.221 fireball barrel question

[fusionrider]

I am looking for a good barrel for a .221 fireball.


What twist would be best for 50-68gr bullets?


Rifling: 3, 4, 5, or 6 groove?


brand: pac-nor, lilja, hart, or shilen?


When finished it will be only 22 or 20 inches long and have a fairly heavy contour. Any experiences or opinion is appreciated. Thanks

 

[tenring]

About 20 yrs ago, I bought a new Sako A1 short action. Wanted a 20" medium heavy barrel in .221 Rem, 14 twist on it. My gunsmith pulled one out from under his bench. He had traded work for a bunch of barrels. No manufacturers name on it, new barrel and just exactly what I had in mind. He chambered, blued and fit it up. I put a Bishop AAA birdseye maple stock on it and it still shoots tiny groups,sonme under 1/4th") with H322 and the 50 gr. Hornady TNT. Its a 3 groove, but the number of grooves does not correlate with accuracy.

 

[SF340Driver]

I have a 22FB with a Kreiger 12tw 4 groove barrel in a rem varmint contour finished at 20". It shoots in the 1s and 2s regularly. Bullets over 55gns are too heavy for this cartridge - not enough case capaciy. I can get 40 to 50gn bullets up to 223 velocities though.

 

[Ole]

40 & 50gr bullets to .223 standards, I doubt that very much.

Tom

 

[fusionrider]

I did a quick search of hodgdons data and the 221 can push a 40gr bullet at max 3384fps and the 223 at max 3666fps. but on average for the smaller bullets the fireball only trails about 100-200fps.,not bad for a case almost half the length)

 

[Obtunded]

May I ask why the aversion to cut-rifled barrels?

 

[Preacher]

If you think the 221 Fire ball is a ball, you should try the 22br......

 

[JerryB]

I am wondering about what advantages there are to cut or button rifled barrels also, as Obtunded mentioned.

I have a CZ527 in .221FB, just a sporter, but a GREAT little round!

 

[fusionrider]

Sorry for the late response.

I have no preference in rifling style, but I just looked around at what barrels showed up the most often in benchrest type discussion. I am looking for accuracy and anything that will get that is fine with me.

thanks

 

[mjwms]

Heard that some suppliers are out of 221FB brass. We have a fair amount in inventory @ Russ Haydon's Shooters' Supply. Our contact info is in the sponsor list for this site.