A little .22-250 AI Load Development

Been playing with this cartridge since 2004, but mostly have shot the heavier 75-80gr bullets through it. The 1-8" twist Douglas barrel is pretty much on it's last leg at this point with 8-10 inches of alligator skin forward of the chamber, but the damn thing continues to shoot good groups.

Decided this year I was going to save a little money and load up some cheaper 50-53gr bullets rather than my typical 80gr Nosler's. Most of my shots on groundhogs are inside of 300 yards so I can't really justify the need for the longer/higher BC bullets around here.

So to start out I'm trying some Barnes 50gr Varminator's loaded over H4895. Think it was the Sierra manual that listed this combo with a max load of 37.2 grains, so I'm starting with 10rd batches of 36.6, 36.9 and 37.3 grains, and a 5rd batch of 37.5gr (fewer bullets to pull if it proves to be to hot). This rifle has regularly allowed me to load well over book max without pressure signs, so I'm fairly confident I'll probably be able to go a little hotter yet. At this point I'm just wanting to see how they group and get some chrono data to see how consistent the powder/bullet combo is via the ES and SD.

Brass: Lapua
Primer: CCI BR-2
Powder: H4895
Bullet: Barnes 50gr Varminator
Trim Length: 1.895"
OAL: 2.376"
Ogive: 2.040"

First time trying the Varminator bullets so no clue what to expect from them. Also have a decent supply of Nosler 50gr BT's and a couple of boxes of the Sierra 53gr Match bullets to try if the Barnes don't pan out.

Hoping to hit the range tomorrow if it's warm enough and the wind isn't too crazy. Bad part of living in NW Ohio - it's flat as a pancake and all open farm ground so the wind is a real nuisance. Closest thing we have to hills are highway overpasses.

Never used them either. Curious how they do with the AI velocity and fast twist. Should be humming pretty good.
Were you able to reach the lands with that bullet? Assuming since it’s a fast twist it’s throated long, not to mention throat wear if it’s on its last leg.

Not much of a Hornady fan but they just released a 62gr ELD-VT (varmint / target)

You being a NW Ohio flatlander; Anything near Lake Erie to keep it interesting ?? I'm only
3 miles away from it here in Erie Pa., and keep spare shingles in the garage.....LOL

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Originally Posted by pdog06

Never used them either. Curious how they do with the AI velocity and fast twist. Should be humming pretty good.
Were you able to reach the lands with that bullet? Assuming since it’s a fast twist it’s throated long, not to mention throat wear if it’s on its last leg.

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I gave up trying to stretch bullets to reach the lands in this barrel probably 6-7 years ago. haha I have a micrometer seating die that I "zeroed" with the 80gr bullets way back when so I just return it to zero when starting load development and then once I find a decent charge weight I'll start playing with seating depth to see if I can tighten up the groups a bit more.

Pretty safe to say I'm not one of those anal-retentive reloaders who has to get everything dialed in to the Nth degree to be happy. If it will shoot 1/2" groups consistently when I do my part that's plenty good for me and my needs. :p

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Originally Posted by Fuj'

Not much of a Hornady fan but they just released a 62gr ELD-VT (varmint / target)

You being a NW Ohio flatlander; Anything near Lake Erie to keep it interesting ?? I'm only
3 miles away from it here in Erie Pa., and keep spare shingles in the garage.....LOL

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I wanted to try out those new Hornady's but couldn't find them in stock anywhere to order a box or two.

I'm roughly 2 hours drive south of Toledo in the Lima area, but can't say I get up to Lake Erie very often. Used to go up to Marblehead once or twice a summer to go walleye fishing on my great uncle's boat, but that was back in the mid-late 1980's.

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Originally Posted by J.Baker

Pretty safe to say I'm not one of those anal-retentive reloaders who has to get everything dialed in to the Nth degree to be happy. If it will shoot 1/2" groups consistently when I do my part that's plenty good for me and my needs. :p

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Makes sense Jim and I'm of the same opinion. While I appreciate the level of detailed attention in crafting ammo, some things are just too over the top for me. Besides, my shooting skills aren't good enough to see the difference anyway. LOL.

Me neither Jim. And I don’t shoot competition unless something small at a local range(haven’t done it a few years).

I have two LRPV 22/250 barrels on their last leg. Shooting 55gr vmax.
-(1) I have on an action now with almost 2k rounds on it. Firecracking for the first 6” and throat wear. Has always shot 1/2” or better but last fall accuracy fell way off. Noticed I was almost .040” further off the lands than my previous measurement. Luckily I was still able to hit the lands and seared them .030 further and accuracy came right back, but sure it won’t last long. It’s going on a prarie dog trip in June!..lol
-(2) other one is a friend of mines barrel with over 3k rounds in it. Same condition but more throat wear. Trying to reach the lands on that one pushing the 55gr bullet out of the case entirely…lol, but surprisingly it still shoots 3/4” groups! However it is a 9 twist so I may screw it on something and try some longer heavier in it and see how it shoots. Just for the heck of it.

Amazing how these old Savage barrels still hold a heart beat! Maybe good enough for some groundhog work

I mostly just paper punch for fun and pop the occasional groundhog these days so as long as I'm getting minute of groundhog I'm good. Really debating on what to do with this gun once I retire the barrel as I have my Axis in .223 Rem, and I have a factory 22-250 sporter barrel from another gun I parted out a few years back. Stock on this gun is setup for a heavy barrel so the sporter would look a bit odd in it. Have my 6x47 Lapua for target shooting and long range work, so really don't need another .22-250 Ackley. Thinking maybe another .222 Rem barrel since I already have brass and dies, or maybe revisit the .204 Ruger.

In any event, doesn't look like I will be testing out this first batch of loads today in this wind so need to find something else to occupy my time. Maybe I'll finally do some spring cleaning with the "spare parts" drawer and post some stuff up for sale in the classifieds.

Well that didn't go as planned. lol Apparently those Barnes 50gr Varminators have a pretty thin jacket on them as they were gray misting at 40 yards with even the lightest charge weight. Needless to say I ended up pulling the rest I had loaded up. Guess I'll save those bullets for loading .223's or maybe the standard 22-250 1-12 twist sporter barrel I have collecting dust in the safe.

Finding this rather ironic after you Haha'ed my 6ARC Bolt rifle a couple month ago.. Just serves to show the different strokes/folks!

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Originally Posted by J.Baker

Well that didn't go as planned. lol Apparently those Barnes 50gr Varminators have a pretty thin jacket on them as they were gray misting at 40 yards with even the lightest charge weight. Needless to say I ended up pulling the rest I had loaded up. Guess I'll save those bullets for loading .223's or maybe the standard 22-250 1-12 twist sporter barrel I have collecting dust in the safe.

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What would be the advantage to a Ackley improved 22-250 ?
I don’t get it… but I am curious.

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Originally Posted by KMW1954

Finding this rather ironic after you Haha'ed my 6ARC Bolt rifle a couple month ago.. Just serves to show the different strokes/folks!

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To correct the record, I didn't "haha" your 6mm AARC, just questioned why one would want to build it in a bolt gun when there are superior cartridges out there that are compatible with bolt guns, and as you'll recall once you explained your reasons I understood.

In any event, this wasn't a huge surprise to me and definitely not the first time I've tested the RPM limits of the jacket of a bullet. Given this particular barrel is a 1-8" twist and the increased velocity offered by the 22-250AI it takes a pretty thick jacket to stand up to the centrifugal force trying to pull the bullet apart at such a high RPM. I've shot quite a few boxes of 52 and 53gr match bullets through this barrel at between 3600 and 3700fps and they held together fine, so lighter bullets with the faster twist are feasible if they have a sufficient jacket. This particular bullet clearly just has a thinner jacket just like the old 52gr Speer's that would gray mist out of my 14" standard 22-250 Rem Savage Striker barrel.

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Originally Posted by South Prairie jim

What would be the advantage to a Ackley improved 22-250 ?
I don’t get it… but I am curious.

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The Ackley gives you more case capacity for more velocity. For example, in a standard 22-250 Rem you can typically push a 52/53gr bullet to around 3700fps or so. In a 22-250 Ackley Improved you can push the same bullet to 4000fps. While the extra speed isn't really needed for the traditional bullet weights (40-65gr) for this caliber, it comes in real handy with the heavy for caliber bullets (75gr and up) for long-range shooting.

This particular rifle, loaded with an 80gr Nosler Custom Competition bullet and a healthy charge of H-4350 is driving said bullet to just over 3300fps. Zeroed at 200 yards, that equates to just a fudge over 22 minutes of drop at 1,000 yards (real world data). A 6.5 Creedmoor shooting a 147gr ELD-Match bullet at 2700fps would need just short of 28 minutes to go from a 200yd zero to 1k (based on Hornady's 4DOF ballistic calculator). Of course the 6.5mm bullet will offer less wind drift than the .22 caliber, but it's less than a minute difference at 1k.

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Originally Posted by J.Baker

To correct the record, I didn't "haha" your 6mm AARC, just questioned why one would want to build it in a bolt gun when there are superior cartridges out there that are compatible with bolt guns, and as you'll recall once you explained your reasons I understood. .

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I know, that was just a friendly tease. Sort of as yours was. Maybe should have added a smiley. Hope we can still have fun!

But so far the 6 ARC has been easy to put together and everything for it is available at to me reasonable prices.

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Originally Posted by KMW1954

I know, that was just a friendly tease. Sort of as yours was. Maybe should have added a smiley. Hope we can still have fun!

But so far the 6 ARC has been easy to put together and everything for it is available at to me reasonable prices.

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It's all good. :thumb:

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Originally Posted by J.Baker

The Ackley gives you more case capacity for more velocity. For example, in a standard 22-250 Rem you can typically push a 52/53gr bullet to around 3700fps or so. In a 22-250 Ackley Improved you can push the same bullet to 4000fps. While the extra speed isn't really needed for the traditional bullet weights (40-65gr) for this caliber, it comes in real handy with the heavy for caliber bullets (75gr and up) for long-range shooting.

This particular rifle, loaded with an 80gr Nosler Custom Competition bullet and a healthy charge of H-4350 is driving said bullet to just over 3300fps. Zeroed at 200 yards, that equates to just a fudge over 22 minutes of drop at 1,000 yards (real world data). A 6.5 Creedmoor shooting a 147gr ELD-Match bullet at 2700fps would need just short of 28 minutes to go from a 200yd zero to 1k (based on Hornady's 4DOF ballistic calculator). Of course the 6.5mm bullet will offer less wind drift than the .22 caliber, but it's less than a minute difference at 1k.

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That’s about what I figured but thought to ask vs assume, I’m thinking a faster twist with heavier bullets and hopefully it’s accurate enough at those speeds.
Myself i run an 6 br Ackley improved but not at the high node of 3000 fps, I find great 1000 yard accuracy around 2930. Hard to complain about accuracy.
anyway thx now I know what’s up with the 22/250 AI
Jim

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Originally Posted by J.Baker

It's all good. :thumb:

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a Sense of humor can be a good thing.

Let us know how you finally proceed. One of the guys in our league last winter was shooting a new 25X45. As I recall he finished out of the top ten where he normally finishes.