Fast twist 22-250...barrel life?

[BoilerUP]

Thinking of buying a 26" 22-250 varmint contour tube for a Savage build, with the intention of using the 75gr A-Max for punching paper, ringing steel, & possibly varmint hunting out to 600yd (all I have available). I'm thinking a 9 twist will work as my 223 loves the 75gr HPBT, but an 8 twist would probably let me use common 77gr offerings too.

Using heavier bullets with at fast twist, anybody have personal experience on expected barrel life? I'd also be interested in how it compares to a 12 or 14 twist barrel where 40gr bullets are pushed close to 4000fps and 50-55gr around 3800fps.

I'm not exactly a high volume shooter (lucky to get a single rifle to 500 rounds/yr) and understand barrels are consumables just like powder & bullets...but I'm not interested in an extreme barrel burner.

Thanks...

[Kevin Thomas]

BoilerUP,

It's not the fast twist that shortens barrel life, per se. but the heavy bullets we use with them. High pressures will (of course) exacerbate this, but I'd expect to see substantially better barrel life out of extremely high velocity loads with light weight bullets than I would with somewhat lower pressure loads using heavy bullets. Still, it just comes down to what you want to do with the gun. High velocity over moderate distances is fine, but when the range stretches out a bit, nothing beats the advantages of a high BC bullet, and that means added weight.

You want toplay, you gotta pay. Barrel life is often the price we pay for such games.

[J E Custom]

Even though you want to shoot heaver bullets the 1 in 9 may be to fast for the 22 250 unless
you are talking about the 85 to 90 grain bullets.

I would recommend the 1 in 10 or the 1 in 11 for the 55 to 70 grain bullets, and 1 in 12 for
everything lighter.

The fast twist works well for the 223 because of velocity(much slower than the 22 250), but
with the higher velocity of the 22 250 it can cause jacket damage if the twist is to fast.

J E CUSTOM