Choosing twist rate in 22 250 caliber


I am on my second .22-250, and both were 1:14 barrels.
The first was a Savage Model 16, and that one would
throw 55 gr. Nosler BTs through the target sideways,
at 100 yards /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif On the other hand, 50 gr. VMax
bullets held into small groups, and stabilized. For this
rifle, I would have preferred a 1:12 twist. I re-barreled
it into 6mm Rem. and now I am a very happy 6mm shooter.
I have the long range rifle, I wanted the .22-250 to be.

My second .22-250, is a Howa Varminter, in stainless, that
I won at a DU banquet. This one loves 50 gr. VMax,
bullets, and will stabilize the 55 gr. Noslers. So in
this barrel, a 1:14 twist does work well with the 55 gr.
bullets. My point is I think 1:14 is right on the edge
of too slow, for 55 gr. bullets, which are better bullets,
for windy shooting. So for me, I have dedicated my .22-250
to shooting 50 gr. bullets, out to 300 yards, and longer
ranges, I set up the 6mm Rem. But if I had to get down
to only one rifle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I would go with the .22-250,
in a 1:12 twist.

Squeeze
 
Quote:
It looks like we have defined the reason that nearly every major gun maker offers the .22-250 with 1 in 14 twist. I think one or two offer 1 in 12. So I was a little surprised that savage offered it in 1 in 9, I thought that was for the .223. Good Post



That's what I was thinking. I'm far from an expert, but it seems that the 1:14 is most popular so there must be a reason. I have heard from a guy that says his 1:14 Howa doesn't like 55 grainers, but I believe that is related to the Winchestrer ballistic silvertip and he has not tried other loads. He does have a Savage that likes these bullets so it must be the 1:12. Horses for courses? Maybe the 1:12 is a nice compromise. Still have to wonder why the 1:14 is most popular...
 
With very few exceptions in the industry unless you were willing to rebarrel a 22-250 your choice was 1 in 14. Because of the competition in the market place rimington is slowly changing. My guess is they were feeling the market share crunch.

There is no reason with today’s modern manufacturing processes that you can't just order a rifle in multiple twist rates but for the most part we aren't there.

If Toyota had that attitude they would still be trailing GM. That is only one example of what customer demand does in today’s market place and big green and several others just can't get that idea into their gray matter. A truly good gun manufacturer could run all of these guys out of business before they could blink their eyes and react.
 
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