.220 Russian for a varmint rifle

[CarbonSteel]

Anyone ever shoot the .220 Russian? I know there are plenty of folks who take this cartridge and make it into a .22 PPC or a 6MM PPC, but I was wondering if anyone ever shot it as-is?

I recently picked up a lot of Sako and Lapua .220 Russian from an estate sale and was considering leaving it as-is and building a rifle around it.

Thoughts and experiences?

 

[SuperDave456]

It's not .22 caliber.
5.56mm is .224 inches

5.45 is .21? or there about. I've never slugged the bore of one.
That is where I would start.
Then see if anyone makes any high quality projectiles for it. I seriously doubt it.

The vast majority of ammo was created with a mild steel core and a bi-metal steel jacket for ease of mass production.
Just finding reloadable brass that is boxer primed and not berdan is going to be an issue.

Do your research before you drop your money into this one.

Most people form other cases into calibers that are common enough to get good/great accuracy out of it.
.223
6mm
6.5mm
7mm
.30

Are the one's you can find target grade projectiles for. These days you are going to have to wait to find any reloading components though.

There are a lot of interesting project rifles out there.

Personally I want a .22 Fireball.
I could do 99% of my hunting that I do with a .223 with it with only 75% of the powder volume.

However, I don't get out like I used to, and primers are almost unobtainable around here.
No money also.

All I can say is that there are a gazillion chamberings out there. Lots of folks have gone out and done darn near everything with any specific cartridge. If you do the appropriate research, I'm sure you can figure out what you need.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I have done quite a bit of research and according to all of the information that I have it is a .221 caliber. Note that a .220 Russian is not the same as a 5.45 x 39 (which has but one vendor making brass cases and the remainder are lacquered steel). The .220 Russian cases are all boxer primed so that is not an issue and the cases are brass not steel. The barrel and dies that I will use are .224 (the same as a .221 Fireball, .223, .22-250, and .220 Swift--which I already have) so finding bullets will not be a problem (other than the current shortages

).

The .220 Russian is the parent case for the .22 PPC and 6MM PPC and although I could easily load it for .22 PPC (fireforming is quite easy); I wanted to be a bit different and retain the original case dimensions. Sako and Lapua both make super high quality brass and I have acquired about 1800 pieces of it in an estate sale. Obviously, this will be a custom rifle, but most of my varmint rifles are anyway.

I am thinking the ballistics will be between a .223 and a .22-250 which will be a nice niche for when I want a little more than .223 and not as much as .22-250. I also have a 6MMBR that is a bit more than the .22-250, but it has just enough recoil to bump the sight picture so that I am not usually able to see the impact.

I was just curious if anyone out there has shot a .220 Russian as opposed to a PPC and had some experiences with the ballistics.

Many thanks for your thoughts!

 

[SuperDave456]

Well there you go.
I learn something every day.

I'll be interested in whatever comes of your project.

Thanks!