221 fireball loads?

T

TNcrittergitter

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Just bought a CZ 527 American in 221 fireball. I have found a couple of loads for it on the internet and was just wondering if any of you have expertise with it.

I shot a few rounds of factory out of it and it was extremely consistent at 100 yds, but need some hand loaded stuff if I am going to play with it much.

Thanks
 
Last year I started using the Berger 30 grainers and Lil Gun. Theres a bunch of load data on the web if you do a google, not alot on the Berger 30's. If you go to reloadersnest. check out load 1507 with the 30's, it's kinda scary to me at 4000 fps.

Actually I've been using those little 30's in several walking rifles for groundhogs out to 250yds. They stay together when pushed hard in a 22-250 with excellent accuracy for me.
 
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I have the very same gun. Let me say that it is a genuine hoot. I have so much fun with this gun that it has been one of my very favorites for a couple of years now.

And for most of that time, 16 grans of Lill Gun with the 40 grain Vmax or Ballistic Tip bullets have been my load of choice. 15 grains of the stuff with a 50 grain bullet works very well too, but due to the small capacity of the case, the 40 grain works the best. It has taken hundreds of ground squirrels and quite a few praire dogs. Nailed a coyote a couple months back too.

A good friend of mine built him a 221 Fireball with a Stevens action and a Adams and Bennett barrel from Midway. He uses the very same loads that I do, with half inch groups, same as me, as the norm.

Hope this helps. Gotta love them 221 Furballs! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Great Rifle and Caliber!!!!!

I have the same Rifle. 19gr of RL7 behind a 40 V-Max was the load I had the best luck with.
Good luck,,,,,,,
 
16.5-18.5g of AA1680 with the 50g TNT is a great.

I also shot an extremely accurate load of 20.5g of AA2015 with the 45g Hornady Hornet.
 
RL 7 and the Fireball work great for so many folks, myself included.

The 40 grain bullet choice in the Fireball will kill varmints up to coyotes well inside 150-200 yards, with careful shot placement. I use Nosler 40 grain BT's. My gun also likes 50 grainers with 18 grains of RL 7.

Just got to love the Fireball, sooo much fun to shoot!
 
I have 2 Fireball rifles now, and have had a few other rifles and pistols over the years, but never a CZ. I like CZs, just never had one. 221Fireball is my favorite round. R7,4198,Little Gun, or 1680 is bound to give you great accuracy. Many guns shoot quite well with a 40gr bullet and Little Gun, but it is hard on brass. In just a couple reloadings primer pockets get loose. R7, or 4198 will give you many, many reloadings. My Rem 700 classic perfers a small grained fast powder with 40 grain bullets. So AA 1680 and 40gr Blitzkings were the way to go, and much easier on brass than Little Gun. BTW have you looked for Fireball brass? I can not find any anywhere.
 
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I have 2 Fireball rifles now, and have had a few other rifles and pistols over the years, but never a CZ. I like CZs, just never had one. 221Fireball is my favorite round. R7,4198,Little Gun, or 1680 is bound to give you great accuracy. Many guns shoot quite well with a 40gr bullet and Little Gun, but it is hard on brass. In just a couple reloadings primer pockets get loose. R7, or 4198 will give you many, many reloadings. My Rem 700 classic perfers a small grained fast powder with 40 grain bullets. So AA 1680 and 40gr Blitzkings were the way to go, and much easier on brass than Little Gun. BTW have you looked for Fireball brass? I can not find any anywhere.



Hi Matt

Hey, I was wondering what charge you are using of Lill Gun to get loose primer pockets? I have been using 15-16 grains of it with 40 Vmaxes for a good 2 years and I know that I am still using all of the same brass. Some of it loaded at least 5 times.

I'm just curious as to why you were getting enlarged primer pockets. If I had noticed this I think I would have quit using it by now, but I still get a nice snug fit with my CCI BR-2 primers.
 
I have a Remington Classic in .221 Fireball that loved (as I recall) 16 grains of Little gun, a Winchester small rifle primer and a 40 grain v-max. The brass had already been fired 2 times using r7 and IMR4198 in my Contenders. After having been fired once with the Little gun primer pockets were so loose the brass had to be thrown out. Reduced load to 15.5, same result, and less accurate. Tried new brass, same result. Several of my friends(4 have stainless light varmits,1 cz,and 2 have Rem700 classics) have .221s, most report loose primer pockets after 1 or 2 loadings of 15.5+ grains of Little Gun, and new brass. The guy with the Cz has not tried Little Gun in his CZ. I do know that we all use Winchester small rifle primers, and noticed that you do not. I doubt the makes the difference, but might be worth an experiment, with someone else's brass of course. My opinion is that my R.700 classic has a loose sloppy chamber, I have not tried the load in my Contender carbine. One of the Rem. 700 light varmints has an unusually tight chamber. The tight chambered rifle gets 1 or 2 firings with brass and this load. Too bad he has 200 rounds loaded up.
 
Matt - been looking all over for fireball brass. No one seems to have it. I am almost ready to break down and buy the redding form die set to make 221 from 223. I did find a couple of companies that do not show it out of stock. I placed an order from one of them, but am not holding my breath for fulfillment of the order. I will let you know something else on Monday, after I have had a chance to contact the company to confirm that they have it.

this company does not show it out of stock:
http://www.shooters-supply.com/bullets_and_brass.html

nor does this one:
http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=COBRRW&type=store

but neither of these is where I ordered from, so I will not have any information from them unless the other company does not come through on Monday.

RB
 
Thanks. I noticed the factory loaded stuff is starting to slowly disappear and not be restocked either. 6+ months ago my local gun shop (the owner of the shop owns the tight chambered fireball) contacted suppliers and maybe the manufacturer and was told they were not planning to make another run for 1.5 years. Would it be easier to form from .222 brass? I would appreciate you letting me know how those orders turn out. I think I tried Shooters Supply a few months ago, I cant remember if I called Sinclair.
 
Matt,
I have a couple hundred rounds of new .223 brass, so if it comes to it, I'll probably start there. My guess is that .222 would probably form a bit easier, but either one is going to be a painstaking process.
 
Many Fireballs have liked 17.3 gr Of IMR 4198 and a 50 gr SPSX. 18 grains of R7 and a 50 gr SPSX have made many others happy. Right now I am liking a max load of AA1680 and a 40 gr Blitzking, or a 30 gr Berger. Some guns have preferred different bullets but most have liked very close to these powder charges. Of course all of these loads are retrieved from my often faulty memory, and should be checked. I have noticed sometimes one will be max in one manual and a hair over max in others, which is something to be aware of and check when switching bullets but using similar powder charges.
 
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Matt, Don't buy both form dies as it is a waste of money. Just buy the Redding #2 Form Trim die (about $25) and lube eithe 223 or 222 cases run through that die and then use a hacksaw or dremal tool and cut the necks off a little long, then use the deburr tool (dont matter if they are cut strait) and clean out the inside and outside of neck and FL resize and then as a final step use your trimmer and trim to length and deburr the case mouths once again now you have nice factory looking 221 brass (oh you may have to turn the necks depending on the brass you use and your chamber's neck size. Nelson
 
Matt,

No luck on the order. I called the company today and the guy pretty much laughed at me... .221 brass... you've got to be kidding.

So, now for my search for a .221 form and trim die. Just about as hard to find as the brass. No luck yet. Have one company that does not show it out of stock... Maybe order it tomorrow.

RB
 
My CZ works well with 20gr of AA1680 and 40gr Blitzking its running 3550fps and accurate. I have shot several coyotes and bobcats with this load with no exit.
 
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