New caliber. 22 Nosler?

ianjcx

ianjcx

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At the range. Ontario
I currently have a Rem 700 heavy barrel in 222 but this caliber has its limitations. It was my first benchrest rifle and I had no problem cloverleafing 5 rounds @100 but my interests have shifted to long range targets and my barrel is wearingout. I have a 6.5 Creed as my PRS GUN and it works great but I want to take this rifle and do something new, but not sure what caliber I should choose.

Keeping in mind it's a small bolt face and I don't want to buy a new bolt and machine the receiver to accommodate a larger bolt face cartridges. I'm an experienced hand loader so store bought ammo not necessary.

Criteria for new caliber:

Small bolt face 0.378 case family
Dies, Brass, Projectiles not overly expensive
Barrel chambering available from most barrel manufacturers
Not a barrel burner round. 3000 - 5000 life expectancy
Decent ballistics to 1000m


What's your suggestion?
 
I can't for the life of my figure out why .22 Nosler isn't more popular. Brass runs about a buck a piece for new from Nosler, projectiles and powder are plentiful, and ballistically it's fantastic.
 
Tones of great old 22 cal cartridges out there, 22 Nosler is nothing new and spectacular. But pick one with good brass and velocity you want to achieve and giver, if 22 Nosler is what you want, cool. I’d say pick one with more data avaliblle and a tried and true cartridge that won’t fade away.
 
Honestly, it seems like you answered your own question. Pretty much only .22 Nosler satisfies your criteria. You could go .223 AI but I think the .22 Nosler has more case capacity. In ARs the 6.5 Grendel(more recoil, 6.8SPC bolt face) and the .224 Valkyrie(6.8 SPC bolt face) outperform the .22 Nosler but that's mostly because of mag length limitations. If you throat your new barrel to run something like a 90gr SMK and use a mag like the MDT polymer ones with longer capacity (and maybe notch your feed ramp), you'll really have a laser on your hands.
 
I know you don't want to but the answer is to open up the bolt face to .473" :). 22-250 AI with a fast twist barrel to shoot the new 95gr Sierra Matchkings. 0.600 G1 BC! Or rebarrel your rifle to 223 Rem, sell it, and buy a 308-based rifle to build on. If you have a smith do the bolt work, he will also install an aftermarket extractor.

If you really want to keep the rifle and just change the barrel, 22 Nosler is as good as it gets. And it isn't too bad! Definitely a huge step up from a 222. It just won't match the trajectory of a 300 WM like the 22-250AI will.
 
223 Rem

Anything bigger/faster will increase bore wear alot. 22-250AI will likely have obvious bore erosion by the time you hit 1500rds... run it hot and you may not get to 1000rds.

With a bore life of 3000rds, the 222 and 223 are it.

There is no problem hot rodding a 223 with a fast twist barrel and do very nicely at 1000yds.... my furthest accurate fire was 1 mile. Just build it like an FTR rifle with a long throat and enjoy 2000 to 3000rds of very accurate LR fire.

Jerry
 
22 Nosler is a cool round concept, and I've been intrigued by it for a while and possibly build one on a Howa Mini Action. 223 Remington will do the job quite well though and get you the barrel life you want. I haven't found info on the 22 Nosler for barrel life, but I imagine it would be close to 22-250 range. But if you want maximum velocity for the given bolt face size its probably your best bet. With all relatively new rounds it's going to be interesting to see if it can weather the storm or fall off like a fart in the wind.
 
buji88 said:
22 Nosler is a cool round concept, and I've been intrigued by it for a while and possibly build one on a Howa Mini Action. 223 Remington will do the job quite well though and get you the barrel life you want. I haven't found info on the 22 Nosler for barrel life, but I imagine it would be close to 22-250 range. But if you want maximum velocity for the given bolt face size its probably your best bet. With all relatively new rounds it's going to be interesting to see if it can weather the storm or fall off like a fart in the wind.
Click to expand...

Nosler claims a barrel life of 2000 if competing and 4000 if plinking. It definitely seems like it would be the most case capacity that you can get on a .223 boltface and without the mag length constraints of an AR (and with a properly throated chamber) you could seat heavy for caliber bullets a ways out there. Not that I ever anticipate shooting anything other than .223 on a .223 bolt face but I'll be curious to hear of your results if you go this route.
 
I would go with a 223 instead

First of all you can use any number of tactical chassis that will feed an AI mag. If you use an IA mag like MDT or even the ones from Ruger for the RPR you can feed rounds up to 2.6 inches long.

Put a 1:7 barrel twist rate on it with a long throat so you can jam the lands at 2.550 with 80 grain SMKs.

With the extra length you'll rival the speeds of the 22 Nosler without the frustration of a less common caliber.

I get 2850 FPS with 80 grain SMKs seated the 2.5" OAL and 2900 FPS when seated to 2.6".
 
Ive got a 22 Nosler in a mod 48 liberty rifle its a tack driver with factory ammo, Havent tried any handloads , I think It would be a good choice if you are rebarreling your current rifle and dont want to open up the boltface.
 
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