them to shoot in an old LSA 55 223 and 22-250.

Stem to stern on a Jap at 60m and same with goats to 100m

The budget 55gr bulk bullets shoot good in my 788

Ditto on the 55 grain hornady bulk .

Originally Posted by Carlsen Highway

In my Sako I could not get the 70grain speers to stabilise, accuracy was horrendous, most disappointed, so it depends on the rifle; I don't think the .222 can push them fast enough in a 1:14.
However the 60 grain Hornady SP shot very well and is a good bullet. I tried the 53 grain TSX and it shot well enough for deer, around 1.5 inch groups, but that was the best it would do. But the 50 grain TSX shot very well if you can find them.
The best all round bullet was the very cheap 55 grain Hornady and the 60 grain SP.
I wanted to try the 64 grain Winchester, which supposedly shoots fine and it a good deer bullet but havn't found any to load.

PM me your address and I will send you some 64 grn Winchester. I have maybe 50.
@Carlsen Highway

I use the Hornady 55 gr SP's in my .223 but I tried them out in both of my Sako A1 & L461 .222's but they wouldn't group well enough even though I tried them with some AR2206H & BM2 powder.

In the end I bought some 50 gr Hornady SP's and they did the trick... guess some .222's work well with heavier projectiles and some don't.