Cheap Triple Deuce Thrills

The .222 Remington, known as the triple deuce, is an inherently accurate cartridge.  I have an old Savage 340 chambered for this cartridge and I’ve written about it before.  The Savage was inexpensive and the stock was well worn (it was only $180 from a local shop used gun rack maybe 3 or 4 years ago).  I bought it because I never had a triple deuce and I wanted a refinishing project.

The Savage 340 was an economy rifle back in the day.  I have a library of old Gun Digest books, and my 1956 Shooter’s Bible shows that it sold for $62.

I recently bought an 8-pound bottle of XBR 8208 propellant (these days, you buy what’s available), and I wanted to see where the accuracy was with this propellant and 55-grain full metal jacket boat tail Hornady bullets.  I use these bullets in my Mini 14, and I was pretty sure they would do well in the .222 Savage, too.

The accuracy load for the Savage is 23.4 grains of XBR 8208.  Not bad for $180, a little elbow grease, a little TruOil, and an hour on the range at 100 yards.

The rifle could do better.  The stock has a lot of drop at the heel and it is designed for the iron sights on the rifle.  And that would be okay, but the Savage has a scope on it and I wanted to play with it.  It’s difficult to get a consistent cheek weld because of the scope’s height and the stock’s drop (I’m shooting with my chin almost on the stock).  I may cast about for one of those leather cheek pads that lace onto a rifle, or I may leave it as is.

This lightweight and accurate rifle would be a hoot chasing jackrabbits in west Texas, which is what I spent a lot of my earlier years doing.  Maybe someday I’ll go back.

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About those other links…here’s the series on refinishing the Savage:

Refinishing Savage:  Part 1
Refinishing Savage:  Part 2
Refinishing Savage:  Part 3
Refinishing Savage:  Part 4

And here’s the blog about my first day on the range with this rifle!

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