I have a 700 Varmint that has been shot for many years. Age and acuracy is showing now and a new barrel is on my list of todo's along with a new stock. I plan on a laminated wood stock and now thinking of going with a 26" 6BR in place of the 22/250. I have other .22 centerfires and think this might be a fun alternative for groundhogs. What are the thoughts out there with you varmint hunters? Am I going to miss the 22/250 down the road?
22/250 or 6BR for rebarrel
- Thread starter Remfarmer
- Start date
Seems to me that you will be limited by the large-case requirement that the .22-250 demands. If it were me, I would go with the .22BR or 6BR, or one of the large-case wildcats in the .20 or .22 calibers that offer accuracy, fairly low recoil, etc. Since I also have a .22-250 that will be in need of a rebarrel in a few years, I will be interested in what the others have to say.
Darrell Holland, who built my rifle in 1996, had advised me to go with a 6BR. I chose the .22-250 for whatever reason. Good cartridge for longer distances, but it might be a bit much for PDs since if you are shooting hot and heavy, you will get the barrel to heat quite quickly. Then you have to shut things down to let the barrel cool, or use another rifle. I am not familiar with the 6BR or .22BR regarding barrel heat. I know that both are very accurate, but that is about all.
At this time, I am into .22 rimfire for close-up shooting (less than 100 yards with little or no wind) and use a .20VT or .222 for distances up to about 250 yards for ground squirrels. None of these rifles gives me a problem with barrel heat. The .22-250 in my opinion is a bit of overkill for shooting PD-sized varmints at shorter distances, but is good for longer distances. Of course, I suppose it all depends on how much splatter you like to see.
Darrell Holland, who built my rifle in 1996, had advised me to go with a 6BR. I chose the .22-250 for whatever reason. Good cartridge for longer distances, but it might be a bit much for PDs since if you are shooting hot and heavy, you will get the barrel to heat quite quickly. Then you have to shut things down to let the barrel cool, or use another rifle. I am not familiar with the 6BR or .22BR regarding barrel heat. I know that both are very accurate, but that is about all.
At this time, I am into .22 rimfire for close-up shooting (less than 100 yards with little or no wind) and use a .20VT or .222 for distances up to about 250 yards for ground squirrels. None of these rifles gives me a problem with barrel heat. The .22-250 in my opinion is a bit of overkill for shooting PD-sized varmints at shorter distances, but is good for longer distances. Of course, I suppose it all depends on how much splatter you like to see.
coyoteklr
just my opinion and experience with a 22-250 and 220 swift.... when barrels were going i rebarreled the 250 with a Mcgowen barrel and went with Ackley improved...
i rebarreled the swift with a Lilja....and again ackley improved... i put 26 inch barrels on both and 14 twist..... holland muzzle brake on both .... i love speed and these didn't disappoint......i don't think i would ever go on a p-dog or rock chuck hunt with only one rifle....the brass lasts forever and i don't load as hot to get the same speed as before or better....
the 6br looks really fasinating.... i've talked to a few people and they think it's the only way to go..... i wish i was rich and famous instead of just hansome......well maybe just had more than 2 nickels to rub together...
i rebarreled the swift with a Lilja....and again ackley improved... i put 26 inch barrels on both and 14 twist..... holland muzzle brake on both .... i love speed and these didn't disappoint......i don't think i would ever go on a p-dog or rock chuck hunt with only one rifle....the brass lasts forever and i don't load as hot to get the same speed as before or better....
the 6br looks really fasinating.... i've talked to a few people and they think it's the only way to go..... i wish i was rich and famous instead of just hansome......well maybe just had more than 2 nickels to rub together...
I went with the 6BR over the 22-250 which I had shot for years. Best move I ever made. Being a prairie dog shooter I get more shooting without the barrel heat of the 22-250. Barrel life is much better and accuracy is better also. I have both an 8 twist and a 14 twist now but the 8 twist handles 65 grain bullets up to 105 SMK.
Remfarmer,
Don't rule out the 22br. I have one with a 1:8 twist and it shoots 80s and 82s alot better than it did when this bbl was a 22-250. It also shoots 55gr BKs at 3700fps in a 1/4 in group at 100yds, so you can have a long and short range rifle all in one. Accuracy is better than any 22-250 I have ever owned. You could probably do the same with a 6br. No bad choices that you have mentioned, so whatever you do should work. Good luck.
John
Don't rule out the 22br. I have one with a 1:8 twist and it shoots 80s and 82s alot better than it did when this bbl was a 22-250. It also shoots 55gr BKs at 3700fps in a 1/4 in group at 100yds, so you can have a long and short range rifle all in one. Accuracy is better than any 22-250 I have ever owned. You could probably do the same with a 6br. No bad choices that you have mentioned, so whatever you do should work. Good luck.
John
Remfarmer -\
Howdy !.
I owned/shot /loaded for a whole bunch of .22-250s; over some years. These included customs by P.O. Ackley, C.L. Meracle, Penrod...... a couple of re-barrels by Sinclair; a a glut of factory Rem, Win and Rugers.
I never quite got any of them to shoot to the accuracy level
I expected. Although I went on to wildcat my own .224" cal
cartridge ( for use on groundhog and paper ); I am now happier with my more recent up-gun to a 6mm wildcat of my own design.
With 6mm, bullet selection/choices are still superb; and you might even do better in-wind with a 6mm.... dependent on
case capacity chosen.
For me, one driver was degrading vision.
I can now see 6mm holes better on paper @ distance, than I did the .224s.
Regards,
357Mag
Howdy !.
I owned/shot /loaded for a whole bunch of .22-250s; over some years. These included customs by P.O. Ackley, C.L. Meracle, Penrod...... a couple of re-barrels by Sinclair; a a glut of factory Rem, Win and Rugers.
I never quite got any of them to shoot to the accuracy level
I expected. Although I went on to wildcat my own .224" cal
cartridge ( for use on groundhog and paper ); I am now happier with my more recent up-gun to a 6mm wildcat of my own design.
With 6mm, bullet selection/choices are still superb; and you might even do better in-wind with a 6mm.... dependent on
case capacity chosen.
For me, one driver was degrading vision.
I can now see 6mm holes better on paper @ distance, than I did the .224s.
Regards,
357Mag
i have a lot of 22-250 experience and br case experience - my current 40x 22-250 is a great shooter but when it goes i will go 22br or 6br, i shoot pd out to 600 and the loss of 50fps in the 22br is nothing to worry about the 6br give better wind resistance, so for the lowere powder use and bbl wear, i will go the br case.
Bob
Bob
I have shot both and think both are great cartridges. The one thing going for 22-250 is that it is a factory cartridge and you can buy ammo at a local sporting goods department or gun store and it is easier to do a repeater action off of. Other then that the 6mm BR will do everything it does and more with less case capacity and better barrel life. I have a Remington 40X-BR in 6mm BR and a .266" neck with a 28" Hart HV Barrel. With AA2230 I can push 55 grain Ballistic tips to 3900 fps using 34.5 grains of powder. N133 gets better accuracy though and does 3850 fps with 32 grains of powder. Most 22-250's are being pushed past max loadings to even get close. Also with a 1 in 12" twist I can shoot bullets up to 80 grains in weight and shooting a 75 grain Vmax at 3400 fps and a 65 grain Vmax at 3600 gives me more punch then a 22-250 for Varminting situations. If you reload go 6BR, if you don't go 22-250.
A lot of times I wish I would have gone with a BR because of the inherant accuracy. A 22-250 is not a benchrest cartridge and it never will be, that's not because no one has tried. A lot of times we'll constantly be loading new rounds trying to find the most we can get out of a gun only to come up short simply due to our cartridge selection
Even with the most case prep anyone has ever probably ever done on a 22-250 I found it very tough to find a fast twist load that really was a hummer. I wasted probably 1/4 of the barrel life in load development
Even with the most case prep anyone has ever probably ever done on a 22-250 I found it very tough to find a fast twist load that really was a hummer. I wasted probably 1/4 of the barrel life in load development
If you use Lapua brass, Wilson dies, and match prep your brass, you will be greatly surprised on the accuracy potential.
Since the introduction of the Lapua brass I have a 22/250 imp on a Panda action and chambered by Kelblys. Three shot groups with 52 Bergers has shot in the zeros. Using the new Hornady 53 grain vmax bullets shoots in the low twos for three shots at 3900 FPS!
Since the introduction of the Lapua brass I have a 22/250 imp on a Panda action and chambered by Kelblys. Three shot groups with 52 Bergers has shot in the zeros. Using the new Hornady 53 grain vmax bullets shoots in the low twos for three shots at 3900 FPS!
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