Can the new "wonder" powders work any better in a 22.4" barrel 25-06 (Tikka) than the traditional powders which everyone seems to think REQUIRES at least a 24" barrel to get decent velocities?

I’ve got a 22” barrel 25-06 and have no issues with RL22, 7828, RL26 And some others that get fantastic speeds. I’d probably never mess with a longer barreled one myself.

Any powder that will work well in a 24" barrel will also work well in one 1.6" shorter. Or 4" shorter for that matter. The vast majority of the powder combusted is done so in the first 6" of barrel IIRC.

I'm with beretzs on this one. I haven't seen any problems with the 22" barrel on my Marlin XL7 25-06 and all I shoot are 120 grain bullets with IMR 7828 SSC. My load is only about 40 fps slower than my son's 24" Remington.

I have a 22" xl-7 25-06 it shoots fine but is noisy, I prefer the 24" barrels on my other 25-06's for increased muzzle blast reduction and higher velocity. Shoot what you want it is a free world yet for a little while. When and if it gets shot out the new one to replace it will be 26" Mb

'22 gives me 3300FPS from a 22" Rem Mt Rifle and a M70 22" Winlite.

53gr of IMR 4350 was good for 3300 fps using a 100gr TTSX or Sierra MK in my Tikka T3. Plenty for my uses.

Yeah, either IMR or H4350, in about that amount, usually results in very fine accuracy with 100-grain bullet--which is a little odd, due to the powder charge not coming close to filling the case. But there it is.

Might also comment that barrels vary enough in how much pressure/velocity they produce with the same loads that a 22" .25-06 barrel may very well result in as much (or more) velocity than a 24" barrel.

Totally agree. Had a 22" 25-06 that performed well, but just knew the cartridge needed a 24" barrel or more. Got a 24" barreled gun of the same brand & model, of course sold the 22, & the 24 never produced as much velocity. Sold that one & got another 24". Damn near went broke using different powders trying to get this one a fast as the 22" I had. It wouldn't happen.

And, if a 22" & a 24 had the same exact internal dimensions & surface finish, the 24 might only produce 40-50fps more any way. Nothing to fret over.
"

With what bullet weight?

Oops!! 100gn TSX.

My Mt rifle is SS (one of the '92-93 SS ADLs). Shooting friend has a 700 Mt rifle, blued/wood/DBM also 22" that runs the same FPS w/same projectile.