.221 Fireball

[Hawkeye Joe]

I just picked up this beauty at a divorce sale.I kinda felt bad. All the money is going to lawyer fees It's a Remington 700 in .221 Fireball. Seems to be a nice rifle.The action is nice and smooth.I'm told it has 100 rounds down the pipe. The Nikon Titanium 5.5-16.5 X 44 is also like new. I couldn't pass it up for 5 beans

Does anybody have any powder and bullet suggestions? Not sure what the twist rate is. Also, is this a standard short action? It looks kinda small I think I found my new winter project . I was given a few rounds loaded with Lilgun and 40g Noslers. If the weather holds out, maybe i'll get out and shoot her this weekend.

[Bad Dad]

I think you should sell it to me for those 5 beans and I'll do all the load work for you.
Nice find
g-

[Glen]

Hawkeye-- Glenn Asher sent me a long list of FireBall loads & I'll be darn if I can find em now. He'll be along shortly & will prolly just copy/paste them here for you.

Nice grab on that rig. A 1/2 price deal is what we're always looking for.

[acloco]

Wait until you see the price of brass. ugh!!!

[Steve V]

Nice looking rig!!! we are all jealus.
I've been shooting a Fireball for 20 years and would be hard pressed to be without it.
My rig is a Sako Vixen with a #4 Douglas stainless 22" barrel. Just about any plastic tipped 40 grain bullet is going to shoot well in that gun. As far as powder, I presently like AA1680, but have , over the years, used RL 7, H335, AA2015 and L'il Gun. When I first got my 221, I found Remington 50 gr PLHPs on top of RL-7 to be match accurate and real deadly on pds. When the Ballistic Tip and VMax 40 grain bullets came , I've shot them exclusively and never looked back.

[Vartarg]

It's an LVSF....I've got one in .204 and it's a great shooter. Check out Hodgdon's site for reload data: http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp. I don't think the .221 brass is available new anyplace currently.....a couple of months ago Remington told me that it was "in stock" and would be on dealers shelves very soon.....not yet. I'm sure you can find some one who'll part with a couple hundred pieces, and/or buy the ammo and save the brass. I've made about 300 pcs from Lapua Match .223 brass. Good luck....you got a fantastic deal on a great rifle. Vartarg

[Lee C.]

Thats a pretty nice looking set up Mike. Let us know how she shoots when you get to that point ok.

[glenn asher]

Several powders work really well, but my CZ likes RE-7 and shoots so well, I refuse to look at any other. I've standardized on one single load for every bullet from a 37 Calhoon to a 50 grain VM, I use 18.5gr. of RE-7, for ALL those bullets.
No, velocity is better from other powders, but accuracy is the name of this rifle, and it likes RE-7 best. Other powders that shoot well in the Fireball (according to Foxhunter, over on saubier.com, include Lil Gun, 1680, VV-120, 2015, 4198(take your pick) and probably some others. Hornady says H335 gives top velocity with 50s, but since my little stinker shoots that Reloader Seven so well, I've never gotten round to trying the others. Lil Gun is good stuff, but pierces primers in my CZ, it gets GREAT speeds, but won't work in the rifle.
A buddy of mine has done more with his Remington Classic than I can do with my CZ, but I like my rifle better.

I can't seem to get Foxhunter's data to go from Word to here, so I'd suggest you go over to saubier.com, and ask Foxhunter to post it (he's done so a zillion times, it's kind of a standing joke over there). He's ALWAYS willing to help out, he's a fine feller. He's now got a .204 identical to your rifle, too...............

[Hawkeye Joe]

I found some Remington brass at Sinclair for $33. I hope it's in stock. Hmmm..... I just might try some 50 grain Bergers with H335, Which I have in stock .Looks like my old .223 neck die is getting cut in half. I was given 24 pieces of fireformed brass,Some are loaded... After looking at prices,This looks like a $1300 set up . I DID get a good deal. And to think I almost didn't want it . The one question I still have is about the action. The port seems tiny. Is this a standard short action or smaller??? I kinda want to make a 22-250 out of it

[Glen]

I haven't checked Cabelas in a while but last time I did they had it for $26/100.

[glenn asher]

The magazine is blocked in the rear, to fill up some of the space, because of the short cartridge, and they lengthened the bolt stop, too. It's a standard short action Remington action, though, just adapted for use with the Fireball case (all those mods are part of the reason for the .17 Fireball, they already had the goodies to build it, they just needed reamers and bingo, a new chambering.
As for rebuilding it to a .22/250, you'd need to replace the bolt stop, and magazine parts, and open up the bolt face, besides rechambering the barrel (or replacing it). It CAN be done, but you'd probably be better off just trading it for a .22/250.
Try the Fireball for awhile, it'll open your eyes, they shoot awfully well, and are less costly to feed than even the .223. You'd be surprised to see how well they do out west, I was making shots at the same distance as the .223, even allowing for the slow 2900fps I get out of 50s. I REALLY like my Furball .

[glenn asher]

Mike, check your PMs, I got the Foxhunter data to load right, finally, and the data is there.

[Vartarg]

Rather than thinking about trading it up for a 22-250, do what I did: had my Rem 700 Classic in .221 rebarrelled with a Shilen 24" barrel to .20 Vartarg.....even better than the .221, esp. with 35 Bergers and 39 Blitzkings......

[Hawkeye Joe]

A 22-250 is what I wanted next. Now that this came along. I just thought a custom stock and barrel would be nice on the 700 action . We'll see how the 221 is first. Looks like a critter gitter I wish Berger made a 35g in 22 cal. The 50's might be fur friendly at the slower speeds. Any body shoot a fox or coyote with a 221??

[glenn asher]

Glen(One En) has headshot a coyote with his CZ Furball, guess what, it worked 50 BK, Re-7, if I remember right, DRT. Another one of my Furball buddies has walloped one at roughly 250 yards, using a 35 VM and 1680, DRT spine shot. I have six or so, local guys, who are shooting Furballs, and we all love 'em. Mine is flat out wicked on PDs using 40VMs, and 50VMs if it's windy
The Fireball is a very easily aquired taste, it makes you wonder why you need those big, clunky .223s

Check out Calhoon's bullets, I'm dinking around with some 37DHPs that are interesting, I think he's got some lighter than that, too .