@ 284 winner, I will be going to the Ackley for a couple of reasons,.. 1) I have a bunch of New .22-250 Rem. Brass, already. 2) I like sharp shouldered, fairly straight walled, cartridges due to, better powder burning characteristic's and NO trimming. I know the Ackley is capable of 100-200 FPS, MORE fps, but I don't "need" the extra "Horsepower" or, range as,.. the .22-250 Rem has done everything I ever needed, from LR Coyotes up to small Deer at, medium range. Running the 75's at 3,250 - 3,300 FPS or, the 80's at 3,150- 3,200 FPS will be fine for me, as that's way better for Wind Drift than, the 52-55's I'm currently shooting.
The Ackley hold's around, 3.5 to 4 grains, more powder ( about 10% ) If I run close, to top end .22-250 Rem velocities, I doubt that, I will lose much more than, 10% of my "normal" barrel life. The 80's going a couple hundred FPS slower than, what an Ackley "can do", doesn't bother me and I have read good reports on, N160- N165 being, quite a bit "cooler" on the Heat Index than, H4350. The New barrel, Plus Gunsmithing, will cost me, $700-$750 and another $80 for Dies, Plus all the New componets, to run the "Heavies", so I'd like to TRY this "experiment" with N-165, to see IF I can actually get 1,500 "accurate" rounds out of this Rifle. Mr. Linebaugh seemed to think so. I was going with, the 1-9 twist but, I have since been convinced, to try the 1-8 tw to guarantee stabilization of the 75 VLD's, 75 ELD-M's, 77 TMK's and 80.5 Fullbore Bergers. One of these bullets, should "shoot" good enough for me, to 700 yards on steel plates and 500 for yotes as, that's ALL, I'm looking for! I'm retired, on a kind of, a "fixed" income, that's been great for, the little "extra's" in life (so far). But one, never knows when, the proverbial Golden Goose, should happen to have a heart attack or, an ugly recession,.. comes along !