To Ai or not

S

Saskyote

New member
Hey everyone just looking for your opinions on this I got a TC venture predator in 22-250 for a safety award from work. I sighted it in and it shot a 1/2" 3 shot group at 100 with Winchester 45gr jhp
Shot a 1 1/2" group with the 50gr vmax hornady superfomance I've always had an itch for a 22-250ai thinking this might be a good candidate what would you do
 
Oh, why not? Get full blown .220 Swift gee whiz with much easier to find brass. And the .22-250 is a rather cool looking round.

Plus you will trim less and if you throttle it back a touch to standard .22-250 speeds your brass will last a really long time. Good thing nowadays with some brass costing 4 times what it did just 10 years ago.
 
Your smith will have to know what he is doing, barrel has to be set back. You will gain some speed, and the cool factor will go up as well. You will still be able to shoot regular 22-250 rounds if you need to.
 
Maybe I'm being too practical but why not just fine tune reloads for your standard 22-250. I'm not sure you are gaining anything but coolness.
 
Originally Posted By: family guyI have a .223 AI. Not worth the expense.
i was going to do a 22-250 but not anymore.

It funny you should say this as i believe the .223 is one of a few cases worth going the Ackley route with. My .223ai will do 3700 with a 52 amax and slightly over 4k with 40's. pretty dang close to what a 22-250 will do. My 6mmx.223ai will do 3600 with 60's or 3000 with 95's. granted, pressures are higher than factory loads but the brass takes it in stride. I have killed some big deer and pigs with the 6mm version. I believe the 22-250 gaines more than just about any other case from being ackleyed due to is sharp body taper.
 
Originally Posted By: family guyI have a .223 AI. Not worth the expense.
i was going to do a 22-250 but not anymore.

I have and like both of mine. Going to shoot my 223AI today and work up some different loads.
 
I really like the .22-250AI, I've worn out two barrels chambered for it and currently have two more. One of them is getting kind of long in the tooth and when it finally starts throwing poofs I won't think twice about getting another new barrel chambered in .22-250AI for it.

But!

No way, no day, am I paying to have a factory barrel that is throwing 1.5" groups set back and rechambered. No way.

That's just my take. But a barrel that is shooting that poorly isn't one I'm wasting any money on.

- DAA
 
I think I would spend the money on loading gear. If it'll shoot win white box into 1/2" group then it doesn't like the hornady for some reason. Reloading will allow you to tailor loads for your needs as well. I have a 223 that I use for beaver hunting during the summer and I download that to 22 hornet velocities. I was also using a 243 chucking an 87 gr vmax at 2000 fps. So give reloading a try it won't be cheap to start but depending how much you shoot it may lower your ammo cost.
 
Sorry should have stated in my opening post I've been reloading for about 7 years now and this would be my second ai currently have a kimber in 25-06ai sitting in the safe expense will be minimal smith already has reamers and will only charge $135.00 to set back and rechamber also with the barrel out 1/2 turn to hide the bible on the factory tube and $35.00 to add some glass to the void in the forend to stiffen it up so it won't touch the barrel when I load up the bipod
 
Originally Posted By: ChuckWilliamsOriginally Posted By: family guyI have a .223 AI. Not worth the expense.
i was going to do a 22-250 but not anymore.

It funny you should say this as i believe the .223 is one of a few cases worth going the Ackley route with. My .223ai will do 3700 with a 52 amax and slightly over 4k with 40's. pretty dang close to what a 22-250 will do. I believe the 22-250 gaines more than just about any other case from being ackleyed due to is sharp body taper.


My findings exactly.

When I realized that I had three .223 varmint rifles and no .223 AI varmint rigs I decided to change that. My older Savage 112 with several thousand of rounds already though it looked like the best candidate. And it was. After buying an inexpensive ER Shaw .223 barrel I had it rechambered for the AI round before installing it. Bought me a set of Lee dies off of Ebay and went to work developing some loads for it. It did not take long to find a lot of data for this popular wildcat. And for sure, many a ground squirrel and prairie dog have been the unluckier for it! 4000 FPS for the 40 grain bullet is very easy to get. I have upped that over 100 FPS more before I started to get pressure signs. But I do prefer the 50 grain bullets at around 3700 FPS more often because my particular gun likes them a bit better, and they have proven their merit clear out to past 700 yards on critters the size of prairie dogs. That rifle is what I am holding in my avatar.

Improved cartridges have been around for many decades and some are more "improved" than others to be sure. In my opinion cartridges such as the .250 Savage, the .257 Roberts and the .22-250 become way better when they have been made into an Ackley. And the only disadvantage that I can see with using a .223 AI over a standard .223 round is that all of your other .223 rifles will quickly get very lonely!
 
Thanks for the encouragement guys next time I'm going to the city it will be on its way to the smith for a rechamber I'll let everyone know how it turns out
 
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