Heaviest bullet for 22-250?

[crittrgittr]

Thanx for all your work guys. I looks like the 1:14 really likes all the lighter bullets. As I mentioned above, I am currently shooing 50gr balllistic tips and have had great results with those (.5 moa). I guess I will try the heavier bullets and see what happens. Her farthest shot here in WI will probly be 80-100yds. So I'm thinking we should be ok?

 

[benchracer]

As an extreme example, I popped a marauding raccoon in the head, at a distance of about 15 yards, a couple of years back with a 52g AMAX @3700ish. The bullet, of course, came unglued. It took the top of the skull off and emptied it, but did not exit or penetrate more than a couple of inches.

I think you will be OK with the ballistic tip if you slow the bullet down and avoid hitting bone.

If you feel the need, you could step up to something like the 55g or 60g Hornady Spire Point bullets. They are short bullets relative to their weight. As long as they stabilize, they don't really have to be pinpoint accurate to work out to 100 yards. At that distance, anything that shoots into 2" or less would work just fine, IMO.

Either way, if you are careful with the angles you take and your daughter places the shot well, I think you will be just fine.

 

[benchracer]

I ran some stability calculations using the Miller Stability formula on JBM Ballistics to see what I could find out. These calculations were run @ standard temperature and pressure, so they are not altitude corrected.

To my surprise, the Barnes 50g TSX does not stabilize in a 14 twist. The 45g TSX shows marginal stability, but does stabilize.

Another mono-metal option would be the Cutting Edge 40g Raptor. CE says it stabilizes in a 14 twist and the Miller formula agrees, though the stability factor again shows marginal stability.

The 60g Nosler partition does not stabilize.

Sierra says their 60g Varminter will stabilize, but couldn't verify that by calculation because I couldn't find a listing for bullet length. I wasn't able to do any calculations for the 63g Varminter for the same reason.

Couldn't find length info for the Winchester 64g Powerpoint, so no calculation for that one either.

Berger says their 55g Target bullet works in a 14 twist. Miller formula says no.

I didn't realize that there is a list of some bullet lengths compiled on the JBM website. Using what I could find on that list, I plugged some numbers into the calculator on the Berger website. All calculations were run a 59*F and 0 Ft. Altitude. If you plug in expected temperature and altitude for where you hunt, you will obviously get more accurate numbers for your conditions.

Here is some info to muddy the waters a bit on the subject of what bullets will stabilize from a 14 twist 22-250:


Sierra 55g Game King (length .724) @ 3600 SG=1.1 (marginally stable)

Sierra 60g HP Varminter (length .776) @ 3600 SG=.99 (unstable)

Sierra 63g Varminter (length .755) @ 3500 SG=1.11 (marginally stable)

Hornady 55g Spire Point (length .715) @ 3600 SG=1.14 (marginally stable)

Hornady 60g Spire Point (length .700) @ 3600 SG=1.33 (marginally stable)
Hornady 60g Spire Point (length .750) @ 3600 SG=1.09 (marginally stable)

Nosler 60g Partition (length .790) @ 3600 SG=.94 (unstable)

Barnes 45g TSX FB (length .698) @ 3900 SG=1.03 (marginally stable)

Barnes 50g TSX FB (length .736) @ 3700 SG=.97 (unstable)


A few things are worth noting here. First, the JBM website says the Hornady 60g Spire Point is shorter in length than the 55g bullet of the same design. I think that length measurement is suspect. I did some digging and found where someone had measured their 60g Spire Point at .750. I plugged in and ran both sets of numbers for that bullet.

Sierra states that the 60g HP Varminter is designed to work in 14 twist 22-250's and Swifts and that it does just that. The calculator says no, but just barely. I believe there is likely some wiggle room here.

I also ran across a post from someone who had called the Barnes tech line to ask about the 45g and 50g TSX FB bullets in a 14 twist. According to that individual, Barnes technical personnel stated that the 45g and 50g TSX FB bullets were specifically designed for 14 twist barrels in 22-250 and .220 Swift and that extensive testing had shown that both bullets will reliably stabilize in a 14 twist. Barnes online load data appears to back that up. Note also that the velocities I plugged in to the Berger calculator for these two bullets are notably conservative compared to the Barnes data.

One final note on the Barnes bullets is that I got my length information from the MidwayUSA website. That was the only place I could find it. Sometimes their posted information is accurate. Sometimes it's not. I have been bitten before when using data taken from Midway.

 

[benchracer]

Thanx for all your work guys. I looks like the 1:14 really likes all the lighter bullets. As I mentioned above, I am currently shooing 50gr balllistic tips and have had great results with those (.5 moa). I guess I will try the heavier bullets and see what happens. Her farthest shot here in WI will probly be 80-100yds. So I'm thinking we should be ok?

crittrgittr, please let us know what you ultimately decide to use and what kind of results you get under actual field conditions. I'm thinking some real world info on this subject would add a lot to the conversation.

Good Luck to you and your daughter come deer season!

 

[Gene]

I like to kiss the lands with any bullet, but could not find a .224 bullet to do this in my Rem700 with 14 twist. Tried some Berger 75 grain bullets; they were long enuf to touch the lands, but at 100 yds, they keyholed badly.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Does any one know what the heaviest bullet I can shoot in my Tikka 22-250 with a 1:14 twist would be? I'm hoping to load a little heavier bullet for my daughter to use on whitetail this year. My next Caliber in line is my .257 wthby which I think might be a little much for her.

I shoot 55 grain Hornaday Vmax bullets in a 14 twist all the time, but some other 55 grain bullets won't shoot as well. I'd kinda guess that a 14 twist is limited to about a .25 B/C. I'd think that most all 50 grain bullets would work well, but I have at least two barrels that won't shoot the 52 or 53 grain match bullets very well.
gary

 

[roninflag]

interesting. i have loaded for a number of 22-250s. in all cases they shot the 40 to 63 grain bullets i tried real well. barrel quality is a limiting factor .

 

[Trickymissfit]

interesting. i have loaded for a number of 22-250s. in all cases they shot the 40 to 63 grain bullets i tried real well. barrel quality is a limiting factor .

I have three 14 twist barrels in various 22 centerfires, and another three in 12 twist. None will shoot anything above 60 grains with anykind of decient groups sizes. I can get a 60 grain FBHP to shoot .60" groups in a 12 twist barrel. The others shoot around one inch groups at best. Yet the Hornaday 55 grain Vmax will shoot .45" groups in a 14 twist Remington, and shoot 33" groups in a 12 twist Savage. The 55 grain Sierra #1365 will shoot very low threes and mid twos in the same three Savages. In my opinion a 14 twist is about maxed out with a .25 B/C and the 12 twist will handle most anything up to about .275 B/C. A ten twist will do a .31 to .33 B/C in .223 caliber bullets.

Speer sells a 62 grain BTSP that has a .307 B/C, and they make a note that it's not recommended for 12 twist barrels, let alone a 14 twist barrel. But a 60 grain bullet with a B/C that's around .26 ought to work fairly well (getting right on the ragged edge).
gary

 

[MontanaRifleman]

interesting. i have loaded for a number of 22-250s. in all cases they shot the 40 to 63 grain bullets i tried real well. barrel quality is a limiting factor .

Have you shot the long boattail 53 gr VMax?

 

[roninflag]

Have you shot the long boattail 53 gr VMax?

CRITTR- sorry if you feel this is off topic. Montana- the OP objective was to shoot wisconsin whitetails at 50 to 100 yards. the 53 vmax is a varmint bullet. i have shot them . not in a 22-250. i have shot the 55 tsx , 60 nos partiton , and 63 sierra semi ptd . they shot fine . other "deer type bullets " i have shot are the 60 grain hornady hp and sp, the 60 nosler balistic tip and 60 grain nosler solid base ( from the 1990s). all were more than adequate accuracy for 50-100 yard shots on deer. i consider the first three better choices.

 

[bigngreen]

My 22-250 has killed a lot of deer out to about 450 yards range, the 1-14 sucks but it's doable, the V-max and deer combo is not one for inexperienced shooters in my opinion, you have to shoot them in the head or shoot them in the lungs very carefully and the farther the better as it lets the bullet get in a little better. The best bullet I've used is a 50gr soft point like the Hornady 50gr SP, the soft point work very well and they will punch through a deer shoulder if she got forward. Our faster twist ones all shoot Berger and they flat work excellent!!!

 

[Trickymissfit]

coyote sized deer?
ary

 

[roninflag]

coyote sized deer?
ary

whitetails are not created equal. the ones here avg 70 pounds ( dinks, coues). a 90 pound/ 90 incher is a real nice one. the ones in alberta/sask weigh 300 and cost 7.5k to hunt. i have not hunted wisconsin. i have seen pics of some good sized ones from there though.

 

[Trickymissfit]

whitetails are not created equal. the ones here avg 70 pounds ( dinks, coues). a 90 pound/ 90 incher is a real nice one. the ones in alberta/sask weigh 300 and cost 7.5k to hunt. i have not hunted wisconsin. i have seen pics of some good sized ones from there though.

Indiana is starting to show some 275lb+ whitetails on a regular basis. The Michigan UP will put you into 325lb deer regularly. I would think that Wisconsen and Minnesota would be similar. Iowa and Illinoise are also producing a few 300lb bucks a year. 200lb. does are getting to be common, and I've seen several 250lb does in the Michigan UP. I used a .257 Roberts in Michigan with good results, but most guys up there use a 30-06.
gary