To 22-250 or not to 22-250...

Dumptruck

Dumptruck

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I purchased myself a very nice 700 action with a medium bolt face (.308 family) with the intent of putting a 6.5mm barrel chambered for 260 remington on it. I also have a nice varmit contoured 223 barrel. I have spent too much money on my new 700 5R (unrelated but affects my decision).

What are the thoughts on chambering the 223 barrel for 22-250 for target shooting (maybe a little gopher popping)?
 
It will work fine with 50-55 grain bullets or lighter ... it just depends on the twist if you can use the longer bullets...
 
22-250 is AWESOME for gophers. Blows em up real good with the 50gr V-Max.

Not so great for way out there shots but out to 400yds it smokes the little dirt pigs.

Just be aware that if you want longevity of your barrel, the 22-250 is not the cartridge you want to look at.
 
Check your twist rate. if it is a fast 1-10" then i would go with 22-250. if it is slow 1-14" then you must go 22-250. Fast twists stabilize heavier/longer bullets better. 60 plus grain bullets become an option for the 22-250. Factory offerings have slow twists.
 
There are lots of 223 target shooters, but I have never met a target shooter using a 22-250. There's good reason for it... probably the top reason is poor barrel life. A 223 will last for about 3 times as many rounds.

If you check out wind drift using light bullets out of a 22-250 and compare against a 223 with 80 grain SMKs you will find the 22-250 is not even close to being competitive at 500 yards.

The old saw that the high velocity 22-250 is flat shooting is a great way to sell the stuff but in practice it does not add up. Light bullets at high velocity are limited to short range shooting and herein lies the contradiction. At close range the drop difference between the 223 and 22-250 are negligible.

A guy could rig a 22-250 to run heavy bullets and I'm sure it would work.... for about 800 rounds before the barrel is toast.
 
I just aquired a 22-250 AI and its pretty impressive. 80gr Bergers at 3330fps and 3/4 MOA.I'm not expecting much for barrel life though lol!
 
Best caliber I've ever shot, and I've shot it TONS!!!
I have owned 22-250's in a TC Encore, Winchester 70, Rem 700, and a custom Sako 75 wearing a match grade Douglas barrel.
It is more of a barrel burner than the 223 but IMHO to say you will only get 800 rounds out of a barrel is pure crap, plain and simple, I put 3000 rounds through my Sako and it still shot under moa out to 500yds.
With all things being equal between a 223 and 22-250 including bullet weight and barrel twist there is simply no comparison, the 22-250 will outshine the 223.
 
CyaN1de said:
22-250 is AWESOME for gophers. Blows em up real good with the 50gr V-Max.
Click to expand...

You can say that again. All you find is the odd limb.




I as well love the 22-250. Mine was really accurate but I had only pushed it to 500 so I can't say much past that.

I would like to own one again.
 
Really want a 22-250, look at the accuracy and fps and decision made... but then look at barrel life, how little difference from a .243... (and can then extend that again to .223). So been sticking to .223s. But do I ever want a 22-250...
 
If you cant hit what you are aiming at with a 223, it is not likely that you would have made the shot with a 22-250 either. Guys shoot 223s out to 1000 yards in both F-Class and TR with a 1-8 twist and 80 grain bullets. I'm sure I have 3000 rounds through my Hart barreled 223 and it still shoots 3/8-1/2 moa, which is not as good as it was in its prime at about 1/4 moa, using 80 grain SMKs.

BTW I am getting over 2950 FPS with 26 grains of Varget and jamming the lands using fire formed cases. If I use full length resized cases I drop the load back to 24.5 grains.

The argument in favor of the 223 is the efficiency. The light powder charge gets you very close to 22-250 speeds with almost half the powder. This means all the powder is guaranteed to burn before the bullet leaves the barrel. The 22-250 due to the larger case capacity must run slower powder which by default will not burn as completely in the small barrel which will cause accuracy issues as the carbon accumulates in the barrel. I would also be suspicious of the consistency of the velocity with the 22-250 because all that powder may not fully burn and that will almost certainly translate to speed variation, if not from shot to shot, certainly when the temperature changes.

This discussion is similar to exploring the advantages of the 6BR. It is so efficient that you can never rule it out in even a 1000 yard match on a calm day.

The 6BR runs about 30 grains of powder with a bullet weight of about 105-115 grains. The 223 runs about 25 grains (give or take) with an 80 grain bullet. Comparing the powder to bullet ratio the 2 cartridges are almost identical.
 
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Your action bolt face and spare barrel caliber both seem to be pointing in one direction...You really can't go wrong with the 22-250 if she is put together right...The 22-250 is one of my favorites after shooting and reloading for pretty much all of the .224's...When loaded right she will easily group a half inch and in calm conditions 400 yards is a punt and 600 plus yards is not out of the question...Might add that I never found the 22-250 too picky when it came to reloading with one exception...When the brass needed full length sizing I could also expect my groups to at least double in size, once neck sizing resumed the groups were right back to a half inch.
 
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