OT - Is 22-250 a good choice for bench shooting?

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:42 pm

My neighbors like to do bench shooting at 200 to 300 yards. One of them has a 22-250 the other 25-06. I was looking at a 22-250 because of bullets seem quite a bit cheaper than 25 cal. Is there a down side for this round ?

WinM71 · Post by **WinM71** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:48 pm

I always had great luck with the .22-250. Significantly less recoil than with a .25-06 also. In either case, not enough recoil to worry about, but a long session with an '06-class caliber can wear on you.

bluesman423 · Post by **bluesman423** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:49 pm

22-250 is OK. At that range (over 200 yards) I would prefer 308, I believe it still holds the world record in unlimited class. Whenever I shot bench rest competition I used a 6mm PPC. Great cartridge. 222 and 22 PPC were also popular.

At longer ranges a heavier bullet will NORMALLY do better than a light one. Guess it depends on how serious you are.

Swampman · Post by **Swampman** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:27 pm

I'd get a .223 because is so cheap to shoot. At that range it's plenty accurate.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:34 pm

Swampman wrote:I'd get a .223 because is so cheap to shoot. At that range it's plenty accurate.

+1

Also, IMO the 22=250 will have a much shorter barrel life....

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:41 pm

I reload , so I won't load to max but will give me room to play. I've always wanted a 22-250 so I bias toward it. Plus the 223 is offered in the same rifle platforms as 22-250 , so price is the same.

I'm not sure how much I'm going to shoot this so I'm going in on budget. The least expensive 22-250 is a handy rifle . But for about $60 more I can get a Stevens. I can get it for $280. The stock is ugly but the trigger is actually not bad. It isn't that heavy. I figure if it shoots and I shoot it alot I can get a Timney trigger for around $75.

Has anyone had barrel short barrel life with a 22-250?

Swampman · Post by **Swampman** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:49 pm

If you could get a Savage you'd be better off. I really love the Handi but not in the rimless varmit calibers.

.223 is soooo cheap to shoot...

phlatnose · Post by **phlatnose** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:52 pm

The only downside to the 22-250 at longer ranges, is the wind drift factor. Take a look at some ballistic charts, and you will see what I mean. Depending on where you are shooting this may or may not be a problem. A good selection of bullets can be bought, ranging from very light to heavy depending on what barrel twist you have. Lots of standard rifle barrels have the 1 in 14" twist, which I find useless for the 55grn bullets. I find 52grnHPBT bullets generally shoot best with this twist out to 200yds on a calm day. For the longer ranges to 300yds I would go with a faster twist and heavier bullets and a better bullet BC. This will also help with windier conditions.
Without getting into too fancy cartridges and custom cases, I think I would opt for a 6mm bullet in 6mm remington cartridge. The king of the hill still seems to be the 6mmPPC out to 600yds or so.
Depending on your shooting style, you may want to try the .223. If you prefer to shoot rapidly between the wind changes, the .223 may be a little friendlier on barrel life than the 22-250.
Stay away from the 25 cals. The 25-06 is too much cartridge for 300yds.They can shoot real good, but take a look at the bullets available and compare with the .22's and .243's.
Another suggestion. If you are just getting into benchrest, and not running the top notch equipment how about giving the 243 winchester a try? You wont need a cartridge with a lotta horsepower for 300yd shooting.

marlinman93 · Post by **marlinman93** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:52 pm

I've shot a .22-250 for benchrest and varmints fo 25+ years. I'd take it over any of the calibrs listed for that purpose. If you go beyond 300 yds., then you probably want a .30 caliber of some sort.
The .22-250 has one drawback when compared to the .25-06 for bench work, and that's if the wnds kick up. The little 40-55 grain bullets get tossed around a bit with any crosswinds.
I use mine for everything from benchrest to prairie dogs, to coyotes, to deer, and it does all with equal great quality!
As for barrel life; I bought my first .22-250 (Rem 700) in 1982, and it was used. It was still a very good shooting gun when I replaced it with a 700VSF 18 months ago. I never pushed it to max loads, but I did run them out the muzzle around 3400-3500 all the time.

phlatnose · Post by **phlatnose** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:58 pm

BebT, save up a little more cash if you have to, and get a savage. Used ones are quite reasonable. Get some good optics as well.

Bigahh · Post by **Bigahh** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:02 pm

BenT wrote:I reload , so I won't load to max but will give me room to play. I've always wanted a 22-250 so I bias toward it. Plus the 223 is offered in the same rifle platforms as 22-250 , so price is the same.

I'm not sure how much I'm going to shoot this so I'm going in on budget. The least expensive 22-250 is a handy rifle . But for about $60 more I can get a Stevens. I can get it for $280. The stock is ugly but the trigger is actually not bad. It isn't that heavy. I figure if it shoots and I shoot it alot I can get a Timney trigger for around $75.

Has anyone had barrel short barrel life with a 22-250?

You may want to go check out Jeff Quinn's article over at Gunblast.com about the new marlin bolt rifle. Don't know what calibers they will have, but looks like a nice quality, accurate rifle for about 300 bucks.

phlatnose · Post by **phlatnose** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:14 pm

Barrel life in the 22-250 has been good for me. I dont use full loads of powder at max pressure or max velocity. I had a a tough time finding a really accurate load at max. WIN760 behind a hornady52HPBT at near max load is my high velocity accuracy load, but I prefer to shoot a mild load of IMR4064 @34grns of powder behind the same bullet. This gives slightly better accuracy than the 760 load, with a lot less pressure and powder. Velocity is around 3300fps. It still gets tough to shoot in 10+mph gusting cross winds.

Post by **Old Savage** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:44 pm

22 - 250 is excellent.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:54 pm

Many people I talk to love the .22-250. My experience is with the .223. The Savage in .223 has a 1/10 twist so you can load up to 70grn bullets to help buck the wind out to 300 and beyond and they shoot the lighter pills great also. IMHO the .223 doesn't get the credit it deserves when it comes to longer range shooting.

Greg807 · Post by **Greg807** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:41 am

I have a .243 t3 stainless ultralight
my deer load and yote load are the same, Sierra 85 grain BTHP over 40.4 gr of IMR4350 .75 at 200yards is my best group using a 3x9 leupold.

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:09 am

JREED ,I think the 223 is great round . I would choose the 223 if I was looking for a carrying rifle for varmits. Such as the H&R handi rifle. I did check with the Stevens and the 22-250 does come with 1-12 twist which surprised me.I figured it would have been 1-10 .

Thanks for the replys it's good to know barrel life shouldn't be an issue.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:05 am

Quite a few of the .22-250's I have seen have a 1/12-1/14 twist. Most ammo uses the 55 grain varmint bullets so they dont need the faster twist. 22-250 is all about speed and it does a great job on small critters. Not real sutable to useing long bullets for long range unless you get a bbl with the faster twist and cut your own chamber. I think a 22-250 shooting a 70grn match bullet would be cool.

Scott Young · Post by **Scott Young** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:02 pm

i have used the 22-250 with great results. get the stevens; it is the older savage 110 and a great rifle. i would look for a fast twist barrel if possible to support the longer heavier bullets. you will have a package that will out shoot you. i have reworked that trigger on many guns. it is a decent trigger after it has been worked over. also don't worry about barrel life. you will have to shoot blistering loads in high numbers to do severe damage. i know guys that prairie dog hunt and shoot more bullets in single day than most will in year that use the .22-250 because it doesn't burn barrels as fast as other cartridges. they also use the .22-250 because it does buck wind with the higher bullets weights.

the only downside is if you can't get a faster twist from the factory. even so, a stevens will let you swap the barrel to a faster twist on the kitchen table. i would lean towards a 1:9 to 1:8 barrel and with a longish throat so i could hand load the heavy for caliber bullets and have them seated out and not intruding upon the powder capacity.