What to build?

[holstil]

Looking for thoughts on what to build for a friend. He has decided he wants a varmint rifle and likes the 22-250.
I told him it was a good cartridge but that we should look into others like the 204, 22br, 223, 223AI and others.

The goal is to shoot varmint up to coyotes out to 500yds. or more as skill increases. He will be new to reloading, it would be nice to have a forgiving cartridge. I don't have that much experience with the 22 cal. stuff.

I like the idea of the 22BR just don't know that much about em. Would like to hear comparisons of the different cartridges.

Not trying to create and argument for what's best, just like to hear things like barrel life, ballistics, brass, component availability, action size, and other issues or concerns.

Thanks, Jim

 

[338Lapua]

Something to remember? The 22-250 & 22br have the same size case head diameter.. if you desire you could rechamber to 243 or even 308w if you wanted.
A 223, 223AI and others Cartridges with a small bolt face limit your options. I guess you could chamber 6mm ppc though.
I have a bit of a soft spot for the 22-250 as it was my first center fire. And I burned through a few barrels and had plenty of fun with it along the way. The 250 will take varmint with power to spare, but at a slightly higher cost than your 223 and with less barrel life.... Most of my barrels lasted around 2000 rounds, but by then they were shooting about an inch at 100 yards, still good enough for a coyote or fox though.
I think the 22br would be great option here. im a little torn because i think the 22-250 has a slight accuracy edge over the 243 w
But for your 500yd coyotes I would go with a 243 w and a 75 or 80 gr BT bullet as it has more authority than a 22 cal 55 at 500yds. a nicely bedded fully floated 243w with a varmint weight barrel would hard to beat.... good luck.

 

[Taildrag15X]

Get a 1-7" or 1-8" 28" .224 tube and go with .223 Rem., Hornady 80 gr. AMAX should drop them out to 800, it works for Denny Russell.

Barrel life is long, brass is readily available from mil surplus to top notch Comp. brass like Lapua, and I think there's more bullet styles and weights available than you can shake a stick at........

A Rem. 700 or Savage action should work fine, there are plenty of after market triggers, stocks, pre fitted barrels for both now that Savage has become a trusted name in firearms.

Just my $.02

 

[cmillard]

i would go with the 22BR or 22Dasher. do a fairly long throat and a 1-8 twist. shoot some of the berger 70 vlds REAL fast. or you can shoot up to the 80 grainers if need be.

 

[spclark]

The bigger the case, the more powder you can burn... at the expense of barrel life though.

A nice family of cartridges that do the job with less powder is Roy Winnett's PDK series:

http://www.pdk20.com/index.html

Out to 600 yards any of these are real killers!!

 

[40X Guy]

If building a dedicated varmint/coyote rifle I would not even worry about barrel life. I vote for a 22-250AI. You will not fry the barrel too quickly shooting varmints at the rate of 4-10 shots per hour compared to shooting same rifle in a match condition for 24 rounds in half an hour. PD hunting does not apply to this cartridge. So I say go for the HP and enjoy the fine accuracy of an Ackley Improved 22-250. Go for an eight twist and have it set up for 75 A-max and watch critters vaporize at 600 yards. Plus fireforming the cases will get him trigger time plus not to mention set up for lapua brass. I won't build a rifle anymore unless i know that in some way shape or form that lapua brass is available for it.


Frank

 

[MarkS]

Jim,

MY main varmint gun is a 6BR 12 tw. It will run a 70 Blitzking at 3500 f/s. I have one shot kills past 600 yds. Great barrel like, kills like a lighting bolt. No other round can shoot with a BR as far as accuracy. 22BR would be next. I have a Savage with a 20 TAC and 223AI barrels. The 20 TAC is a great round too.

Mark Schronce

 

[holstil]

All, good info. I like to here bullet weights, twist rates and speeds.
Sounds like any or all mentioned would be accurate. Using Lapua brass is a big point to consider.

We'll be kickin around custom actions in the next week or two. So many good ones.
Can 700 bottom metal be used with most custom repeaters?
Maybe go with a detach mag?

I will collect info and go over with him.

Thanks, Jim

 

[357Mag]

Holstil -

Howdy !

Please read your PMs.

Regards,
357Mag

 

[holstil]

357, very interesting, thank you. I replied to you pm.

Mark, have I seen your name at Piedmont? Maybe we've met.
The 6br is a definite contender. My buddy Queenstick sent me a 223 AI reamer he would prolly let me use. Not sure if there will be an issue with unavailability of factory ammo. Doesn't Lapua make factory 6br?

Frank, good point, this rig may see a PD hunt.

Jim

 

[Erik Cortina]

The 22-250 & 22br have the same size case head diameter.. if you desire you could rechamber to 243 or even 308w if you wanted.

You must mean he can rebarrel? You can't re-chamber to a bigger bore diameter.

Just get a 6BR, I have had 22-250's, 22-250 AI's, and the 6BR is my favorite of them all... well, was my favorite. I sold it and now I regret it! It was a fun gun to hunt with!

 

[SmokinJoe]

Since your friend is new to reloading & varminting, I would keep things as simple & versatile as posible. My vote would be a 223 with a 10 twist barrel, which should stabilize the new V-max 53 grain bullet, giving a really good ballistic coefficient and good velocity in the 223. That twist will work with a large variety of bullets. Then, you could always open the chamber to the AI configuration later for a little more poop. And, if you want to go the BR route later, it's not usually too hard to get the bolt opened up to the 308 head size & re-barrel, or just build a second rifle in BR at that time.

 

[cruiser49]

I recently re-barreled my Savage LRPV in 22-250 with a pre-fit Shilen Select Match 26" 1-8" twist barrel. I shoot Sierra Matchking 80 gr @ 3200 fps using 36.5 gr of IMR 4831 in Lapua brass with BR2 primers. This is very accurate at all ranges to and including 1000 yds! (I shoot steel; haven't tried it on varmints yet). It is a fairly inexpensive solution even if you buy and assemble it from the action up.

 

[Catfish]

If he is a first timer I would go with a 22-250. It is a very good round and will do what you want done. He will get the experance he needs and a better feel for what he want and may deside the 250 is all he needs or may want to change later, in any case a factory chambered gun is far easier to sell than a custom chambered gun, if he ever deside he wants to sell it.

 

[kj]

You might consider some of the 20cal offerings. 204, 20tac etc

 

[dtucker]

I agree with the 22-250. What are your plans with this rifle as far as moving around. If you are going to be doing alot of hiking and walking through fields and woods DO NOT get some truck axle for a barrel and DO NOT make it long. It's not needed and no fun to hunt with. I had many of those in the past and thank god they are gone. Largest i would go on the barrel would be a Remington Sendaro contour no more than 23 inches in length and if alot of hiking and walking is involved i would opt to even go with a smaller contour and shorter barrel. Having 28 inch barrels in a HV contour is not your ideal varmint rig unless you are sitting at a table shooting in dog towns or sitting somewhere glassing large areas and taking long shots off a bipod or something. Remember, bigger is not always better.

 

[rcparker1]

Im a big fan of my 22/243 with a 1in8 twist shooting 75gr bullets. Hornady, swift,, burger, seirra all make nice 70-80gr bullets for the .22. I get 3500 fps out of my 26" shilen easily. Unless you get a improved version its as easy to reload as any standard caliber. I have killed deer, hogs and coyotes all dead in their tracts at 300-500 yards. 75gr amax at 3500 gps has some very impressive ballistics.

 

[1000yardstare]

.22-250.

Remington rifles have a 14 twist which won`t stabilize plastic nose 55s - too long.

My buddy has a Savage 11BTH in .22-250 which has a 12 twist and will stabilize Sierra 65s. He says the thumbhole stock is on of the most comfortable rifles he has owned. But he does wish it was a 24 inch barrel rather than 22.

If decide later on a rebarrel you have a good action to build off.

Bill

 

[22XC Guy]

I shoot a variety of bullets out of my .22x6XC, Krieger 1:8 twist, 29.250" barrel. Sierra's 69 & 80, A-Max 75's, and JLK 80's.. There all above, chronograph at 3300 - 3500+ depending if I lean on it a little. Now a .220 Swift or Rocket, that would be a good drag race..


Steve

 

[Nodak7mm]

enjoy the fine accuracy of an Ackley Improved 22-250. Go for an eight twist and have it set up for 75 A-max and watch critters vaporize at 600 yards.

Yeah, what Frank said. Even better to keep it simple & no wildcats first time outta the gate and no fancy dies. Go with the std 22/250, but get the 1:8 twist to shoot the amaxes. Flippin awesome yote lazer beam..

Normally I would be siding with Mark S and the 6BR, cuz he is right about the 70gr NBT! IMHO: but until there is a "proven" 100% realiable feeding cure and considering this is a hunting rifle with need of fast follow up shots by a relative newbie, I'd go with a std case for reliable feeding, for ease of brass work and for the lower price of std dies.

Dont get me wrong, each one of these guys have brought a viable/kick butt cartridge to the table. I just think experience of the owner needs to be considered..

Rod