22-250 barrel specs

[inspectormac]

I've got a Savage VLP in 22-250, with everything stock right now. The problem I have with the rifle is that the throat is WAY too long. I have to seat the 55 gr V-Max bullets so long that they are barely into the case. I couldn't even think about putting the little 40 gr pills anywhere near the lands.

Somehow, after school clothes and shoes for the two little ones, the bank account shows enough left over for a new tube from Pac-Nor. I like the performance of the 22-250, and don't want to change that, and I'd like to be able to shoot anywhere from the 40 gr V-Max type bullets to the 68 gr BTHP match type. Do you think a 1 in 12" twist would stabilize all of them, and should I get a three or 5 groove barrel? Also, what would be the best way to be sure that I'll be able to chamber all the bullets that I want to? Should I load up a 68 gr bullet to the correct length for the load I want and send it in, or should I just let them chamber the barrel to their standard. If I do chamber it to the longer 68 gr bullets, will it still do OK with the 40s.

I know there's a lot of questions in the post, but I'm only going to get to do this once in the near future, so I'd like to draw on all of your wisdom to get it right the first time. Thanks in advance for any answers you might have.

Josh

 

[treeman]

talk to dave kiff at pacific tool and guage he'll know what you need. I'm not positive but you may want more like a 1-9 twist. you might also consider a 22 br chamber. lot o luck and good shooting.______treeman

 

[Preacher]

If your rifle shoots really good how about just setting it back and running a new reamer that was cut to your specs back into the chamber....
If on the other hand it's not all that good of a shooter, junk it and spring for a new barrel, and have it cut with your new reamer....
A 12 T may not work with the 68's........
I prefer the 9 twist, but I like to shoot the 75 grain Amax in mine.....
Dave Kiff will see to it that your reamer works like you want it to in your chamber.
If your looking for better accuracy and less powder, check out the 22BR.....

 

[BradY]

Im pretty sure 1:12 twist wont do 68gr bullets. Im having my 22-250 rebarrelled to 22BRX with a brand new 6 groove lilja heavy barrel in 1:10 twist to shoot 55gr ballistic tips at varmints and 69gr matchkings at targets. This is the slowest twist you will want to go if your set in the idea of shooting the 69gr BTHP match bullets. The 22BRX has a bit more power than the 22-250, but shoots less powder and is supposed to be easier on barrels. A plain 22BR will match the 22-250 with the 40gr bullets but isnt quite up to that level with heavier bullets.

If your barrel has had quite a few shots down it, then maybe a rebarrel is in order. Best to look down it with a borescope to look at throat erosion and any pitting. If its in good nic with not too many rounds down it, set it back a thread and re run it with the reamer but you wont be able to change the barrel twist.

 

[inspectormac]

The gun has never shot all that well, because the throat was cut way too long, and I never got anything under MOA out of it no matter what loads I tried, speed, bullet weight, seating depth, whatever. I think I'd be wasting my money to pay somebody to cut back the factory barrel and recut the chamber. I'm kind of excited about maybe switching to a 22BR chamber anyway, but had a few questions about the case forming process. How tough is it to form 22BR cases from 6BR brass? Will I likely have to neck turn them to get any accuracy, and will I only have to neck turn them at the initial forming, or after every firing? I've not gotten into anything that I couldn't just buy brass for, so I'm a little leery about forming a new cartridge from another. I've been reloading for a while, so that doesn't scare me, I've just never gotten into neck turning and all, and wonder how difficult it actually is.

I think maybe the 68 grain bullets will be a little bit much for what I'm going to be doing with the gun anyway. Would the 1:9 change the way the gun shoots the lighter bullets? Will it still be accurate with the 40 gr screamers, even though they'll be spinning so much faster, or should I narrow down my bullet selections to the 40 to 60 gr range and stick with a 1:12?

Thanks again for the answers, and I'll let you know how it goes as I decide on the barrel and twist/chamber decisions.

Josh

 

[BradY]

22BR from 6mmBR is easy. Lube your cases and run them through a FL die. You can get no turn reamers so you wont have to neck turn. Its what im doing as in all practicality its mainly a hunting gun. Sounds like yours is too. If you want to shoot mainly the 40gr-55gr bullets then i would go the 1:14 twist. Up to 60gr I would go 1:12, then up to 69gr 1:10. Anything more than that like 80gr and 75gr you want a 1:8 or 1:7. You may find that your 40gr bullets will blow up if you shoot them at 22BR velocities on anything faster than a 1:12, im not sure. With light bullets, the 22BR is identical to the 22-250 in performance.

Sounds like your in the same boat as me, never done anything that i couldnt buy ammo for. 22BR is a very accurate and high performance round. I think if your just getting it to shoot varmints then a 1:14 will be fine. You can use this twist to shoot 52gr match bullets at paper out as far as you can in the conditions.

 

[fdshuster]

inspectormac: For the last 3 barrel replacements I did, I specified the chamber dimensions, detailing chamber neck dia., tight,no-turn), chamber length,.010" longer than max case length), and throat depth, by providing a "dummy round" with the bullet of choice, seated to provide the amount of freebore, if any) that I want. Without doing this, you will get whatever is available, and your $$$ match quality barrel may be chambered with a less than high quality chambering reamer. For the additional cost,approx. $150), your chamber can be cut to your specific dimensions with a new, first time used reamer. Pacific Tool reamers have always been of the highest quality and my gunsmith has commented to that effect. If doing a 22-250, had several) I'd consider a 9 twist. Will perform with all bullet weights from 50 to & including 69. At the longer distances, a valid consideration with the 22-250 because of the case powder capacity) you will need the BC advantage of the heavier bullets. 22-250s' with fast twist & heavier bullets are "winning" at the 5 & 600 yd. BR matches.

 

[inspectormac]

BradY

I think I'm settled on the 1:12 twist 22BR, but I've got a few more questions for you. What do you mean by a no turn reamer? I assume you're talking about the chamber reamer, in which case I'd like to turn the brass down anyway, to get rid of any donut that forms at the neck shoulder junction, and also to prevent runout to the chamber. Also, on the cartridge forming description on 6mmbr.com they mention a mandrel. You wouldn't happen to know what they're referring to would you? I also wanted to make sure that everything that i order is going to work together for what I want to do. The 22BR uses the same brass, necked down of course, that the 6BR uses right? I'm seeing Go headspace gages for 6BR, 6BR Norma, 22BR, and 22BR Norma. Which one to I want to use to set my barrel, and do I want to buy just plain old 22BR dies? I know there's a lot of questions here, but I'd like to get this right the first time. Thanks for all the help.

Josh

 

[OldPhil]

Lots of questions. Luckily this bunch has lots of answers, and that is half the fun.
Lets talk about neck turning. I have tried Sinclair and RCBS.
when I got my K&M tool I thought I was in heaven. Really works good. Neat people to deal with too. They ship you the stuff with a bill. You send them a check. You need a mandrel to size the inside of the neck so it will fit over the pilot on the neck turning tool. It has to be from the same manufacturer so that everything fits good. Neck turning is a lot of work until you discover using an electric screwdriver to turn the cases. K & M makes a neat holder for cases. Works like the rest of their stuff. I just shot a bunch of Lake City cases in .223. Shot fair. Then I set up my K & M to just kiss the cases. Funny thing. It didn't kiss about 20% of them. Now I know where the fliers came from. So now I am starting to turn lots of stuff, including my stuff for my 22-250 with a 1/9 twist in a Savage PV. Shoots 75 gr Hornadys real good. Now I am trying some 52 gr Noslers to see how they do. It will blow up 40 grainers. Don't try that. No turn necks. If I am duplicating somebody else, just ignore me, or read it, or whatever. No turn necks kinda depend on what brass you use. I ordered a 20 BR barrel from Pac-nor. Didn't specify neck diameter. I sized down some 6BR brass in a neck size die with buttons, going down about .008 each time, with case lube. I found that when I got them small enough to fit the chamber, a
bullet wouldn't go in. So I measured them, ran them over the mandrel for 20 caliber, and neck turned them .002 under that size, then neck sized them with a bushing to get enough bullet tension. After firing them, I found that a bullet would not go in. Still too tight, so i turned them down .001 more. That is what you have to watch out for with wildcats.
Is is a lot of trouble? Yes. Is it worth it? I think so. You have to plan ahead for how many cases you need, and spend time on them, but the potential for a real shooter that you made yourself is very rewarding to me. If you have more questions, send them on. On Norma BR or not, there are two sets of specs. They are not very different, but some. Just enough to not chamber in the other one. I don't know of an advantage/disadvantage to either one. You just need to pick one and stick with it. The Norma BR chambering will probably become the more common of the two. Hope all this helps.