JSKI- I was in your exact shoes about 10 years ago. I started shooting at distance hunting prairie dogs for a rancher that considered PD hunting on his land a favor. I was shooting my .204 Ruger with 40 gr bullets and was doing better than my friends with their 22-250's shooting 45 gr bullets when the dogs were out past 400 yards. That was when I figured out the benefits of BC over speed.
Around that time, I got a smokin deal on a used Savage 22-50 from a pawn shop that had the gun on the shelf too long. I picked it up on a whim because I couldn't pass up the deal and I was looking forward to a project gun. My original plan was to re-barrel the gun with another 22-250 because all indications (bluing worn off on the bolt handle, worn out checkering on the stock, etc) were that the barrel was probably shot out. Because I was looking at a new barrel anyway, I considered an 1:8 twist barrel with a 22-250 chamber but after a lot of research and some optimism based on ignorance, I decided to go with my first wildcat, and ordered a barrel from Shilen with their 22-243 chamber and 1:8 twist ratchet rifling, and have never looked back at the 22-250. Since I was not invested in dies or anything else in 22 caliber, I started from scratch with some Redding dies in 243 Win with a neck bushing die. I worked up some loads for the 80 gr A-Max bullets and had very good accuracy with decent velocity (3500 to 3550 fps using H4831sc) but I stayed away from the Berger 90's due to their recommended 1:7 twist. Last year, I decided to spend the money and get a box of those Berger 90s just to see how they might do, with the hope that they would stabilize with the slower 1:8 twist barrel thinking that the faster speed would produce a high enough rpm. I reduced my load and chrony'd that batch at 3420 fps with very good accuracy. One of the bullets blew up on its way to the steel, so I might back off the load a bit. I have also shot the 88 gr ELDM's with excellent results and about the same velocity as the Bergers.
Long story, I know - and I'm not trying to steer anyone in any particular direction, but with the 80 gr ELDM's (Hornady stopped making the Amax's in 80gr) I was getting a G1 BC of .485 at 3500 fps and hitting my 12" steel plate at 1150 yards all day. With the 88 gr ELDMs I can shoot a G1 BC of .545 at 3400 fps.
My shooting buddies with their 22-250's can't get the PD's that this gun will reach, and needless to say the results of an 80 gr bullet vs a PD are remarkable. At long ranges, the 22-250s are just knocking the PD's over, but the 22-243 is still launching them into orbit. One other benefit of building my gun was chosing a heavy barrel, adding an APA brake, and I made a heavy stock, making it a heavy beast, so I actually have less felt recoil than the other 22-250's and I get to watch all of my hits (and misses of course) through my scope, something the lighter rifles can't manage.
Anyway - hope this story was helpful.
I'm not at all interested in parting it out! Action or complete rifle the price is the same! I would be tempted a lot more by good trades!
