circleh

Hey guys hope you can help me out here. I have a customer that wants to trade a gun for some of my work. The problem is I don't know much about the gun. A couple people I talked to said they didn't know they even made the 222 mag. Now I haven't seen the gun yet. I am going to check it out thurs. Ok This is the info he gave me. It's a 222 remington mag, mint condition. It has a custom thumbhole stock. Anda Leupold scope. He said he thinks he can get $600 for it at a gun show. He owes me $450. Can you tell me if the 222 rem mag is a good gun? Would this be a good deal? I have no idea what the value would be. Thanks for your time. Tony

Pavomesa

The 222 mag came along shortly after the 222 Remington and both are fine cartridges and usually very accurate. What killed the 222 mag was the arrival of the military's cartridge...what we call the 223. The 223 and 222 RM are mighty similar ballistically.

If this rifle is a factory rig, that's one thing. If it's some cobbled up "custom" contraption, that's another. Just depends on what action etc. I will tell you the 222 Rem Mag is largely a forgotten cartridge thanks to the 223. I would urge caution on this deal. We need more info about the gun. Look it over real good.

eldeguello

Tony, with a good Leupold scope on it, this is a good deal, even with that thumb-hole stock!

Originally, there was just the .222 Remington. Then several years later, Remingtoncame out with the .222 Rem. "Magnum", which is the same case, except longer to hold more powder. The regular .222 fired a 50 grain bullet at 3200 FPS, and the .222 Magnum fired a 55 grain bullet at 3300, so you can see it did have a poweradvantage. Then the military adopted the "mouse-gun" (M16) in .223 (5.56mm). The .223 is almost the same as the .222 Mag from head to shoulder, but has a slightly shorter neck. However, the .222 Mag. and the .223 hold almost the same amount of powder, and thus can be loaded to almost the same power level using the same bullets.

Because of the advent of the .223, and the use of the .223 by the military, interest in the .222 Mag (and to some extent, the original .222 as well) began to cool off. In about ten years, most rifle makers had stopped chambering for the .222 Rem. Mag.

Actually, the .222 Rem. Mag. is a better designed cartridge than the .223, because it can be loaded to a slightly higher MV and has a longer neck, making it better for handloaders.

It looks like at the present, only Nosler is making .222 Rem. Mag. ammo, but Remington is still making brass in this size. Being a handloader, I'd buy brass and load it myself!

jtb1967

It depends upon the rifle. Figure a 3-9X40mm Leupold scope is worth $175-$200. The rest depends upon the rifle. Like Pavomesa wrote, if it's a factory rifle it's a good deal. If it's a slopped up custom job, the resale market may be very limited.

If you keeping it too shoot, be aware that the 222 magnum ammo is very scarce unless you handload.

circleh

Thanks guys. I'm going to check it out today. I will let you know how it turns out.

RugerMike

I would be interested in purchasing the rifle to get your $450 back in your pocket. Please send me pictures to [email protected] if you want to sell it.
Thanks
Mike

Doe Dumper

Those 222's are one sweet shooting round!

circleh

Sorry Rugermike I didn't see your post until now. I ended up not getting the gun. It was a beautiful gun though. If he didn't sell the gun at the gun show this past weekend I will let you know.

RugerMike

Thank you. Feel free to give this person my e-mail address to contact me.
Thanks again.

[email protected]