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Questions on a Remington 22-250 I Have

Horse Plains Drifter
I have a 22-250 that is a Remington 721 with a 22-250 barrel. That's right, a long action 22-250. :p. A short story as how this came to be: In 2006 I bought a Remington 700 25-06 from an old school mate of mine. Along with the 25-06 came this 22-250 barrel that the guy would have a gunsmith switch on once in a while. This stuff was stored at a dear, and now departed friend's house in another state. I never even fired the 25-06 until 2012/2013. In about 2015 my dear friend went down to the local gunsmith and bought this 721, and had the smith put the 22-250 barrel on. I brought the guns home with me in March 2019, and am just now getting around to doing something with them.

So on to the questions. I was shooting the 22-250 the other day. It came with a box of Federal, and a box of Winchester ammunition, which is what I was shooting. Both boxes were loaded with 55 grain soft point bullets.
I never got the thing to shoot better than about 2-1/2" at 100 yards. Now it was somewhat windy that day, with gusts 25-30 mph. Also,toward the end of my shooting, I noticed that the two brands of ammo was all mixed together in the two boxes. So I was shooting both brands at once, which might lend to the problem.  When I got home and cleaned it, I checked the twist rate. The rate is 1:14" which seems slow for that round/bullet weight to me. 

So, what bullet weights would run the best in that barrel? What twist rate do I need to best shoot light bullets? As far as I am concerned, it will stay with 45gr-75gr max., with most bullets at 50gr-60gr.
Also. there seems like there could be a potential feeding issue with short cartridges in a long magazine. Will it work to just put in a short action follower, and then make a wood, or plastic spacer for the rear of the present magazine well? TIA for any input.

BTW, the 22-250 has a steel tubed Redfield 3-9X AO scope. Period correct for the 721 maybe?
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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • nononsense
    Lots going on here.
    First, 1:14" is probably a little slow for the 55 gr. SP. I usually run the 55 grain in a 1:12" twist. Even with some substantial velocities, the 12" twist will give you the correct stability for that bullet length.
    Your 1:14" is better suited to the 50 grain varmint bullets or lighter. Anything heavier will be unstable and could keyhole if you try shooting those 70 grain bullets.

    That much wind with those lighter weight bullets will suffer on the target. Mixing the two types of ammunition probably didn't help but with your constraints, probably didn't hurt either. The twist and the wind did more damage.

    You don't tell us what type if magazine set up you're working with now but under some circumstances, you can add a short action magazine follower/spring while adding a block of some sort to keep the follower aligned. This type of modification usually requires some experimenting just in case you don't get it right the first time.

    Best.

    3
  • Hawk Carse
    A 14 twist is perfectly adequate for a 55 gr flat base spitzer and has always been until the Army started messing around with small bores and got people to studying varmint rifle twist too much.   My 14 twist Ruger 77 will shoot 52 gr SMK the best but does ok with SOME 60 gr bullets.  
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  • nononsense
    Given the above, I will continue to state that there are and will be exceptions to all situation and this example is one of those.

    The reality is that I took a quick count of the full spectrum of bullets available as .22 caliber. I came up with 225 individual bullets approximately. The weight range is 30 grains up to and including the 95 grain.

    The funny thing is the largest number within a weight class is the 50-55 grains. Within just this class, the lengths vary from 0.445" to 0.900" including those with a flat base up those with a full functional boat tail. We are all aware that the shorter bullets with flat bases require a slower twist rate than those longer bullets with a boat tail. Unfortunately this is not the only variable which can have a bearing on the selection of a twist rate which keeps a bullet stable.

    The air temperature and altitude play the largest role in figuring twist rate while velocity has been downgraded as a primary component of twist rate. Given your suggestion that the 1:14" twist will stabilize some of the heavier (longer?) bullets, can be true or false.  At sea level and 60 degrees, your choice will be at the minimum of stability/instability. Any slight changes will throw it off. It needs a standard 1:12" twist. If we shoot the same bullet at 6,000 feet and 80 degrees, that bullet is completely stable with full BC using the 1:14" twist.

    So given one set of variables, a case can be made. But when trying to account for generalized overall  performance with minimal standards, the slightly faster twist rate is preferable.

    Pick your poison then get out and shoot but Radford, Yuma and Lake City might disagree with you. ;)

    Best.


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  • dfletcher
    My Remington 700 VLSS in 22-250 has a 1-14" rate of twist.  Communication from Remington states this is their standard for 22-250.  For reasons I don't quite get, and had I paid any attention to would have passed on the rifle.  I like the rifle and kept it.  I usually do Sierra 52 BTHP so it doesn't bother me, have had no issue with 55 grainers either.  I initially tried 62 grains and they looked like Gino Cappalletti sent them downrange.
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  • Mobuck
    I used a 1974 vintage Rem 700 in 22/250 for years killing many coyotes out to 500 yards and winning bets @ 1/4 mile. The bullet of choice was Hornady's 53 flat base HP match bullet. This rifle was a one holer with 50-55 grain bullets but no less than 2" with SPEER 63 grain semi pointed SP.
    Shooting mixed brand ammo in a 25 MPH wind and getting 2" groups would not be an indication of a rifle issue.
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  • chiefr
    nononsense said:
    Lots going on here.
    First, 1:14" is probably a little slow for the 55 gr. SP. I usually run the 55 grain in a 1:12" twist. Even with some substantial velocities, the 12" twist will give you the correct stability for that bullet length.
    Your 1:14" is better suited to the 50 grain varmint bullets or lighter. Anything heavier will be unstable and could keyhole if you try shooting those 70 grain bullets.

    That much wind with those lighter weight bullets will suffer on the target. Mixing the two types of ammunition probably didn't help but with your constraints, probably didn't hurt either. The twist and the wind did more damage.

    You don't tell us what type if magazine set up you're working with now but under some circumstances, you can add a short action magazine follower/spring while adding a block of some sort to keep the follower aligned. This type of modification usually requires some experimenting just in case you don't get it right the first time.

    Best.

    This has been my observation too with the 1 & 14 twist. Have a 722 with a 1&14 Hart barrel and Sierra 52s and 53s  work best if you want heavies.  3/8 groups at 200 with the Sierra 52s

    Yes, I experimented with both 69 gr and 77 gr SMKs  both keyholed
    Friend I shoot with has both a Rem and Cooper in 22-250 and has the same results.  
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  • Sam06
    If you relaod try 52-53 grain flat base HP match bullets( Sierra makes them still).  They will work fine.  I have even had good luck with flat base 60gr SP in a 14 twist 22-250.  I have found that they work best and are the most accurate at a less than max velocity say 10% off. 

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  • asop
    Mobuck-I have a Rem. 700 BDL with a bull brl. & topped off with a  Leupold Vari-XII 1-4X19 thats a tackler driver.  Maybe mfg in the 80's.  Great and fun gun.
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