22-250 reloading

[Mr.Snerdly]

Can you reduce the powder charge on a 22-250 to get velocities between a 223 and 22-250? The reason I would want to do this is to get a longer life out of the barrel. It would be nice to have something a little stouter than a 223 but the 22-250 is almost too much when considering the barrel life is quite short. I have heard if you reduce a charge too much weird things can happen and you can get yourself into a dangerous situation with pressures.

[stomp442]

Barrels are like tires. Buy new ones when they wear out. You bought a .22-250 because you wanted the performance of the .22-250. Use it and enjoy it, then replace when needed.

[CFJunkie]

Mr. Snerdly,

Most people wear out their .22-250 barrels by shooting hand loads or factory ammo that are loaded near Pmax.

I have two .22-250s.
One is a Remington 700 1:14 twist that has more than 4,330 rounds through the barrel.
That is much more life than most claim is possible (2,000 to 2,500 rounds) but I admit that it showed signs of beginning to lose a bit of accuracy at around 4,000 rounds.
Early on in its life, I succumbed to pretty aggressive loads.
I have shot some 40 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips at 4200 fps muzzle velocities (they act like grenades on prairie dogs).
Most factory ammo (55 grains) have rated muzzle velocities from 3,650 t0 3,700 fps usually from a 24 inch barrel.
However, after I got more experience, most of my hand loads with 52 and 53 grain bullets were loaded in the middle of the load tables and got the best accuracy from them between 3,400 and 3,550 fps from the Remington 700's 26-inch barrel.
Those hand load velocities are still faster than a .223 but are mild in comparison to factory loads.
Average accuracy for all the 5-round groups I have shot with the Remington 700 is just over .6 inches, but the best 25 loads average 1/2 of that.
More than anything else, I think the longer life expectancy for this barrel came from loading most of the rounds down from PMax.

I have a Savage .22-250 1:12 twist that is relatively new. I have never pushed the velocities anywhere near PMax and the overall accuracy for all 5 round groups is just under 0.4 inches mostly with 52 through 55 grain bullets. It really likes the Sierra #1400 53 grain flat base and Berger #22408 flat base bullets.
I expect an even longer life from the Savage barrel.

[wbm]

Can you reduce the powder charge on a 22-250 to get velocities between a 223 and 22-250?

Sure. Right now I am doing just that with Hornady 60gr Vmax bullets. Go to Hodgdon's Reloading data for 22-250 and click on the 60gr bullet...it is the Hornady Vmax...you will see starting loads that do what you are looking for.

[Mr.Snerdly]

WBM, that is encouraging. I always load on the low side. I can't say it is any better for accuracy compared to the higher loads I experimented with but it is no worse either. I think I will just load on the low side and be happy. One other thing, aren't there some powders that don't generate quite as much heat and are easier on the barrel?

It amazes me that you have good luck with the 60 grain V-Max. It was just awful in all of my three guns. The Sierra 69 grain are the best in both the Remington and Axis but of course it won't work in the 22-250 with the 1 in 12 twist. The Axis is very accurate with the 69 grain Sierra but it is absolutely horrible with light bullets. I guess what works for one rifle won't necessarily be the best for another rifle.

[wbm]

I guess what works for one rifle won't necessarily be the best for another rifle.

That can be the case. Years ago I bought a new Ruger M77 heavy barrel in 243. That rifle shot everything great except the Sierra 90 FMJ. I tried every combination of powder and OAL that I could think of. After a while I gave up. Took my load notebook up to Jensen's Custom Ammunition in Tucson and showed it to one of the guys that worked there. He said "Give it up with that bullet." That bullet shot ok in other 243's however. Go figure!

[Dave Hoback]

Every round is one step closer to building your Savage back...., better than the factory by installing one of the premium barrels.

[Harry Pope]

Every round is one step closer to building your Savage back...., better than the factory by installing one of the premium barrels.

So the solution is to spend many hundreds of dollars to wear out a factory barrel, then spend hundreds more dollars on a premium custom barrel. Why waste all those scarce components when you can install the custom tube now and shoot them in it? It’s actually cheaper.

FWIW, 38.0 grains of H380 and a 50-52 grain bullet is a mild, accurate load.
.

[yobuck]

So the solution is to spend many hundreds of dollars to wear out a factory barrel, then spend hundreds more dollars on a premium custom barrel. Why waste all those scarce components when you can install the custom tube now and shoot them in it? It’s actually cheaper.

FWIW, 38.0 grains of H380 and a 50-52 grain bullet is a mild, accurate load.
.
There was once a barrel maker by name of Harry Pope, any relation?

[texken]

the other thing to think about is how many shots at a time, I usually take 3-5 rifles with me, shoot 3 rounds and let barrel cool, like CJF said, most likely you will get more that you think, small investment in tools and you can change the barrel your self, of course Savage rifles makes it easer.

[Dave Hoback]

the other thing to think about is how many shots at a time, I usually take 3-5 rifles with me, shoot 3 rounds and let barrel cool, like CJF said, most likely you will get more that you think, small investment in tools and you can change the barrel your self, of course Savage rifles makes it easer.

Not just Savage anymore. Actually for many years, the Remage has been around. And now there are companies doing Barrel Nut setups for nearly ALL Actions. And choice of nearly any barrel...Brux, Bartlein, Shilen, etc..

Remember: the AR has used a Barrel Nut for over 60 years! And I've seen a few with accuracy to rival any bolt action.

[Robinhood]

Not just Savage anymore. Actually for many years, the Remage has been around. And now there are companies doing Barrel Nut setups for nearly ALL Actions. And choice of nearly any barrel...Brux, Bartlein, Shilen, etc..

Remember: the AR has used a Barrel Nut for over 60 years! And I've seen a few with accuracy to rival any bolt action.

Still in the family resides a factory 24" bull barreled DPMS LR308 that shoots very T-niny groups. Factory trigger reworked. Barrel nut tightened one more gas tube hole than factory. Scary accurate. Factory FTR and LRPV 7 twist. Frightening!! Almost everything else is custom and most of them are better than I can shoot. I like my barrels fitted tight and my actions bedded and It will usually shoot. Thats for me with good hand loads.

[Dave Hoback]

Indeed. Every AR I build is FAR better than 1moa with worked up load.

Mirrors my thoughts. I tighten barrel nuts to 50lbs as I said, even my chassis is skim bedded for the Action.

[rerun5]

I have a Mossberg 4x4 in 22-250 with a 24 inch barrel, 1:14 twist. I load my rounds and I get .4 to .5 MOA groups. I read an article a couple years ago on the very topic of barrel wear in 22-250's. The gist of the article was that in the wildcat days of the caliber barrel wear was a problem. However, with the newer grades of steel this is not the case any longer, add to that not loading to max charges and barrel life is much longer. I haven't put thousands of round down the pipe of my 22-250 so I don't know this from experience.

[hamiltonkiler]

I have a Mossberg 4x4 in 22-250 with a 24 inch barrel, 1:14 twist. I load my rounds and I get .4 to .5 MOA groups. I read an article a couple years ago on the very topic of barrel wear in 22-250's. The gist of the article was that in the wildcat days of the caliber barrel wear was a problem. However, with the newer grades of steel this is not the case any longer, add to that not loading to max charges and barrel life is much longer. I haven't put thousands of round down the pipe of my 22-250 so I don't know this from experience.

If you shoot guns mildly and never let the barrels get scorching hot. They last a long time.


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