Diving into a 22 Creedmoor

[Ironworker]

Which barrel? Bartlien 5R or Muller works 4-groove Kreiger 4groove. What difference does the amount of rifling land matter? I'm leaning towards a 7" twist. I'd be shooting 69gr to 88 ELDs

 

[urbanrifleman]

8 twist. 7 is way too much.

 

[Intell]

I use a Kreiger 7 twist and it will shoot the 95 SMKs good @ 3180 fps. Also a proof carbon that’s an 8 twist and 90s are heaviest I can go and have round holes at 100 yds, the 95s keyhole badly. I’ve never shot either on paper past 100 so I can’t say how stable they are staying at distance. Both barrels will shoot small round groups at 100.
I’ve struggled some past 800 yds with the 7 twist and the 95s, so 6.5 may be better, or it’s just my poor wind calls??

I got pretty good performance last year shooting 80s at distance in a 223 going 2930fps so I’m thinking I need to try them in my creedmoors and see if there’s an improvement past 800.
90s are the lightest bullets I’ve tried in the 22 CM, I need to do some testing with with lighter bullets.
Keep in mind I’m no long range champion, so take what I say for what it cost you lol.

 

[AlNyhus]

Depending on your needs, don't overlook using a more conventional twist rate with shorter bullets. A 12 twist would be excellent with bullets like the longer Nosler BTips and some of the Hornady stuff. This is my 22 Creedmoor with a Hart 14 twist and the BIB 52's. It's a no turn chamber done by Randy Robinett. I used Lapua 22-250 brass to fire form in the 22 Creedmoor chamber. If you're going to use a no turn chamber, do your homework and verify the reamers neck diameter and freebore length for the brass you're going to use before it's chambered. The 22 Creedmoor is basically a 22-250 AI but with a 30 degree shoulder so there's no shortage of load info for it. As you can see on the target posted, .5 gr. of powder can turn and hu-hummer into a hammer.

Enjoy and good shootin' -Al

 

[Ironworker]

What about the number of grooves ? Some bbls have 3,4 and 5 groove .What difference does it make?

 

[urbanrifleman]

I use a Kreiger 7 twist and it will shoot the 95 SMKs good @ 3180 fps. Also a proof carbon that’s an 8 twist and 90s are heaviest I can go and have round holes at 100 yds, the 95s keyhole badly. I’ve never shot either on paper past 100 so I can’t say how stable they are staying at distance. Both barrels will shoot small round groups at 100.
I’ve struggled some past 800 yds with the 7 twist and the 95s, so 6.5 may be better, or it’s just my poor wind calls??

I got pretty good performance last year shooting 80s at distance in a 223 going 2930fps so I’m thinking I need to try them in my creedmoors and see if there’s an improvement past 800.
90s are the lightest bullets I’ve tried in the 22 CM, I need to do some testing with with lighter bullets.
Keep in mind I’m no long range champion, so take what I say for what it cost you lol.

Very interesting.

3180 is above terminal RPM with a 7 twist.

3180 is close to ideal rpm with an 8 twist.

Just doing some numbers.

 

[Staz]

I am new to this forum, and will follow this thread to learn. I am starting to gather parts for a 22 creed build. I have the action ordered and the barrel. Action will be a borden alpine magnum. The barrel may change but for now is a bartlein 3 contour 5r 1 in 8 1/4 to 8 twist, drilled .219 in the 400 mod steel. I don't know if i am overthinking this but I want to push the rpm limits without stressing the bullet jackets. The barrel blank has a 28" finish length. I will most likely take it down to 24" eventually depending on my results/velocity. I plan to shoot 70 to 88 gr. bullets up to around 3500 fps, less if necessary. Any thoughts base on experience on my barrel choice are appreciated.

 

[whatsupdoc]

The only difficult decision is what barrel twist to use and that depends on what bullets you intend to use.

Another thing to consider is if you choose a Kreiger barrel I would recommend a .219 bore. Kreiger makes .218 bore .224 barrels and for a 22 Creed with fast twist you may have issues with a tighter bore.

You can never go wrong with a Kreiger or Bartlien barrel.

 

[Shurefire]

I’ve used a 7 twist proof research barrel. I don’t know anything past that about the barrel specs/groove, but I can tell you it hammers 90’s and 88’s just fine. When the barrel was fresh I did have a couple 95’s and a couple 90’s not make the target, but it was an E target, so I’m not fully convinced the error was the load.

As the barrel has worn, it has gotten much better. I ran 88’s today at 3160fps at 500 yards and shot a 197-11x.

If your looking to run these kinds of speeds on a fresh barrel, I’d go 7.5 or 8 twist, if you don’t mind slightly gentler speeds, such as a 90smk at 2900fps, than a 7 twist works great.

 

[skeetlee]

I have chambered several 22 creedmoor barrels for different customers over the last couple years. I think its a fine cartridge but personally I prefer a 22GT and better yet a 22BR. I had a 22 CM barrel for myself and it shot well but it didn't shoot better than my 22GT. The GT had the same speed and it uses less powder.
Good luck with your project. I have no doubt you will enjoy it!!
Lee Gardner Precision.

 

[Evan]

I have chambered several 22 creedmoor barrels for different customers over the last couple years. I think its a fine cartridge but personally I prefer a 22GT and better yet a 22BR. I had a 22 CM barrel for myself and it shot well but it didn't shoot better than my 22GT. The GT had the same speed and it uses less powder.
Good luck with your project. I have no doubt you will enjoy it!!
Lee Gardner Precision.

My 22BR with a 28” barrel would get the 95gn SMK up to 3075fps. More if you wanted to work with Reloder 17 and sacrifice barrel life. For 10gns less powder, you sure don’t give up much speed though. The 22BR also has the same casual easy-coming accuracy of the other BR cases. Only thing it doesn’t do easily is feed from a magazine.

 

[Walt Krafft]

The main problem with the 22 Creedmoor or the 22-250AI is with sustained fire. The barrel will get so hot that the bullet core will melt causing failure. I experienced this after 10 rounds of a 20 round match.

 

[kochie]

The main problem with the 22 Creedmoor or the 22-250AI is with sustained fire. The barrel will get so hot that the bullet core will melt causing failure. I experienced this after 10 rounds of a 20 round match.

But ok for hunting .

 

[kochie]

Very interesting.

3180 is above terminal RPM with a 7 twist.
View attachment 1506208
3180 is close to ideal rpm with an 8 twist.
View attachment 1506209
Just doing some numbers.

How hard is it to fireform a 22 250 brass in to a 22 CM using lapua brass I take it my rifle has a .256 NK .

 

[AlNyhus]

How hard is it to fireform a 22 250 brass in to a 22 CM using lapua brass I take it my rifle has a .256 NK .

If you look at my post above, that's exactly what I do for mine..Lapua 22-250 brass f-formed to 22 Creedmoor.

When it comes to chamber neck diameter, don't assume the dimension...check it for sure.

 

[xswanted]

Which barrel? Bartlien 5R or Muller works 4-groove Kreiger 4groove. What difference does the amount of rifling land matter? I'm leaning towards a 7" twist. I'd be shooting 69gr to 88 ELDs

Any of the barrels you listed would be a good choice.

An 8 twist might not give you full BC value of the 88 but if you go faster you might have trouble with bullets vaporizing before they reach the target.

I built mine on an 8 twist Wilson barrel. It’s one of the best shooting barrels I have, including Brux, Bartlien and others. Time will tell if it wears like the expensive barrels.

80 grain Berger at 3320

I came from a 22-250Ai. My reason for the creed is no more fire forming brass.

Thus far the coyotes I’ve killed with it don’t seem anymore dead than the ones I killed with the 22-250ai but it is is a fun gun to own.

 

[kochie]

If you look at my post above, that's exactly what I do for mine..Lapua 22-250 brass f-formed to 22 Creedmoor.

When it comes to chamber neck diameter, don't assume the dimension...check it for sure.

Is case capacity the same using 6 CM lapua vs 22 250 lapua cases. I’m using 6 CM cases & turning them .

 

[Txhillbilly]

I just neck down 6mm Creedmoor brass with mine. I use Starline SRP brass since Lapua didn't make it when I built my rifle. I use mine for hunting with a suppressor, so my barrel is only 20" long. The barrel is from X-Caliber, 1-7 twist 5R rifling, and have been very happy with it.
I tried using RL 26 powder, but didn't have good results with a shorter barrel than most are using, but H4350 & RL 17 work great in it. I mainly shoot 75gr ELD-M's out of it, but also shoot 80 & 88 grain bullets.
The best group (5 shots) I've got with it is .179", but generally it'll shoot in the .3" range.
It's a fun gun to shoot!

 

[urbanrifleman]

Any of the barrels you listed would be a good choice.

An 8 twist might not give you full BC value of the 88 but if you go faster you might have trouble with bullets vaporizing before they reach the target.

I built mine on an 8 twist Wilson barrel. It’s one of the best shooting barrels I have, including Brux, Bartlien and others. Time will tell if it wears like the expensive barrels.

80 grain Berger at 3320

I came from a 22-250Ai. My reason for the creed is no more fire forming brass.

Thus far the coyotes I’ve killed with it don’t seem anymore dead than the ones I killed with the 22-250ai but it is is a fun gun to own.

I can assure you that Wilson uses as good of steel as anyone else.

I'm glad to hear someone had the same performance that I have seen from the Wilson.

 

[Tesoro]

The main problem with the 22 Creedmoor or the 22-250AI is with sustained fire. The barrel will get so hot that the bullet core will melt causing failure. I experienced this after 10 rounds of a 20 round match.

Hmm. shute. I was pondering converting all my 6br stuff over to 20br for sage rats next spring in a shorter varmint bbl. From what you say I assume 20 cal would even be worse?