22-250 question

G

Gina1

Guest
Hi guys

I have the opportunity to pick up a good 22-250 custom rifle (shillen barrel, jewell trigger, 8-32X scope BSA) at what I think is a really good price. It will also come with a set of dies.
I shoot BR at 300-600 yards. The rifle has not had that many rounds through it ,<200.

What are your thoughts. All information will be appreciated.

Much thanks

Gina
 
Thoughts on what? what exactly are you asking? If your asking will a 22-250 shoot to 600 yards, then yes it will, but depending on a lot of things it might not be the best choice for 600 yard shooting. We need more info if were to help. thanks Lee
 
I really depends on whether or not you've always wanted a .22-250. Otherwise, its kinda like the guy who bought a white elephant because he got a really good deal on one.

cons:

1. Hot .22s are fun, but there are better chamberings for 300 to 600 yard benchrest.

2. 200 rounds can be 25% of a hot 22 barrel's competitive life.

3. Maybe. I think there were some discussions on BSA scopes, and the replies weren't favorable. A search of the archives might be useful.

I suspect you knew all this ;-)

pros:

If you've always wanted a .22-250, it is a nice opportunity.
 
IMO you will never be happy with it if you've got any experience w/Good Stuff.

The tapered -250 case and funky shoulder don't lend themselves to proper maintenance, you will NEVER achieve good caselife and fit.

I spent lots of money finding this out. There's a logical reason they're not found in competition. There's a logical REASON cases like the BR, the PPC, the .308 and X47L exist...... as well as stuff like Tubb's custom XC stuff.... because these cases solve the problems inherent to the -250 case design.

That said, most folks only learn by touching the stove and you'll find LOTS of people who'll tell you "the 22-250 is as accurate as anything." ('Course none of them have ever owned a PPC/BR rifle....)

enjoy

al
 
That's not all

Charles E said:
I really depends on whether or not you've always wanted a .22-250. Otherwise, its kinda like the guy who bought a white elephant because he got a really good deal on one.

cons:

1. Hot .22s are fun, but there are better chamberings for 300 to 600 yard benchrest.

2. 200 rounds can be 25% of a hot 22 barrel's competitive life.

3. Maybe. I think there were some discussions on BSA scopes, and the replies weren't favorable. A search of the archives might be useful.

I suspect you knew all this ;-)

pros:

If you've always wanted a .22-250, it is a nice opportunity.
Click to expand...

I used to be a hot 22 supporter. The first was a 220 swift. Burned out two barrels in 2000 rounds. Switched to a 22/250 pretty much the same deal. This was in field varminter rifles. Competition rifles you probably wouldn't even get that many rounds from. When loaded pretty warm which is one of the reasons for owning a hot 22 the case life was fairly short. I eventually gave up on them.
Andy.
 
I been using mine in f class-250 yards is all and it works good...Pay no attention to what some of things you hear..You do not need to have it smokin neither..I use the 69 gr sierra bullet and H4831 powder..It will shoot 1 1/4 easy at the 250 yard mark..As far as cases go I use Remington and have loaded them 10 times so far.Keep a good record of your shots and try not to over heat the barrel.I have a Shillen 26 inch 1 in 9 twist barrel..I am going to use it until something better comes along...So if your interest is in compition and not to great a distance.Try it and see..You might be surprised..Good luck ..John
 
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I've had two .22-250's, one is now a 6 mm BR and the other a .22 BR. When I lived in Seattle the club I belonged to had monthly factory class matches at 200 and 300 yards. A few different calibers were tried at first, but pretty soon everyone gravitated to the .223 Rem with loads that would make manual editors cringe for the most part. Most all the winning was done with 52-53 gr bullets, and I've witnessed sub inch 300 yard 10 shot groups with a well piloted and loaded .223 factory rifle. At 200 yards sub inch groups were required to win or come close back then (pre'99). The .22-250's, .243's, .308's, and various other larger calibers weren't as accurate and the .308's tended to beat the shooters up fairly badly after 40 rounds plus sighters.


For 300 to 600 yards I think that a 6 mm BR would be a lot more satisfactory if it had a fast enough twist to shoot the 105+ gr long range bullets available from various makers. It'd be easier on the barrel than a .22-250, and likely no harder on the shoulder either. There's good brass available for the 6 mm BR too. Alternatively a .22 BR with a 7" twist barrel that could shoot 80 gr bullets very well, and brass is made by simply running 6 BR brass through a standard .22 BR FL die.
 
Guy's...

Thank you for the inputs. Although the price of the 22-250 rifle was (I think) very good. After reading the posts here, I think I'll pass on it.

Much thanks

Gina
 
Larry Elliott said:
I've had two .22-250's, one is now a 6 mm BR and the other a .22 BR. When I lived in Seattle the club I belonged to had monthly factory class matches at 200 and 300 yards. A few different calibers were tried at first, but pretty soon everyone gravitated to the .223 Rem with loads that would make manual editors cringe for the most part. Most all the winning was done with 52-53 gr bullets, and I've witnessed sub inch 300 yard 10 shot groups with a well piloted and loaded .223 factory rifle. At 200 yards sub inch groups were required to win or come close back then (pre'99). The .22-250's, .243's, .308's, and various other larger calibers weren't as accurate and the .308's tended to beat the shooters up fairly badly after 40 rounds plus sighters.


For 300 to 600 yards I think that a 6 mm BR would be a lot more satisfactory if it had a fast enough twist to shoot the 105+ gr long range bullets available from various makers. It'd be easier on the barrel than a .22-250, and likely no harder on the shoulder either. There's good brass available for the 6 mm BR too. Alternatively a .22 BR with a 7" twist barrel that could shoot 80 gr bullets very well, and brass is made by simply running 6 BR brass through a standard .22 BR FL die.
Click to expand...

I would like to know the velocities of those 52-53 gr. "cringe type" loads. I have heard of speeds achieved with the small case 22's that are well above the recommended loads but no actual chronographed results. Makes me wonder how the primer pockets hold up under the extra pressure?
Seems that a 22-250 can be loaded down and loaf along at the velocities gotten by overloading a .223 which would indeed extend barrel and case life in the 22-250?
I have owned at least 3 Swifts and as many 22-250's. All have had a good workout in the woodchuck fields over the last 40 years. Crows and fox were also on the agenda. Swift is a case eater, no doubt but I had no special problems with the 22-250 regarding case life. I load to near max usually a couple grains below whatever happens to be listed and occasionally increase a given charge if case head measurements are looking ok. I gave up on the Swifts and my current 22-250 is a Ruger #1 with a 1,000 plus round count and still can bust a chuck @ 400 yds if I do my part. All in all the 22-250 has been good to me imho. In light of what's available today with all the custom actions and super accurate cartridge designs the 22-250 is simply a sporting round but if you're into the Red Mist thing it's still hard to beat!
 
i shoot 52/53 at 3500/3600 fps froma 223 with a 26" bbl..ag's at .2

gina..it the price is good..consider it a bild platform for anything else....i bought one in left had just for that purpose...
no value in the scope in my opinion..but trigger and actio and stock ....add a bbl in ..30br ??

mike in co
 
the 22-250 can be a great cartridge with many uses, if you are doing nothing BUT benchrest shooting the others are probably right, but if your into your varmint shooting, and even larger sized animals if the shilen has a fast twist ( 1-9 or 1-8) then you even have potential for an adequate deer rife aslong as its limitations are respected and quality projectiles are used ( scirocco swift or barnes TSX ). The accuracy of some 22-250 cannot be questioned, i personaly own a 22-250 AI with a true 1-8 twist barrel and the accuracy i can produce with the 75 A-max and even the hornady 55 gr SP can be amazing at times ( best 5 shot droup with 55 gr SP was 0.110" followed by a 3 shot 0.220" group at 100 meters not yards.), so dont let people try and tell you its not hot stuff! yes wind will affect the projectile alot but that can always be compensated. and as for barrel life aslong as you clean the barrel thoroughly it should last a long time and accuracy may even improve with time, and when loading just back off a grain or 2, makes a big differance in accuracy, life of brass and barrel.

hope this helps.
 
Back off a bit ?

honest false said:
the 22-250 can be a great cartridge with many uses, if you are doing nothing BUT benchrest shooting the others are probably right, but if your into your varmint shooting, and even larger sized animals if the shilen has a fast twist ( 1-9 or 1-8) then you even have potential for an adequate deer rife aslong as its limitations are respected and quality projectiles are used ( scirocco swift or barnes TSX ). The accuracy of some 22-250 cannot be questioned, i personaly own a 22-250 AI with a true 1-8 twist barrel and the accuracy i can produce with the 75 A-max and even the hornady 55 gr SP can be amazing at times ( best 5 shot droup with 55 gr SP was 0.110" followed by a 3 shot 0.220" group at 100 meters not yards.), so dont let people try and tell you its not hot stuff! yes wind will affect the projectile alot but that can always be compensated. and as for barrel life aslong as you clean the barrel thoroughly it should last a long time and accuracy may even improve with time, and when loading just back off a grain or 2, makes a big differance in accuracy, life of brass and barrel.

hope this helps.
Click to expand...

From my experiences with the swift and 22/250 see previous post you will want to back off more than a grain or two to get a respectable barrel life and brass life.
Andy.
 
spfld said:
I would like to know the velocities of those 52-53 gr. "cringe type" loads. I have heard of speeds achieved with the small case 22's that are well above the recommended loads but no actual chronographed results. Makes me wonder how the primer pockets hold up under the extra pressure?
Seems that a 22-250 can be loaded down and loaf along at the velocities gotten by overloading a .223 which would indeed extend barrel and case life in the 22-250?
I have owned at least 3 Swifts and as many 22-250's. All have had a good workout in the woodchuck fields over the last 40 years. Crows and fox were also on the agenda. Swift is a case eater, no doubt but I had no special problems with the 22-250 regarding case life. I load to near max usually a couple grains below whatever happens to be listed and occasionally increase a given charge if case head measurements are looking ok. I gave up on the Swifts and my current 22-250 is a Ruger #1 with a 1,000 plus round count and still can bust a chuck @ 400 yds if I do my part. All in all the 22-250 has been good to me imho. In light of what's available today with all the custom actions and super accurate cartridge designs the 22-250 is simply a sporting round but if you're into the Red Mist thing it's still hard to beat!
Click to expand...

Too lazy to go look at my load records, but as I remember I was getting ~3450 fps with 52/53 gr Sierra or Berger bullets from my .223 Rem 700 with 24" 12 twist barrel. The load was as much N135 as I felt safe with, although others were using charges of N133 that made me cringe when they told me. The load was hard on cases, and not exactly easy on barrels either, and maybe someone with a very good .22-250 could have beaten the .223's but I sort of doubt it. In my experience a load that's just loafing along in a larger case isn't as accurate as a load that requires a case full (or close) of powder in a smaller case that will do the job. That's one reason the 6 BR has a hard time matching the 6 PPC in short range BR. Sure the BR can be loaded to give the same velocity as the PPC, but it's not cutting the mustard. The 6 BR comes into its own with bullets that the PPC case can't move fast enough for longer range shooting. Being able to hit chucks regularly at 400 yards is not the same as shooting little groups at 400 yards.
 
Gina1 said:
Hi guys

I have the opportunity to pick up a good 22-250 custom rifle (shillen barrel, jewell trigger, 8-32X scope BSA) at what I think is a really good price. It will also come with a set of dies.
I shoot BR at 300-600 yards. The rifle has not had that many rounds through it ,<200.

What are your thoughts.
Click to expand...

My thoughts are that someone who's been shooting for 50 years should already know enough to decide whether to buy this rifle or not. Unlike C-Span and CNN, we encourage you to do the thinking for yourself.
 
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