I talked a guy out of his Sako Finnbear in .222 several years back--it is in excellent condition..put a leupold VX3 on it...awesome little gun..have only used it once for hunting..smacked a pronghorn with hit...not sure why I dont use it more other than its kinda a Safe Queen..

My older brothers very first rifle was a Remington 788 in .222...like yours incredibly accurate...
He used it for years on anything from coyotes, fox to Whitetail deer..worked well on all of them..

Ripp