Yes,, those are handloads. And,, in all honesty,, I have had groups even smaller than that at times. I use a Hornady 40 grn moly coated poly-tipped varmit bullet. I'm using 26.0 grns of BL-C2 powder,, over a match primer.
What got me to digging this rifle out was a two-fold affair. A good friend just traded for a Rem 788 in .222,, and was having issues with the Swift scope on it. Plus,, the exact same day he got this gun,, we both went in on a deal with another guy I know who had a bunch of .222 stuff for sale. (Can we say Karma here. We were at a gunshow,, and my one friend had gone to see about a deal on the .222 while I bumped into the other guy who asked me if I knew anybody who needed some .222 stuff.) So,, to help my friend out with his .222 I was going to use mine as a comparrison. I've owned a few Rem 788's in both .222 & .223. Excellent shooters. My current Rem 700 was a "couldn't pass up" gun at a dealer who had it in his gun shop. It's a semi-bull barrel,, Not a big barrel,, but definately a bull,, I'm just not sure what Rem calls them. Anyway,, mine had not been shot or used in quite a while,, and it had some gummed up old oil etc in the trigger & bolt. It wouldn't fire. So,,, I had to bring it back home to clean,, and after pulling the action out of the stock,, it needed a resetting or checking of the zero. I made the longest shot on an animal I've ever tried or hit with this gun. A pararie dog,, back in 2001 in Wyoming,, at 674 yds,, ranged,,. I didn't hit him with the first shot,, as I was only zeroed a little high at 100,, but I walked a few rounds into him before I connected. Still a very capable gun. It's also the gun I took my only badger with! A very accurate gun and caliber.
I like the lighter 40 grn bullets for the speed,, and I usually only shoot small varmits with it.
I know what you mean about selling one. I wish I still had my 788's in .222 and .223.
I also have a T/C Contender bbl in .222. I do enjoy the caliber,,,!
