222 Remington

The "Triple Deuce" was an almost instant success when Remington marketed it in its, then, newly introduced Model 722, bolt-action rifle in 1950. Designed mainly by Mike Walker, this case was an entirely new development, it was not based upon any then-existing cartridge. However, in many respects, it resembles a scaled-down version of the 30-06 Springfield. The 222 case soon became the basis for many newer cartridges.

Due to relatively high precision potential of this cartridge, its flat trajectory and relatively mild recoil, this number quickly gained popularity amongst benchrest shooters, as well as varmint and small game hunters, both in the US and in Europe.

Despite many examples of large game being successfully taken with the 222, it is not really suited to hunting whitetail deer and, accordingly, has been banned for that use in many places. In the US, it remains a small-game cartridge, albeit one of the best – easy and affordable to reload, with a wide variety of bullets from which to choose. Effective range is about 250 yards, which, for most occasional varmint hunters, is a practical limit.

However, for the European hunter, the 222 is a very good choice for all small game, up to the size of roe deer, which rarely exceed 70 pounds. With proper loads, it is very versatile and relatively nondestructive of hides and meat on fox, blackcock, roe deer and similar species.

Due to the limiting standard twist of 1 turn in 14 inches, the 222 rarely performs well with bullets heavier than 60 grains; our own 62 grain bullet sometimes don’t shoot well in certain rifles. Some rifles would not shoot bullets accurate heavier than 55 grains.