Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 22-250 build question

I plan to re-barrel a Kimber Montana to 22-250 (still debating AI or not).... my question is. This rifle will be primarily used for deer and hogs at less than 300 yards.... I know the smart thing to do is 7 or 8 twist so I can shoot heavies but will that twist limit me on being able to shoot 55 gr bullets?

I'm so tempted to see what a 55gr ttsx does at nuke speed on game..... I've shot a few with the 223 9 twist and same bullet and it gets the job done for sure but I can't help but think another 5-600fps will give me that "struck by lightning " effect 😉

Anyone have experience with this combo? Just go 7 twist and don't worry about it?

My sons and I have shot a bunch of deer/antelope with the 53gr TSX @ 3800fps out of a 22-250 with 1:14 twist. It worked great, some were struck by lightning and some ran the obligatory 100 yards or so.

Shot that barrel out and rebarreled with a 1:8 twist. Been shooting 77gr scenars, but nothing on game yet.

On to your original question. I do not think the fast twist will limit the ability to shoot 55gr bullets, especially mono's.

Your last sentence…grin.

I shoot the AI version but when I need to rebarrel I’ll have it chambered for the 22 creedmoor this time. I see more options and availability on brass(I already have plenty due to 6mm creedmoor) and not fireforming. When I built the 22-250AI fireforming was new kinda fun and components were everywhere not to mention much less expensive.

Agree 100%. My lightweight 1-8" 22-250ai barrel will probably be done for by the end of the summer. It'll get a 1-7" 22creedmoor remage barrel screwed on.

Go at least 8, I'd probably go 7.5 or 7 though.

My 8 twist 22-250 AI has shot lots of 55 grain ballistic tips with absolutely no issues.

The 55 ttsx is relatively long too and I'm convinced more twist helps the monos perform better on flesh.

Tikka does a 1 in 8 in a factory t3x so in effect you guys are saying Tikka isn't twisting their rifles tight enough? Not flaming you but what are you saying?..mb

No, a 1-8 tikka will do what is asked. Faster is just planning for the future.

Agreed

Another reason to go Creedmoor is the availability of small rifle primer brass. Unless I’m mistaken and there are 22-250 cases with SRP but I haven’t seen them. Seems like large rifle primers are relatively unavailable right now while SRP show up and aren’t crazy expensive. Just something to consider.

hardway;
Good afternoon, I hope all is going well as possible with you down in northern California.

While it's not exactly what you've asked, I'd vote with the folks who have suggested a fast twist .22 Creedmoor.

Way back in the day I built a .22-250AI with a 26" 1:14 barrel because that's what we did in those dinosaur days for our long range coyote bombers.

Please don't misunderstand me, I love it for what it is or was, but there's better options now in my view, so I'd not build another.

One thought might be so see if you can find some .22 Creedmoor brass and check how it feeds in your Kimber first before going that route.

I pulled out what was left of my hair making the .22-250AI feed in a 98 action, but I knew better going into it and somehow liked more challenge in life 30 years ago.

Lastly, I'm firmly in the camp with Dude270 in that I also believe fast twist helps the monos work better.

Good luck whichever way you decide.

Dwayne

I'm also with the guys saying 1 in 8" will get it done quite handily. Especially for the OP's needs. I'd just stick with the regular ol 22-250 though. I have them in 1 in 14" twist as well and they fling 53gr pills just fine. I wouldn't trust that twist rate with the 55gr mono's though. That is where the 1 in 8 would shine, plus the 1 in 8 handles 88gr match grade bullets very well. A guy could go 1 in 7", if he thought he would eventually try pills heavier than 90 grains in his rifle.

bsa1917hunter;
Good afternoon to you sir, I hope your section of the planet is having appropriate weather and you're well.

Would you see any compelling reason that the .22 Creedmoor hasn't made the .22-250AI obsolete anymore?

When I read up on it in a couple magazine articles, it looked to me like they'd be close enough to identical in performance, no?

I've got some heavier Sierra bullets that I need to try in my 1:8 .223 sometime, I want to say they're 88gr but don't recall now. They do look like refugees from the knitting needle basket, that's for sure...

Best to you this week sir.

Dwayne

You guys are making a great case for the 22 Creed. I'm sure it's a great cartridge. I would pick that over the the 22-250AI for sure, but there will always be a special place in my heart for the good ol 22-250. One of my best friends had one when we were kids and he talked me into getting one. I love the cartridge. It is very easy to load for and all of them I've seen have been extremely accurate. I also like keeping things simple, so the regular ol 22-250 hits the easy button. Its an excellent design imho. The OP may see it differently, not sure?? I'm still waiting for Tikka to start producing the 22-250 in a varmint model with a 1 in 8" twist. The T3x lite is a little light for what I want to use it for. Yet for a lightweight rifle, it still slings those heavies very well. It dotes on the 69 SMK, 77 SMK and most recently the 88 ELDM. Since the OP is planning on a rebarrel, the sky is the limit and I wish him luck in what ever he picks. Hopefully it will be a great shooter. Maybe even better than a Factory Tikka? Maybe not..

What about buying a Tikka SS lite in 22-250 1-8” and getting it chambered into 22CM? Wouldn’t that be the path of least resistance?

I’d bet there are a few out there.

I would do that and flog the hell out of it.

I did it and it worked fine. Made a heck of a rifle.

if buying a new factory rifle, I'd get an 8 twist 22-250 and leave well enough alone. For the OP's purposes I can't see the Creedmoor making that much of a difference over a vanilla 22-250.

Rebarreling the montana as he suggested, I'd personally do a 22 creed.

No way I'd do a 22-250 ai again in this day and age and I say that having been through 3 barrels on one in the past. No reason to fireform for one with Creedmoor cases avaliable.

7.5 or 8” would do everything you would ask of it!

These guys are all right. For my needs I went with a 1-8” twist vanilla 22-250. It’s been plenty for deer and antelope out to 300 yards.

I also agree with:
1. Faster twist rate makes the monos perform better.
2. IF I shoot this barrel out on this current 22-250, the creed will get a serious look.
3. I have zero desire for a 22-250 AI.