Which 22 Centerfire??

[seddo]

Hi guys,

I am new here and to Contenders. I have wanted one for years and just bought my first, a 10" 30-30 G1 Contender. I am after a 22cal centerfire and cant make up my mind. What is the max velocity i will get out of a 10" barrel and which is the smallest case that will do it. I dont see the point in buying a 223 or 221, if they shoot fireballs they are using too much powder. Not that there is anything wrong with that but i am looking for a round they is efficient and only as loud as it has to be. I was leaning towards a 22 Hornet but if there is something else better i am open to suggestions...... I thought about 22 Rem Jet and 218 as well.

I'm in Australia so we cant legally use them for hunting so its range use only.

Seddo
 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I would vote either hornet or K hornet. I have a 14" hornet that is extremely accurate. It easily hangs with my buddy's single shot bolt rifle out to 100 yds. It's also not very loud at all. The 10" will be a bit louder, but won't be bad in a hornet. If you're willing to go longer barrel, say 14", then maybe a straight triple duce (222 Rem) would be nice I think.

[P.A. Myers]

I have a 10inch bull 223 and a s14 223. Both are accurate, low recoil, ammo is plentiful and cheap. The s14 is more efficent. The 10inch has a
tremendous muzzel blast. Its got my vote.

[Czech_too]

I would go with the Hornet in either 10 or 14 inches.  It's not gonna be loud or use a lot of powder and with a 33-35 grain bullet will be deadly accurate.  The 222 would be nice in a 14" also.
But, on the other hand since this will be only for range use, why not a rimfire?  You're sure to be shooting it a lot more than if you went with a centerfire.
Do you reload and how available are components?  Is ammo cost a factor here?

[russ69]

I like the Hornet, K Hornet or 218 Bee. My factory barrel Hornet is very accurate.

Thanx, Russ 

[securitysix]

If you're going to limit yourself to a 10" tube, I'd look in the .221 Fireball or smaller category.  The .222 Remington would be OK, too.  The .223 Remington works in a 10" barrel, but it really shines in a 14" barrel.

In a 10" barrel, I'd look at .221 Fireball, .22 Hornet, .22 K-Hornet, .218 Bee, .22 Jet, or maybe a .222 Remington.  The .221 Fireball and .222 Remington will be pretty close to each other in a 10" tube, and both will be way ahead of the Hornets and Jet with the Bee being somewhere in between.

If you were to step up to a 14" barrel, the .223 Remington, .219 Zipper, and .219 Donaldson Wasp are all good candidates.  The .226 JDJ would also be worth looking at.  But all of those would be extremely loud out of a 10" barrel, and also less efficient.

[tc scout]

.22 Hornet in a 14" barrel, brass and bullets are plentifull and doesn't use alot of powder.
More bang for the buck IMO, and very accurate.
Had a 10", was very finicky when it came to bullets,never really found one that shot well.
What's 4" in a target pistol anyway ?
 

[Flynmoose]

I have a 12 inch Hornet barrel for the G2s. It is very accurate and FUN to shoot!
I also have a 12 inch 223 barrel for the Encore, accurate and loud! You didn't say
what range you would shoot at. I love my 12 inch 357 barrel for the G2s. We shoot
metal reactive targets (gongbusting) at 100 yards with 38 spl standard loads, cheap
and fun to shoot!

[Hopalong7]

     For a 10" barrel I would stick with the smaller volume cases(221 and down).  They are all proven and you can't go wrong with any of them.  My personal favorite is the 218Bee.
Walt

[Lager]

There is at least one 222 10 inch barrel for sale here on the forum.
But, I dont think it is what you are looking for. The 222 is pretty much the same as the 223,both will have a loud report and use a good amount of powder.
The Hornet might be what you are looking for.

[David D.]

All the above would be a good choice! If you want the quietest and still maintain accuracy go with the Hornet. If you don't reload  you may want to consider another choice as Hornet ammo isn't cheap or that easy to find (in my location).

[muffindrvr]

why just pick one you know eventually uyou will own all of them. sorry its just part of the sickness.i know i need help meself.......

[luckydawg13]

i got a 223 14" and has a break its LOUD i think next time it a hornet

[doc-and]

There are 2 calibers that would meet your expectations, the first is the 22K-Hornet. Economical and fun to shoot. The next would be the 5.7x28. Both are great cartridges and cheap to shoot.



Here's a picture of my 22K-Hornet both are built using the Encore platform but could be had in Contender configuration



Next is my 5.7x28 Barrel by MGM



Good luck with your project

docand

[qwikrick]

I have a 10inch bull 223 and a s14 223. Both are accurate, low recoil, ammo is plentiful and cheap. The s14 is more efficent. The 10inch has a
tremendous muzzel blast. Its got my vote.

X 2 on the 223.
I have a 14 inch 223 & with open sights it can hit the 200 yard targets with no problem.

cheap and easy to find ammo is always a good thing. 

[redleg11b]

You said that you wanted to go wtih a 10" bbl...I'd go with the 5.7X28.  It was designed with pistols and short barrel shoulder arms in mind.  Power is between the 22 Mag and 22 Hornet.  It uses less powder, is quieter, and will get you close to 2,000 fps.  I had an 18" for my Encore that averaged 2177 fps over 20 shots.  They are reloadable, but the brass is thin and takes a lot of care from what I have read.  I don't reload so the ammo being cheaper than 22 Hornet was a big plus for me.  I was also getting groups averaging about 1.5" at 100 yards as a pistol/rifle scope combo off of a bipod.  I probably could have done better with a nice rest, but where is the fun in that?

[Larry L]

I load for the Hornet and the Bee cartridges and both have issues that haven't been mentioned here. Both in their standard form are hard on brass with neck splits common. The brass is almost as thick as paper....almost and it isn't a cheap date. Using the K mod or a Mashburn mod to the chamber pretty much eliminates the issue. I would suggest looking at either of those configurations. Fire forming is just shooting the parent case in the chamber and using the correct die to reload it. My preference is to the Mashburn Bee but it's more of a Chevy- Ford argument. It just depends on what you like. My TC 218 Bee barrel is still in the standard chambering and I've considered having it chambered to a Mashburn but I also have several Model 43 Winchesters in 218B and right now they all shoot the same load. So I'll probably not rechamber it.