Has anyone tried this with 22-250?

[TrueBlue711]

I don't reload, so this may be a silly question. When I look at factory ammo for 22-250, I usually see ammo around the ballpark of 50 gr bullets. Why don't I see long skinny 90 gr bullets in the 22-250 that have much better BC? I understand they'll shoot slower than the 50 gr bullets, but has anybody even tried? I know to keep the same OAL, you'd have to seat the bullet in deeper. Is it even possible with current heavy grain bullets in 22 diamater?

[David R]

Rate of twist. Most 22-250 have a 1 in 14 inch twist. This will stabilize bullets up to 60 grains.

Some o will be along soon to prove my wrong

[Don Fischer]

I have always been under the impression that 22-250's with the 1-14 twist are best with 50 gr but's. Had a guy's here to work with some years ago and al I had for bullet's were 50 gr, 52 gr and 55 gr. Best by far was the 52 gr match bullet's. Then the 50 gr and the 55 gr was adequate but nothing more. I have heard that some 1-14 twist gun's do handle the 60 gr alright but not enough experience with the 22-250 to really say.

What I don't get is the fascination with heavier than 55 gr in any 22CF. If I wanted to shoot heavier than 55 gr bullet's I'd go to the 243! I think a lot of it come's from so many wanting to shoot long range, in excess, and they like the BC of the long 22 cal bullet's. Make's them happy, it's fine with me!

[AgedWarrior]

I think David R nailed it!

[scatterbrain]

Hey Don, we don't think like the new kids on the block, when you need a heavier bullet you go to a larger caliber rifle. The guys I shoot with don't know what over bore means.

[T. O'Heir]

Rate of twist like David R says. And there's little demand for 'em.
Forget about the Ballistic Coefficient. It's not that important. The BC is just a measure of how a bullet will overcome air resistance in flight. Means squat if the accuracy isn't consistent.
Hodgdon shows data for a 70 grain bullet for the .22-250 with a 1 in 14 twist. Most loads start at about 3,000 FPS. Nothing a .22-250 is used on will know or care what the bullet weight is.

[TrueBlue711]

Thanks for the quick responses. Not only do I not reload, I don't own a 22-250. Didn't know the twist was 1/14. That makes sense then to why no bigger than 55 gr bullets.

[603Country]

I have a 220 Swift with a 14 twist and a 20” barrel. The bullets I usually use are 55 gr Nosler BTs and 55 gr Sierra GKs. The heaviest bullet I’ve been able to use is the Sierra 63 gr SMP. Don’t even think about using the 65 gr Sierra GK.

[Bart B.]

A 9 or 10 inch twist 220 Swift barrel will work well with 80 grain bullets leaving around 3300 fps.

A 17 inch twist would have been better for 50 grain bullets leaving 3600+ fps.

[hagar]

The 64 grain Winchester PP loaded with Accurate 4350 shot astoundingly well out of my 24 inch Remington with 1 in 14 twist. Not so much out of a 20 inch Browning Micro Medallion.

[44 AMP]

Why don't I see long skinny 90 gr bullets in the 22-250 that have much better BC? I understand they'll shoot slower than the 50 gr bullets, but has anybody even tried? I know to keep the same OAL, you'd have to seat the bullet in deeper. Is it even possible with current heavy grain bullets in 22 diamater?

It's possible and you can get a barrel with the faster twist needed, but you'll have to order it special (aftermarket usually)

I have heard that some 1-14 twist gun's do handle the 60 gr alright but not enough experience with the 22-250 to really say.

Some do, some don't, it depends on the gun, and what one considers "alright". For a long time the 60+gr slugs were the heaviest and were considered the "deer bullet" where allowed by game laws. I've got a Win M70 Varmint (1-14 twist) and the Sierra 63gr Semi-spitzer was a consistent 1.5-2moa bullet in that rifle. Good enough to take deer, not so much for small varmints. 52-52gr match bullets would do around 3/4 MOA when I was that good and 55gr SP would be 1 MOA or a bit better.

What I don't get is the fascination with heavier than 55 gr in any 22CF. If I wanted to shoot heavier than 55 gr bullet's I'd go to the 243!

The long heavy for caliber high BC bullets were developed by folks who wanted to win military long range matches shooting AR 15 class rifles. Going to a .243 or larger meant an AR-15 couldn't be used. The VLD type bullets kept enough speed far enough, and bucked wind well enough to compete successfully against larger calibers and kept the advantage of fairly light recoil. Faster twist .223 barrels were needed, but those got made, too, in order to win a shooting game.

The .22-250 began life in the 1930s as a varmint cartridge, and became factory standardized in 1965, still decades before the heavy bullet VLD type idea took hold anywhere.

Not being in the AR-15, and so not used in those kinds of long range matches, the fast twist heavy bullet thing simply didn't catch on with the .22-250, which has retained the varmint rifle twist rate it always had.

You could get a custom fast twist barrel chambered in .22-250 and if so, it would do what the fast twist ARs do but some 400fps or so, faster.
Except it won't fit in an AR-15. AR-10, yes, AR-15, no.

The changes to the M16 that began with the A2 variant have led to making the AR a VERY accurate rifle, and AR-15s are allowed in "military rifle" matches (since the actual select fire M16s are very restricted)

[David R]

Probably if you ran a 52 grain bullet at 3800 fps, and a twist of 1-9, it would fly apart and never make it to the target.

David

[44 AMP]

Probably if you ran a 52 grain bullet at 3800 fps, and a twist of 1-9, it would fly apart and never make it to the target.

Possibly. It all depends on how the bullet is designed and built. You can build a bullet to survive almost any kind of "launch condition" but a bullet optimized for one thing is seldom the right bullet when you radically change things.

[TX Nimrod]

It's possible and you can get a barrel with the faster twist needed, but you'll have to order it special (aftermarket usually)....

This isn’t quite accurate. You can purchase a Ruger Predator with a 1:10” twist right now. Ditto the Savage 12BTCSS with a 1:12” twist. There are probably more factory fast-twist rifles available, these are just two I’m aware of.


.

[44 AMP]

I figured eventually someone would make up some fast twist .22-250 barrels, since now people will buy them. Sorry for the outdated information, not being in the market (my .22-250 dates from 83 and I haven't needed to look for another) I haven't kept up on what's current very well.

[Unclenick]

The 14" is still what the SAAMI velocity and pressure barrels are made with, so it is still "standard".

As to different weights that fly in some an not others, that will almost always boil down to construction. If a base is flat, the ogive short, and a fair amount of the hollow point is empty space behind the tip, you can get such a design to stabilize with less twist than is the average for that same weight in other bullet designs. Conversely, if you give the same weight bullet a long boattail and have weight in the front, like a boattail FMJ, you will find it needs more spin to stabilize.

I think the faster barrel twist options are a good thing. If you want a high BC to minimize wind deflection at 600 yards and beyond, you really do need the long, slender bullet designs that demand a faster twist.

[Scorch]

22-250 is typically used for varmint hunting, where ricochets are undesirable and easy to get due to shooting smallish targets close to ground level. Light, easily disrupted bullets are best for this type of shooting to prevent ricochets, so the rifling twist matches the intended use. If you want to shoot 90 gr bullets out of your 22-250, you will need a 1:7" or 1:6.5" twist barrel. F Class shooters commonly shoot 22-250 and 22-250 AI with heavy bullets. So it's not that it isn't done, you just need to make sure you have the equipment matched to the intended use.

Also, the 22-250 was standardized back in the 1960s. Long, heavy 22-caliber bullets are a newish thing, they didn't exist 25 or so years ago.