I just dug out a basically unused Remington model 600 in .222
What was it that ended this little plinker/ whitetail, coyote, varmint zapper out of biz? GI .223?

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Halfway and one more step

Yep... 223 happened.

I had a Rem 700 in 222 that I just about wore out.

If I had to guess it would be the 22-250 and the 223 as both use the same bullets and have much faster velocity for the same bullet weights.

Yeah, I burned a lot of powder and drew a lot of blood in the hill country with a model 660 in222rem...

I was kind of surprised, this plain jane was lurking in the back corner of a closet in the old family manse, I'm guessing it was one my old daddy unboxed right before his demise, and nothing ever came of it, or it was one that sat in the box for years afterwards, then got discovered and stashed away... another " this old house" story...

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Halfway and one more step

Another fine cartridge was the 222 magnum, I had a Winchester model 770 that was rechambered to 222 magnum and it accounted for a lot of varmints years ago.

The Remington 600 and 660 are extraordinary rifles.

Didn't sell well since they looked odd to the shooting public.

The .222 is a wonderful cartridge in it's own right and as you mentioned so is the .222 mag.....I have a T/C contender with a custom Lee Jurras manufactured barrel set up with a Burris scope that has been my "go to" coyote rig for years....out to 200 yds it has been "DRT" effective.

I have a 222 Contender w/ Burris 4x that is crazy accurate.
It will embarrass many rifles at 100yds.
I borrowed it from my oldest brother about 20 years ago and refuse to give it back.

It used up all the accuracy that there ever was in the Mini-14, so they had to change to .223

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

Yep. A great cartridge. Another one that I like, even though I'm probably out of the norm is the .218 Bee. Would love to have one of those in lever action. The .218, in my opinion, is nestled comfortably somewhere between the .22 Hornet and the .222 Remington. Great little saddle gun, but the .223 put a lot of these great little cartridges "out of business," so to speak.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

I love Mowhawk 600s Great little guns. I would like one in 222.

At least one of the area gunshops here stills has .222 ammo on the shelves, so I guess some folks still use them.

Andy

The little Sako Vixen is a fine rifle in that caliber. The caliber is inherently accurate and very effective to 250 yards or slightly more.

Yes the Sako in 222 Remington was a great combo.I borrowed one from a retired neighbor who used it on woodchucks when he lived in upper NY.Deer were destroying my quail pea patches and They were new to my area.
Knowing how it "blew up" crows I ordered some FMJ after reading how devastating the M16 was in early reports.Late in the afternoon I parked and walked to the field and there stood a deer looking at me head-on.Crosshairs on throat,squeeze and he went straight down.My first ever shot at a deer!Hugh,for my area,10 point 125 inch 200-215 lb.3 inch wound channel and shattered vertebrae..Impressive.I thought how easy is this deer hunting,until I actually started 12 years later.Blessed are the ignorant.

The 222 is to the 223/556 what the 300 Savage is to the 308 Winchester. All great rounds. Basically twins. Gov contracts killed the first ones

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War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

All good thoughts above, but I believe the "younger generation" and black rifles had as much to do with it as anything else. I am almost 60 and there will never be another 22-caliber that is as inherently accurate as a trip deuce, as I see it. I had a full custom Mannlicher built in trip deuce on a LH mini-Mark X a couple of years ago. It could have been built in several different calibers, but the .222 just works... period.

The .222 is still live and well in my vault. A Sako of early vintage that still shoots as well as it did 20 years ago.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

The last .222 I owned, a CZ 527 American.


I scoped it, put a half box of ammo through it, then sat it aside. I gave it to my brother a few months later. A fine cartridge in a great little rifle. A few months after I gave the rifle away, I found a mag for it in a junk box at a NC gun shop. Snagged the mag for $20.00, so now my brother has a spare.

I thought most of the .222 mini's were made for export to places that don't allow civilians to own rifles that shoot military ammo.

In '55 my cuz and I fresh out of the Army swapped for a couple of 'Remington 722's in .222 and a Lyman nutcracker loading tool. It's one of several guns I shoulda kept.

A neighbor's son, when I was living in a small town many years ago, had a .218 Bee that was a great little rifle. He popped many a ground hog with it. I can't hunt anymore, but I always wanted a Bee and a .222.

I haven't seen an example of either, especially the .218, in decades. The killer Bees were rare in these parts even forty years ago.

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Oh well, what the hell.

I have a Ruger #1 in 218 Bee and it is accurate and fun to shoot. A 35 Vmax at 3200 fps vaporizes soda cans filled with water. It's also cheap to shoot once you have a stash of brass.

Mike

I always wanted one and could never find one. Picked up a 673 instead in .350 RM.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Two things the 223 Rem and the 6PPC replaced the 222 for BR shooting oh yes the 221 fireball

I have three, I started with a Savage 24, .222 over 20 ga. Then I bought a CZ 527 FS, (full stock), & just when I thought I had enough of them, I found a 4-digit 700 ADL in great shape

-Klaus

Nothing happened to the .222 at my house. I have a Mohawk 600 and a 788 that are two of the most accurate rifles I own. Just picked up 600 once fired cases from a guy. Since 1983 that 788 has been the end of a couple truck loads of prairie dogs, a few javelina, and quite a few coyotes. My favorite caliber to reload, and I don't own a .223, no need, if I need more speed, I use the .22-250.

Here's the 600 that slipped through the cracks around '75







Ammo: $3.60 a box. Sheesh.

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Halfway and one more step

I have a model 24 savage. 222/20 ga. Sweet gun. I found a load with lead bullets that make it a squirrel gun.

Now I am looking for a rifle for the offhand match. I would take 222 or 223. Guess which is more common. Right now I am shooting a 700 VL in 22-250. Lots of powder for making holes in paper. It will shoot 5 shots in a half inch like nothing.

I also have a remington 660 in 243. I don't shoot that one much at all. I may some day have it rebarreled to 22ppc or some thing like that.

David

David, we had a 660 in .222 as a truck rifle on the ranch, bbl was shortened 2" and dad opened the receiver up so he could load it(no room for his big paws with the 4x Weaver on there). That thing was accurate. Culled a lot of does and spikes with it. Won't go into the birds of prey population...

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Halfway and one more step

The "Triple Duce" is still alive and well here in my 1974 Sako Sporter; it is my go to woodchuck gun out to about 250 yards on a calm day.
I have several 223's that are fun and a Sako 220 Swift when I need to stretch out and reach one; the 222 is just right for varmits and casual paper punching.
I've been a 222 fan for a long time, it started with my dad and his Remington 722 with a Weaver K8 with a half min dot.
I know that there are more powerful and more popular 22 caliber rounds but the "Deuce" still works.

SC

Many moon ago, I had a wonderful Remington M722 in .222 that was a tack driver that I let get away. I think the .223 was the major player as to what did the .222 in but IMO, a more obscure cartridge was the .222 mag.
I'd have to check but IIRC, was ballistically close to the .223

I own a savage 24 222/20 gauge over and under, great turkey gun.

Thanks for the pictures......love it

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

I got curious and wanted to see more of your find. I stumbled across this on the Remington website.

Safety Modification Program - Shotgun Safety Modification - Rifle Safety Modification

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Really? U saw it in Wikipedia?

Yes, we saw an example of one of the faulty ones in .243. Safety on, bolt opened, bolt pushed forward and when the bolt is rolled down, the safety moves forward and the hammer falls! Saw it happen in a new, right out of the box 600. The rifle wasn't loaded, so we tried it with a live primer dummy round, and the same thing happened.

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Halfway and one more step

I lost this .222 Remington Model 600 when my house was robbed in 1969. The insurance company and I replaced the .222 with an Colt AR15 SP1 but I missed the accuracy of the M600. I would love to compare the accuracy of my old M600 to my current M700.

Mark