The .218 Bee – like the ancient .22 Hornet – remains curiously popular despite the availability of superior, mild-mannered .224-caliber bullets such as the .221 Remington Fireball and .222 Remington. This hinges on the fact that, again like the Hornet, the Bee is just flat-out fun to shoot, producing negligible recoil and tolerable muzzle report. The .218 Bee was the first modern varmint cartridge designed expressly for a lever rifle – Winchester’s Model 65. The bullet is based on the ancient .25-20 Winchester case and was introduced by Winchester in 1938 as a follow-up to their .22 Hornet success. It offers 30 percent more case capacity and a more than 100 feet per second (fps) improvement in velocity, despite lower established operating pressures.

Lever-rifle tubular magazines requiring blunt, low ballistic coefficient (BC) bullets, and slow (1:16) rifling twist, never really allowed the cartridge to live up to its true potential. That slow rifling generally limits the .218 Bee to bullets weighing less than 52 grains; no Greek tragedy, as introducing heavier slugs produces quickly diminishing returns. Modern rifle options were introduced by Marlin and Browning as late as 1989 (also lever guns) and Ruger chambered their No. 1 single shot in the Bee. The latter is likely one of the strongest actions offered for this cartridge; one that would allow pursuing the Bee’s true potential.

Winchester introduced the Model 43 bolt-action in 1949 as a sort of “Winchester Model 70 Junior,” the first rifle produced by the company following World War II. The Model 43 is a well-made, 6-pound rifle that includes a three-round detachable box magazine, allowing the use of pointed bullets (though the confines of that magazine limits overall length). The rifle was also chambered in .22 Hornet, .25-20 and .32-20 Winchester. The Winchester Model 43 “Special Rifle” version, used for testing here, includes a 24-inch round, proof-steel barrel measuring .56-inch at the muzzle, select walnut stock with checkered pistol grip and forend and steel butt plate. These rifles were produced until 1957, with about 63,000 sold.

A few later rifles were apparently factory tapped for scope bases, the test rifle (on generous loan from gunsmith Ron Soderquist) including serial number 20234A, so it was likely drilled and tapped to allow scope use after leaving the factory (though I could be wrong). These rifles were equipped with open sporting rear or Lyman 57A micrometer receiver sights, the test rifle included a dovetailed front bead of fiber-optic, obviously not factory original. Ken Waters, in a January 1976 “Pet Loads” column, warned that the Model 43 “speed lock,” mid-bolt locking lug was not stout enough to handle hot maximum loads. The rifle holds a period Williams Wide Guide 4x scope set in Weaver Top-Mount rings, which were left in place during all load testing. This low magnification and relatively coarse crosshairs might have negatively affected groups somewhat.

New Hornady brass, vintage Lee Reloading Dies and CCI No. 400 Small Rifle Primers were used for all testing. Hornady has become the most reliable source for Bee brass, offered in both loaded ammunition and as a component. Winchester offers sporadic runs of factory ammunition and Quality Cartridge offers handloading hulls. Cases are also easily formed from .32-20 WCF brass. Thin-jacketed, cup-and-core bullets are the logical choice for varmint shooting with the Bee, with Hornet-label bullets generally recommended to assure rapid expansion and reliable stabilization from the 1:16 rifling twist. With that in mind, I chose Nosler’s 35-grain Ballistic Tip Lead Free (later swapped for Hornady’s 35-grain V-MAX, which I’ll get into momentarily) on the light end, Speer’s 40-grain Varmint SP and Sierra’s 45-grain Varminter SP as ideals, and Hornady’s 50-grain SPSX (Soft-Point, Super eXplosive) at the heavy end.

New or newer Bee-compatible powders used here include Vihtavuori N-120, Accurate 1680, Hodgdon’s Lil’Gun and CFE-BLK and Shooters World Blackout. Time-tested standbys include similar Hodgdon 110 and Winchester 296, Alliant Reloder 7, Accurate 2460 and Hodgdon’s temperature stable Extreme Series H-4198. As a varmint shooter who spends a lot of time under a hot sun, I find newer temperature-insensitive formulas give me peace of mind. The tendency with smaller varmint rounds like the Bee is to push maximum, ammunition left in a hot sun or truck cab inviting a stuck case or locked bolt. That said, some of the older powders provide outstanding accuracy and velocity, and precautions such as assuring ammunition boxes remain in the shade, or even placing them in your iced drink cooler on especially hot days, are standard procedures even with the newest powders.

Like loading the .22 Hornet, necks require generous chamfering, as walls are ultrathin and flat-base bullets are prone to catching and causing folded edges during seating. Also, like the Hornet, small charges of powder require closer attention to detail, as load-to-load deviations as small as a tenth of a grain can greatly affect accuracy. The Winchester Model 43 test rifle had an odd combination of 1:16 rifling twist and too much freebore in relation to too little magazine space. The stumpy bullets required to accommodate the rifling twist and fit the magazine resulted in a considerable jump into the lands.

I initially chose Nosler’s 35-grain Ballistic Tip Lead Free for testing because it has a ballistic coefficient mirroring poly-tipped, lead-core 40-grain bullets. But the Bee’s 1:16 rifling twist provided insufficient stabilization for the long-for-weight design. Hornady’s squatter 35-grain V-MAX offered a same weight alternative, a bullet commonly loaded in modern .22 Hornet factory loads to boost velocity. Some rifles tolerate them, others produce poor accuracy. The Winchester liked them. Top velocities with this bullet – 3,098 to 3,255 fps – were produced by Hodgdon’s CFE-BLK, though groups averaged only 1.50 inches. Accurate 1680 failed to impress with the light bullet. Vihtavuori’s N-120 produced a respectable .69-inch group at 2,784 fps, but the accuracy winner was Shooters World Blackout. Thirteen grains of Blackout produced the best group of the entire test, a .43 inch 100-yard/5-shot cluster pushed to 2,531 fps. Adding half a grain of powder pushed velocity to 2,636 fps, but groups opened to .81-inch

Speer’s 40-grain Varmint is another squatty bullet, a soft point designed for explosive expansion. The .144 BC makes them best suited to moderate ranges, or perfect for a cartridge like the Bee. The long jump into the lands mentioned earlier resulted in a finicky nature, only a handful of load combinations producing respectable accuracy. Winchester 296 loads averaged only 1.50 inches, Alliant Reloder 7 also produced lackluster results. The best group with this bullet resulted from 16 grains of Accurate 2460 of .84 inch at 2,347 fps. Not far behind, at .89 inch, was 12.5 grains of Hodgdon Lil’Gun at a faster 3,017 fps.

Sierra’s 45-grain Varminter SP, with .210 BC, has proven one of the most accurate bullets from my .221 Remington Fireball rifle, while also proving devastating on burrowing rodents. I predicted it would prove a good fit for the Bee and this proved correct. It did well with several powders. The most consistent results came from Accurate 1680, including groups measuring .65 inch at 2,409 fps (12.5 grains), .85 inch at 2,439 fps (13 grains) and .86 inch at 2,547 fps (13.5 grains). Hodgdon’s CFE-BLK again produced top velocities, with groups averaging an inch. Hodgdon’s 110 deserves honorable mention, 11 grains producing a .72-inch group at 2,519 fps.

The 50-grain SP SX from Hornady (with .214 BC) is constructed with a thinner gilded-copper jacket to assure explosive performance at slower velocities. It creates a Bee ideal while sniping burrowing rodents or a bullet carrying higher kinetic energy while targeting larger predators such as coyotes. They also provided more consistent accuracy than the lighter bullets in this test series. As an accuracy experiment, I seated these bullets out a tad further, so only two bullets at a time could be pushed into the magazine. Adding a third bullet caused binding. They were easy enough to single feed, and accuracy improved, so I guess the 45-grain bullet could benefit from the same treatment. Hodgdon CFE-BLK came into its own with the heavier bullet, producing .88- and .85-inch groups at 2,622 and 2,704 fps, with 14.5 and 15 grains of powder, respectively. Hodgdon’s 4198 also did better with more pushback, the best group with this bullet .74 inch at 2,618 fps. Other groups worth mentioning include .89 inch at 2,538 fps with a 14-grain compressed load of Alliant Reloder 7 and .96 inch at 2,439 fps with 9.5 grains of Hodgdon’s Lil’Gun.

All loads listed fed from the detachable magazine flawlessly (though, as mentioned, only two 50-grain loads could be added at a time) and extracted without difficulty or the slightest sign of excessive pressure. It’s safe to say the listed powder charges would prove compatible with even older lever rifles, like the Winchester 65, while using same weight blunt or flatnosed bullets. With a few exceptions, the most accurate loads were generally also the lightest listed, telling me my varmint-shooting-borne obsession with velocity hurt accuracy with some powder/bullet combinations. Overall, I was satisfied with the results, especially given that I was shooting a rifle manufactured a decade or more before I entered this world.