22-250 55gr nosler load

C

Clocked92

Member
Hey everyone,

I've been browsing for awhile and I'm finally getting around to making my first post.

I have a Remington 700 VSSF II in 22-250 which I primarily use for coyotes, occasionally for gophers. I have been shooting a 55 gr Nosler ballistic tip with 34.7gr of VARGET. I got my load from the Nosler loading manual however, the gun they used has a 24" barrel with 1 in 14 twist. I have heard that longer barrels affect muzzle velocity but how much of a difference does 2" really make?

Anyone else have a load with data from a 26" barrel?
 
Realistically, 2" more barrel should be good for 50-100FPS more. but every gun is an individual, and results can vary greatly. My last .22-250 would push 50gr NBT to 3800fps with a 26" barrel. With my current version, 3700-3750 is more likely. This one also has a 26" tube.

I have very little experience with Varget, so no help there. My last .22-250 liked 40gr of W760 behind the 50gr NBT. That's the load that got 3800fps. My current .22-250 won't get anywhere near 40gr of W760, so use caution getting there!
My current .22-250 is showing an affection for H380, but I hate the stuff and plan on more searching when things warm up a bit.
 
Maybe it's just me but I have this fear that I'm going to burn out my barrel shooting 3700+ fps. What kind of barrel life can I expect?

Come springtime, I plan to find a Chronograph that I can get an accurate muzzle velocity from. I also plan to load up a bunch of different loads with different powders and go test them out to see which one will work best in my gun.
 
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Your barrel life is absolutely dependent on velocity, but "burning out a barrel" is a very subjective term. Here is what I mean: if your rifle consistently shoots half moa for the first 3k rounds, and then gradually opens up to full moa, there are those that would say the barrel has been shot out. However; I would offer you this: double the distance, and with everything else held constant, moa doubles. So: at 3k rounds, instead of an inch at 200 you would be shooting two inches at 200. Still minute of coyote, bobcat, red/gray fox, raccoon, or whatever you were hunting.

Now: once it got to 2 moa or better at 100 I would consider a re-barrel. But I think that is WAY down the line...

I wouldn't worry about that barrel for quite a while. Most of us will never truly burn one out...
 
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Actually, velocity has little to do with barrel life.
Barrel life is mostly determined by the amount of powder burned relative to the bore size.

Jack
 
None of the .22-250 barrels I've worn out were very gradual either. They pretty suddenly went from shooting great, to throwing poofs.

- DAA
 
When you can't reach the lands anymore with the 55g ballistic tip, then go to the Sierra 55g Semi point that is very, very accurate.
 
Why worry about barrel life? I've noticed people download a cartridge to make the barrel last longer. Reality is you won't get much more life out of the barrel by downloading. As said it's the amount of powder burned.

I shoot all my guns, when the barrel wears out I get a new one. This isn't a bad thing as I usually spring for a Krieger and the gun shoots better.

The fastest I ever wore out a barrel was my first rifle, a .25-06. It died at 1200 rounds and I think mostly from my cleaning. I spent so much time cleaning it with abrasive cleaners that I bet I cut the life way down. Now I no longer use abarasives.
 
Not sure if this is helpfull, but i have a 22-250 with a 21" barrel shooting 50gn bullet at 3750fps with 37gn of Varget. Aswesome groups too.
 
Originally Posted By: joedWhy worry about barrel life? I've noticed people download a cartridge to make the barrel last longer. Reality is you won't get much more life out of the barrel by downloading. As said it's the amount of powder burned.

I shoot all my guns, when the barrel wears out I get a new one. This isn't a bad thing as I usually spring for a Krieger and the gun shoots better.

The fastest I ever wore out a barrel was my first rifle, a .25-06. It died at 1200 rounds and I think mostly from my cleaning. I spent so much time cleaning it with abrasive cleaners that I bet I cut the life way down. Now I no longer use abarasives.



You could help others by detailing what you think went hay wire in your cleaning efforts. I have found over the years that if you don't use a bore guide with a bushing that centers the rod in the barrel that the lands in the throat are wore down.

I have worked with some very good people over the years using abrasive cleaners and developing compounds to lap barrel for the barrel maker. Carbon build up requires some kind of brush every now and again. Some barrels are so rough from the deep hole drilling the drill marks can not be "lapped" out at the factory. These barrels require some very serious attention. Some of the very best benchrest shooters use JB in their competitive guns every 250 rounds or so, but they take great care in using a proper rod guide that will not rub the barrel's lands. Send me a PM if you need more info.
 
I shoot a 26 inch barrel on my 22-250, in the winter below 20f I get around 3650 fps with 36 grains varget and the Nosler 55 bt . For a reference the factory Nosler custom ammo is 3700, I get 3680-90 in the winter. No splashing or large exits very few exits under 200 yards.
 
Originally Posted By: Jack RobertsActually, velocity has little to do with barrel life.
Barrel life is mostly determined by the amount of powder burned relative to the bore size.

Jack

Jack, excuse my ignorance, but isn't velocity a a direct result of amount of powder burned? I have been handloading for a while, so I know about "fast" and "slow" powders, but isn't velocity increased by burning more powder, generally speaking? The subject cartridge isn't going to take well to powders like RL-7 and similar, so I figured we were talking about "slow" powders...
 
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Originally Posted By: Clocked92Maybe it's just me but I have this fear that I'm going to burn out my barrel shooting 3700+ fps. What kind of barrel life can I expect?

Come springtime, I plan to find a Chronograph that I can get an accurate muzzle velocity from. I also plan to load up a bunch of different loads with different powders and go test them out to see which one will work best in my gun.

Clocked, before we get too far into the weeds here on what contributes to a barrel wearing out and how fast, let's ask the MOST important question: How much do you shoot it?

The #1 factor is simple: Round count. It's like tires on your truck. We can talk about where you drive, how you drive, how fast you drive, etc, but the #1 factor in determining how fast they wear out is simply how many miles do you put on? Driving those miles on gravel vs pavement will have an impact, but that doesn't invalidate the question of how many miles. The guy who drives 70,000 miles a year will go through tires MUCH faster than the guy who drives 10,000 a year. Other factors play a part, but overall there's a central indicator and that's miles driven.

So how many rounds do you shoot per year out of that rifle?

I find that a LOT of guys talk about "burning out barrels" as if it's some major issue for them personally, but then further into the conversation it is revealed that they have NEVER actually shot enough that they had to replace a barrel and they probably never will!

Guys at the club routinely tell me that they "shoot a lot". But again, then in further conversation, they reveal that what that means to them is shooting each rifle in 50-100 times per year. At that rate, they'll be pushing up daises for at least 5 decades before barrel life ever becomes an issue. An issue for their heirs, that is.

I have a couple of rifles that I shoot quite a bit because they are varmint rifles and that's what I do with them--shoot varmints. Over time, I know I will wear the barrels out. IMO, it seems to really start to happen in a way that's noticeable to me somewhere between 3500 and 5000 rounds for a 22-250.

And I keep a reasonably accurate count because I log how much ammo I load for each rifle, each year, so I can tell you within a few hundred rounds exactly what's gone down the barrel of which rifle. This is something that VERY few guys can actually do, btw.

So back to the real question: How many rounds do you shoot per year out of this rifle?

Grouse
 
I can tell you within about ten rounds, how many have been down every centerfire barrel I currently own or have ever owned (while I owned them, of course). I can also tell you exactly how many times each piece of brass has been loaded and what has been done to it when (annealed, neck turned, PP uniformed etc.). That includes for the barrels I've worn out. Which has been more than two or three.

My definition of worn out is when you can't go more than a few shots in a row from cold and clean before bullets are coming apart in the air. Going to a different bullet, say heavier and round nosed, can get a lot more life out of such a barrel. But if that's not how I want to use it, I consider it toast for my purposes at that point.

I'm not going to give any numbers, as I know from previous conversations that everyone else's .22-250 barrels last from 3 to 10 times as long as mine do. Several guys on this board report having more than 5 times as many shots as mine lasted and still shooing 1/4" all day long if they do their part.

But I guess I am one who actually knows how many rounds he puts through his barrels and actually wears them out once in awhile. For the most part, I just don't care. It's like tires on my Jeep. I bought them to use and if I use them, they are going to wear out. Not a big deal.

There are levels to it though. I wore out a couple of fast twist .22-250AI barrels shooting colony varmints in so few days of shooting, I decided not to buy a third one. That's a fairly atypical example though. The 12 twist and 14 twist .22-250 and .22-250AI barrels I have worn out, I got plenty of use from (though only about 1/5 the use it seems everyone else gets from theirs) and actually felt good about unscrewing them and spinning on fresh ones.

- DAA
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanOriginally Posted By: joedWhy worry about barrel life? I've noticed people download a cartridge to make the barrel last longer. Reality is you won't get much more life out of the barrel by downloading. As said it's the amount of powder burned.

I shoot all my guns, when the barrel wears out I get a new one. This isn't a bad thing as I usually spring for a Krieger and the gun shoots better.

The fastest I ever wore out a barrel was my first rifle, a .25-06. It died at 1200 rounds and I think mostly from my cleaning. I spent so much time cleaning it with abrasive cleaners that I bet I cut the life way down. Now I no longer use abarasives.



You could help others by detailing what you think went hay wire in your cleaning efforts. I have found over the years that if you don't use a bore guide with a bushing that centers the rod in the barrel that the lands in the throat are wore down.



I was young and dumb when I first got that rifle. Near as I can tell I cleaned it to death with JB paste. After a day of shooting I cleaned normally, once a month I'd run JB paste through it to ensure I got the copper out.

I'm sure abrasives have their place but not as often as I used it. On the good side I had that barrel replaced with a Krieger about 6 years ago. Darn I love aftermarket barrels. Accuracy that's hard to beat and cleanup that is extremely fast. Unfortunately I don't shoot this rifle much anymore as the areas I hunt are populated. In the 6 years I have 50 rounds through it.

The .22-250 I shoot now sees more use. And I can't wait till that barrel wears out so I can replace it.
 
Originally Posted By: DAA
I'm not going to give any numbers, as I know from previous conversations that everyone else's .22-250 barrels last from 3 to 10 times as long as mine do. Several guys on this board report having more than 5 times as many shots as mine lasted and still shooing 1/4" all day long if they do their part.
.

- DAA

thats funny I am still laughing
w00t.gif
must be using ATF as a bore lube.
 
Originally Posted By: DAA
I'm not going to give any numbers, as I know from previous conversations that everyone else's .22-250 barrels last from 3 to 10 times as long as mine do. Several guys on this board report having more than 5 times as many shots as mine lasted and still shooing 1/4" all day long if they do their part.

But I guess I am one who actually knows how many rounds he puts through his barrels and actually wears them out once in awhile. For the most part, I just don't care. It's like tires on my Jeep. I bought them to use and if I use them, they are going to wear out. Not a big deal.

There are levels to it though. I wore out a couple of fast twist .22-250AI barrels shooting colony varmints in so few days of shooting, I decided not to buy a third one. That's a fairly atypical example though. The 12 twist and 14 twist .22-250 and .22-250AI barrels I have worn out, I got plenty of use from (though only about 1/5 the use it seems everyone else gets from theirs) and actually felt good about unscrewing them and spinning on fresh ones.

- DAA

So true. Sometimes I'm amazed at some of the counts people give and still claim great accuracy.

I know it's time to replace a barrel when I shoot a nice group for 3 shots and the next 2 hit an inch away in totally different spots.

And I too keep records of how many rounds each rifle has shot since I owned it.

I've owned a few rifles in .22-250 but never really kept them very long. So I have no idea what the life expectancy is for this cartridge.
 
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Not tryin to jack ur post I really like varget but it's hard to find around here I bought some superformance but only load data is for 60 gr I shoot 52 match kings and tryin to develope load for my 55 gr nosler bt also
 
You're probably right, I don't shoot a lot. Probably in that 50-100 shots per year range. I have just heard stories from guys who've said they wore out barrels in fast guns in like 500 rounds. I guess I didn't really ask them about what cleaning procedures they've followed. I'm planning on working up some new loads for my gun to get it to be more accurate, I didn't want to load it too hot if there was a threat of wearing out the barrel much faster.

In terms of cleaning, I clean my gun after every use. Usually run a wet patch through that has some birch wood Casey bore scrubber on it, then run a nylon brush through the barrel about 5 times. Then ill wet patch with gun scrubber until the patch comes out pretty clean. I can never seem to get a patch to come out perfectly clean. Then after that, I will run a dry patch through if I plan to use the gun relatively soon. If I'm storing for a longer period of time, Ill make sure the barrel is slightly oiled before storage.

I do not have one of these bore guides that have been mentioned. My dad has been cleaning guns for 40 years and never used one.
 
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