short action or long action for 22-250?

chuxta

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Feb 21, 2013
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I'm debating on building a 22-250. There are a LOT of options out there, but I was curious if i decided to build a fast twist to utilize a little heavier bullet, would i need to use a long action to fit a longer bullet or would say a .308 action work? i assume the bullets with the higher b.c. would be longer and more sleek. This will be for hunting, and i want to utilize the magazine. Thanks for any help!
 
Short actions fine, the 22-250 case is shorter than a .308 and there's plenty of room in a .308 sized action.
 
I'm debating on building a 22-250. There are a LOT of options out there, but I was curious if i decided to build a fast twist to utilize a little heavier bullet, would i need to use a long action to fit a longer bullet or would say a .308 action work? i assume the bullets with the higher b.c. would be longer and more sleek. This will be for hunting, and i want to utilize the magazine. Thanks for any help!


The hangup is the magazine. You can seat long slugs WAAAYYY out....but they wont feed thru the magazine
 
I'm debating on building a 22-250. There are a LOT of options out there, but I was curious if i decided to build a fast twist to utilize a little heavier bullet, would i need to use a long action to fit a longer bullet or would say a .308 action work? i assume the bullets with the higher b.c. would be longer and more sleek. This will be for hunting, and i want to utilize the magazine. Thanks for any help!

Use the short action.

No need to complicate things. The case capacity is generous in the 22/250 and bigger bullets that are magazine lengths still have enough capacity for max loads.

Twist should be 1 in 12 for biggest bullets (1 in 14 is normal for 55 grain and down).

You might want to look into a 3 grove barrel also.

J E CUSTOM
 
fwiw, I use long actions for all builds, then fit spacer in mag after final load is developed.
 
Berger shows bullets for a 7, 8, and 9 inch twist.

Those twist rates are not for all 22 cal cartridges. They work well on the 223s because of there velocity.

Some of the guys that went with the 1 in 7 twist in there 223 are going back to the 1 in 8 for best accuracy. some even tried the 1 in 6 and as far as I know they did not work at all.

The 22/250 is a much faster more powerful cartridge and you can over rotate bullets and destroy
there jackets if to much twist is used.

Just My Experience
J E CUSTOM
 
I would go with a short action.

When you say a heavier bullet, do you know what you want to shoot?
If you are thinking 75/80 gr Amax go 8 twist.
You may have to give up some of the lightly constructed lighter weight bullets at max velocity (stuff like the Hornady SX) with the faster twist.
If you are looking for a slight step up, the Hornady 53 gr Vmax has a good BC for its weight class and a 12 twist should work nicely and still let the other lightweights run full speed without flying apart.

I'm not a fan of fast twist, light jackets, high speed and 3 groove barrels.
 
I have a 12 twist 22-250 built on a '98 Mauser. I haven't blocked the magazine for the shorter cartridge and don't see a need to. There is supposedly a theoretical advantage in the rigidity of a short action, but I don't believe it is enough to be seen in real world shooting. My long action Mauser works just fine. If I decide to set it up for something else when it's time to rebarrel, my options are wide open.

A short action for a short action cartridge is fine if that is what you have. If starting from scratch, I don't see the point in limiting yourself by using a short action.
 
What is the benefit of a three groove barrel?


The three grove barrels are for high velocity and longer throat life. The lands are wider making
them last longer from throat erosion. they are also known to be a little faster.

The down side is that if the twist is to fast they are hard on bullet jackets.

J E CUSTOM
 
Thank you all for your help. I think I'll go with the long action with a 1:10 as a good happy medium i should still be able to use the 53gr up to a 60gr. That seems to be where the most options are for bullet selection
 
Thank you all for your help. I think I'll go with the long action with a 1:10 as a good happy medium i should still be able to use the 53gr up to a 60gr. That seems to be where the most options are for bullet selection
 
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