The .220 Howell is a wildcat cartridge designed for long-range shooting and hunting. Developed by Ken Howell, it is based on a .30-06 Springfield case, necked down to .22 caliber to achieve high velocities and flat trajectories. This design allows the .220 Howell to propel lightweight bullets at extremely high speeds, making it effective for varmint hunting and precision shooting.
Compared to traditional .22 centerfire cartridges, it offers increased case capacity and higher muzzle velocity, resulting in greater energy retention and improved long-range performance. While not commercially available, handloaders and custom rifle builders favor it for its versatility and ballistic efficiency.
Caliber Statistics
Standard / Datasheet
Primer Size
Large Rifle (LR)
Max. Case Length
62 Grains of Water
Bullet / Barrel Diameter
0.224'' | 5.69 mm
Max. Case Length
2.395'' | 60.83 mm
Max. Cartridge Length / OAL
3.1'' | 78.74 mm
Max. Standardized Pressure:
58015 psi | 4000 bar
XXL ID
CID_118
- Bullet Weight (gr) ->0-5050-7575-100100-150150-200200-300>300
The following table indicates for this caliber and various bullet weight ranges (in grains) which powders are suitable (👍) and popular among our reloading community (👍👍). This might evolve over time as more community members share their loads and as we accumulate more calculations and tests with our balistics calculator.
Weight vs. Velocity - Suitable Bullets for this Caliber
You need to get an access license to view this chart. See an example with the following caliber: .22 Nosler
Barrel Length Variation vs. Velocity - by Bullet Weight
.220 Howell load data available is with the following bullets:
(most popular first)
