70 YEARS AND COUNTING

The .222 Remington is Not Old Yet

- Terry Wieland

The .222 Remington is now 70 years old – venerable by any standard except geologic time – and its praises have been sung (by my count) by three generations of writers. It’s unquestionably the most influential small-caliber rifle cartridge of the twentieth century, ranking with the .30-06 and .375 Holland & Holland in terms of impact and progeny.

That being the case, one wonders, what on earth is left to say about it? The truth is, not much, except that many of today’s riflemen, especially new shooters, probably have not read everything that’s gone before. In fact, many have either never heard of the .222 or dismissed it as an octogenarian has-been. If that’s the case, they’re missing a bet, because the .222 Remington is one of the sweetest little numbers ever created, still excellent for a range of uses, some of which did not even exist when Remington unveiled it in 1950.

The .222, or “triple deuce” as some “slangsters” like to call it, was introduced into a world that was vastly different than today. Even five years after the end of the war in Europe, American factories had still not returned to full civilian production, and shooters had a vast appetite for anything that would go “bang,” as well as the wherewithal to keep doing so.