Varmint in 22-250, Which Would You Recommend? Made a Choice!
- Thread starter waynewjw
- Start date
Me too. Have to get some shots of the houses now too.I'd like to see a pic of all caramel's guns as well.
With a penny on them of course.
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I'm in the same boat, except I'm looking for .223. You might want to check out one of the Browning BLR's in .22-250. You can get walnut, laminate, blue or stainless. Lightweight, easy to point, detachable mag. I've heard the triggers are a bit hard to pull though. Oh, and if you're looking for a Savage Weather Warrior, you want the FCSS (detachabable mag) not the FHSS (hinged floor plate).
I would have a good look at the T/C venture and predator as well,I heard real good things about these rifles.And their more affordable than others who claim what they don't deliver.I own a model 70 in 325wsm and a savage 25 Lv in 204 and love them both as well.Good luck and post pics when you decide.
waynewjw
CGN Regular
Still Undecided
Well I think I've now narrowed down to two choices: Browning X-Bolt and TC Icon Weather Shield. The Browning is 1 1/4 lbs lighter but a 1:14 twist which means staying to the lighter bullets 45-55 grains. The TC Icon is 1 3/4 lbs heavier than the Browning but a 1:12 twist which means I can do up some heavier loads.
What would you do? I want light weight but I also want to shoot a heavier grain bullet.
Well I think I've now narrowed down to two choices: Browning X-Bolt and TC Icon Weather Shield. The Browning is 1 1/4 lbs lighter but a 1:14 twist which means staying to the lighter bullets 45-55 grains. The TC Icon is 1 3/4 lbs heavier than the Browning but a 1:12 twist which means I can do up some heavier loads.
What would you do? I want light weight but I also want to shoot a heavier grain bullet.
Xbolt Varmint Stalker
I own it in 22-250 and like the 26 inch barrel with 1-14 twist. Only thing I didn't like was the trigger which is advertised as fully adjustable down to three pounds which I didn't think was low enough for a varmint rifle so gun smith has reduced to 2 pounds. I have the 223 version coming as well.
Because of the medium weight barrel they might be a little heavier than you specify in your intitial post. They sure do shoot however.
I own it in 22-250 and like the 26 inch barrel with 1-14 twist. Only thing I didn't like was the trigger which is advertised as fully adjustable down to three pounds which I didn't think was low enough for a varmint rifle so gun smith has reduced to 2 pounds. I have the 223 version coming as well.
Because of the medium weight barrel they might be a little heavier than you specify in your intitial post. They sure do shoot however.
twist
I have a 12 twist ZKK BRNO which also handles 50 and 55 grain bullets well. Guess according to the book the 14 twist is supposed to excell at light varmint bullets and the 12 twist should handle a little heavier bullet perhaps up to 60 grain??
I have a 12 twist ZKK BRNO which also handles 50 and 55 grain bullets well. Guess according to the book the 14 twist is supposed to excell at light varmint bullets and the 12 twist should handle a little heavier bullet perhaps up to 60 grain??
Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Agreed. I'd probably look at the TC Icon or the Tikka T3 lite (not the heavier Varmint model).
waynewjw
CGN Regular
Bought the TC Icon Weathershield
Finally made a choice and so far I'm quite happy with the results. Picked up the TC Icon Weathershield in 22-250 about 3 weeks ago from Wholesale Sports. As the bases are a milled part of the receiver, I didn't have to match those up. So I added Burris rings with the Posi-Inserts and then put a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10 x 42 BDC scope on top.
Having owned quite a number of rifles, I can say that the quality is very good. Nice finish, robust bolt finished in black, nice feel to the stock (similar to the Dura-Touch by Browning) and the weight was close to what I was looking for. I also turned down the trigger to 3.5 lbs. and it breaks very clean and crisp.
Took it out to the range and used a variety of factory ammo for the first initial break-in, some Winchester White Box 45 grains, Winchester Ballistic Silvertips in 50 grain and some Remington Power-Lokt in 55 grain. As this was a break-in, fired one round and then cleaned times 5, then 3 rounds and cleaned, and so on, I wasn't that concerned with accuracy. With a 1:12 twist, the 45 grain spat all over the target, so definitely a no go on a lighter load which is o.k. because I wanted to be able to throw some heavier loads down range.
Following week I took a trip down to International Shooting and previewed their stock of bullets...selected a Berger 62 grain Varmint bullet, then I sprinkled in some IMR4350 in 1-grain increments from 34 up to 40. This was an interesting experiment as the Lyman book stops at 36 grains, Hornady says go up to 40.3 grains for a 63 grain bullet. No data on the 62 grain, but data for the 60 and 63 grain was the same so I thought I'd be safe going up to 40 grains. No issues there. The lighter loads and the heavier loads gave me 3-shot patterns around 1 1/2" - 2", nothing to write about. But the middle range started to provide accuracy.
2 weekends of tests and the rifle loves the 62 grainers with 38.5 gns of IMR4350, I got 3-shot groups of just under 3/4" at 100 yds. And that was after firing 28 rounds up to this point from a new barrel.
So this past weekend, I loaded 5 rounds of Winchester brass and 5 of Winchester nickel cases to see if there would be any diff. The results were pretty much the same for both cases. So....I do believe I have my varmint rifle and I have a varmint round. I'm going to do some fine tuning with the scope and see what the BDC readings are for 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards. And the 2 - 5 shot groups from last weekend were close to 1/2".
As to the cleaning part, some guys suggesting you can shoot up to 80 rounds with the R5 rifling and still have accuracy. So far this is a myth. I put 18 rounds thru the rifle and founds the groups were starting to spread out, so I gave it a clean and they tightened right up. Once I got her home, did a WipeOut clean on the barrel and she's ready to go for the final testing.
I would highly recommend the rifle, especially if you're cooking up your own loads. Great balance and weight, nice finish in metal work and stock, and all around great little gun for the $800 mark.
Will try post some photo's of the rig in my next posting.
Finally made a choice and so far I'm quite happy with the results. Picked up the TC Icon Weathershield in 22-250 about 3 weeks ago from Wholesale Sports. As the bases are a milled part of the receiver, I didn't have to match those up. So I added Burris rings with the Posi-Inserts and then put a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10 x 42 BDC scope on top.
Having owned quite a number of rifles, I can say that the quality is very good. Nice finish, robust bolt finished in black, nice feel to the stock (similar to the Dura-Touch by Browning) and the weight was close to what I was looking for. I also turned down the trigger to 3.5 lbs. and it breaks very clean and crisp.
Took it out to the range and used a variety of factory ammo for the first initial break-in, some Winchester White Box 45 grains, Winchester Ballistic Silvertips in 50 grain and some Remington Power-Lokt in 55 grain. As this was a break-in, fired one round and then cleaned times 5, then 3 rounds and cleaned, and so on, I wasn't that concerned with accuracy. With a 1:12 twist, the 45 grain spat all over the target, so definitely a no go on a lighter load which is o.k. because I wanted to be able to throw some heavier loads down range.
Following week I took a trip down to International Shooting and previewed their stock of bullets...selected a Berger 62 grain Varmint bullet, then I sprinkled in some IMR4350 in 1-grain increments from 34 up to 40. This was an interesting experiment as the Lyman book stops at 36 grains, Hornady says go up to 40.3 grains for a 63 grain bullet. No data on the 62 grain, but data for the 60 and 63 grain was the same so I thought I'd be safe going up to 40 grains. No issues there. The lighter loads and the heavier loads gave me 3-shot patterns around 1 1/2" - 2", nothing to write about. But the middle range started to provide accuracy.
2 weekends of tests and the rifle loves the 62 grainers with 38.5 gns of IMR4350, I got 3-shot groups of just under 3/4" at 100 yds. And that was after firing 28 rounds up to this point from a new barrel.
So this past weekend, I loaded 5 rounds of Winchester brass and 5 of Winchester nickel cases to see if there would be any diff. The results were pretty much the same for both cases. So....I do believe I have my varmint rifle and I have a varmint round. I'm going to do some fine tuning with the scope and see what the BDC readings are for 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards. And the 2 - 5 shot groups from last weekend were close to 1/2".
As to the cleaning part, some guys suggesting you can shoot up to 80 rounds with the R5 rifling and still have accuracy. So far this is a myth. I put 18 rounds thru the rifle and founds the groups were starting to spread out, so I gave it a clean and they tightened right up. Once I got her home, did a WipeOut clean on the barrel and she's ready to go for the final testing.
I would highly recommend the rifle, especially if you're cooking up your own loads. Great balance and weight, nice finish in metal work and stock, and all around great little gun for the $800 mark.
Will try post some photo's of the rig in my next posting.
