What 22-250 twist do I want?

S

Sogan

New member
Coyote gun with a Zeus prefit. Probably factory ammo only and more than likely I’ll be shooting the 50-55gr rounds as I want the flattest shooting round possible with still being able to fight the wind a little bit and it’s tough to find factory ammo in higher grains. Open corn fields around here so wind can vary quite a bit from day to day. Am I looking at the right grain of bullets and if so that twist do I want for those? 1:12? 1:14?
 
I've got a 12 on my .250 and handload 55 grain noslers over varget powder and love it. shoots great. when i shot factory loads it loved the 50 grain pointed soft points
 
If your not going to reload then a fast twist barrel makes no sense. Most factory ammo is going to be 40-55 grain. There may be some heavier but not a lot. The 22-250 is a race horse...don't make it pull a plow. Flame on boys, flame on!!
 
A 10 or 12 twist would be my choice. Personally, I'd likely lean more toward the 10tw but for shooting the vast majority of factory ammo a 12tw would suit your needs.
 
I have 1 in a 9, 12 and 14 twist. The 9 works with the heavy bullets for longer range and still shoots 50 grain bullets just fine. But like others have said for 40-60 grain bullets go with a 12 twist and you could still shoot 60 Nosler partition. My buddy shoots a 7 twist but is worried the barrel life will be pretty short.
 
8. I only recommend as that's my only experience with the .22-250. I have a Tikka .22-250 with an 8 twist and am able to shoot 75 grain bullets up to 3,250 fps. The Speer Gold Dot 75s are wicked for turning a varmint rifle into a formidable deer rifle.
 
Not a big fan of fast twist. Dont shoot long for caliber bullets. Long range to me is 3 to 400 yards. The 22-250 is pretty hard on barrels already so I'd stick to 1-12 / 1-14 twist.
 
Originally Posted By: SoganCoyote gun with a Zeus prefit. Probably factory ammo only and more than likely I’ll be shooting the 50-55gr rounds as I want the flattest shooting round possible with still being able to fight the wind a little bit and it’s tough to find factory ammo in higher grains. Open corn fields around here so wind can vary quite a bit from day to day. Am I looking at the right grain of bullets and if so that twist do I want for those? 1:12? 1:14?

For what is being shot, 1:12 is your best choice. Practice some
X-wind shooting. X-wind is no friend of .22 anything.
 
All I've shoot for years is factory win white box ammo. The coyotes haven't complained about the light bullets one bit. Speed kills.
 
Originally Posted By: varminter .22312 for sure. If there is a need for a heavier bullet move up to .243.
This is spot on!
 
I have been a 22-250 fan for years. Several years back I bought one of the Whitaker Special Offer 8" twist Tikka rifles. I shot it with heavier bullets, and I found it to be ho-hum at best for hunting purposes. I got rid of it maybe 8 months ago.

In the future I'll stick with the "terrible" 14" twist factory twist rate and I'll shoot lead-tipped 55 grain spitzer bullets in it at very good speeds. That combo will kill anything I'd shoot with a 22-250, and do it extremely well at extended varmint/predator hunting ranges. Just like it has done for years.

If I need more bullet in a factory rifle for some reason, I'll get a 6MM Remington or a 243 Winchester, named as examples, to do what I want to do.

For heavier 22 caliber bullets, I stepped up to a 22-6MM Rem rifle/cartridge combination for long range coyotes. It or a 22-243 Win will shoot heavier bullets far better than a 22-250 will in terms of a flat trajectory.
 
Even some of the 60 grainers, like the Sierra 60gr TMK, require a 10tw but I don't think anything like that is loaded in factory ammo.

In all honesty, if you're going to shoot factory ammo and you aren't loading your own, you may be better off getting a 223 and shooting the Hornady Superformance 53gr Vmax 223 ammo. In factory ammo the Superformance 223 53gr Vmax ammo runs right along with the 22-250 with the 50 and 55 grain factory ammo offerings.
 
Some good suggestions here and I wholeheartedly agree with staying with a 1:12 or 1:14 twist. OP said he wants to shoot 50-55 gr bullets and that is exactly what the 22-250 was made to shoot.
I also agree with the comments stating if you want to shoot a heavier bullet, then step up to the 243 Win. That is what I did and shoot the Barnes 80 gr TTSX out of it at a 1:10 twist.
I have been a 220 Swift shooter for 40+ years and shoot a 1:40 twist. The heaviest bullet I shoot out of it is 55 gr and have a load on the lower end using the Barnes 36 gr Varmint Grenade that shoots very accurate and very, very fast.
Personally, I would not make it complicated by going with a slower twist barrel and trying to shoot a bullet in the 50-55 gr category, especially if you are not going to reload. Shoot what the rifle was made to shoot and go whack the [beeep] out of the varmints!
 
I went with a 1-8" twist Hart barrel on my 22-250 because I have to shoot the longer Lead Free bullets. Having to shoot lead free bullets through 1-12" and 1-14" rifles really sucks unless you have a 1-10" twist or faster barrel.

In California where you have to shoot Lead Free bullets a 243 Win shooting 55 gr or 62 gr Lead Free varmint bullets is a better option than a 22-250 or 220 Swift that has to shoot 35 gr to 40 gr Lead Free bullets.

If you are just going to shoot 50 to 55 gr 22-250 factory lead ammo I would go with a 1-12" twist. A 1-12" twist will give you more options than a 1-14" twist will.
 
Originally Posted By: Winny FanThis is just me, but I'd stay away from any plastic tipped varmint bullets for coyotes.

Don't mean to thread jack here or be confrontational or anything. But may I ask why?
 
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