Aloys, great news that you got the trail boss. Hope you testing on the weekend is successful. Do you also use a suppressor?

Good to hear you got your TB, and yes it is a very bulky powder and takes up a lot of room fast.

SJ, you shouldn't ask... but it's not anymore allowed here in Belgium. And no, I don't have a soundmoderator for my .222 Rem. But I also know a few hunters who use such a thing when hunting in Gr-Brittain. (and I think it's also allowed in France, Germany, the Scandinavian countries (to prevent the dogs getting hearingproblems!), South-Africa, ... almost all educated and non-educated countries that still trust its own citizens)

But I shouldn't complain today because I've been told that our ministers are going to vote new huntinglaws today so that we're able to hunt with snow (when it comes we just have to wait 24 hours after the latest snowfall) and they 're going to make fox-hunting a little easier (because foxes are overprotected here, they are the pets of all these light-green people). So I should be happy when our Minister Kris Peeters gets this things voted today.

so how did the TB work out for you in .222????

Should test more, but I put it away for a while. I now have 2 loads for my Sabatti that give me excellent results: for small varmints I use the .45 grs Sierra Hornet bullet (the one I also use for my .22 Hornet, but in the .222 Rem it gets about 100 m/s extra what makes this bullet disappear once it hits something) and the other load is using the Sierra 63 grs SMP which was recommended here. That 63 grs bullet doesn't work in the Baikal nor in the K-98 model, but in the Sabatti it's worth gold. Roedeer shot in the heart just died on the spot (till now). I never fully trusted the .222 on roedeer, but what I've seen from that 63 grs SMP gives me complete confidence in my Sabatti.

And for subsonic I'm thinking more and more about the 30/30 Win, the .308 Win or the 30-06 using casted lead bullets.
I think I need the velocity to get such a light .224 bullet on the target (with enough energy) and in .308 I have the moulds to make rather heavy lead bullets. This are 2 very good reasons to change my mind.
(and the third reason: for very short distances (as for a trapped animal) I have a load for my .222 using an airgunpellet and a primer (without powder) that's doing the job (without ruining my trap).

sounds good. the 30/30 etc will be fun subsonic but just be aware they will ricochet off into the distance alarmingly if you dont get them into something to stop them....most guys over here use 180-220grn but I use 150 grn with big open hollow point as I figure it SHOULD'NT go as far and front half breaks up on impact.
so how did you get air gun pellet to stick in case in the end???

Elvis wrote:

so how did you get air gun pellet to stick in case in the end???

that's a trick of trial and error using neck-sizing and being very carefull afterwards with how you transport and handle these rounds. When you want to carry them arround it might be better to prepare the cases and put the pellet in at the moment you want to use it. You have 1 big advantage: when the pellets goes completely in the case or falls out, you don't loose powder (because there's none inside )

Aloysius wrote:

I have a load for my .222 using an airgunpellet and a primer (without powder) that's doing the job (without ruining my trap).

genious! I know you said you use it at close range but what does the pellet dispersion look like at say 25 meters?

Help to pray for no rain and little work for next weekend and I will try it. But it's going to look a little bit foolish when me and my Sabatti with its big optics go benchresting on a 25 m lane... better also take the .44 for when people start laughing too much
Maybe I should also invest a few grains of Trail Boss on this test...

Aloys-there's an outfit here in the U.S. that I bought one of their kits from a few years back(35+) that used a #209 shotshell primer in the drilled out base of a 223 case,and held the pellet in place by a dimple made in the case neck.It seemed to shoot just fine-but I never chronographed the velocities!

Not available here but looks similar to Trail Boss, Vihtavuori Tin Star. Has anyone tried it? Might be easier to find in Europe.

Vihta stocks are getting low and much overprised lately...


And I have to be carefull for what I promise for next weekend as we planned our season-is-over-dinner for next Saturday and we're not going to a restaurant (to avoid the use of a car...)
Not sure I'll still be alive next Sunday, but who is?

Aloysius wrote:

I have to be carefull for what I promise for next weekend as we planned our season-is-over-dinner for next Saturday

Any reason is a good reason to get together with friends. Have grand time!

sometimes you don't even need a reason...
but that's not always easy to explain at home

My subsonic load for the .222 is: Lapua case, Win primer, 3.6 grains Trailboss, Hornady 45 grain HP Bee projectile. Shoots around 1 - 1.5 MOA. Load zeroed at around 55 meters. This short stubby projectile stabilises at these low velocities. I could not get longer projectiles such as the V-max to stabilise at low velocities. At 55m the projectile will only just start to open up and is more like a slightly larger flat point. Seems to perform OK for rabbits and hares with head and good chest shots.
I have recently drilled out the hollow point to around 3.5mm deep on a number of projectiles but have not yet tested them for performance on rabbits / hares or for stability.