22-250 twist rate and bullet weight question.

[GlennGTR1]

What is the heaviest 223 cal bullet that can be fired out of a 22-250 with a one in fourteen twist?

 

[fdshuster]

My Remington factory 22-250, 26" Varmint contour does an excellent job with 50 gr. ( 50 V-Max), and is also very good with the Sierra 53 gr. MatchKing, both with 35.5 of H4895. 55 V-Max is "good" with a noticable opening up of the group sizes, so I limit my 14 twist to 53 gr. Maximum.

 

[RonAKA]

The cartridge is not a factor. The velocity of the bullet is a minor factor. However the big players are the caliber, bullet length, and weight. Essentially long skinny and heavy bullets are harder to stabilize, and need more spin.

The easy way is just to look at Berger's recommendations for your caliber.

http://www.bergerbullets.com/Products/All%20Bullets.html

The short answer is probably a flat base 55 grain.

 

[357Mag]

Glen -

Howdy !

I did a bunch of testing w/ the .224's w/ a 24" Hart SS 1-14
5-groove I had chambered for a high-intensity .224" cal wildcat. I put my hands on all the 60s ( esp custom ) I could find.

Given nominal .22-250- level velocities out of a 24" barrel, you can shoot 60's as-long-as the are under .75" long.

I tried to go w/ 60s for use at extended ranges ( in lieu of 55s ), but was unimpressed. At the time, Sierra's .224" cal
65gr SPBT was not offered.

Got into the 500yd club on a groundhog kill w/ a prototype
Hornady .224" 55 "V"-Max. After seeing what was possible w/ 55s ( more like what's not consistently possible ), I re-barreld to a 28" K & P SS 1-8 5-groove.

THIS allowed me to use Hornady 75 "A"-Max, for all ranges out to 1,000. My rifle/cartidge combo could put 450ft lb on a groundhog @ 966yd ( my math ).... given the opportunity. That's good enough for clean-kills @ 1,000. And... the combo gave good residual paper-punching capability.

My point:
IF you will be shooting a lot of 500 and inside, you may want to consider going to 1-12, and shooting something like the heavy/long custom 60s, or perhaps better.....
Sierra 65s.

Best of luck in your endeavors !

Regards,
357Mag

 

[GlennGTR1]

Well then the question remains. Is it better to shoot a 223 with a one in nine and a 70 grain soft point, or a 22-250 with a 50-55 grain bullet for cougar? Longer bullet better penetration or violent upset and energy on target with the 22-250?

 

[RonAKA]

Well then the question remains. Is it better to shoot a 223 with a one in nine and a 70 grain soft point, or a 22-250 with a 50-55 grain bullet for cougar? Longer bullet better penetration or violent upset and energy on target with the 22-250?

Totally different question than you asked in the first place. The simple answer is to look at the remaining energy at point/distance of impact. That gives you the basic answer. Next look at how the bullet design makes use of that energy. Don't get distracted by the length of the bullet, or other irrelevant factors.

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

I have read a bit on this forum reguarding this question and it seems the answer has almost always been to shoot said bullet and see if it works. On Bergers quick reference sheet their 55gr. will shoot from a 1:14 twist barrel fine. Now I have also read that 55gr. Sierra Blitz Kings would shoot from 1:14 twist barrel where 55gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips wouldn't. Granted we're talking two different styles of bullets here but you see where I'm going. So basically just try em and if they shoot good. If they don't, back to the drawing board.

Mike

 

[Live Oak]

Well then the question remains. Is it better to shoot a 223 with a one in nine and a 70 grain soft point, or a 22-250 with a 50-55 grain bullet for cougar? Longer bullet better penetration or violent upset and energy on target with the 22-250?

For an off the shelf rifle, in my opinion, the Savage VLP-DBM in 22-250 is tough to beat. You can buy them from the factory with a 1 in 9 inch twist barrel.

This will allow you to shoot pretty much the entire range of bullet lengths/weights upto about 75 grain.

The Winchester 22-250 64 grain PP is a great off the shelf round for you application in my opinion as well.

Here is a good primer on this subject:

Here is a great collection of info. and short articles on this topic. They sum it up better than I can.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/featured/22-250/

 

[pintopete]

My experience with my 22/250 is pretty identical to fdshuster's. 55's group ok at about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" with both Sierra and Hornady SP bullets but 50's are consistently better. The Sierra Varminter 50s will group 5 shots in 5/8" groups if I can do it. 60's were out of the question with my rifle. Good luck , Peter.

 

[jonbearman]

I love the remington 50 grain plhp's . They are not real expensive but shoot outstanding.I have had 55 grain flat bases and they shoot about .5 or tighter all out of a factory barrel (remington) that is.

 

[7x57 Shooter]

My 22-250 shoots the 63 grain Sierra's better than all others, the rest shoot fine, but the 63 shoots smaller groups in my rifle.

 

[Ackman]

Try the plastic tipped 55's and see. My 14 twist .223 shoots very small groups with the 55BlitzKing.....at .820" it's the longest of the plastic tipped 55's, the one that everybody says won't stabilize in a 14" twist. They're going slower than a 22-250 will push them. They also shoot really well in a 223AI, again with 14" twist. So do the 55 Ballistic Tips. What people say won't work doesn't matter, all that matters is what works in your gun.

 

[22XC Guy]

My factory Winchester 22-250, settled on shooting 52 grain bullets, with N140 (chronograph recorded), after testing several other powders and bullets. Hornady A-Max and JLK's would group tight, the Berger's shot a descend group. Some rifles can be particular on what goes through them.

Steve

 

[LRPV]

I think that the best way to figure out what will work is to just try it. I got 64gr Bergers to work in my T3 with the factory 22" 14 twist. I was worried about them in colder weather so I didn't end up using the load but It did stabilize them into a 1" 3 shot group with 1/2" of vertical at 300yds in 36 degree weather at 1000ft elevation running 3400 fps. They are supposed to take a 12 twist to make them work.

Jason

 

[RJinTexas]

I experienced no trouble shooting any 55gr bullet and could consistently shoot groups of well under 1.0 mo. My rifle realy liked the the 60gr Partition shooting those into .5 moa. This was from a 14tw, 26" barrel.

RJ

 

[antitactical]

My stock barreled remington vls loves berger 55 fb hp with 32.5 gr of varget (.3 and under ) @100 and it doesn't seem to care for anything heavier I would say the norm is 55gr max but who knows try some and see what happens