My brother and I have both been talking about buying varmint rifles once summer comes (we're both in college and cant really earn any money till then) and have been trying to decide on calibers. .223 and .204 were tossed around but I was leaning towards a .22-250. It just so happens that I picked up the Nosler 5th edition reloading manual on Sunday and stumbled upon the .22-250AI. The numbers for this cartridge are pretty impressive so I got to looking and found that within my price range only Savage and Remington make .22-250s for lefties so here come the questions:

- Do any of you knowledgable guys have experience with this cartridge/would you reccomend it?
- Would it be plausible for me to buy one of these rifles and have it reamed for .22-250AI (and if so what kind of cost would I be looking for the machining)?
- How hard is it to fire-form cases (it seems easier than I thought it would be which doesnt seem right to me )?

Anything you guys can tell me about this is appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

You have asked a number of questions here so here goes.

The 22-250 AI is indeed a lot of fun and an easy wildcat to reload for. The loads in the Nosler manual actually are a very good reference. Being a wildcat, you may find these loads mild or too hot for your chamber though.

My buddies and I have built a number of rifles in 22-250 AI and we really like them. For the most part we have used custom barrels and had the gunsmith chamber for this cartridge. One of the ones my dad built however was a Remington 40X that was originally a standard 22-250 Remington and he just had it rechambered.

While it is feasible to rechamber a regular 22-250 rifle some gunsmiths will not do it. One gunsmith we used a lot will simply not rechamber anything, his thinking is that the factory chambering jobs are so poor that you just cannot come up with a concentric chamber. That's one guys opinion, other gunsmiths will rechamber for you.

Make sure your gunsmith cuts the chamber so that the original 22-250 cartridge is a sort of crush fit at the shoulder. This will allow you to shoot plain old 22-250 ammo to fire form your brass. If the shoulder does not make good contact you will have to seat the bullets into the lands to keep the case head back against the bolt when fireforming.

Most of the rifles we built gave good accuracy even when fireforming brass. I shot a mess of prairie dogs and ground squirrels with fireforming ammo.

Once you have fireformed brass you can really speed things up in a 22-250 AI. My dad built a couple with 30 inch Hart SS barrels. He is able to shoot 40 grain Ballistic Tip bullets at 4550 fps!! A coyote shot with one of those just drops in his tracks and a ground squirrel truly does turn into a red mist!

While you can order custom die sets for this cartridge I have gotten along for more than 10 years now just neck sizing my cases in a standard 22-250 Lee Collett Die.

Having said all this, if you are new to reloading I would suggest just starting with a standard 22-250 till you get a little experience. The standard 22-250 is no slouch, it will serve you well.

R F

The 22/250 AI shines at longer ranges. To make that potential useable, you need accuracy. Rechambering a factory barrel seems like an awful expensive gamble in that regard. JMO, Dutch.

I agree with Dutch.

But for a big 22 I would prefer a 22/243. If I had some overpowering desire to fireform and have cartridges with the Improved appearance, then 22/6mm Rem Improved.

Mike

Matt:

Since money is an issue, I'd recommend you buy a .223 and do a lot more shooting for the same bucks. The actual effective range difference in the .223 and a .22-250 or .22-250 Improved is not really all that great -- maybe 50-75 yards. But the cost difference of ammunition and brass between the two is significant.

I'll guarantee you that with identical guns you'll kill a lot more woodchucks (or whatever) at 300 yards with a .223 than at 375 yards with a .22-250.

If you're really dazzled by the potential velocity of a .22-250 Improved, you can likely have one for the cost of the rifle plus about $125 from a gunsmith who already has the reamer in stock. If he does the job right, he'll set the factory barrel back a thread to assure properly cleaning up the factory chamber and making your headspace nice and snug. There's nothing wrong with the .22-250 Imp, but if I were you, I'd save the experience for a few more years when I had the money and time to mess with it.

Good shooting!

First off, thanks everybody for reply. After reading your posts I probably will end up with just a .22-250. My main problem is, judging from the money I made last year, I probably wont be able to afford a custom barrel (hence why I asked about the re-chambering) and still have decent optics (well I could if I went without things like gas or food ). What Dutch brought up is another concern I had, it would be a shame to ruin a decent barrel and then not be able to afford a replacement. Guess I'll have to wait till after I graduate to be able to afford a custom rifle

Stonecreek

Quote:

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I'll guarantee you that with identical guns you'll kill a lot more woodchucks (or whatever) at 300 yards with a .223 than at 375 yards with a .22-250.

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I can't tell you how many years it took me to discover that.....My Swift stays home and the .223 goes dog shooting most of the time.....

The difference between the .22-250 and the .220 Swift is nearly "zero" but even more surprising is the very little difference (on the dog towns) between the .223 and the .22-250.....the .22-250 is definitely better....but the difference will surprise those that haven't shot the .223.

For those that rechamber to the .22-250 improved I say have a ball...go for it....but you too will someday discover that you got a warm fuzzy feeling and didn't gain a thing on the dog towns.

The 22/250 AI is a great cartridge to shoot and load for.It is a much better case to load because they dont streatch at all, unlike the 22/250.They never seem to need trimming or F/L sizeing and necks don't thicken.Case life is also better. These facts alone make the cartridge worthwile,but you also get a couplke of hundred fps at similar pressure levels.
I would definatly suggest you try to find a second hand Remington and get it rebarrelled with a decent stainless barrel in a medium profile, you will end up with a much better gun than buying a new one. Get the bedding and trigger done at the same time.It may cost a bit more than a new one but it will be well worth it.
Then comes the best part. Get 100 Winchester 55 gn soft points, they will shoot better than you would believe in the improved chamber and give you 100 fireformed cases to start with.
Make sure to follow a propper barrel breakin regime. This is critical for future accuracy and barrel life.(speaking of which the improved case seams to reduce barrel erosion, probably because more powder burns in the case rather than in the barrel.)
Start reloading using the top listed loads for the 22/250 using 2208(Varget), maybe work up a bit and you WILL be happy.
Leave the 223 etc for when you are "older and more sensible"