Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 22-250 with 1:8 twist. Best bullet weight

I am looking for some advice on the best bullet weight for a Tikka 22-250 with a 1:8 twist. I have quite a few 55 grain bullets. I know I could try them and see if they shoot accurately. Just hoping someone could enlighten me with what has worked for them, with this barrel twist. Thanks, Mark

77 TMK's or SMK's work well. "Best" is entirely subjective. Use what works..

The Hornie 88 ELD is THE Pinnacle,in said rifle/chambering/RPM and 3000fps a breeze. None of which is subjective. Hint.

It tosses a .545 BC,flies obviously fhuqking exceptionally and is a literal hammer,as Terminal Effects go. Hint.

Said platform,is one of very few fhuqking things,that Teeker gets mechanically right. Hint.



Understand that Beezer likes to talk out her ass and guess a lot. She's STILL trying to stuff 108's. Hint.



Fhuqking LAUGHING!.................

73, and 75 grain ELD Hornadys...

75 BTHP is a great bullet for accuracy along with the 80 grain A Maxes in my rifles...

the 68 grain BTHP Hornady is also a real accurate bullet in my 22.250 with the fast twist..

I use 62 grain Bear Claws for pigs, but don’t shoot over 250 yds and have a bunch of them to use up.

75 gr Speer Gold Dots shoot well and stay together. They don't have the BC of ELDs but they're stout. A max load of RL-16 and you're there.

Like Stick mentioned, the 88eld is about as good as it gets. Especially if you want to shoot larger varmints or deer/pigs. It's very accurate and kills way above it's pay grade..
It's been very dependable for me on quite a number of animals. Been using it in a 8'' Bart chambered in a .22 Creed.

Thanks all. Now to try and find some.

77 TMK for killing anything

You CLUELESS Fhuqktards are a Hoot! Hint.



The 77gr Sugar has a HILARIOUS .420 BC,while the 88 nets .545. HINT.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!...............

I like the 75 gr Gold Dot a lot, just wish I could find some more I’m almost out.

It depends upon what you mean by "best". There's no reason the 55 grainers won't shoot just fine from an 8 twist, I've shot a gazillion 55 grainers out of my two 8 twist 22-250's. The heavier bullets will buck the wind better and give better long range performance but there's no reason to think they'll shoot any more accurately than the 55's. Overstabilization is a myth.

But bullet integrity is not. There are many thin jacketed 55 grain bullets that could deform due to being spun too fast and loose accuracy. Of course there are certain bullets that take being spun hard without issues.

I guess the op can try them and see how they do. I don't know why he asks what people think are the "best", but then says he has a barrel full of 55's. I don't shoot 55's in anything, but that is just me. The lightest match bullet I'd sling in that rifle is the 69 SMK. Next step up would be the 73 ELD match and then the 77 TMK or SMK.. If none of those shot ragged hole groups, I'd be a little concerned.

80gr eld-m (Bryan Litz tested this bullet truce bc is .505) I used the .505 bc out to 1k and it’s held true. Next would be the 88 Eld-M .545 bc hold true to 1k as well. You could throw the Berger 80.5 into the mix very good 600yd bullet. The 75 eld-m is a good one as well.

All this is important if you have access to a range that long. Most of us are lucky to get to shoot past 500 yards at an actual target range.

Oh… in that case 77 sierras either flavor and 75gr hornady bthp. 73gr eld-m that one pushed to 3200 plus will make it all the way to a 1k still supersonic 77 tmk/smk will too as long as you get them up 3200 fps.

And the 88 stabilizes in the 1 in 8" twist?

Oh, ok. That is what I thought.

My bud in Idaho shoots 90 smk out of his 1-8 twist 22-250. Says they shoot fine, so you never know.. if I listened to half the people on this forum I be shooting a 30-30… with see thru mounts..

Yes, but they're not "super stable," meaning you're giving up a little bit of BC compared to the advertised value. Litz has done some testing of BC versus SG, and his results suggest a loss of about 3% BC for every 0.1 in SG below 1.5.

At sea level and 32 F, pushing the 88 ELD to 3000 fps, JBM says SG is 1.289 from an 8" twist. Using Litz' results, BC would be about 6% lower than the .545 advertised G1 value, or about 0.512. Using a 7" twist will keep SG above 1.5 at sea level down to about -20 F.

88's print fine for me out of an eight twist. Not sure about super stable and blah blah blah I just know what I see on paper nice little round holes not torn.

I guess it could happen, but I've not seen it. The only bullets I've had issues with too much twist have been 39 gr. sierra blitzkings out of a 20 practical with an 8 twist, after the barrel heated up it would spin apart about half the bullets. If they held together they'd print tiny groups. Switching to 40 gr VMAX's stopped the problem and it still shoots great. I have two 8 twist 22-250's that get used on prairie dogs, one is on it's third barrel. Years ago I got a whole bunch of overrun 55 gr ballistic tips from Nosler shooters pro shop for a little bit of nothing and fortunately both my rifles shoot them great so that's what gets slung at prairie dogs. I've probably got enough to last the rest of my life. I don't push them too hard, about 3600 fps or so. I've shot other 53-55 grain bullets out of them with no problems but since I got all those the ballistic tips that's all they've been fed.

Ladies,

Stability is a factor of projectile length,NOT "weight". Hint.

A 8" RPM '250 SALAMI will pinhole 88's,as plainly cited,at low tide in the Winter. Hint.

The 77 TMK's schit BC is due it's 1.072" length. The Sugar 90's schit BC is due it's length of 1.171". Hint.

The 75 ELD's killer BC is due it's 1.121" length and killer aeroform. The 88 is 1.240" and smokes the aforementioned 90. Hint.

Pardon my simply shooting it all and then some. The 88 is without peer and be as pissed as you please at Physics,for arranging same. Hint......................

I have a new barrel on a 220, 8 twist Shilen. I got tired of 14 twist not shooting anything over 50.
Went to range yesterday and took it to try some 75 Amax. They shot OK but my load was probably not very refined. On a whim I shot 5 bullets that were in the box that I had previously loaded for my other barrel. I was shooting at 200 yards. They printed a 1/2" group. I went home and pulled one apart and they were 40 grain Vmax!!

How's that for an 8 twist! I don't know how close they are to coming apart but they sure shot good a 1500' and 65 f.

Now shoot them at a minimum of 400 yards and see what they do.

Older thread, but out this way, altitude can have an input on stability being there or not...

Might shoot just fine down in the valley at 1200 feet... but up at 4,000 or 5,000 feet the outcome can be totally different.

it is fun tho, shooting a bullet in the fog, when its heavy.. Not only can you see the bullet come apart, but you see a vapor trail in all directions, where all the pieces went flying off, with the jacket came apart...

Dennis, that 22.250 I brought down to Texas at Ed's place. I've shot 40 grain V Maxes, 35 gr Hornady NTXs ( Lead free) all the way up to 80 grain A Maxes, 80 ELDs. 80 grain Sierra HPMatch, and everything in between out of that barrel, and they pretty much all held up just fine...

But if you want to watch a bullet come apart, especially in the fog, shoot some Hornady SPSX varmint bullets out of your fast twist 22.250.
I did that once, and they came apart so I called Hornady's Tech Line.. they told me the bullet was designed to hold up to 180,000 RPMs
with my velocity ( which was not redlined), and the one in 7 twist, that the barrel was spinning those bullets about 330,000+ RPMs...

Little "over stressed" ya think?

this is absolutely correct elevation can have a drastic effect especially on bullet lengths that are just on the borderline of stable.btw I'm around 1,300 ft .

you thinking they will start key holeing ?

with respect you might wanna try some Hammer bullets ?

The hotter, more humid and higher the elevation, the easier it is to stabilize a bullet. If a bullet works " in the valley" it will work in the hills. Dense air requires more twist .

Overstabilization is not a myth. It's just not a practical consideration until you're shooting at ranges where loss of tractability becomes apparent.

well Dennis,

it wouldn't be the first time ol Seafire had something backasswards....

😁

I've spun SXSP's apart with a 223/8 twist @ 7000' altitude. 50gr, IIRC.

Anyone have 22/250 88 gr , RL-26 data by chance?

I have had great results with Hornady 80 grain bullets but if I could find some 77 grain Sierra's they would probably work!

I can't believe you didn't spin that bullet into pieces. Bet that sucker will splash hard on a coyote. Pretty cool it worked out. Those dudes are busting 4 grand easy I bet.

Had a fast twist .250 that I filled the case full of 4350 and with a 75 grain Hornady match on top of seated into the lands that would do 1/2 inch groups at 100. Old prairie doggers trick that coincidently worked in my rifle. Killed a ton of coyotes doing that. Probably the most fun rifle I ever owned. Kept it in my truck.

anything 80 grains and under, that isn't a real fragile bullet, like an SPSX....

if you are going heavy weight, 68 thru 80 has worked in mine.. which is a 1 in 7 twist...so it should work just fine in a 1 in 8.

So, of all the guys shooting those 88s, who wants to share what powder and how much to get them stabalized?