Custom .222 bench gun, need help!

BoonDock

BoonDock

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
So my father-in-law pulled this out of the safe and asked if I could get some info on it to get us shooting it again. He got it in a trade 20 years ago and hasn’t messed with it much. Custom through and through that I can see, with a HAIR trigger. Said he’s pretty sure it needs hand loads, but unsure. Anyone familiar with this design and/or caliber? I’m unsure where to start. Clearly a bench/competitive shooting gun. I’m unsure on the barrel, action, or maker. It’s got a Lyman USA made scope. Anyone have any .222 custom loads?

23C76C36-C153-4A2E-AD12-159E0265FF2A.jpg
 
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woodmoose

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
yeap, nice ol' benchrest competition gun,,you can find .222 ammo factory, but expect reloads will do better in that gun,,,,plenty of load data for that round on the internet,,,,and in reloading manuals,,,,

action should be marked in some way I would think - unless it's from the 50s, early 60s (which is very possible)

bench shooting can get addictive - don't know how much goes on around here as I don't do it anymore -
 
41magnum

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
What does it say UNDER the receiver?..when you took it apart?
What does it say on the trigger......Kenyon?...Canjar?..Jewell?...Huber?..Shilen?
Looks like a Stolle or Stiller action but hard to tell...looks like a Rem 700 handle and bolt shroud was used.
Ammo is at LG outdoor stores like Field n Stream and BAss Pro or Cabelas.
My best load out of a Rem 700, standard barrel, is 19.5 gr IMR4198.
I worked this action/gun over in Gunsmith School in '82 (lapped lugs, pillar and glass bedded and trued action) and I cannot shoot it this good nowadays.
3 shots-308 win.jpg
H322 is also a 1 hole group powder for the "Triple Deuce".
Once you figure the rate of twist I'd go to www.benchrest.com and www.handloadersbench.com or www.accuratereloading.com and ask the pro's.
It is probably twisted for a 52, 53 or 55 gr match bullet....and you'll probably find someone with that twist who'll share their load.
Hornady ammo was most accurate factory ammo for me...2 or 3 nearly touching with a couple flyers, but STILL could cover with a nickel.

The .222 has an inherent accuracy in it's case design, by Mike Walker in '50, and held all the benchrest records thru the 50's - 70's until the 6mmPPC came along in '75.
 
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FishHunt

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
Nice looking old .222Rem. Before considering ammo and reloading find out exactly what twist rate it is and really consider doing a chamber cast with cerrosafe to make sure you don't have a custom reamed chambering or absolute minimum SAAMI spec chamber. Good luck getting it up and running. I have a friend with a CZ527 .222Rem and with the right bullets it is a great shooting rifle.

<>< Fish
 
1SHOT1KILL

1SHOT1KILL

Old Mossy Horns
Depending on how old that rifle is, it could very well be a Remington 721, 722, 700, or 40X action that has been sleeved. It doesn't quite look like a Stolle action to me, as I am familiar with Stolle actions. I built and shot several Stolle Panda action rifles back in the early 80's to early 90's. Sleeved actions were very popular on the benchrest rifles (and on serious varmint rifles) back in the 50's thru the 70's until fully custom benchrest actions became available and popular. Kenyon, Canjar, Jewel, and Shilen triggers were popular back in the 60's and 70's. If it were a custom action such as a Stolle, Shilen, or some other make there should be a name and/or SN on it (opposite side of the ejection port), but if it is a sleeved action chances are it will not have anything on it.
 
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double

Twelve Pointer
Bailey Boat said:
Ya got that math.. so 60's would be 55 or so years ago.... right?? There was life before you were born....
Click to expand...

Not sure why your getting so pissy. I was just pointing out the gun could have been built in the 80’s or 90’s. Everyone was talking about checking it to see if this or that was used because it was popular 40 years ago. Sorry for trying to be helpful.
 
41magnum

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
I was seeing the flat receiver sides and know Rem or Win or bout most common factories don't look like that, is all.

It looks stop-sign shaped.
 
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Mr.Gadget

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
double said:
Not sure why your getting so pissy. I was just pointing out the gun could have been built in the 80’s or 90’s. Everyone was talking about checking it to see if this or that was used because it was popular 40 years ago. Sorry for trying to be helpful.
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how is thst helping?
No different then them saying 50's to 60's.
truth be told it could have been built anytime in the last 100 years.
 

double

Twelve Pointer
Everyone seemed to be focusing on guns from 40 years ago lots of custom actions were used in the 80’s and 90’s that were not available in the 50’s and 60’s.
 
TravisLH

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
double said:
You guys keep talking about 50’s and 60’s you realize 20 years ago was 1997.
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Yeah but I highly doubt it was made in that period.. many custom set ups get kept for 40 years or more with how much love goes into them. At any rate many of the components listed from the 50s 60s and 70s are still very popular in current builds and are industry standards so to speak.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Eric Revo

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
We used many Czech Bruno actions to build rifles that shot just as good as the Dakota actions that some buyers insisted on. The mating of the receiver the to barrel and headspacing is much more important than the brand of receiver that was used or what year it was built.
I guarantee that some of the older receivers will bring many times the money from a collector of firearms than any newfangled CNC firearm...and they will shoot as well or better too.
This rifle was handmade obviously...that used to mean something. Congrads on a fine purchase.
 
1SHOT1KILL

1SHOT1KILL

Old Mossy Horns
Double, I am not sure if you really understand what this rifle is. No one stated anything about the rifle being made 40 or more years ago. Having shot benchrest from the mid-80's to the mid-90's, I can tell you that there weren't as many custom benchrest actions available back then as you might think. The custom action market has went from just a hand full to dozens of makers in the last 15-20 years.

The reason I think this rifle could've been made more than 20 years ago is the observation of these characteristics.

1. The action. The action appears to be a sleeved Remington action of some sort. It could be a Remington model 722 action, a 725 action, a 700 action, or even a 40x action but IMO is either a 700 or 40x. If you look at the gap between the barrel and the action at the front of the action, that is indicative of a sleeved action. Like I said previously, sleeved actions were popular back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's before the availability of custom benchrest actions (the Stolle actions didn't become available until the mid-70's and even then were very limited and hard to get until the early to mid-80's) on benchrest and varmint rifles. The sleeving of actions made them more rigid in order to support the extra weight of the heavy barrels. You don't see this done these day because of the availability of a wide variety of custom actions.

2. The bolt. The bolt appears to be that of a 700 or 40x by the shape and style of the bolt knob. The 722 and 725 had a true round bolt knob, not a flatten oval style knob like the 700 and 40x.

3. The scope. That is a Lyman All American Perma-Center scope. It is most likely a 20x, but they made the target scopes in 10x and 20x. The made the All American Perma-Center line hunting scopes in 2.5x, 3x, 4x, 6x,, and 8x. Lyman made that line of scopes from 1962 to 1982 (but continued the 2.5x and 4x until 1985).

4. The stock. That stock looks like the typical McMillan style fiberglass benchrest stock that I and thousands of other benchrest shooters used back in the 80's to early 90's. Today's benchrest stocks are much more bright, shiny, and flamboyant than the were 30 years or so ago. Also there is a much greater variety of makes and styles available in the last 20 years, than there was 30 years ago.

5. The cartridge. The 222 Remington (introduced in 1950) was one of, if not the primary benchrest cartridge back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. It was immensely popular on the benchrest circuit until the arrival of 6mm PPC on the circuit in the early 70's. By the time I got started in benchrest shooting, the 222 Remington was down to just a handle full of shooters, as by then the 6mm PPC (and 22 PPC to a lesser extent) was dominating the circuit. I chose to be different and shot the then new 6mm BR and 22 BR.

So if you take all those factors into account you could come to the conclusion that this rifle could have been made sometime in the late 60's to late 70's. Now I am not saying that it was, just that it might have been.

I'd be interested in hearing your opinions and observations.
 
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nccatfisher

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have a .222 Remington Mag. that was a custom rifle. I bought it second hand but know where/who built it and it was built in '64. It shares many of the characteristics in common of this rifle.
 

double

Twelve Pointer
1SHOT1KILL said:
Double, I am not sure if you really understand what this rifle is. No one stated anything about the rifle being made 40 or more years ago. Having shot benchrest from the mid-80's to the mid-90's, I can tell you that there weren't as many custom benchrest actions available back then as you might think. The custom action market has went from just a hand full to dozens of makers in the last 15-20 years.

The reason I think this rifle could've been made more than 20 years ago is the observation of these characteristics.

1. The action. The action appears to be a sleeved Remington action of some sort. It could be a Remington model 722 action, a 725 action, a 700 action, or even a 40x action but IMO is either a 700 or 40x. If you look at the gap between the barrel and the action at the front of the action, that is indicative of a sleeved action. Like I said previously, sleeved actions were popular back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's before the availability of custom benchrest actions (the Stolle actions didn't become available until the mid-70's and even then were very limited and hard to get until the early to mid-80's) on benchrest and varmint rifles. The sleeving of actions made them more rigid in order to support the extra weight of the heavy barrels. You don't see this done these day because of the availability of a wide variety of custom actions.

2. The bolt. The bolt appears to be that of a 700 or 40x by the shape and style of the bolt knob. The 722 and 725 had a true round bolt knob, not a flatten oval style knob like the 700 and 40x.

3. The scope. That is a Lyman All American Perma-Center scope. It is most likely a 20x, but they made the target scopes in 10x and 20x. The made the All American Perma-Center line hunting scopes in 2.5x, 3x, 4x, 6x,, and 8x. Lyman made that line of scopes from 1962 to 1982 (but continued the 2.5x and 4x until 1985).

4. The stock. That stock looks like the typical McMillan style fiberglass benchrest stock that I and thousands of other benchrest shooters used back in the 80's to early 90's. Today's benchrest stocks are much more bright, shiny, and flamboyant than the were 30 years or so ago. Also there is a much greater variety of makes and styles available in the last 20 years, than there was 30 years ago.

5. The cartridge. The 222 Remington (introduced in 1950) was one of, if not the primary benchrest cartridge back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. It was immensely popular on the benchrest circuit until the arrival of 6mm PPC on the circuit in the early 70's. By the time I got started in benchrest shooting, the 222 Remington was down to just a handle full of shooters, as by then the 6mm PPC (and 22 PPC to a lesser extent) was dominating the circuit. I chose to be different and shot the then new 6mm BR and 22 BR.

So if you take all those factors into account you could come to the conclusion that this rifle could have been made sometime in the late 60's to late 70's. Now I am not saying that it was, just that it might have been.

I'd be interested in hearing your opinions and observations.
Click to expand...

I will never argue custom guns with you. You have probably shot and built more customs than anyone on this sight. I was just pointing out the fact that 20 years is a lot closer than we think sometimes. I was actually just making an observation until somebody else got all butthurt about it. Everything custom I have been around has been in the past 5 years so this is definitely outside my realm of knowledge.
 
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