Reply With QuoteI got the same bug! Have a 204 Ruger ready to go. Watching 17WSM and with issues it has I walked away from it for now. A 221 Fireball looks like my answer now. Emailed ERShaw to see what wait time is for a 221FB barrel.
221 Fireball Info Wanted!!
Hi Everyone!
Happy New Year!
I have the bug to get/put together a 221 Fireball. I would like any and all info anyone has on doing this. I'm thinking of a model 10 or 12 action, but I'm open. I don't have a rifle to start with as yet, and would prefer a nice used complete gun to start with. What barrel makers have you used? What barrel twists are you using? I would like a heavy varmint barrel profile (.850?) around 18 inches, but again, I'm open. I plan on using 35-40 grain jacketed bullets, but might go up to 55 grain cast lead too. Thanks in advance! Bob
I've already got a Savage in 22-250 that Fred at Sharp Shooters Supply did for me. This 221 would be a paper puncher and low cost varmint/fun gun.
I got the same bug! Have a 204 Ruger ready to go. Watching 17WSM and with issues it has I walked away from it for now. A 221 Fireball looks like my answer now. Emailed ERShaw to see what wait time is for a 221FB barrel.
The .221 Fireball is "THE BOMB"! One of my favorite calibers. Bug holes are the norm. My XP 100 got me hooked on the caliber.
Just about any powder that works in the .223 will work good.
You're working with a Savage so it can be just about any caliber you want!
Picked up an A&B barrel from Midway, on sale, at a price I couldn't pass up. Couldn't believe how short the throat was, just what i wanted, and couldn't have been better if I had custom ordered it.
As good or better than my custon ordered barrels from Shilen or Pac Nor.
Any short action will work for the Fireball. Feeding issues are the norm with the short case so all my rigs are set up as single shots.
The short cases pop off the bolt head before they clear the action port. It's the norm with the Fireball case. Removed the ejector rod and spring and pick the fired case off the bolt head. No chasing brass that way. 45 and 50 grain bullets are deadly accurate. 5 shot groups that can be covered with a dime.
Oz never gave nothing to the Tin Man, that he didn't already have.
I just signed back on here after being gone for more than two years and low and behold someone is asking about one of my favorite little rounds! I have a CZ 527 American in .221 Furball and like it so much that after I found a .221 Adams and Bennett barrel on Midway (closeout $100) for Savage actions I put me one together. I still am looking for a nice stock to use as I currently have it in a Choate and do not care for it much. Anybody got a nice wood stock they want to swap?
Anyway, 15 or 16 grains of Lil' Gun with any good 40 grain bullets is great fun out of either of my guns. As they say, they are just too much fun!
Got a response from ERShaw. Single order barrels are about 6 months out right now. Hmmm - should I get in line now?
You may as well. 6 months from now you will have one if you do. They are worth the wait.Originally Posted by shagerott
I have heard those that badmouth Shaw barrels but certainly, I am not one of them as I have yet to have a bad one or even a mediocre one. My Savage 112 has a Shaw barrel on it that I had rechambered from .223 to .223 AI and I have taken prairie dogs out as far as 705 yards with it. When I found out that my A&B Midway .221 FB barrel was a re-badged Shaw I jumped at it.
Put your name on the list. Smiles are worth waiting for. Especially ear to ear smiles.
CZ 527 American is no longer available in 221 FB! You're lucky you got yours when you did! I called their corporate offices and was told "low demand-maybe they'll build more in 2015" Yeah, I'm going to wait and hold my breath! Right!
You'll really like that 221!!! Easy on the pocket and very accurate.
Thanks! I'm picking up a Model 10XP Predator Hunter Mossy Oak Camo in .22-250, on Saturday, mint used gun (10 rounds through it), for reasonable money, and will then decide which .221 Fireball barrel to purchase and look for a small bolt face to change over. This site is great! Bob
Thanks Rustydust - I jumped and ordered the ER Shaw today. I didn't know about the 221 FB when Midway had the sale but I did buy the 6.5x55 Swede. I can test that one while waiting for the 221 FB to arrive.
Last February I stopped by the ER shaw machine shop to pick up a 22-250 tube they luckily had on the shelf and my buddy ordered his 6.5 creedmoore barrel at same time. The projected 6 month wait was off by about a month but we are both very happy with them for the money spent. I'd buy another, but my next I'm trying a shilen or mcgowen. Both of our Shaws clean very easy and collect zero, I mean zero copper in the amount of shots we go between cleaning.
I'm interested in the 221 fireball it seems like a sweet little round.
You will be glad you did, Shag! Even though my first varmint rifle was a .220 Swift (still love that round!) the little Furball sure is a lot more fun to shoot day in and day out. And I hate to use the term "amazingly accurate" as it is so overused, but when I first got that little CZ there was nothing that gun would not shoot well except for possibly factory ammo and the reason that I say that is just that I never had any to try!
I hope that you will get that barrel sooner than you expect. Oh, and just wondering- are you thinking about making your brass from .223 or what? The reason that I am asking is that .221 is rather hard to get ahold of right now.
I have two, 525 cz and savage striker, both barrels are Sinnarms off the same reamer. Check this link to get brass, just bought 500 once fired lake city prepped/sized/deprimed $30/hundred. I shoot small gr up to 55gr, about same as my .223 in 55's.
http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...-to-20-Vartarg
Buzzard and others. I posted 221 FB info on this site recently. I also have an XP-100 in 221 FB and I don't enjoy shooting it much any more. I have wrist damage from 454s, 445SM, 7mm-08 XP, etc. It's not so much the recoil, but the muzzle blast, as well. I have hundreds of cases, dies, etc. Just hated to see the ammo sitting around........
I converted an Axis 223 into the 221 quite easily. Here's how:
I faced off the chamber end in my lathe. I purchased a PTG reamer from Midway. Easily (!) re-cut the chamber to 221 and screwed it back together using go and no-go gages.
The rifle has exceeded ALL my expectations. Like shooting a 22 Mag. Bughole accuracy. Only other thing I did was the new trigger spring / setscrew mod.
At first, I built (because I was told it "couldn't be done") a .223 Short. This is like a 221 except it has less body taper. I had to modify a spare set of 223 dies. It worked, but I gave in, pulled the bbl and cut the 221 chamber.
This was so easy to do, I then built a 223 AI using another Axis. Recently, I built the 22-204R discussed here. I guess it's technically a 224 Ruger. It is an AI version of a 204R opened up to 22 cal. It is NOT a 222 Rem Mag. It holds 2 grains more (H2O) than the 204R.
This week, I am building yet another rifle. A McGowen SS bbl chambered in 6.5 TCU on a SS Axis.
The reason I mention all these is just to point out how easy these Axis rifles are to work on and rebarrel and rechamber.......
You will need a bbl nut wrench and a set of jaw inserts for your vise. Some of the bbls can be a bear to get off... ha ha
Have fun and feel free to PM mail me with any questions.
ron
Pm sent to Buzz
Rustydust - I am making 221FB from 223/5.56 right now. That is an interesting process. I found some brass works well and some is just difficult. Most of it must be neck turned to get rid of the thicker taper as it nears the shoulder. I am annealing them too. LC08 and PMC are doing the best - about 95% make it.
ERShaw confirmed my order with a phone call. I went with 24-inch length and a magnum contour.
Buzzard - Please share if you order a barrel and what specifications you are thinking about? 1:12 or 1:9 twist or other?
Shagerott,
I called Fred Moreo at SSS and will probably be going with a Brux barrel in 1:12, 22 inch barrel in stainless. The 10XP predator hunter I'm using has a 22 inch .22-250 barrel now.
I except for a 7MM TCU Contender that I once had I never tried making brass out of anything else. I have necked down .308 Winchester to 7-08 back when the 7-08 was a wildcat and no factory rounds were available. Dang- am I giving away my age here?
In truth I have plenty of Furball brass as I used to buy it by the 500 round box when Midway would put it on sale (remember those days?) several years ago. It was easy to find before everyone found out what a sweetheart little cartridge it was.
Thanks for the info though. Just for grins, I may want to make some someday anyway. Being retired has its plusses I suppose.
Looking forward to your report once you get you gun put together. I bet it will be a real darlin' gun for you.
Rusty - I am looking forward to seeing what the FB can do. I read up on using single-shot and also another option to adapt the CZ magazine. I will go single-shot to start and might look at doing something with the ejector.
Buzzard - I was close to getting the 1:12 twist. I read good comments on that twist with lighter bullets. I haven't ordered from Fred at SSS but all good reports there too. I think you will have a real shooter (and a looker). I am looking forward to your report too!
Last edited by shagerott; 01-04-2014 at 12:46 AM.
What's the projected barrel life of that round?
That is a question that I never thought of. Not for the friendly little Furball anyway. Both of mine have carbon steel barrels which generally means that they will be toast before the same would be in stainless. But truthfully, as long as it is taken care of I would guess around double the life of something on the order of a standard .223 barrel. As most folks know, flame cutting does its dirty deed on the throats of rifles from shooting. Overbore cartridges such as the .220 Swift and most of the Weatherby rounds generate a lot of flame cutting when fired resulting in sooner than normal washed out rifling directly ahead of the chamber. Cartridges that are more efficient (such as the Fireball) have much less of this issue. In mine for example, I use 15 grains of powder compared to my .223 Ackley which I use around 30 grains of powder. Different powders are used but you get my point.
Don't shoot the gun so hot that it sizzles spit, clean it every now and then and your grandkids will be shooting it some day with the same accuracy that you are getting.
So far the 20 vartarg turbo has my vote but keeping my eyes open.
Shagerott,
I had a 22-250 Savage done by Fred at SSS about 15+ years ago. I could not believe it was the same gun when I got it back! Jagged hole at 100 yards with the original Savage barrel and factory ammo! He completely redid the gun from end to end. It was one of the last guns he did with his brother redoing the laminated stock and shooting it in red toner added to the epoxy finish. It looks like a candy apple red laminate stock! Varmint Hunter magazine had done an article on Fred doing a gun just like this and I sent him mine with instructions to copy it. I trust the guy! I'm going to have him true the action and install the Brux barrel on the .221FB. Bob
Bob - I bet that Savage 22-250 is something to behold. I didn't realize Fred was doing that back then. I will have to see if I can find a copy of that article. He will do a wonderful job again and you will have another shooter to go along with that 22-250!
Shagerott,
If I ever get my camera to work with my computer, I'll try posting a few photos of the BVSS. Now for PLAN B! I found a mint used CZ 527 American in .221 Rem FB, so now I have 3 22-250's. Always room for another Savage. I'll sell off another 1897 Winchester this summer at a cowboy action shoot to make a little room in the safe. The Savage is a good "walking around gun" and I'm not worried about scratching it with the camo finish.
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