Short Barrel 22-250?

Robinhood21

Robinhood21

Member
Alright guys, so bare with me here...

The whole thought process around this would be because I'm really wanting to get a suppressor which would add another 6-9" of length to the barrel. I really don't want to be walking around with a 30"+ barrel when it's all said and done. I'm thinking about chopping to 18"

I know I'll loose around 250fps with less barrel but it'll still be faster than a .223 in a shorter, more handy, quieter package. I actually like the idea of it loosing 250fps to keep it more fur friendly with just a little more thump then a .223

What are your thoughts? What am I missing?
 
I did some checking on this a couple years ago for the same reason you mention.
First I found the loss in fps would not be near as bad as I thought. With newer powders/bullets and even factory ammo most of this can be made back easily.
The hardcore guys may try to beat you up insisting that a .22-250 is worthless under a 24-26 in barrel.
I have learned that a can could lead to reduced barrel life and more so with an AR as they chit where they eat.
Not sure about the free float barrel whip stuff yet.
Plenty of rifles have been factory produced with short barrels for decades, some very sought after models too.
 
I shoot off a bench all the time for colony varmints so barrel length is not a factor to me. I like longer barrels to be sure. 24" for my .223, 26" for my .22/250 and 28" for my .220 Swift and my .243 AI. So I don't even care if my suppressor adds a bit more onto the barrel. The further I get the end of my barrel away from me the better I like it. And I like all the speed that I can get too. No so much as the critters I shoot though!
 
Originally Posted By: tripod3I did some checking on this a couple years ago for the same reason you mention.
First I found the loss in fps would not be near as bad as I thought. With newer powders/bullets and even factory ammo most of this can be made back easily.
The hardcore guys may try to beat you up insisting that a .22-250 is worthless under a 24-26 in barrel.
I have learned that a can could lead to reduced barrel life and more so with an AR as they chit where they eat.
Not sure about the free float barrel whip stuff yet.
Plenty of rifles have been factory produced with short barrels for decades, some very sought after models too.

Right on! Barrel life would be a non factor as this would be a dedicated coyote rifle and wouldn't even get used 100% of the time anyways. Thanks!
 
I just had a 22-250 chopped down to 16.5 inches, haven't got to shoot it yet though. It started out at 26" and ran a 52 gr amax over arcomp at 3935, when I first got my can it got chopped to 22" and ran the same load at 3825. I had my smith doing a few other things to the rifle and had been considering a short barrel 22-250 for some time so on a whim I had him cut it down again. With some load development with different powders etc I expect to mitigate the velocity loss to a degree though I'm sure its going to slow down quite a bit while still out pacing the 223. We get through this round of -30 wind chill days and ill get out and shoot it some and report back.
 
Originally Posted By: FairChase93We get through this round of -30 wind chill days and ill get out and shoot it some and report back.

Nice! Looking forward to it
 
In years past, I would have rolled my eyes at the thought of a 22-250 with anything shorter than a 24in. tube, but things change and the older I get the more I appreciate shorter barreled rifles, especially, with regard to how much more convenient they are to use when you screw a suppressor on the end.

I run my 22-250 suppressed 100% of the time and this past fall I had my gunsmith cut six inches off the end. The barrel is now 18 inches and the overall length, with suppressor, is the same length as what just the barrel was before I had it chopped off and I couldn't be happier.

Something to keep in mind when you run something like a 22-250 with a really short barrel is, even suppressed, they are noticeably louder. Mine is still plenty hearing safe at 18in w/suppressor, but it's definitely louder than it was at 24in w/suppressor.
 
I shoot a Tikka t-3 I had my barrel chopped to 20" and couldn't be happier. Still pushing 50 gr. pills at 3800 fps. It is my go to coyote gun right now with my Dead Air sandman s.
 
Originally Posted By: B23In years past, I would have rolled my eyes at the thought of a 22-250 with anything shorter than a 24in tube.

Funny you say that because I was the same way
 
Originally Posted By: Robinhood21Originally Posted By: B23In years past, I would have rolled my eyes at the thought of a 22-250 with anything shorter than a 24in tube.

Funny you say that because I was the same way

Me as well. 8" suppressor has been a gamechanger for me. I don't mind the weight at all but the added length does make your rifles more cumbersome. Especially in South Dakota where its legal to shoot coyotes from the vehicle. One reason why I had this 22-250 chopped so short is to make a suppressed rifle that was handy to take along in the tractor, pickup, semi, combine etc around the place.
 
Originally Posted By: Robinhood21What are your thoughts? What am I missing?
.....absolutely nothing
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I just finished up a 22-250 AI at 20" and contemplated going 18".
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I had a HV taper Hart barrel setting around for many years until I bought a suppressor. I set it up and tapered it to a #5 taper and crowned it at 18 inches. My solution to the lost velocity was to go to a faster burning rate powder than I normally use in a .22-250. I tested Varget and easily regained most of the velocity back that was lost from the shorter barrel and with exceptional precision. It's a pretty good way to go in my experience.
 
DAA Nice looking rigs !
OP: had to make same decision when threading a 22-250 TC Venture, ended up leaving it original length.
Have taken it hunting with can, not a big deal when carried on back muzzle up. Just watch out for overhangs.
This TC was a tack driver from the factory & didn't want to mess with it.
Also left a 6.5CM AR barrel at 24" for threading.

But on a 308 A-bolt, shortened it to 18" for threading.
 
On some of my recent builds, I've intentionally used un-fluted barrels so if I were to get a wild hair and want to, drastically, shorten them up, I could.

The majority of my builds have fluted barrels so I'm much more limited on how much I can have lopped off if I wanted to go shorter with them.

Something to keep in mind when you order/spec a new barrel.
 
I built a 22-250 for my grandson. I had the barrel cut to 18” and threaded. We run it with a suppressor all the time. He has killed a bunch of Yotes and deer with the rig. Personally , I wouldn’t go longer than 18”. You will have plenty of velocity, and a nice compact rig to run suppressed. Good luck.
 


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