Caliber choice 22-250 vs 223AI

KMAY · December 22, 2009, 10:32 PM

So guys i kinda have a problem on picking a caliber for my new Stevens 200. I just picked up one of the 7mm-08 guns at academy for 215bucks and am selling the barrel and have found 2 barrels to replace.

Let me first start off by saying that i am new to relaoding but whichever caliber i get i will reload for it. That being said, both barrels are SS Varmint contour, fluted and have a 1:9 twist. And now for the dilema. One of the barrels is 22-250 and the other is 223AI.

So fellas which would you buy and why? They are both the same price used and very affordable. This is manly going to be a bench gun but will pull double duty as my varmint/preadator rifle until i can afford to get another.

jlbpa · December 22, 2009, 10:39 PM

22-250 . great for reloading... can be a .22 lr, 22 mag, 22 hornet, 222, 223, and a 22-250 capable of great things.

geetarman · December 23, 2009, 07:30 AM

22-250 hands down. It would be hard to come up with a more versatile round.

DiscoRacing · December 23, 2009, 07:37 AM

guess i will be the first to say .223... 22-250s mean more powder,,,cost of brass is much higher,, harder on barrels.... I have both calibers and have had just as much performance from 223 with heavy bullets than with 22-250

crimsondave · December 23, 2009, 08:38 AM

You have to fire form 223 brass to 223 AI. It's not that bad, but you have to fire the 223 rounds through your gun before you can reload them.

I'd go 22-250 for that reason alone.

fyimo · December 23, 2009, 09:10 AM

I have a CZ 550 American in 22-250 and I also have a Browning A Bolt in 223 and they are both great guns and calibers. The only advantage to the 223 is the supply of cheap ammo which is sort of defeated here because it's a 223AI barrel. The 22-250 will shoot any bullet weight the 223 shoots flatter and faster by 3 to 4 hundred feet per second and they use the same bullets.

Christchild · December 23, 2009, 09:29 AM

Looks like I'm on the Bandwagon again. .22-250 Rem. For reasons of more readily available brass, NOT having to fireform Your brass, the .22-250 casehead will match the boltface of what was originally used/chambered for a 7mm-08 (the .223 will not match). You'd have to replace the bolthead if You went with the .223 AI. I'd stick with the Classic. It remains king, anyway. .22-250 Remington.

Dustin0 · December 23, 2009, 09:39 AM

Iam with Christchild you cant use a 223 on that action your stuck with 22-250.

ForneyRider · December 23, 2009, 10:28 AM

There's more work and $$$ to converting a 7mm-08 to a .223 boltface than .22-250.

.22-250.

Christchild · December 23, 2009, 10:29 AM

Another thought that crossed my mind is, "Interior Magazine Dimensions". Looking at the 7mm-08 case/cartridge dimensions, the magazine is designed for those dimensions. The .22-250 dimensions should be plenty close enough to feed without any problems, but the .223, even the AI dimensions, may be "slim" enough in Case Body Diameter to cause You some feeding problems. You'd possibly need to buy the magazine parts suited to the smaller .223 case to avoid any of those problems, as well.

Seems to me that the .22-250 would be the only really sensible choice.

KMAY · December 23, 2009, 11:16 AM

Thanks for the helps guys 22-250 it is.

Oh and i can use a 223 on this action it just another part i have to buy. So that makes a mag box and bolt face for the 223 and and maybe a mag box for the 22-250.

Water-Man · December 23, 2009, 11:29 AM

Should have gone to .223!

Christchild · December 23, 2009, 11:40 AM

Quote:

So that makes a mag box and bolt face for the 223 and and maybe a mag box for the 22-250.

Possibly, but that's not a definite. I don't have my manuals handy, so I can't look over case/cartridge dimensions...but compare 7mm-08 to .22-250. If the body dimensions are close enough, You may not have to pay for the extra part(s). I'd also ask the 'Smith that's doing Your work about that.

And enjoy that .22-250, KMAY!!! That's a Fine Cartridge...

KMAY · December 23, 2009, 01:15 PM

I will be doing my own work on this gun. Its a Stevens made by savage so it has a barrel nut and i will be able to do the work my self.

And i plan to enjoy it. I love target shooting !

James R. Burke · December 23, 2009, 04:58 PM

The 22-250 hands down if it were me.

DubC-Hicks · December 23, 2009, 08:00 PM

22-250 is perfect for varmint and target, except for the higher priced ammo. I would not go with a caliber that you have to fireform your brass to be able to reload it.
22-250. 'nuff said.

Big Bill · December 23, 2009, 08:11 PM

Quote:

I have both calibers and have had just as much performance from 223 with heavy bullets than with 22-250.

How so? Can you be more specific, because I'm skeptical.

furtaker · December 23, 2009, 08:17 PM

22-250 all the way

kiwi56 · December 24, 2009, 01:17 AM

I shoot both 223AI and 22-250AI and if I had to choose I would go with the 22-250. While the standard 22-250 will give you a velocity increase over the 223AI it is not a great deal of difference to the animal that gets hit with it but it certainly does reduce bullet drop and effects of windage and along with this slightly more effective range. If you really want to compare apples with apples why not move up to the 22-250AI and you will see identical velocities to the 220 Swift. I have found the Ackley Improvements on both cartridges when using 55grain boat tail bullets give increase in velocity of approximately 200 to 250 ft per second over the parent case. An added bonus is the reduced case stretching in the Ackley chambers.

FrankenMauser · December 24, 2009, 01:34 AM

.22-250

.223AI isn't going to match the bolt face. It will give you feeding issues. It won't match the performance of the .22-250. (Or, you'll have to dump more money into the thing.)

Go with the simpler/cheaper choice.

kiwi56 · December 24, 2009, 02:38 PM

Fire forming the Ackley chambered rifles is not as big an issue or drama that some people make it out to be. My three Ackley chambered rifles rifles are a Brno in 223AI, a M700 in 22-250AI and a Sako A3 in 25-06AI. All of these rifles have been rebarrelled with match grade varmint profile barrels None of these rifles have ever suffered problems with feeding issues. The important thing when setting up these rifles is to get a good smith who knows what he is doing to do the work. While extreme highest velocity does not always give the best accuracy what I have found is that I have been able to step up bullet weight a few sizes for the same velocity with the Ackley chambers, for instance in the 25-06AI I now shoot 100grainers at the same velocity that I used to shoot 75 grainers at with the standard chamber and still get around half inch groups at 100yards. The performance of the 25-06AI is exactly the same as the .257 Weatherby Magnum but burning significantly less powder to achieve it.
Another important thing is to buy good Quality brass, As Norma brass is hard to come by here I normally start off with Norma factory ammo and just fireform it and even with standard 25-06 ammo the accuracy is still around 1inch groups for five shots at 100yards.

KMAY · December 25, 2009, 11:59 AM

Bought the 22-250. Just waiting on it and my barrel nut wrench to get here. Also have some headspace gauges on the way.

KMAY · December 25, 2009, 12:00 PM

Water-Man - Should have gone to .223!

Why? What is your reasoning?

ForneyRider · December 25, 2009, 07:07 PM

6mm XC - it's a .22-250 necked up to 6mm. You get an 8 twist barrel and shoot 115gr DTAC bullets over 3k fps for 1000 yard competition. Should be a top notch long distance varminter.

DTAC bullet is like .600 BC.

David Tubb came up with this for High Power shooting.

Norma makes the brass. I think they even do factory ammo for it.

Picher · December 25, 2009, 09:02 PM

If you can, why not buy the .22-250 barrel and keep the 7mm-08. You may want to hunt with it at some point and though the .22-250 can kill deer, the 7mm-08 is a fantastic cartridge for deer and longer range shooting.

I have both a .223 Rem and .22-250. The .223 is a great range rifle because it doesn't heat up much and the .22-250 Rem is about the nicest varmint round in a short action.

If you're sold on the .223AI and want to have a regular .223 Rem, can't you set the barrel back and re-chamber to .223? Having three barrels for one rifle would be a great deal.

December 22, 2009, 10:32 PM	#1
KMAY Member Join Date: November 17, 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx. Posts: 33	Caliber choice 22-250 vs 223AI So guys i kinda have a problem on picking a caliber for my new Stevens 200. I just picked up one of the 7mm-08 guns at academy for 215bucks and am selling the barrel and have found 2 barrels to replace. Let me first start off by saying that i am new to relaoding but whichever caliber i get i will reload for it. That being said, both barrels are SS Varmint contour, fluted and have a 1:9 twist. And now for the dilema. One of the barrels is 22-250 and the other is 223AI. So fellas which would you buy and why? They are both the same price used and very affordable. This is manly going to be a bench gun but will pull double duty as my varmint/preadator rifle until i can afford to get another.

December 23, 2009, 10:28 AM	#9
ForneyRider Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 2007 Location: Forney, TX Posts: 725	There's more work and $$$ to converting a 7mm-08 to a .223 boltface than .22-250. .22-250. __________________ When all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

December 24, 2009, 01:17 AM	#19
kiwi56 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2009 Location: Auckland NewZealand Posts: 350	Caliber Choice I shoot both 223AI and 22-250AI and if I had to choose I would go with the 22-250. While the standard 22-250 will give you a velocity increase over the 223AI it is not a great deal of difference to the animal that gets hit with it but it certainly does reduce bullet drop and effects of windage and along with this slightly more effective range. If you really want to compare apples with apples why not move up to the 22-250AI and you will see identical velocities to the 220 Swift. I have found the Ackley Improvements on both cartridges when using 55grain boat tail bullets give increase in velocity of approximately 200 to 250 ft per second over the parent case. An added bonus is the reduced case stretching in the Ackley chambers. Last edited by kiwi56; December 24, 2009 at 02:11 PM.

December 24, 2009, 01:34 AM	#20
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	.22-250 .223AI isn't going to match the bolt face. It will give you feeding issues. It won't match the performance of the .22-250. (Or, you'll have to dump more money into the thing.) Go with the simpler/cheaper choice. __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

December 24, 2009, 02:38 PM	#21
kiwi56 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2009 Location: Auckland NewZealand Posts: 350	22-250 vs 223AI Fire forming the Ackley chambered rifles is not as big an issue or drama that some people make it out to be. My three Ackley chambered rifles rifles are a Brno in 223AI, a M700 in 22-250AI and a Sako A3 in 25-06AI. All of these rifles have been rebarrelled with match grade varmint profile barrels None of these rifles have ever suffered problems with feeding issues. The important thing when setting up these rifles is to get a good smith who knows what he is doing to do the work. While extreme highest velocity does not always give the best accuracy what I have found is that I have been able to step up bullet weight a few sizes for the same velocity with the Ackley chambers, for instance in the 25-06AI I now shoot 100grainers at the same velocity that I used to shoot 75 grainers at with the standard chamber and still get around half inch groups at 100yards. The performance of the 25-06AI is exactly the same as the .257 Weatherby Magnum but burning significantly less powder to achieve it. Another important thing is to buy good Quality brass, As Norma brass is hard to come by here I normally start off with Norma factory ammo and just fireform it and even with standard 25-06 ammo the accuracy is still around 1inch groups for five shots at 100yards. Last edited by kiwi56; December 24, 2009 at 03:33 PM.

December 22, 2009, 10:39 PM	#2
jlbpa Senior Member Join Date: September 25, 2000 Posts: 196	22-250 . great for reloading... can be a .22 lr, 22 mag, 22 hornet, 222, 223, and a 22-250 capable of great things.

December 23, 2009, 07:30 AM	#3
geetarman Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2009 Location: Arizona Posts: 3,157	22-250 hands down. It would be hard to come up with a more versatile round.

December 23, 2009, 07:37 AM	#4
DiscoRacing Senior Member Join Date: December 19, 2008 Location: milton, wv Posts: 3,640	guess i will be the first to say .223... 22-250s mean more powder,,,cost of brass is much higher,, harder on barrels.... I have both calibers and have had just as much performance from 223 with heavy bullets than with 22-250

December 23, 2009, 08:38 AM	#5
crimsondave Senior Member Join Date: September 30, 2009 Location: North Augusta, SC Posts: 490	You have to fire form 223 brass to 223 AI. It's not that bad, but you have to fire the 223 rounds through your gun before you can reload them. I'd go 22-250 for that reason alone.

December 23, 2009, 09:10 AM	#6
fyimo Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2009 Posts: 360	I have a CZ 550 American in 22-250 and I also have a Browning A Bolt in 223 and they are both great guns and calibers. The only advantage to the 223 is the supply of cheap ammo which is sort of defeated here because it's a 223AI barrel. The 22-250 will shoot any bullet weight the 223 shoots flatter and faster by 3 to 4 hundred feet per second and they use the same bullets.

December 23, 2009, 09:29 AM	#7
Christchild Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2009 Location: Loadbenchville, Bolt 02770 Posts: 544	Looks like I'm on the Bandwagon again. .22-250 Rem. For reasons of more readily available brass, NOT having to fireform Your brass, the .22-250 casehead will match the boltface of what was originally used/chambered for a 7mm-08 (the .223 will not match). You'd have to replace the bolthead if You went with the .223 AI. I'd stick with the Classic. It remains king, anyway. .22-250 Remington.

December 23, 2009, 09:39 AM	#8
Dustin0 Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 2008 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 701	Iam with Christchild you cant use a 223 on that action your stuck with 22-250.

December 23, 2009, 10:29 AM	#10
Christchild Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2009 Location: Loadbenchville, Bolt 02770 Posts: 544	Another thought that crossed my mind is, "Interior Magazine Dimensions". Looking at the 7mm-08 case/cartridge dimensions, the magazine is designed for those dimensions. The .22-250 dimensions should be plenty close enough to feed without any problems, but the .223, even the AI dimensions, may be "slim" enough in Case Body Diameter to cause You some feeding problems. You'd possibly need to buy the magazine parts suited to the smaller .223 case to avoid any of those problems, as well. Seems to me that the .22-250 would be the only really sensible choice.

December 23, 2009, 11:16 AM	#11
KMAY Member Join Date: November 17, 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx. Posts: 33	Thanks for the helps guys 22-250 it is. Oh and i can use a 223 on this action it just another part i have to buy. So that makes a mag box and bolt face for the 223 and and maybe a mag box for the 22-250.

December 23, 2009, 11:29 AM	#12
Water-Man Senior Member Join Date: March 23, 2008 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 2,126	Should have gone to .223!

December 23, 2009, 01:15 PM	#14
KMAY Member Join Date: November 17, 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx. Posts: 33	I will be doing my own work on this gun. Its a Stevens made by savage so it has a barrel nut and i will be able to do the work my self. And i plan to enjoy it. I love target shooting !

December 23, 2009, 04:58 PM	#15
James R. Burke Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2009 Location: U.P. of Mich/Quinnesec Posts: 1,897	The 22-250 hands down if it were me.

December 23, 2009, 08:00 PM	#16
DubC-Hicks Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2009 Location: Backwoods, Northern MI Posts: 1,031	22-250 is perfect for varmint and target, except for the higher priced ammo. I would not go with a caliber that you have to fireform your brass to be able to reload it. 22-250. 'nuff said.

December 23, 2009, 08:17 PM	#18
furtaker Senior Member Join Date: February 27, 2009 Posts: 119	22-250 all the way

December 25, 2009, 11:59 AM	#22
KMAY Member Join Date: November 17, 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx. Posts: 33	Bought the 22-250. Just waiting on it and my barrel nut wrench to get here. Also have some headspace gauges on the way.

December 25, 2009, 12:00 PM	#23
KMAY Member Join Date: November 17, 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx. Posts: 33	Water-Man - Should have gone to .223! Why? What is your reasoning?

December 25, 2009, 07:07 PM	#24
ForneyRider Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 2007 Location: Forney, TX Posts: 725	6mm XC - it's a .22-250 necked up to 6mm. You get an 8 twist barrel and shoot 115gr DTAC bullets over 3k fps for 1000 yard competition. Should be a top notch long distance varminter. DTAC bullet is like .600 BC. David Tubb came up with this for High Power shooting. Norma makes the brass. I think they even do factory ammo for it. __________________ When all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

December 25, 2009, 09:02 PM	#25
Picher Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Maine Posts: 3,694	If you can, why not buy the .22-250 barrel and keep the 7mm-08. You may want to hunt with it at some point and though the .22-250 can kill deer, the 7mm-08 is a fantastic cartridge for deer and longer range shooting. I have both a .223 Rem and .22-250. The .223 is a great range rifle because it doesn't heat up much and the .22-250 Rem is about the nicest varmint round in a short action. If you're sold on the .223AI and want to have a regular .223 Rem, can't you set the barrel back and re-chamber to .223? Having three barrels for one rifle would be a great deal.