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.224" Barrel 1-12


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If you had a a custom barrel as described, 26" long, unchambered and a good gunsmith.

 

What would you do?

 

Rifle would be for Rabbits, crows, foxes.

Wont be using factory ammo.

Would be looking to optimise for a particular head and then dev a load to suit.

 

Basically anything's an option. What would you do and why?

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If you had a a custom barrel as described, 26" long, unchambered and a good gunsmith.

 

What would you do?

 

Rifle would be for Rabbits, crows, foxes.

Wont be using factory ammo.

Would be looking to optimise for a particular head and then dev a load to suit.

 

Basically anything's an option. What would you do and why?

 

the world of 22 cals is at your feet

22.250

22.250 AI

22 BR would be nice

223 AI

 

do a little research into the ballistic advantages of each caliber you may fancy then choose which fits the bill

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I guess the first question would have to be what bolt face do you presently have .223 is a small bolt face while the 22-250 is a large face and unless you want to change bolt face sizes(and usually extractors) you need to confine yourself to the size you have. With a 12 twist which is standard for the .223 and some 250s you can shoot up to a 60 grain head-bullet and expect good stabilization. I am looking fondly at the new offering by Hornady (53 gr. vmax) that offers a BC of .290 which is extremely high for the weight. You could get 22-250 performance out of a .223 with less powder and noise. The Ackley (as Ackley suggested) is a real choice as the brass is standard until fireformed and good .223 brass is readily available.

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I used to have a 22BR and for 101 reasons i would never have another one in preference to the others you list. It may be ok in a single shot custom rifle but as a field use, mag fed cartridge it is a pain in the ****.

 

And thats just my opinion. Im not interested in any replies directed to me by the Usual Suspect.

 

I thought BRs were able to feed correctly nowerdays are is it just the good smiths that go to the rouble of doing this ???

I always single feed when foxing anyway so it makes no difference,how did you find the caliber as a vermin tool beside the bad feeding ??

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It was accurate and delivered expected ballistics but the brass was a pain in the **** and didnt cope well with the pressures required to deliver these adequate ballistics.

 

Like the 6.5x47, the velocities commonly quoted and expected require extremely high pressures and its a narrow margin between enough and too much and im a modest reloader.

I see so it seems these now fangled fashionable calibers arnt what there cracked up to be

best sticking to the good oldies 22.250 and 243 cant beat them

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Thanks for the answers guys- you're pushing me back towards .223.

 

I don't have the donor action yet so I'm not worried about bolt face yet- I do have all the reloading equipment for .223 so that's a bonus.

 

The problem is I have a .223 with 1-12 twist so it would be nice to have something a bit different for the brother...

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There is such a small gain between most 22 calibres it is usually bypassed and the next jump is up to 6mm's although the moderately sized 6.5's are getting extremely popular now.

 

So few "new" calibres offer any great gain without increased pressure needs. Lapua did a modest, economical and accurate cart with the 6.5x47 but everybody jumped on "but it will do this" bandwagon and thrashed the balls of it and to some extent spoiled its reputation in some areas. Hornady have backed away a little on the new Creedmoor loads with pressure and perhaps the most positive see recently is the introduction of Lapua brass for the 260 that will now easily do what all its smaller brothers claim, but at higher pressures.

 

Im not derailing but this is a bee in my bonnet and is similar to what happened with 22'a 20 years ago, if you want more bang, go to a bigger cartridge, not higher pressure. What is probably THE most popular and long lived cartridge? Yesthe 308, why? Because it does everything very midestly hence creates few problems, is very versatile, reliable and forgiving. I have no problem with the modern approach but so many inexperienced people get sucked into it for no need and hit problems.

 

Until you know which bolt face you are heading for, it is a moot point anyway.

 

Forgive the typos, iphone keypad

 

 

Thanks Fister.

I'm going to have a good think about it and talk to my gunsmith to see what he thinks...

 

But basically what I'm seeing is that there is a bit of hype around the .22BR.

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with that much barrel I'd probably go for a bigger case volume, but the 12 twist says a lighter bullet range. So me its looking like 223AI for 52A-max or 53/55 v-max. You'd have a sweet 300 yard rig for anything legal to shoot with it. And if you felt like really pushing things, you could put 40 gr v-max in it and push 4k for close range 'fun' without blowing up bullets.

 

Another that would be fun is a 22 PPC. If you want to reload and have something different, that would be a good one.

 

On my personal list is a 22BR, but it has its downsides as per above.

 

Thanks,

Rick

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with that much barrel I'd probably go for a bigger case volume, but the 12 twist says a lighter bullet range. So me its looking like 223AI for 52A-max or 53/55 v-max. You'd have a sweet 300 yard rig for anything legal to shoot with it. And if you felt like really pushing things, you could put 40 gr v-max in it and push 4k for close range 'fun' without blowing up bullets.

 

Another that would be fun is a 22 PPC. If you want to reload and have something different, that would be a good one.

 

On my personal list is a 22BR, but it has its downsides as per above.

 

Thanks,

Rick

 

 

Has the PPC any advantage over the BR?

 

I'm not sure I would leave the barrel as long as that, although I might for the laugh- there wont be a mod going on it so a bit of length wont do any harm... :good:

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If you had a a custom barrel as described, 26" long, unchambered and a good gunsmith.

 

What would you do?

 

Rifle would be for Rabbits, crows, foxes.

Wont be using factory ammo.

Would be looking to optimise for a particular head and then dev a load to suit.

 

Basically anything's an option. What would you do and why?

 

I would like a fast twist 22/250 in the future. 1 in 9 twist and have the smith throat it for the 75 amax.

at the moment I have a 12 twist on my 22/250 rpa and it shoots superb.

 

imo i cant see the point in the 223ai yes it offers superb performance but no difference to a standard 22/250 really. and at least with that you havent got the fireforming etc.

 

at the end of the day its up to you. there all great calibres

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