Lapua Will Resume Production of .222 Rem Brass

Here’s good news for fans of the “Triple Deuce”, the .222 Remington. Lapua plans to start making premium .222 Rem brass again. The .222 Rem once ruled the roost in benchrest competition. Prior to the introduction of the PPC family of cases, the .222 Rem was considered the most accurate cartridge on the planet. Some benchresters, such as George Kelbly Sr., still shoot the cartridge in BR competition, and it remains very popular with varmint shooters.

The Triple Deuce has a much longer neck than the .223 Remington. This long neck is considered a plus by many .222 shooters — they believe it reduces throat erosion (compared to a .223 Rem), while improving accuracy. Certainly, since the .222 Rem burns less powder than a .223 Rem, the .222 could yield longer barrel life than a .223, with charges of equal pressure.

Adam Braverman, U.S. representative for Nammo-Lapua, just returned from a visit to Lapua’s production facility in Finland. Adam was pleased to report that Lapua plans to resume production of .222 Remington brass. This will be produced “in-house”, and will carry a Lapua headstamp. Lapua plans to start production late in 2008, and the new .222 Rem brass should be available in early spring of 2009 in North America. No price has been announced, but we can expect the .222 brass to be priced comparably to Lapua .223 Rem brass, which runs $44.79/100 at Grafs.com.