22-250AI Barrel length

[madmanx]

Hi I have a cooper 22-250AI which has a 26" barrel,i am thinking of having the barrel shortened to 22" i know i will lose some velocity but are there are other issues,i am currently getting 4000 FPS with 52grain A Max and getting 1/4" groups at 100 Yards
Cheers Steve

 

[Kenny474]

You may have to go to a faster powder to get max performance from the shorter barrel, as it has less room to burn.

Honestly, with a round as overbore as the 22-250AI, going shorter is going to be more costly velocity wise than a more efficient round. Anything that overbore really needs barrel length to be worth all the extra powder burned. Otherwise you end up with muzzle flash and wasted powder.

 

[1000yardstare]

Muzzle flash has been mentioned. Hand in hand with that goes flinch-inducing muzzle blast. The short barrel will sound like a pocket howitzer.

 

[lpreddick]

madmanx: we in the colonies have a saying..."dont't fix it if it isn't broken". a 52 grain bullet at 4000 fps punching a 1/4 in hole in paper will reak havoc on just about any vermin! you have a very nice shooting varmint rifle...i wish i had more of mine shooting as well. you didn't say why you wanted to shorten it. sounds like you need a new project. try a 243 ackley slow twist shooting 80 grain bergers pushed by rel 17 at 3400 fps...varmints come apart!

if i can see you, i can touch you.BANG!

 

[madmanx]

I am using it for Foxes here in the U K and i have a Silencer fitted to the end which adds another 6" to the length of the gun hence making it a quite difficult to get in and out of vehicles when it is important to get out both safely and quickly to attain a shot on the fox,i have also a R P A interceptor in 6BR which i use for my long range shooting so i have not really the need for the Cooper to be particularly for long range,we shoot the foxes by night with the lamp and usually no more than 200 yards away,so i wanted to shorten the barrel to make the Rifle more user friendly but if i will lose a major amount of accuracy i will put up with it,also i will be getting cooper re-barrelled next year in 22BR which i am looking forward to.

 

[jonbearman]

I have a savage with a 22" barrel and it shoots just fine and only lost about 125 fps. It is just my opinion.Then you will get flack about using a silencer and how it ruins accuracy.I have shot many a rifle in my neighboring pennsylvania with silencers and I see no problem with it.They also take care of all the muzzle flash and the punishing earache's. Good shooting to my brothers in the UK!