Short barrel options

[Poe]

A friend of mine is throwing around the idea of getting a new barrel for his 22-250 as his barrel is on its last legs. He is debating going with a 18” barrel to make it a short handy calling and truck gun. We can’t run suppressors here so that part doesn’t matter. In a short barrel does anyone know if there would be much gain in velocity going with a 22-250 AI vs the standard 250. How much faster would it be than a 223 AI. He is also debating going with a 8 twist to shoot heavier bullets but if fur prices ever come back he is wondering if he would still be able to shoot his old Speer 52 gr hp’s out of a 8 twist. Sorry for all the questions but I don’t have much experience with the short barrels in a 250.

 

[Coleredding00]

Put an 18” 22 GT barrel on it. Almost 22 cried performance with less unburnt powder and twice the barrel life. 3100 fps with 80 grain bullets.

 

[chicoredneck]

I would skip the 22-250 ai myself and go 22 creed so you can buy quality factory brass ready to go. 22-250 ai and 22 creed have essentially the same velocity potential.

To address your direct question, I think the ai will get you about 50-100 fps more. When people load for ai cartridges they tend to load to higher pressures, giving the ai a false perception of providing more velocity improvement than the cartridge is actually capable of.

An 8 twist should stabilize lighter bullets if they are constructed for high speeds without them blowing up. You may see a slight reduction in accuracy, but modern bullets are so well balanced I doubt it. To fast of a twist rate exacerbates bullets that are lopsided. Think of like a tire that is out of balance. When you drive faster, you feel the vibration more.

 

[Poe]

Put an 18” 22 GT barrel on it. Almost 22 cried performance with less unburnt powder and twice the barrel life. 3100 fps with 80 grain bullets.

I think he wants to stick with 250 or 223 because he has a large brass supply for each

 

[Poe]

I would skip the 22-250 ai myself and go 22 creed so you can buy quality factory brass ready to go. 22-250 ai and 22 creed have essentially the same velocity potential.

To address your direct question, I think the ai will get you about 50-100 fps more. When people load for ai cartridges they tend to load to higher pressures, giving the ai a false perception of providing more velocity improvement than the cartridge is actually capable of.

An 8 twist should stabilize lighter bullets if they are constructed for high speeds without them blowing up. You may see a slight reduction in accuracy, but modern bullets are so well balanced I doubt it. To fast of a twist rate exacerbates bullets that are lopsided. Think of like a tire that is out of balance. When you drive faster, you feel the vibration more.

I like the idea of the 22 creed but he has about 400 pieces of 22-250 brass that he would like to keep. The only reason to go to the AI would be to see if he can get the same velocity he is getting now out of his 22 inch barrel with the standard 22-250 out of a 18”