22/250 or 6BR?

[Witchhunter]

I am looking at a new rifle build, a long range (600 yd) squirrel gun. I am thinking that a 22/250 shooting a 60 Vmax is the ticket for explosiveness. I understand the 6BR is more accurate, but it would have to shoot a 65- 75 Vmax for the same effect. I couldn't use the longer target bullets in the 6BR as I don't think they would expand on a small squirrel like we have here in northern Ca. Would a 8-9 twist 22/250 do it or should I look at a 6BR with a twist appropriate for explosive varmint bullets in the 75 grain range. I have a Remington short action with a .243 bolt face for this build. I have a 22/250 14tw and a .220 Swift AI 12TW now, I am wanting a faster twist 250 to stabilize a longer bullet or a 6BR to stabilize a short varmint bullet. Wind is a huge factor up here, which one would be better?

 

[DogBuster]

8 or 9 twist 6BR....of these two choices....65 V max...70gr NBT or 70 gr SBK...or 75 V max...stuff 30-31 grs of H4895 or Benchmark....or several other suitable powders...personally even having a 6BR..I'd take a look at one of the 20 cal's...very fast/flat & explosive !

 

[Hombre0321]

Witch, I have to agree with DogBuster on a 20 caliber. I used to live up in Redding Ca and spent many a day going after those ground squirrels with a ruger .204. Best shot I ever had was one at a measured 784 yds, squirrel just turned inside out.

RS

 

[357Mag]

WitchH -

Howdy !

Since not all your shots will be @ 600, you might be able to " press " Hornady .224" caliber 55 "V"-Max and Sierra 55 "Blitzking "
out to 500+.

While the .224" cal 55's would be scrubbing-off significant energy on the way out to such distances, they'd still have enough oomph
for squirrels.

Hornady's .224" cal 60gr " V "-Max ( while not a BT design ) might hold to its energy better than the 55 BTs ?
You can check Hornday's ballistics calc, and see what's what.

With the heavier .224s.... even if they shot through, the temporary wound cavity caused by the bullet's shock wave in the animal's tissue and organs; would suffice for a kill ( IMHO ).


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Witchhunter]

I am killing them at 500-600 even farther with my 22-250 and Swift now, just wondering if a 6BR would fight the wind better than a 60-70 grain 224. According to the ballistics that I have looked up, a 224 shot at a faster velocity would carry better and drop less than a 75 out of a 6. I want to try a 6BR. But I have a 243 too, it shoots 58 Vmax lights out, until the wind comes up. I guess what I want to know is, will I have to shoot a longer bullet to get the stability needed for shots at a 3" target at 6-800 yards? My buddy has a couple of .204's and I like em fine, they are not any better than the 22 calibers past 400 yards though. Thanks for the input.

 

[Cort]

I would go with the 6 BR in a 14 twist and a short throat so you can run the light bullets.

Cort

 

[jonbearman]

Why not the 6br using the 55 grain nosler ballistic tips.That ought to rattle those squirrels or the 55 grain varmegedon,I am sure it would work very well.You would really enjoy a 6br because they are easy to tune .You would probably want a 12 twist so you could shoot the lights up to the 75's.Other wise even a 1in10 as long as you dont want to shoot the heavies.

 

[dedogs]

Witchhunter,
Why not re-barrel the .220 swift to a faster twist? Lots of poop for long range.

 

[Jonathan Zimmerman]

Between the two, I'd go with 6 mmBR. I own one, and really like it. But, I am getting ready to build a .20-250 for the 55 Berger. If you check out the balistics, it will cleanly trump the .22-250, .220 Swift, and 6mm BR in long range performance. I did not believe until I did the research, and the math is there. 14" of wind drift at 500 yards with a 10 mph cross wind! Tough to beat that. Jonathan

 

[funkyon4wheels]

Have you tried the 87gr. Vmax? I would give them a try in ur existing .243 but if your looking for an excuse to build a new gun build a 6br and try the 87 Vmax. Idk how they work on squirrels but they work pretty good on woodchucks and they have a decent b.c. also.

 

[wapiti25]

I'm shooting a 223 in 600 yd F-class using 80 gr bullets, the barrel is a 8 twist. You can go with a 22 BR or 22-250 with a fast twist such as 1-9 shooting 69 or 70 gr bullets. I have shot them at 600 yds.

 

[lpreddick]

i'v had 3 22-250s and now a 6mmBR. no question for me..the BR. the 6mmBR is inherently accurate while my 22-250 is very accurate it's barrel is showing what all 22-250s show if shooting a lot...firecracking and a roughness to the first few inches of the bore. the BR can stay accurate beyond 2000 rounds. the modified 6 BR(BRX and dasher) are setting records at 600+yds, not the 22-250.

 

[DogBuster]

My 12 year old 6BR P-N barrel...now pushing 7K rds...still very accurate punching under 1/2" @ 100....the 12 twist works great for the 70-75 gr varmint bullets...but since I built three 20 cal's...it does not get as much 'table time' as the 20's...something to say for an 17# 20 Vartarg or 20 Practical or Duece-20...watch the bullet explode the target..........

 

[LCazador]

Try the 6BR and 87g Vmax, 9 twist. That combo blows up prairie dogs out to 800 yards. It will give better barrel life than the 22/250, and will stay in the wind much better. I shoot that combo over 3100fps out of a 28 inch gain twist barrel. That barrel has over 1800 rounds thru it and is still shooting sub 1 inch groups at 300.

 

[Webster]

I think the 6BR is preferable to a 220 Swift, 22-250 0or 204 Ruger. I would consider a 6BRX since you want long distance. The BRs have great accuracy and good barrel life. Less wind drift at distance than the 204 and 22s. I would not worry about bullet explosiveness at distance. I want the best chance at a one shot kill. You don't have to blow a ground squirrel to pieces to kill it. I ran some numbers through the Berger ballistics program. I guessed at what some of the MV would be based on experience. Someone might want to adjust them up or down a little, but they make the point. Hornady and Nosler may make bullets in the 85 gr range that are more explosive. The 85 Sierra HPBT is pretty good. I would get a 6BRX with the proper twist to shot 85-105 gr bullets. Zero distance for the Berger Software was set at 100 yards. 500 yard data below. 10 MPH wind.

Bullet Caliber G1 MV Drop Wind
Berger 40 204 Ruger 0.225 3650 41 35
Berger 55 Match 22 0.210 3800 43 39
58 Vmax 6mm 0.250 3600 42 32
65vMax 6mm 0.280 3400 52 31
87 Berger 6mm 0.211 3200 41 19

 

[squirrelduster]

I have a 6br and built is specifically for your application. I had R.W. Hart put one on a 722 Remington action that had a 22-250 barrel. What a difference. The 22-250 was lucky to consistently hit them at 300 yards, the 6br you can hit them in the head at that range. Topped it with a Nightforce 8-32x56 and on a calm cool day with no heat waves you can kill them as far as you can see them. The 300 to 400 yard range is the normal limit due to wind and mirage. I have several thousand rounds through mine and it still shoots minute of rodent out to 400.
My barrel is an 8 twist, it was originally built for the 105 VLD but the 75 VMAX shoots amazing. The explosive effect is truely incredible. Its pretty safe to say they don't run away from it, within 200 yards it's like you shot them with a vaporizer.
Ahh the memories, makes me want to make a trip north.
Also works great on bushy tails.

 

[jonbearman]

The 6 BR will also have a higher resale as alot of fellas have discovered that it is a fine chuck or squirrel gun.It is plain hard to beat.If you keep the barrel cool between shots it may last a lifetime.You can go with a dasher or br-dx or whatever but you wont get sick of its true blue accuracy.

 

[BradY]

6 dasher and 87gr vmax would be my vote. Not as hard as it used to be now whidden has bushing dies and micrometer seaters. All you need is a no turn reamer with a shorter throat to let you shoot the 87 vmax or 80gr nosler BT's.

Get a 10 or 9 twist barrel to get those bullets spinning for max explosiveness. I shoot 55gr noslers in a dasher and its down right nasty on anything within 300yds.

 

[Witchhunter]

Thanks for the help, I think the 6 will be next.

 

[AckleymanII]

I shoot the 55g Nosler at 3900 fps out of a long barrel 6 BR with AA2230, 65g V max at 3700 with 2230, unreal accurate.

Check the BC of the Nosler 55g, you will be impressed and my groups at 300 are very impressive and outperform all the custom and other factory bullets including my own 75 BTHP that is a VLD.