The .222 Rem is alive and well in my household, and will remain so as long as the brass is available. When the military adopted the .223/5.56mm, they assured its success and dominance in the marketplace, but the .222 is appreciated most by those who've been shooting since the '60s and '70s. After that, the .222 Rem and .222 Rem Magnum lost market share to those who feel these cartridges offer no advantage to the .223 at all. Objectively, the .222 Rem is a delightfully accurate cartridge that dominated Benchrest competition until it was displaced by the 6x47mm and 6mm PPC cartridges. The .222 Rem allows a pound of powder to last a while and delivers reliably (and without excessive noise) on varmints in the field. There will always be room for a .222 Rem on my rack, and my son will probably be the next to receive mine.

If you look around you might find a good one for $400 depending on cal, I saw one at a local gunshop on consignment for $550 in 308 that looked liked it was drug behind a pickup on a gravel road and it was gone 3 days later.

I haven't checked what they are going for these days.
They were the "bargain" rifle back when they were new. It's good to see that they're fetching good prices now.