Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Ideal Barrel length for .22-250

I have shot lots of .22-250 rifles over the years. My only current rifle thusly chambered is a Ruger M77 Hawkeye with a 22" tube. My father's is a Remington 700 BDL with a 24" tube. I have a brother in law with a heavy barrel custom Mauser that has a 26" tube. I really like the 22" tube on my Ruger as it is handy to get into action from a farm rig or atv etc. I have deer hunted with my father's and yes it works with a double lung chest shot drt. Not my first choice but certainly adequate.

Obviously the 26" gets the most speed but my Fathers Remington and my Ruger both shoot just as well as the custom target rifle.

What in your experience, shooting 55 grain bullets, is the best all-around barrel length for a .22-250?

Your 22" barrel will work just fine. Especially if you are only shooting 55gr bullets. One of my Tikka's wears a 22.4" tube, while the other wears a 24" barrel. They both work very well. I also have a Winchester model 70 fwt, that has a 22" long barrel. That one also works well. I had a Steven's 200 22-250, that had a lightweight 22" barrel. That thing shot lights out. There's really no wrong answer here.

my favorite 22.250s are :

1. Ruger 77 Mk 2 ( formerly a 243 ): 24 in Pac Nor barrel, heavy magnum contour, 1 in 7 Twist, Stainless Noveske made
Grey Laminate Stock

2. Model 70 SA: Bench Rest Shooting Magazine Insert, 1 in 12 twist, heavy magnum contour, Stainless 28 inch PAC NOR
Factory Wooden Stock.

I guess it really depends in what the OP wants? Short and handy, or long and spindly.

22.4":

May not work for what he wants?

22":



Your 28" long azzed barrel may edge it out somehow??

I prefer 26 " fairly heavy barrel # 5 or 5A. For what I do, that is more desirable than a light weight short rifle. I usually go with 1-14 or 1-12 twist. I have zero use for a extra heavy bullet in the .22-250.

I know of some that are shooting short barreled 22-250s with suppressors and others with long heavies. The best barrel length is what works for YOU.

I have one with a 22" pencil barrel and one with a 24" heavy barrel, they both kill coyotes. One goes in my back scabbard for long hikes and the other for open country near the truck. 20" or less for the first one would work, 26 or 28 would work for the second one the barrel length on the first was what the rifle came with and the second was a deal I got on a low round count used barrel. My concern was weight not length, 2-4 inches one way or the other won't make any difference to me as far as killing stuff.

Lawrence,

That 28 inch barrel? That was a Pac Nor Reject barrel actually. Before he got big and famous I was good friends with John Noveske, here in town. I bought the rifle with a shot out aftermarket barrel, at a local gun shop.

The barrel had the heavy magnum contour on it, and was 30 inches long, stainless. Not chambered, or crowned.

IN those days, and before his wealth and fame, Noveske sold me the barrel, chambered it and mounted it over the weekend, with me supplying a dummy round.... for $75.

I wasn't going to argue over it at all. Its always been shoot off a bench or the hood of my 4 Runner out in the field.

Its not my primary sage rat rifle, but it comes along for those occasional long and way out there targets.. for the last 30 years. It wears a Leupold 6.5 x 20 power scope that came on the rifle when I bought it, which was less than just the scope would have cost me used. Small town kind of thing.

Pac Nor reject or not, its one of my most accurate rifles. Not a thing for me to have any complaints or apologies to make at all over it. Its been a good rifle, has some pedigree, owner of it was a National Bench Rest Competitor with some high profile accomplishments from back in the 1950s. Guy named Kenny Moore. When he was alive, I use to always go out and post targets for him at 500 to 800 yds. 80 plus years old, talked slower than mud having had a stroke or two.. but boy could that guy still shoot. He appreciated that I had his gun, that an a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight of his, which I rebarreled.

Told me he shot out 6 barrels on that old 22.250, and had had 5 barrels on that Featherweight, all in 30/06. It was his Elk Hunting rifle. He approved whole heartedly when I put a barrel in 6.5 x 55 on it instead.

Just a couple rifles I've got that had some long ago pedigree to them and their owner. Use to let Kenny shoot them once again, when he was still with us. He enjoyed that very much and enjoyed, they had gone to a good home and would be appreciated.

I love that story, Seafire.

22 inch if its suppressed. I want everything suppressed these days.

My 22-250's have mostly been factory 700's. I have not cut back even when adding a suppressor. I had one 600 that I installed a 22-250 barrel on. That one was abull barrel but too short at 20".

Assuming that I actually follow through with my plan to put a suppressor on my .22-250, I don't intend to cut it back from the 26" length. It's already a long, heavy rifle. Another few ounces and 6-8 inches won't hurt it in the slightest.

Dammit, now I want a 22-250......

24 standard ol sps stainless. Even like the plastic it came in. Shoots the 55 grain remington ammo inside 1/2 inch. Man that gun has killed alot of stuff.

I had a 22" Shilen fitted to this Mohawk action. It was a shot out 6mm that I traded for.

Added aluminum bottom metal and a Timney. To me it seems about right.

Of course, I bedded and free floated it.

And it shoots pretty good.

DF

If you want the most velocity you can get, go as long as you can. If you want portability, 22” does pretty good.

Both can be as accurate as the other.

My 22-250ai is a 22” 1/8 twist and does just fine.

Forgot to add, the Shilen 22-250 I pictured above is also 8 twist.

DF

Thanks for all of the input fellas. I am sure that there is no one right answer as needs vary. I for one like the portability of the 22" barrel on my M77 so much that when it needs a new barrel it will likely get another 22 inch barrel. The difference really is noticeable in the cab of a truck or tractor when trying to maneuver the gun into shooting position. Whatever small bit of velocity is lost is worth the extra handiness to me.

I like the way the 55 grain bullets carry out in the open country we see most of our coyotes and rock chucks. Probably if I hunted any big game with it regularly I would do 24 inch. All of my favorite bolt action hunting rifles have 24 inch tubes.

Go with 8 twist. Works with light and heavy bullets.

IMO.

DF

Ideal is what you prefer for your situation. I've had purist reloaders get verbal when I chose anything less than 24".
I have 20", 22", 24". Guess which gets used least, the 24. The 22 got a new barrel, and the 20 is ready for a new barrel.
Per my chrono the loss between the 24, 22, 20, is about 20 fps per inch with factory ammo.
Each gun has taken coyotes to 5-600 yds, the 20" is my fav but the 22" gets plenty of use.
Each guy has different criteria for their own take while the numbers remain the same.
I consider these loss numbers minimal versus the freedom of use with a little shorter barrel in a vehicle or with a can.

Go with 23”. That way you can’t get whacked too hard by the different factions.

Seriously, the way the Mohawk action is pretty short and kinda set back a bit, 22” seems shorter than on a long action. And I reckon it is, regarding overall length.

So I guess barrel length has to be taken into the whole equation on what the gun is supposed to be.

DF