And obviously soon to own a middlestead *Chuckles evily*
So to begin this little furor, I should say this isn't an "asking for advice" thread. It's a log of my personal experiences and thoughts and feelings from now owning all of these.
In the beginning I owned 2 rifles. An 8 twist creed and a 10 twist 22-243. I soon realized the limitations of the 10 twist, so I got an 8 twist.
Here's what I learned:
1: Anything creed is expensive.
2: The 22 Creed shot amazing groups, but did need to be neck reamed to reach full potential as my neck was tight. (Check your reamer.)
3: Brass is expensive! (Comparatively.)
4: It could shoot heavy pills pretty dang fast.
5: 22-243 plain was accurate AND a tad faster, but a bit harder to develop a super accurate group but was on point very quickly.
6: 243 brass is cheap and everywhere. (PPU brass had the lowest H20 capacity, but thick, strong brass.)
7: Check your reamer again, you want a no neck turn, or get your gunsmith to chase the lands with an appropriate reamer.
8: 22-243AI is an absolute beast, though fireforming is actually more annoying and expensive than i'd like to admit.
9: Lets be honest, most of us want max power and don't wanna hunt with fireforming loads (However they are devastating in this caliber.)
10: PPU Brass maxed out at 54.5gr H20, rem brass 56.7 and Win brass a massive 57.7gr H20!
11: Shooting an 69, 73 and 82gr Rexem F-bomb and C-bomb was absolutely devastating. Holy crap I'd post pictures here but jeesus, it would bring some attention.
12: Will only ever use Rexem (Australian) projectiles now, does exactly as the name suggests, Wreck's em!
13: Accuracy potential is just as good as 22 Creed, but can push heavies even faster.
So I guess the ultimate question is this, what would I pick.
As a do everything caliber, for driving around, being relatively economic, and just killing everything your come across in your bolt gun, if (pigs/dogs/cats/goats/vegans/deer - not sambar) the humble 22-243 Vanilla just can't be beat. I often find 100 brass once fired's for 10 bucks. I ackleyed mine and will burn that barrel out, then go back to a middlestead, then probably a plain. I think the middlestead will just feed better than the AI, and essentially with PPU brass being as thick as it is will be a super-creed. (Few more grains but fireforming still needed.)
I can happily say I WISH I ackley'd my 223AI years ago. If you own a 223 than you are a fool not to ackley it. It is just such a simple yet noticeable improvement.
I'm also happy to report that after all my trials and tribulations, the 22 Creed is a great caliber, but the 22-243 did it all long ago, and is a wonderful, powerful, and economic way to go. You can use plain type S bushing dies to make the brass or start with 22-250 AI FL die and go from there.
If I was to do it all again, I'd simply go straight for the 22-243 Vanilla/plain or the Middlestead and be done with it.
I tried the Jaybird, it was SOOOO Close to the ultimate easy to make caliber, and one day I might explore that, but for now, get a 22 creed, 22-243 plain or a middlestead, with primary going to 22-243. Saying "Yotes got away" with your 22-243 says your bullet choice sucked or you shot terribly, or you're being paid by Horn-daddy to write that ****. Nothing walks away from a 73gr Rexem F-Bomb.... nothing...
Will probably add more later. I wanted to sleep and was having trouble, this got me there... goodnight
So to begin this little furor, I should say this isn't an "asking for advice" thread. It's a log of my personal experiences and thoughts and feelings from now owning all of these.
In the beginning I owned 2 rifles. An 8 twist creed and a 10 twist 22-243. I soon realized the limitations of the 10 twist, so I got an 8 twist.
Here's what I learned:
1: Anything creed is expensive.
2: The 22 Creed shot amazing groups, but did need to be neck reamed to reach full potential as my neck was tight. (Check your reamer.)
3: Brass is expensive! (Comparatively.)
4: It could shoot heavy pills pretty dang fast.
5: 22-243 plain was accurate AND a tad faster, but a bit harder to develop a super accurate group but was on point very quickly.
6: 243 brass is cheap and everywhere. (PPU brass had the lowest H20 capacity, but thick, strong brass.)
7: Check your reamer again, you want a no neck turn, or get your gunsmith to chase the lands with an appropriate reamer.
8: 22-243AI is an absolute beast, though fireforming is actually more annoying and expensive than i'd like to admit.
9: Lets be honest, most of us want max power and don't wanna hunt with fireforming loads (However they are devastating in this caliber.)
10: PPU Brass maxed out at 54.5gr H20, rem brass 56.7 and Win brass a massive 57.7gr H20!
11: Shooting an 69, 73 and 82gr Rexem F-bomb and C-bomb was absolutely devastating. Holy crap I'd post pictures here but jeesus, it would bring some attention.
12: Will only ever use Rexem (Australian) projectiles now, does exactly as the name suggests, Wreck's em!
13: Accuracy potential is just as good as 22 Creed, but can push heavies even faster.
So I guess the ultimate question is this, what would I pick.
As a do everything caliber, for driving around, being relatively economic, and just killing everything your come across in your bolt gun, if (pigs/dogs/cats/goats/vegans/deer - not sambar) the humble 22-243 Vanilla just can't be beat. I often find 100 brass once fired's for 10 bucks. I ackleyed mine and will burn that barrel out, then go back to a middlestead, then probably a plain. I think the middlestead will just feed better than the AI, and essentially with PPU brass being as thick as it is will be a super-creed. (Few more grains but fireforming still needed.)
I can happily say I WISH I ackley'd my 223AI years ago. If you own a 223 than you are a fool not to ackley it. It is just such a simple yet noticeable improvement.
I'm also happy to report that after all my trials and tribulations, the 22 Creed is a great caliber, but the 22-243 did it all long ago, and is a wonderful, powerful, and economic way to go. You can use plain type S bushing dies to make the brass or start with 22-250 AI FL die and go from there.
If I was to do it all again, I'd simply go straight for the 22-243 Vanilla/plain or the Middlestead and be done with it.
I tried the Jaybird, it was SOOOO Close to the ultimate easy to make caliber, and one day I might explore that, but for now, get a 22 creed, 22-243 plain or a middlestead, with primary going to 22-243. Saying "Yotes got away" with your 22-243 says your bullet choice sucked or you shot terribly, or you're being paid by Horn-daddy to write that ****. Nothing walks away from a 73gr Rexem F-Bomb.... nothing...
Will probably add more later. I wanted to sleep and was having trouble, this got me there... goodnight