22GT barrel and reamer question

[Clavius-Walker]

I'm going to be building a 22GT varmint rifle, going with a 22' barrel and wanting to shoot the 75-80.5g bullets so a 1-8 twist.

I've read a lot about the bore diameter .219 vs .218 and the heavier bullets having jacket failures and while I'm not going to be shooting those and am using a slower twist than those that had issues I'm still thinking of going with the .219 bore and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with those sizes in the the 1-8 twist.

For the freebore it looks like the for the heavier bullets .135-.170 is being used, for what I'm going to be using I was thinking .95 would be about right, again anyone with experience with a similar setup I'd like to hear what you've tried and had success with, thanks.

 

[Frankm]

A group of us have 4 or 5 and reamer used has .125 freebore. Shooting 88 Eldms and works great. .095 freebore with the slightly shorter 80 Eldm should work well. Nice to keep main bullet circumference right at or slightly above neck/shoulder junction IMO. ( less chance of donuts; of course we run tight necks AND we built ours when 6GT was only brass so had to neck down/turn)

Good luck, great cartridge and pretty much mimics std 22-250 with more efficient and shorter case !

 

[urbanrifleman]

I'm going to be building a 22GT varmint rifle, going with a 22' barrel and wanting to shoot the 75-80.5g bullets so a 1-8 twist.

I've read a lot about the bore diameter .219 vs .218 and the heavier bullets having jacket failures and while I'm not going to be shooting those and am using a slower twist than those that had issues I'm still thinking of going with the .219 bore and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with those sizes in the the 1-8 twist.

For the freebore it looks like the for the heavier bullets .135-.170 is being used, for what I'm going to be using I was thinking .95 would be about right, again anyone with experience with a similar setup I'd like to hear what you've tried and had success with, thanks.

For those bullets 60 fb is enough.

 

[Clancy]

Whatever that shorter alpha Reamer is works great with the 80.5, and I wouldn’t even consider another bullet.

218 would be fine but get the 219 so you don’t have it in the back of your mind.

Alpha necks aren’t the greatest but the brass is tough. I have skimmed all mine and it worked great.

I’m looking forward to Lapua though.

 

[Safety_3rd]

To piggy back on this post... I have a 7 twist barrel 22" with .120 freebore. Any bullet recomendations? I have a ton of 88 eldm and H4350. Also have alpha brass and CCI 450. Dont mind running other bullets but would like to stick with the H4350 because I have a lot of that.

 

[urbanrifleman]

To piggy back on this post... I have a 7 twist barrel 22" with .120 freebore. Any bullet recomendations? I have a ton of 88 eldm and H4350. Also have alpha brass and CCI 450. Dont mind running other bullets but would like to stick with the H4350 because I have a lot of that.

The 88 will be into the donut. If you just want to shoot targets and shoot really small groups try the Berger 80.5. I would stick to the '80s. 80 Sierra MatchKing, 80 VLD Berger, 80 ELDM.

 

[Safety_3rd]

Targets and predators...

 

[urbanrifleman]

Targets and predators...

80 ELDM or 75 ELDM and the 62 eldvt.

80.5 Berger will probably shoot the smallest. But those Hornady bullets will shoot too.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I was thinking of getting a couple of 22 GT reamers, since they are going to release Lapua 6GT brass.

The long versions of the common is the same as the ones I chose for my other 22br/22bra/22xc reamers. Basically its 70 FB/170 FB. With slight exceptions. You could say 60/169.

Those two basic freebores cover from 50 gr to 80 (short), and 69 to 88 eldm (long). Even though we have found many light bullets shoot fine in the longer freebore.

The GT neck is slightly under 300 thou. So it is already (like the BR) very forgiving for freebore. You can run a pretty short freebore and still run heavier bullets. Only a few of the 22 bullets (like the 88 ELDM) require a really long freebore in the BR based cases.

 

[Safety_3rd]

If I've got the 88 eldm and a .120 freebore that might not work? I'll stop trying to force it and go get some shorter rounds. I ordered some bergers, but arent here yet. I hate being patient.

 

[urbanrifleman]

If I've got the 88 eldm and a .120 freebore that might not work? I'll stop trying to force it and go get some shorter rounds. I ordered some bergers, but arent here yet. I hate being patient.

That's too short. Try the 80 ELDM.