So, let’s say a guy wants a left handed bolt rifle, in .222. Is, or, was, there a commercial option, or, would it be something that a guy would have to build, and if you went that route, where and with what would you start?
Regular .222, not the magnum version.

Best,
Ted

Why a 222? seems a 223 would make more sense.

I inherited most of 1000 rounds of .222 ammunition. There is no shortage of varmints in my world.

Best,
Ted.

Would a singleshot work for you? Seems like there are/were Ruger #1s in .222. I think my FIL has one. Perhaps they would be easily drummed up on Gunbroker and the other auction sites.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/797508931
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/804595960

There is a plethora of others out there, but most seem to be pretty darn pricey.

That was my observation prior to posting. I really don’t need to outlay 4K to poke holes in foxes, woodchucks and ‘yotes.

A small version Remington 700 action seems to come in under $400. Might be an option, but, was hoping for a turnkey rifle, so to speak.

Best,
Ted

Kind of figured that was what you had in mind. I'd shop for a Ruger #1. That might be more cost effective than building one from an action.

Good luck

If I were in the market for a new one, I would take a look at the Tikka brand, I believe Beretta is the importer. Easy to search up reviews and tests. Their T3 model is available in a left hand setup.

I believe you're in great shape with that chambering, it seems to be an easy cartridge to get to shoot well. Make sure you stick a decent modern scope on whatever you settle on, modestly priced ones seem strides better than higher end stuff from just ten or fifteen years ago.

My favorite part of shooting my .222, a plain jane varmint rifle, is that I can generally keep the scope on the target at the shot. The fun factor goes up when you can watch what's going on. Also, consider a predator call, they're a fraction of what they sold for not too many years ago. Without breaking a sweat, you'll blow through that thousand rounds. Have fun.

Set the barrel back a little bit and re-chamber to 222

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/804307214

Ted as a lefty myself I keep my eyes open. I have seen the Kimber of Oregon 84 in a plain 222 I believe twice. If you were willing to look and play around it’s pretty easy to score some sweet deals and I find as much fun in that as I do shooting them. But most recently I bought a left-hand savage weather warrior 16 in 223. I was able to sell the Leupold that came on it and clear the cost of the rifle and then some. There were other accessories to boot. Off to ER Shaw or Douglas for a custom barrel. (7mm Tcu) and I have another lightweight low recoil deer thumper for my kids sub $400

There are some small frame Martinis floating around out there in .222. Most are Cadet conversions, but the nicest ones are built off a rim fire thick wall action converted to centerfire. They are fun little rifles and can be quite accurate. If you can find one, they usually run in the $500-600 range without scope. (Many of them will have bases for Unertl/Lyman scopes, but that will add a fair amount of money to the package as those scopes are now bringing $600 and up in good condition.)

If my memory serves me correctly, a local dealer has a Ruger No. 1 in .222 on his rack. Can't remember the price. I think it's a No. 1 AB (22 inch barrel with the longer non Alex Henry style forend) and may even have a scope. I'll PM you the name and phone number of the dealer.

Remington 760 in .222 Rem. Works well from either shoulder & surprisingly handy & accurate. It was very popular with fox hunters when I was growing up.

Difficult but not impossible to find today.

If I remember correctly, the Army Advanced Marksmanship Training Unit used them in Olympic Running Boar competition. That's a pretty strong endorsement. I'm sure the rifles were match conditioned by the unit's armorers, but the fact that the Remington rifle was used as a basis for a rebuild speaks volumes.

Ted,
If you go to Simpson Ltd. you can find a good selection of O/U combination guns, from a couple different makers, chambered for .222, along with 22 Sav. HP. They are mostly 12 ga. in the shotshell chambering. The prices are pretty fair.
Mike

Savage makes a model 25. Not sure if there is a left hand version. I bought one when rim fire ammo was not available and put the night vision scope on it for varmints in the peanut field.
In .222 the model 25 is very accurate. It will never be a classic as the action is not pretty, but the varmints will not care.

Thought I remembered one in my stuff, a Marlin Model 322, which was built on a Sako Riihimaki action, but it's a standard right hand action. My memory seems to be less than what it once was.

The left hand part of the equation is where it gets sticky.

I think Skeettx probably came up with the best idea. If I decide to pursue it further, that would be the angle I work. I’m not sure Remington ever built a lefty 700 in .222, but, that would be ideal.

I can get the barrel work done for slim to nothing.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Best,
Ted

Kimber, Sako, Tikka, maybe Remington?

Zastava Mini Mauser is not a bad choice. Some were imported by Remington and others.

Cheers,
Jani

A long time ago, I looked at a Mark X barreled action at a gunshow. It was a lefty, I don’t even remember the caliber, but, I walked around for about 5 minutes, and when I went back, it was gone.

It was the only lefty Mauser turnbolt I have ever seen.

Best,
Ted

Jani may be thinking about the CZ mini (micro?) Mauser. They're nice, but in the left hand configuration, it gets away from your comment about a turnkey rifle. Take a look a picture or two. It's a nicely scaled down action with a little packaging disappointment of the magazine.

Yes, that is a bit unfortunate, for lack of a better term....


Best,
Ted

Ted,

Cooper makes 222s and LH rifles. Kimber, the Oregon version, made the 84 in LH and 222 was an option. I don't know how many were made in that chambering. I have a Kimber Custom Classic in .223 (serial # LH66) that I bought when they first came out and it is accurate, light and a wonderful little rifle. You might consider those two options.

Thaine

I bought a Mauser Mark X left hand barreled action years ago. I took it to my then gunsmith (Ted Blackburn) - it would not feed cartridges. The polite version is that he told me to come back when I had a better prospect.

Remington imported the Zastava Mausers in LH for a couple of years and labeled it the 798. Not many around.

I have the same problem - left handed. Think about a Dakota or Kimber.

Jani was not thinking a CZ. The MiniX can make a great custom rifle, but they are pretty clunky out of the box. Here's a lefty I built several years ago.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2451295/1

Zastava (CZ - Crvena Zastava) Mini Mauser or model 85 (it hit the market in 1985) was called model 799 by Remington. I think they were also imported by Charles Daly and others. CZ or Ceska Zbrojovka micro Mauser is something else and I was not refering to it. Once I was shooting Zastava M85 in .223 Rem. They were/are also available in other short cartridges, such as .222 Rem, .222 Rem Mag, .22-250 Rem, 7,62x39 and possibly others.

Cheers,
Jani

Another .222 Rem that might be considered ambidextrous would be a Thompson Center Contender. A couple years ago, I bought an aftermarket 21" .222 Rem barrel for my T/C Contender, along with the buttstock and forend to complete the carbine conversion. I already had a 14" bull barrel for this T/C Contender pistol in .222 Rem., so when I decided to get something that would reach out a bit further for groundhogs around the house than the .22LR rimfire, the .222 Remington rifle barrel was a natural choice since I already had plenty of brass and reloading dies.

I'm still not sure what Thompson Center was thinking when they replaced the Contender with the Encore. Does stronger have to mean uglier too?

Thompson Center Dimension a true left handed bolt gun

GREAT PRICE

https://www.cdnnsports.com/thompson-center-dimension-223-left-hand.html#.XJY2nqROncs

Then maybe call T/C and see if they will sell you an unchambered 22 cal barrel for the Dimension.

Mike

BUMMER, I see it just NOW went out of stock !!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT UPGRADE
https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/savage-...ldCatid=5023490

OR get this and screw it onto a Rem 700
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4...mington+722+222

Hallucination would be a more fitting name for it.
Great price though.

Mike,

That was a dirty trick to play on us. I thought the name of this forum had "Classic" in it. Sadly someone years down the road will probably think that title fits the TC.

Now James Anderson's rendering truly fits that title today IMHO.

Thaine

Thane, you old LOBO

What Classic Left Hand Bolt Action 222 do you know to exist?

Mike

Morris Hallowell has a LH in .223. It might scratch the itch for you.

http://www.hallowellco.com/kimberl_84_left%20hand%20223.html

Also a LH .223 listed on Accurate Reloading site.

Mike,

LOL, I don't know of any LH Kimber 222s that exist. I just know that it was an option. I bought both of mine through Gopher Supply or Lock, Stock & Barrel between 85-88 and know that Kimber was pushing out some interesting options in their catalog. My M82 is LH799 and is the vanilla version. I decided to spend a bit more for the 84. Both have proven to be reliable and accurate. The 84 is my favorite calling rifle when I take a bolt gun. My .223 choice back then was based on a decision similar to the OP's. I was sitting on 3 cases of Remington non-crimped primer .223 and wanted something lighter than my 700 BDL varmint. If the OP found one I don't expect it to be cheap but he didn't specify a price range.
Thaine

Edited to add This One which was sold.

I think this virus has run it’s course. Pretty sure I’ll unload the ammunition, and just continue with this gun:



Rimfire .22, but it lays them in there at least as well as my ability allows. Remington 581, true lefty, 4X Weaver. That is an African ribbon mahogany stock, that made appearances on a few Remington models back in the day.

Classic is as classic does, and this one already has a few bruises from sitting in a blind at dark.

Thanks for the help.



Best,
Ted

Easy Peasy

Savage small bolt face LH action, ER Shaw barrel(222 Rem) and Boyde stock.

This one is right hand but it is a simple build.


It turned out well, I won this with it. Custom RPG in 20 Practical.

Anybody ever used one of these?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/808200913

It would be easy to reset the barrel on this and rechamber to .222. I know everyone thinks a Cooper or Kimber is the way to go, but, trust me, on a -10 degree night, heading back to the truck, pulling my sled with a couple dead coyotes, all the pretty built into one of those guns will be completely wasted with me.

I sold all the .222 magnum ammunition, but, still have a pile of this stuff:



The guy it belonged to had an unfired Winchester model 70 in .222. I didn’t get the gun.



Best,
Ted

Ted it might be cheaper to order a Shaw barrel for it in 222 Rem and save the 223 barrel for a later date if you decide to sell it or turn the 223 barrel and help pay for the 222 Rem barrel.

The axis is usually a very accurate rifle, not much to look at but they do shoot well.

I have one of those Model 70's in 222 Rem, it kills coyotes just fine.



I need to shoot a shorter length of pull on my stocks and the wood stock was too nice to cut so I dropped it into a Model 70 synthetic and adjusted the LOP for me.

I believe that .223 barrel has a much quicker twist than the long time 1-14 standard for the .222. That doesn't mean your .222 wouldn't shoot, only that it may be finicky where it's normally an easy cartridge to get to cooperate. Two other thoughts I'd have are, I'd ask the smith if they can fit Savage's nut system into the set back barrel contour. And, Savage has gone to what they named the accutrigger for their good trigger, and someone may be disappointed with the regular trigger.

Not trying to seem negative about your choice, only thinking out loud. Once you add the price of a modest type after market barrel like Oskar mentions, your favorable price may slip away some. Glad you are keeping the .222 possibility alive.

The standard twist in the 223 Savage line is 1-9 and I wouldn't rule it out, Lead Free bullets might be not to far off no matter what we think. LF's are longer for the weight and need a faster twist for their weight than standard lead bullets. I have a 1-9 Savage barrel that started out as a 223 and I rechamberred it to 22-204(222 Rem Mag Improved) surprisingly it dotes on 40gr NBT's and slings 50gr NBT LF's very accurately.

A Shaw barrel for a Savage is $230 blued in your choice of twists and contours. and compatable to the Axis. With some careful tuning the standard Axis/pre Accutigger can be made into a fairly nice trigger.

https://www.shawcustombarrels.com/barrels

Savage 11 in 22-204, Sightron II 1.5-6x40mm 50gr NBT LF's I usually shoot 40gr NBT's for pelt hunting. Ugly coyote, last one of the season, the one with the Model 70 above was the weekend before.