22-250 twist question.

[Ckleeves]

I'm about to have one of my 22-250's rebarelled and I could use some advice on twist. It's going to be a shorter (19"? 20"?) barrel and I will be using a suppressor on it. ( hence the shorter barrel)

Its going to be used mostly for coyotes and I'm sure I'll shoot a few prairie dogs with it.
Ranges out to 400 yards, maybe slightly longer in the right situations. I'm not set on a bullet, I would like to keep my options fairly open. I have hundreds of loaded 55 grain BT that I would like to be able to use.

Thanks in advance!

 

[B23]

You'll probably get ten different answers from ten different people but I've had great success with Hart 1-9tw barrels on a few different .22 cal rifles. A 1-9tw should let you shoot everything up to the 69-70gr bullets in your 22-250. If you want to shoot heavier bullets you'll have to go 1-8tw.

 

[Ckleeves]

Thanks. How do the 1-9 do with 55 grain bullets? I just don't want to end up with a barrel that doesn't like factory ammo if I get in a pinch and have to buy a box off the shelf.

 

[J E Custom]

The standard twist for a 22/250 is 1 in 14 with bullets up to 55 grains. You can probably use a 1 in 12 twist and get by with velocities near 3800 ft/sec.

Faster twist will work, but can be hard on bullet jackets if velocities are on the upper range of Normal velocities.

If you are going to crank the velocity up and shoot 35 to 50 grain bullets, I would recommend the 1 in 14 twist. I have had very good luck with a 223 WSSM and 40 grain Ballistic tips push to over 4400
ft/sec using a 1 in 15, 3 groove barrel. but when pushed over 4500 ft/sec some bullets lost there jackets from being separated from the core.


J E CUSTOM

 

[B23]

I've got a 1-9tw barrel on my 223 Ack Imp, it won't shoot as fast as your 22-250 but I pretty much exclusively shoot the 53gr Vmax in it and it flat shoots lights out and is h3ll on coyotes. I've shot the little 40 grainers in it as well and they shoot very well, too. Also have a 1-9tw on a 22-6mm but I don't believe I've shot any light bullets in that one.

If you don't think you'll ever shoot much over a 55gr bullet a 1-10tw would maybe be a good choice but with you using such a short barrel you're gonna lose a good amount of velocity over say a 26in tube so you'll be less likely to make them come apart, even in a 1-9tw.

I run my 223AI suppressed with a TBAC can on the end, good times indeed!!

 

[Ckleeves]

Thanks guys. The short barrel is uncharted territory for me in a 22-250, so I'm not sure what kind of velocity loss I'm going to take with it. That's one of the reasons I was leaning toward 60 grain and under bullets.

 

[RT2506]

Here is some information that may help you see what your velocity drop will be if you split the difference in barrel length. In the Sierra manual it list data for a 15" barrel pistol in 22-250. With 55s all but one powder maxed out at 3200 fps AA2015 went to 3400 fps. With 60s the powders max out at 3200 fps. This pistol has a 12" twist and they have data with 40 to 63 gr Sierra bullets listed for it.