22-250, reloading for 1-8" or 1-9" twist, any information?

derbyacresbob

Well-known member
I am thinking about having a 1-8" twist barrel put on a 22-250 so I can shoot 55 gr or heavier lead free bullets out of it.

I have two 223s with 1-8" twists, would a 1-9" twist be fast enough for the 22-250?

If any of you have a 22-250 with a fast twist barrel I would like to hear your opinions on reloading for them.

Thanks
 
You have me curious too.

Have you measured the length of the lead free bullets and compare them to a typical bullet with lead in it, might give you a pretty close idea with the cup and core bullets.

Guess you could ask the bullet manufacturer too. Barnes show a 1-9 twist for their 62gr TSX. The shorter 55gr bullet should also work with that twist.

http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/rifle/tsx-bullet/
 
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Wow- I have a 22-250 with a 1-12 and it outshoots my AR, wondering why you would want to change, shorter twist for heavier bullets but a 55 grain in my book isnt heavy.
 
My 22-250 has a 1:14. I have a load built up for the 60gr. Vmax. I too want a faster TR but am buying a .243 for just that reason. My 22-250 will be turned into a .308. If you put a faster TR on your 22-250, you will burn through barrels faster. Its always windy where I hunt so thats why I want a heavier pill.
 
You would be looking at an 80 grain bullet for 1:8. The 223 has faster twist with less heavy bullets due to speed (or lack of it), the 22-250 will launch the bullet faster, less twist is necessary. With a 1:9 twist you should be able to shoot up to 75 grains in the 22-250.
 
In the area I hunt in I have to shoot lead free bullets. Lead free bullets are much longer than lead bullets are so they need a faster twist rate.

Barnes recommends a 1-10" rate or faster just to shoot the 50 gr lead free Varmint Grenade bullets and a 1-9" or faster to shoot the 55 gr MPG bullets.
 
My 22-250 is an 8 twist, but I have never run the lead free stuff in it. It has done very well with 52, 62, and 73gr Bergers consistently putting 5 in the low .4's. 68Gr Hornady BTHP's are showing good promise, and just got a group with 40gr Berger varmints about an hour ago tht went .380 for 5 rounds at about 4200+ fps. The powders that have done the best for me have been Ramshot TAC and Ramshot Big Game. Now if I can just tightnen up the loose nut behine the trigger the groups may shrink a bit more.
 
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Put that 1-8"er on your 22-250. I load 37.0 grs. of RL-17 under a 75gr. Amax. Let me tell ya, it turns that 250 into a long range monster! I doubt my 250 will ever eat another 55gr. bullet again! You should hit around 3390-3400fps. with that bullet and talk about THWAAP!! Good luck w/ your decision!
 
I wanted to shoot the 75 grain A-Max in my 22-250. So I called the tech's at Krieger. He recommended an 8 twist barrel in 28" length. So that is what I went with. I figure if Krieger doesn't know then no one will. My gunsmith agreed totally with Krieger. The tech. at Krieger said the 1in9 would also stabilize the 75 grain A-Max, but the 8 twist would be better. He also said that I would get a little less barrel life from the 8 twist. He told me to keep it clean and around 3300 fps in a 22-250 and I should get over 1,000 rounds from the 1in8 twist. This is a hunting rifle, so 1,000 shots will last for awhile.

The best powder for me so far has been H-414. It shoots so well that I am not considering any further load develoopment. This rifle is deadly on ground hogs out to 800 yards. I believe the rifle will perform at farther distances, but 800 is my effective range. Good luck-the old 22-250 still gets her done.

I thought about a 22-250 AI but the tech. at Krieger said the little extra velocity would cost dearly in barrel life. So I stayed with standard 22-250. Tom.

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Thanks for all of the replies.

I think you guys have talked me into going with the 1-8" twist.

I am not worried about how long the barrel lasts because this will be a coyote rifle.
 
HOGGHEAD, You have basically built my dream rifle in a sense. What action is your rig based off of? I would kill to build a 220 swift with a 28-30 inch barrel in a hunting platform. I would love to launch sum 69s or 75s 600 plus yards! I Have a certain hunting spot that is completely flat for almost exactly a mile! There are tons of yotes in the area but the closest I have called them in 400 yds. That rig would be awesome for that particular area! Thanks for the great info! Id like to go with a 30in hart barrel on a pre-accutrigger action in a Mcmillan a2 stock or the stockys laminate thumbhole witha 6x24 tasco varmint scope. Think thats a comparable setup?
 
The action is a totally reworked Remington 700 action. If I had it to do over again I would just go with a custom action. You will have close to $1,000 in a reworked Remington action, or buy a custom for close to the same price.

I wanted the 28" barrel so I could squeeze every bit of velocity out of the standard 22-250 cartridge without starting the bullets out too fast and burning the barrel out faster. Also I can shoot 700 or 800 rounds then have the barrel set back an inch or so, and get another 700 or so rounds from the barrel. And still have a 26" barrel for it's second life.

I have a follower in the magazine so it is single shot only. The stock is a Manner's stock.

I will admit that if Cooper had a TH stock of some sort in LH then I would have bought a Cooper instead of having this one built. However I knew exactly what I wanted, and had it built exactly the way I wanted it. So I am pretty happy with it. I know I gave the build alot of thought before I decided exactly how to build it.

Gonna take the Zeiss Conquest off it(put it on a 300 WSM I put togeher). And put a new scope on it for next ground hog season. Still trying to decide which scope to buy. Heck I spend more time deciding on a scope than I do deciding on a rifle.

As I stated above, I really like the 22-250 choice. I think the 220 Swift or 22-250 AI would be just a little bit too fast for the big heavies. IMO it would just cause the barrel to wear out too fast. And the 75 grain A-Max going at 3300 fps is more than enough to do what you want. Actually out to 800 yards without a problem as far as I am concerned. Alot of guys like the 243 for those longer shots, but I just did not want to go with a bullet any bigger than 75 grains. And IMO the 22 caliber 75 grain bullet far outperforms the 243-75 grain bullet. So my decision was pretty simple. In order to get the better long range ability in the 243 you need to go to 100 grain pills. And that is just too large for me. Too much recoil, and seeing hits becomes impossible. The 75 grain in a heavy rig like mine is even pushing that. Tom.
 
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I've stabilized JLK and Berger 80's at 275,000 rpm's so I would think the 75 Amax's would stabilize at about 255,000 to 260,000 rpm's. It's all about RPM's for me. If I can jack up fps I'll opt for a slower twist.

FPS X 12 divided by twist X 60 = RPMS

3200 x 12=38400
38400 divided by 9" twist=4266.666
4266.666 X 60=255,999.96 RPM's

I've had both twists chambered in 22CHeetah MachI and liked the 9" better. 8" was a little fussy on loads and I couldn't run it as fast as the 9 that had 2" less bbl. I could match the fps of the 9 but then it did not group as well so had to lose 70 fps to equal accuracy of the 9. I'll quit rambling on. RR
 
I have a Shilen Select match Stainless 26" 9 twist on my Rem 700 in 22-250.

It likes the 77gr Nosler Custom Competitions with H414.
15 rounds in 5/8" at 100yds
5 rounds 1 3/4" at 300yds
Grouped best at 3100fps which seems slow to me but shoots good. my stevens bolt action in .223 9 twist likes 69gr at 3080fps.

I couldnt get the 75gr Amax, 68gr Hornady, or the 69gr SMK to group as good as i wanted in the 22-250
 
some what of an update..

80Gr Bergers at 3200fps do extremely good in this barrel. 36gr H414 in Lapua Brass and CCI BR2.
Got several groups under 3" at 600yds, and they were all horizonal strings. Vertical they were only 2" spread.
 
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