221 Fireball

[ICUDIEN]

I took my girlfriend shooting for the first time last weekend and she loved it so I am thinking about building her a 221 fireball and was wanting some feedback about the round any would be appreciated.

[Eric in NC]

Great round, getting it to feed from a mag (and eject properly) can be tough. Less noise, fuss etc. than the 222 or 223 but if you like low priced factory/surplus go with the 223.

The 221 does best with 40-50 grain bullets (my experience).

Easy to make hits with and good performance on crows and groundhogs (only things I have used it on) out to about 250-300 yards.

[ICUDIEN]

Well thats good I just want an accurate round I dont think shell be killing anything just yet ;)

[flashhole]

You can really get the Firball to bring a smile to your face every time you pull the trigger. I know this is a Savage forum but my Fireball is a Rem 700. It started life as a Light Varmint Stainless Fluted. The Light part was the synthetic stock. Too much flex so I replaced it with a Boyd's Thumbhole Stock. What a difference!

I assume you will handload. My goto bullet is a Nosler 40 grain Ballistic Tip but there are several that work well. The accuracy can definately be impacted by primer selection. You want a mild primer like a Federal 205 or a CCI BR4 for best accuracy. Powders like Reloader #7 or AA1680 are superb in the Fireball. One ragged hole groups at 100 yards are common place for my gun. Like Eric said ... it's great on crows and ground hogs.

[ICUDIEN]

I know its a pretty mild round but is recoil real light? She was kinda whining about my 223 with 75grs :)

[stevec]

Almost no recoil at all. Very fun to shoot!

I actually pushed mine up to 4000fps with 30 gr Berger's and IMR 4227. I didn't believe it was possible when I read the load info but, I worked up to it and found it to be very accurate.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/221rfb.html

It isn't easy getting that much powder in that case but it is fun to shoot over the chrony with other people saying that's impossible!

Steve

[1Shot]

...I have 2 of them..lol..Fun to shoot..Holes... ;D..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v692/sqek/PT-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v692/sqek/GG.jpg

[tenwalker]

Like Flashole I have 2 Rem. 700's, in 221 Fireball, in their "Light Varminter Stainless Fluted". I also put them in Boyd's thumbhole stocks. I use "LIL GUN" 16.5grs behind a 40gr. V-Max and get 3650fps. out of a factory 22" barrel. The accuracy is fantastic. Both will do 1" 10 shot groups at 200yds. I put the single shot follower's in both of them because I use them for Prairie Dogs. I have tipped over many a PD at 300+ yards with these two. Very quiet and no recoil to speak of. And fairly cheap to shoot.

[ICUDIEN]

Boy, they just keep sounding better and better. I might have to build a couple of them if you know what I mean. ;)

[Pete K.]

...I have 2 of them..lol..Fun to shoot..Holes... ;D..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v692/sqek/PT-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v692/sqek/GG.jpg







1Shot,
I'm going to save you enough cash that you can buy two new Savage rifles!!
Take one new paper plate and measure and draw a 3" hole right in the center. Use a new single edge razor blade to cut out that hole. Go to Staples or Walmart and buy a few thousand "Paste Ums" like you use to write stuff down and stick it on something. Now find something round and the size of the bull that you want... 1" or 2". Trace around that round thing and make a circle on the "Post Ums". Now you can sit down and use your red marker pen until you pass out!! When you shoot the heck out of the "Post ums" just peal it off and stick another one on. You may need a small piece of Scotch Tape on the non sticky bottom but when you peal from the sticky top the Scotch tape will come right off.
The way you shoot you will only require One paper plate for the rest of your life!! Think of the money saved and your wife won't have to add them to her shopping list.
I took your lead and used 6" round paper bowls that have a 4" inner center and cut out the backer board so they just fit into a 4 1/2 hole. I used 1/8" 30 lb. stretch cord in two vertical strips to hold the bowls in the backer holes. Good for quick swap outs at the range.

Always thinking of ways to save you on paper plates.

Pete ;D

[flashhole]

This is what mine looks like.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/1stWhistlePig08_6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/GuideGun/NewStock2.jpg

[flashhole]

If I ever have to re-barrel I will go with a "heavy". I was even thinking about converting it to a 20-222 or 20 Vartag.

[1Shot]

1Shot,
I'm going to save you enough cash that you can buy two new Savage rifles!!


Always thinking of ways to save you on paper plates
Pete ;D
[/quote]

...LOL...I usually get them at the dollar store...$2.00 for a 100 plates... ;)

[bubbinator]

I have 2 .221 fireballs. One is an original XP-100 w/ a 2x-7x scope and the other is a Rem 700 Clasic w/ a 4X scope. They both are light recoiling guns. But if I were you, I'd look toward a .223 platform to accomodate your girlfriend. Ammo selection is 10X more available, Guns are 10X more available, and the difference between a 221 and a 223 are significant w/o any recoil issues. Ballistics are much better. You also need to consider the negative experience of losing a game animal dueto her being under gunned! My wife started hunting with a 12 Ga. and a 357 mag S&W (Police Officer) Her first big buck she saw appeared @ 200 yds dead still looking the other way! She ran out of ammo shooting at him and the next day I was in the hole at a local Police supplier for a .243 M-70 Winchester. She recently upgraded to a Ruger M77 Compact SS in 7mm08 w/ a Leupold scope. She hs killed more deer than me lately (just cause I like to see her do it- Remember that). I have a .222 Rem 788 that is scary accurate that I use for deer/feral dogs. Last shot was 325 yd on a feral dog @ 325 ydsDRT. Dogs are harder to kill than deer. Hope this expands your horizons.