22 creedmoor or 22 250ai

[bushwackr]

Hello all. I wanted to get a varmint rifle built. My local gs is trying to sell me on a 22 creedmoor which is fine. I wanted to do a 22 250ai. Is there any advantage to either besides the 22 creedmoor components being available. I wanted to run light bullets in it, I'm being advised to go with bullets in the 70gr range there ballistically better.
I'd appreciate all your information

 

[Tidus56]

You would also save fire forming the case. Do you already have dies for the 22-250AI? If not I would choose the 22 Creedmoor for simplicity reasons.

 

[VinceMule]

THE major concern for you is the length of the freebore. Your GS advised you to go with 70g bullets, which is another way of saying that his reamer has a lot of freebore. If you have your heart set on shooting 50-55g bullets the GS LONG freebore is of major concern. So, go with the GS Reamer, shoot 70-77g bullets.

I have been shooting the 22/250 AI with 55's at 4050 and the 60g at 3700-3800 since 1990, coyotes flop. I have not been hunting in the wide-open spaces with a LOT of wind as you have in ND. The Heavier bullets WILL penetrate better, which you may not want.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

22-243 with Lapua brass. Just neck down and you're good to go.

 

[FEENIX]

Hello all. I wanted to get a varmint rifle built. My local gs is trying to sell me on a 22 creedmoor which is fine. I wanted to do a 22 250ai. Is there any advantage to either besides the 22 creedmoor components being available. I wanted to run light bullets in it, I'm being advised to go with bullets in the 70gr range there ballistically better.
I'd appreciate all your information

If you value your GS's advice, go with his.

 

[VinceMule]

22-243 with Lapua brass. Just neck down and you're good to go.

the reamer darn sure had better be designed for Lapua brass AND thick necks. I have two 22/243 AI's, learned this the hard way, same for the 22/250 AI. Lapua brass in these two calibers are larger at the web, and this was a deal killer in me using Lapua brass in my chambers.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I've owned, and shot extensively, both the 22-243 and the 22-243AI. I never experienced any chambering problems with either. I used 243 Lapua cases, exclusively. Both were extremely accurate.

I used both for shooting groundhogs but they also saw their fair share of range time. The 22-243AI produced a group of .625" @ 600yds shooting a 75gr A-Max (moly) bullet at 3,670fps.

 

[VinceMule]

New Winchester brass is .466 at the web, while Lapua is .469-.470. Depending on whose reamer print you look at, the chamber spec is .470 for the "standard" 22/250 and 243, so you can see where you could end up in trouble with premature pressure issues.

The Fix is to order a reamer that is .4713-.4720 in the web for use of Lapua brass, which the reamer makers call a CIP chamber vs SAAMI chamber.

Varrmint hunter, obviously your Gun smith got ahead of the problems with Lapua brass and had CIP reamers on hand! Congrats!

 

[justinp61]

Hello all. I wanted to get a varmint rifle built. My local gs is trying to sell me on a 22 creedmoor which is fine. I wanted to do a 22 250ai. Is there any advantage to either besides the 22 creedmoor components being available. I wanted to run light bullets in it, I'm being advised to go with bullets in the 70gr range there ballistically better.
I'd appreciate all your information

What ranges are you planning on shooting? I've killed groundhogs out to 470 yards with a 55gr bullet in a 22-250 and wouldn't hesitate to shoot a coyote at the same distance. Personally, if I were going to shoot 70-90gr bullets I'd move to a 6mm of some sort.

IMHO, if you want a 22-250AI that's what you should build. If your local guy balks, find someone who will build what you want.

 

[xsn10s]

Hello all. I wanted to get a varmint rifle built. My local gs is trying to sell me on a 22 creedmoor which is fine. I wanted to do a 22 250ai. Is there any advantage to either besides the 22 creedmoor components being available. I wanted to run light bullets in it, I'm being advised to go with bullets in the 70gr range there ballistically better.
I'd appreciate all your information

You'll have more case capacity with the 22 CM. And you can get small rifle primers for the 22 CM. You could use 6 XC brass sized down to 22-250 for srp brass. For me I'd want to run heavier bullets in the 75 gr- 88gr area for either one. In the end FOR ME I'd want a fast twist 22-250. I'd resize my brass with a RCBS X die to cut down on the trimming of the standard 22-250.

 

[VinceMule]

Stand a 22 Creed case up against a 22/250 AI, The shoulder height looks identical, but the AI has more dia. the shoulder height, we are splitting hairs here.

A more important discussion is which heavy bullets expand better on coyotes and which do not. When you skin a coyote, there is not much thickness to the body. I like to see a coyote laying it it's tracks!

 

[Prairie Sasquatch]

I just built a 22-250 AI this fall with a Bartlien 7.7 twist. So far I really like it and it seems to shoot everything from 55 grainers to 77 grain bullets. I had a pile of new 22-250 brass which was why I went that route. Fire forming is pain if you want a lot of brass. So far Ive only fire formed 100 and worked up a load with 77 grain smk's with H4350 on that brass.

I think either round would serve your needs. I've shot both my 22-250 AI and 77 SMK and my .243 with the 87 grain V-max on the same day and wind drift is very close between the two.

I found used 22-250 AI dies on here for a very reasonable price.

 

[Jud96]

22 Creedmoor. A couple good brass options from Peterson and Alpha, and you can easily neck down 6mm Creedmoor brass. Dies are also easier to find and less costly. Another thing is 22-250 brass has been hard to get unless you have a stash of it laying around. The fire forming part isn't a big deal because you should fire-form your brass whether it's an Ackley or not. Ballistically they're identical. The 22 Creedmoor is becoming common place and I think eventually it'll replace the standard 22-250 and make the 22-250 AI, 22-243, 22x47, etc less desirable.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

New Winchester brass is .466 at the web, while Lapua is .469-.470. Depending on whose reamer print you look at, the chamber spec is .470 for the "standard" 22/250 and 243, so you can see where you could end up in trouble with premature pressure issues.

The Fix is to order a reamer that is .4713-.4720 in the web for use of Lapua brass, which the reamer makers call a CIP chamber vs SAAMI chamber.

Varrmint hunter, obviously your Gun smith got ahead of the problems with Lapua brass and had CIP reamers on hand! Congrats!

You are better versed in the specific dimensions than I am. My smith apparently had a good handle on the use of Laua cases for this project (22-243AI), which I did about 20yrs ago.

Interestingly enough, after 1,000rnds I had the barrel set back and rechambered to 22-243 (plain). A different smith did the setback and he picked up the reamer from a seller on this site. Once again, things worked out well.

That rifle is currently a 6mmBR but I'll probably build another 22-243 in the future.

Thanks for your input. I'll be sure to discuss the web dimensions with the smith before the new build.