Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Dober & Ingwe... question on 22-250

Hi guys,

I'm looking to get my first 22-250. Would like a low-recoil bolt action for paper and steel, blacktail & mule deer, and something that my two kids could grow-up shooting.

Thinking about the 53gr TSX out of a 1-12 twist, with a fixed-6x and LRD. I have a spare 6x laying around. I know you two are fans of this bullet in the 22-250. Is this selling the 22-250 short? Or should I go faster twist?

What's your recommendation for my needs?

Thanks,

Jason

I'm not who you asked, but here's my two cents anyway.

All a 12 twist does is eliminate options for the purposes you've described. The 53 TSX will work fine out of a faster twist. When I rework my 22-250 it will get an 8 twist barrel.

Don't rule out the .223 Rem. It can be had with a faster twist and will kill just as lickety...(don't tell anyone, though).

Plus, cheaper to shoot!

I have a faster twist barrel on one... a one in 7...

it will shoot the 75 and 80 grainers out to about 3350 fps out of a 24 inch barrel...

down side is that it can be hard on some of the lighter bullets when pushed to faster velocities...

I have 243s also... if one wants more flexibility out of a barrel with heavier bullets that are traditionally used for hunting and distance.... I think the 243 is a better option than a fast twist 22.250...

sadly the faster twist starts to specialize what it will do, and starts to limit all the bullet choices...

I would be without a 22.250, owning 5 of them... but also trying to turn it into a 243 also, is expecting too much of it in my opinion...

The way I read his post I didn't get that shooting thin jacket cup and cores was big on the OP's radar.

Should be able to run 70-grain no problem. Our 14 twist does.

Not Ingwe or Dober. Are you looking at factory tube or custom? If it is a custom I would go at least 8 twist and never look back. You can shoot 53 gr TSX and whole lot more. If a factory tube definitely go as fast a twist as possible.

An 8 twist with the 53 tsx and/or 75 A-Max are a great bullet for whatever you want to do.

Which 70 grain, the blunt Speer?

Thanks for the info guys.

I've been churning the gunsafe and brain lately. Buying/selling seems to be something I can't stop doing.

Bought a .375 Ruger and put a 6x LRD on it. Plan to shoot the 260gr NAB. I hope to shoot a bull elk with it this year. Should get the tag I want this year. I know my 300 Win would be fine, but I just "want" to shoot the 375.

Recently sold my 270 Win. Loved the cartridge, but never hunted with it. Just used my 300. I thought I'd shoot the 270 for practice, but I found I shot my 300 more and probably better even though its lighter than the 270. The 270 didn't seem like "enough" of a drop in recoil to bother.

With the 270 gone, I'm liking the idea of the 22-250. I've always wanted a Swift, but it seems easier to just buy an off-the-shelf 22-250. I've thought about a .223, but something about a 50-ish grain bullet at 3800 fps sounds fun!

So long story short, I can hunt big game with my 300 or 375 but just need something with minimal recoil that could do double-duty for blacktail on the coast. Ranges are generally close. I'd probably use my 300 for mule deer, but would feel fine with the 22-250 as back-up. For elk, I'd use my 300 & 375. Sounds good until I start wanting something else.

I've got a VX-2 6-18x LRV & M1 on order through the Custom Shop. It could go on the 22-250 but I'm leaning towards putting it on another 300 and see if it survives.

Have you thought about a 60 grain Nosler Partition?

60gr NP sounds good too! I generally try to send my bullet money to Bend whenever possible.

Nosler Partitions are my favorite bullets!

I have been down the fast twist road..with .22 cal..for me prefer the std. twist. 22. caliber rifles are to shoot bullets between 45 and 60 grains..If I want a heavier bullet, I will go to the next bigger caliber..The std. twist .22-250 will handle Nosler Part. in 60 grain just fine..Plus you can use varmit wt. bullets with out going to Barnes bullets..I fail to see how a Barnes would be a safe varmit bullet when the goal is to have bullets explode on impact..I have shot lots of game with the .22-250 and Swift with std. 50, 55, 60 and 63 grain bullets..For deer a solid hit they are dead..But in this case I am with Seafire..For your kids I would get a 243 or since you are a trader maybe a 7mm-08..You obviously like firearms, so I would get the .22-250 and a bigger rifle also..

regardless of twist... when it comes to using the 22.250 for hunting other than varmints... I reach for the old standbys that have been around since the 60s at least...

Sierra's 63 gr SMP or the 60 grain HP..

Speer's 70 gr SMP

Hornady's 60 gr SP...

newer bullets have come out since those bullets were introduced, but I still don't think they kill anything any deader than those will...

for example, while the 75 A Max is fine on deer, I'd still use the old 70 grain Speer... a bullet that is not finicky down the barrel, but will certainly put the skids on a deer pretty darn quickly... and will penetrate deeper in my experience over a 75 A Max...

I'm old school I guess.. as frequently, I don't see the reason for something new and trendy, when there is stuff on the market that has been proven over and over for decades... that is why they still keep selling so well...

but regardless of twist, or barrel length and profile... having a 22.250 in the safe is never a bad choice... I couldn't live without a couple of 22.250s, regardless of how many 223s and 243s I might also have...

the 22.250 has what has prevented me from getting a 220 Swift barrel for years...

To the OP: First off, good on you for getting rid of the .270

Second, these were all taken with a 53 gr TSX out of a .22-250 with 1 in 14 twists...







Any questions?

Great thread. I am twisted on a similar idea.

I'd still up the twist, you can do everything with it that you can with a slower twist and a bunch more you can't with the slower twist.

Too many folks is scared of twist for some unknown reason.

Yeah, cuz of guys like Poobah...

We always knew he was twisted, now we know he's slow as well...

(I think he just likes to tell everyone he's got a '14 incher'...)

Steelie is right, more twist is more versatile, but if you are going with a factory barrel, options are limited.

I have had much succes with the 53gr TSX out of my 1:14 twist LVSF AND my 270's!

With no apologies to Ingwe of course.

When the current barrel goes south, I will probably go with a 1:12 or 1:10 twist.