Need Help selecting a .22-250

I already have two .22-250's , a Remington 700 "varmiteer" 1-1/4" bull barrel Way too heavy for field use. And a TC Encore Pro Hunter it's a sprayer, tried various powders, primers,bullets with no luck.
I'm considering the following rifles Kimber Varmiter, Tikka 3 lite, Howa, and Ruger American Predator.

Any advice from personal experience will be greatly appreciated.

1. Tikka
2. Ruger

Wouldn't care to spend money on the other two choices based on previous experiences with them.

I got the tc Thompson with a 20 " barrel. I believe. Came with scope base and threaded barrel. I changed trigger springs with kit. Mounted scope. Put on suppressor and got in or better groups out of a factory stock $329 gun. Sprayed with alumahyde now its only 250 i shoot and I have 3 others.

My last Howa will be my last Howa. I can't recommend them. I have a 250 from Thompson, The Compass. Cheap rifle but its a tack driver.

https://www.budsgunshop.com/mobile/product/100638/tikka+t3x+lite+stainless+steel+22-250+22+1%3a8+twist

This one. And don’t look back.

Best 22-250 I ever owned was my Remington 788. After free floating the barrel it would shoot 1/2"groups or less. It out shot my Remington 40XB. Worked up loads for close to a year before I found that magic combination. Then got bit by the 92F bug when the military changed to it, and I traded it. Worst mistake I've made with guns by far.

Just have the heavy barreled 22-250 cut to 20” and go with it. My 220 had the 20” barrel, and was not too heavy. The second barrel on the 220 was also 20”. It works for me. Otherwise, I’d buy the Tikka Or a used tang safety Ruger 77. And always the 20” barrel.

Bergara, dont look back

E


A .22-250 with a 20” barrel completely negates the point of buying a .22-250 in the first place.


I shot my first deer ( and many others after that ) with a Winchester featherweight in .22-250. I had a remmy 700 sps stainless in .22-250 and currently own a Ruger Hawkeye stainless synthetic.

I like all 3 of them

It absolutely does not. That's one of the dumbest things you've ever written, and that's saying something.

I had forgotten about Bergara, but having shot my Tikka and my brother’s Bergara, I personally prefer the Tikka. It wasn’t that the Tikka shot better. It was more about the better (to me) feel and weight, and balance of the Tikka. And the smoother bolt.

What’s the velocity of a 55 grain bullet comming out of a 20” barrel? Pretty damn close to a .223


Maybe stop commenting on my opinions and get back to building your house

I had a 22-250 in a savage that I loved and it's the first barrel i shot out trying to learn rifle shooting. I would NOT recommend Savage if you plan on shooting thousands of rounds because that whole extractor thing led me down a rabbit hole of issues. I'd totally do Tikka in any format, especially any heavier barreled one. I just bought my first RA, it's a ranch in 6.5 grendel. Somethings I like and somethings I dislike, haven't shot it enough to really feel one way about.

A 55 gr Nosler BT out of my 220 Swift and the 20” barrel is a bit faster than a 40 gr Nosler BT in my 223 with a 22” barrel.

Water break, er beer break.

55 gr coming out of a .22-250 with a 20" barrel would be 3600 fps on my load. Can a 20" .223 Rem do that?

oh I forgot, we all have access to your magically formulated superhandloads so that's the baseline for comparing all cartridges and ammunition.



I'm surprised your even here discussing matters with us clods, with your supreme intelligence and knowledge, you should be off building rockets with Elon Musk or giving investment advice to Warren Buffet

Weird my 22-250 Howa is a sub moa with most loads. With that said switching to an aftermarket trigger sure helped me do my part.

what trigger did you go with? I've been pretty happy with the factory Howa 2-stage

Timney

Don't be butthurt that some of us are not at the mercy of what ammunition manufacturers produce. Some of us can make things happen, not rely on others to do so.

You still did not answer the 20" .22-250 vs 20" .223 Rem question. I already know the answer, I want you to find it for yourself.

And I'm replying to occasionally sqash out ignorance that people like you enjoy peddling on the crowd.

comparing handloads to what is commonly available is like comparing a stock truck to a chipped and tuned up rig.

Are you gonna handload for the OP? If not why even talk about it? So you can make yourself feel awesome?

But what’s really amazing is that anyone got along before all your wisdom and ignorance squashing. Your presence has been one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon us.

Man, How did I ever function left to my own devices and ignorance I spew? I must do well to just get out of bed in the morning

And I never compared the .22-250 to a .223.

I stated that with a 20” barrel it defeats the purpose of shooting a .22-250, which is to throw a commonly available 50 or 55 grain bullet really fast. Cutting 4” off the barrel will most often cut the velocity down by 400 FPS.

I stated that those are .223 type numbers.


Of course those rules don’t apply to your magical ultra velocity smashing super loads.


Maybe instead of spending so much time thinking up a rebuttal you should learn to read

You said cutting a .22-250 to 20" defeats the point of a .22-250.

I called

All your posturing, name calling, and butthurt punkazz whining does not replace the fact that you have never shot out a .22-250 barrel, never loaded over 3000 rounds of it, and do not know much about it.

You have not earned all of that so go sit on the bench and pay attention Mr.Butthurt.

I would be the first guy to help someone if they asked for it. Instead, you are one of the guys that illicit PMs to me asking questions because they want to avoid amateur internet heros like you.

Keep going, I enjoy this chit.

Txtrophy gonna need you to fill this out.

Yeah, you “ help” people even when they don’t ask for it.

I don’t care how many rounds of ammo you have loaded, we arnt talking about handloads. It’s irrelevant. We can go on for days about the stuff I’ve done that you haven’t but it too would be a moot point

“I stated that with a 20” barrel it defeats the purpose of shooting a .22-250, which is to throw a commonly available 50 or 55 grain bullet really fast. Cutting 4” off the barrel will most often cut the velocity down by 400 FPS. “

I believe the commonly accepted number for velocity loss is approx. 25 FPS per 1” of barrel.....

Depends on the cartridge

22-250 does not lose 100 FPS per inch of barrel cut. It's about 25 or so.

Contact a company like Hill Country Rifles, or even Shilen (both in TX), and ask if they will reprofile your existing barrel on their CNC. Turn it down to a Sendero Contour or something in the weight you would like. An oven treatment afterward will reduce any stress induced from turning down. It might cost a fraction of a re-barrel and its labor.

2Beez, that is HILLARIOUS! Man I love that form. I work in the offshore construction industry. Even in the 15yrs I've been in this business, dudes in my industry seem like they're not as tough as I would have expected for welders, fitters, operators, riggers, etc. I would love to hand out this form sometimes in my line of work but I'm sure i'll get fired instantly.

I shoot the 55 gr Nosler BT in my 220 Swift (20” and second barrel) at approx 3600 FPS. I don’t shoot the same bullet in my 223 (22” barrel) but if I did, the load would be in the range of 3000 to 3200 FPS, and likely in the middle of that range. Assume the 220 to be a touch hotter than the 22-250, so the velocity diff between the 223 and the 22-250 would be smaller but still 300 to maybe 500 FPS.

I probably won’t shoot out this second 220 barrel, but if I did I’d rebarrel with a twist that would allow me to shoot the 65 gr Sierra GK. Then I’d probably sell the 223.

I think I would either rebarrel your Remington or buy a Tikka.

If you rebarrel with a lighter contour, look into a Remage barrel if you’re handy and like to do things yourself. I would go 8” twist to allow for heavier bullets. This would allow you to shoot 65-75 grain bullets if desired. I had a 10” twist 22-250 and shot 65gr Sierra gamekings, they worked well on coyotes and some pigs. Seemed to me to have a little more thump than typical 55gr varmint bullets. If you’re shooting coyotes only then 55gr bullets may be just right and the 8” twist unnecessary

If you go tikka get a t3 lite, I prefer SS. They’re available from the factory with an 8 twist, or the standard 14 twist. 22” barrel. Still handy but not too long for unsuppressed field use. Any shorter will be loud unsuppressed

Either route I’ve suggested will get you a rifle that should shoot plenty well for any hunting scenario.

Thanks for all of the comments, I think i'm going with the Tikka T3 lite.

And we are righr back to the first page, first reply. In spite of the monkey's throwing their chit at the visitors.

Well, really just one monkey.

And your comment takes me, in a flashback, to a monkey throwing chit on my State Fair date in Shreveport many years ago. Was an Ok date, other than that.

She must've had a great sense of humor, if it didn't ruin the date.

I agree with that statement. Especially if one is using factory ammunition.

How?

Compare factory .22-250 ammo, and 20" barrel.

Then compare factory .223 and 20" barrel.

.22-250 is still faster, by quite a bit.

For me it’s not a comparison of .223 and 22-250 in 20” barrels. It’s a comparison of 22-250 in 24” and 20” barrels. So for myself and others, having a 20” barreled 22-250 defeats the purpose of having a 22-250, because for me the reason to get a 22-250 is the increased velocity over .223.

Some of it also boils down to personal preference, I don’t care for 20” barrels in a bolt action rifle chambered for a high velocity cartridge.

With the short barreled 22-250, you can still get 400ish FPS over the 223 with the same bullet. My 220 Swift with the 20” barrel is that much faster than my 223 with a 22” barrel. A reloading manual will show you that. You don’t need my word for it.

Of course, if you want maximum bullet velocity, the longer barrel (26”) is the way to go. I was happy to go with the shorter barrel and easier handling in a Jeep, and had plenty of velocity to spare.