Recoil of .22 calibers?

[Appleseed]

Which is likely to have less recoil...22 br or 221 fb? Need to build something with less recoil (than my .223 with brake) to target shoot. Compare assuming rifles are similar weights and barrels.

Shot .223 about 50 rounds yesterday and even that recoil aggravates problems from a head and neck injury. Maybe change to blue dot powder to drop the recoil?

[laportecharlie]

221 Fireball should have noticeably less recoil. I shoot 4,000 to 6,000 a year at Prairie Dogs and feel just about no recoil.
Charlie

[Eric in NC]

You wear hearing protection too right? No or bad hearing protection makes recoil seem a lot worse than it is.

22 BR will have more recoil than a 223.

221 will have less - lowest you can go before getting into hornet, bee, or wildcat type stuff.

[Appleseed]

Thanks guys, yeah I use ear plugs with muffs over that. Had a tractor accident that broke up some stuff around the neck and head. Charlie, do you use your CZ 527 and haven't worn out the barrel at that rate! That's a bunch of shoot'n.

[laportecharlie]

I started using the CZ this year and fired around 2,500 to 3,000 with it. My old standby Savage model 16FLSS shot the rest. That re-chambered Savage 223 Rem barrel must have around 15,000 rounds through it by now and it still shoots great. Next season the new 20 VarTarg is going to start picking up some of the slack. We'll see how that works out.
Charlie

[MikeCTX]

221 Fireball should have noticeably less recoil. I shoot 4,000 to 6,000 a year at Prairie Dogs and feel just about no recoil.
Charlie

Would like to hear about the barrel life too, oh and is that using Remington brass or do you make it from 222 or 223.

[laportecharlie]

I think a big factor in barrel life in small rounds like the 221FB is the small amount of powder it burns. My hunting partner has an old Winchester in 22 Hornet that has countless thousands of rounds through it and it still shoots pretty good. I have switched to cleaning with Wipeout. It greatly reduces the number of strokes with the cleaning rod.
When I got my first 221FB I lucked into a deal on once fired Remington brass. I bought three or four thousand pieces. Since then I have bought around another thousand from various places including the classifieds here. I have the Redding form dies to make 221FB out of 222 or 223 Rem and have made another eight or nine hundred that way. Kind of a slow process especially the neck turning that is required. For the 20 VarTarg, I took a tip from 1Shot here and bought 1,000 pieces of new Winchester 222 brass from the same lot #. A lot of work but the result has been worth it.
Charlie

[Appleseed]

I sold my vartarg barrel here, it shot well but required constant cleaning, due to being a .20 cal. My other Sin Arms barrel, .223, rarely requires cleaning. Until I switched to a bushing die, I didn't get good brass. Now I'm thinking about re-chamber? That's the problem with this board, too many good ideas!

[laportecharlie]

My VarTarg barrel is a Shilen that I bought from Jim @ Northland. I had about fifty rounds thru it for load development and sight in when it went on it's first PD hunt. Shot just under 300 rounds that day without cleaning the barrel. Just as accurate at the end as it was at the beginning. The Vartarg just might be my new favorite PD round.
Charlie

[Appleseed]

You know, it could have been that 322 powder doing the barrel crudding. Needed to be wiped out more than I liked. I don't remember the member here that bought it but would like to hear how it's shooting. It was accurate. I was loading 18.9gr and 40 hornady.

[gotcha]

appleseed, I feel your pain ;D. I've got an old neck injury also. Don't know if this will help but, I switched to taller scope rings and a stock w/ adjustable butt plate. This kept my neck out of the position that caused the most discomfort. For me It was the position that caused the ouchie more than the recoil. Keep on keepin' on, Dale

[AVanGorder]

I have a 26 inch heavy barreled 22BR with a BVSS stock. It is a rather heavy gun. I call it "Barker" because it has such a sharp fast recoil. It is a great gun to shoot and will do anything you ask.... except stay on the target after you pull the trigger. You would be quite surprised just how much recoil a 22BR has.

Now a 221 Fireball is a real joy to shoot because of it's light recoil. If you want even lighter, go with a 17 Fireball.

Adrian

[tenwalker]

Have 2-221fb's in Rem 700 LVSF with 22" barrels. I use "LIL GUN" and a 40gr V-Max (3650 fps) with a Boyd Thumbhole Varminter stock hardly any recoil at all. My 223 with a Russo Thumbhole and a Krieger barrel produces hardly any recoil but is also tips the scale at 14+lbs. Dale

[knickia]

+1 for the 22 hornet.

My mother has neck problems and is what she like(s) to shoot most.

If your shooting target only, is there any reason you can not go up in weight ?

Do you hand load ? even with 223, you should be able to do some "managed recoil" like loads. IMR 4895 has data here (but not for 223 )

http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Youth%20Loads.pdf

[rjtfroggy]

Before using the above listed youth loads please note that they are for H4895 NOT IMR4895.

[Appleseed]

Thanks for the ideas, a gunsmith friend bow hunts here at the farm suggested the stock mods too. I am using a med/heavy wood stock and mag contour barrel, altough a 20" with break, bench shoot with bags at 100-200yds.

Am looking into some reduced blue dot loads too. Barrel is shooting bug holes with 18gr IMR4198 with 55gr bullets.

I think the 221fb is my next rifle caliber. It is not unusual to shoot 50+ in a day.

[possum1]

4895 has data here (but not for 223 )

Be very careful when downloading H4895
for the .223 . I done something very stupid using the 60% method. Luckily the load wasn't too light but it was very close Work the load down don't trust the math

[AVanGorder]

They tell me size doesn't matter but for those who haven't see a 221 Fireball, here is a pic compared to a good ol' 223.

[sha-ul]

They tell me size doesn't matter but for those who haven't see a 221 Fireball, here is a pic compared to a good ol' 223.

can you reform 223 into 221 brass? as I have heard 221fb brass can be quite pricey.

[MikeCTX]

Yes you can, but 222 rem case might be a little easier

[sha-ul]

Yes you can, but 222 rem case might be a little easier

I was thinking of milsurp, or once fired commercial brass, almost dirt cheap.