I have been reading about barrels being shot out with .22-250's. Is this true if you are firing factory loads as well? How many rounds are we really talking? Hundred's? Thousands? 100 Thousands?

The very first rifle I shot was owned by an avid varminter in MO back in the 70's. He loved that round and handloaded extensively. At that point in my life I didn't get into the varminting experience (I was more of an archer than a rifle shooter). But, my respect for this person seems to of locked the .22-250 caliber into my subconscience as THE varmint caliber to buy now that I am in my 50's and looking to dive into this sport as a retirement activity. I just don't want to have to send the gun out periodically for barrel replacement while on a fixed income. But, if with factory loads we are talking hundreds of thousands of rounds before this repair is needed then it is really a non-issue.

Shoot, groundhog hunting back then was take a shot and wait 2 hours before the critters raised their heads again Take a very long time to get to a thousand rounds at that pace

Thanks in advance for your replies

This is a topic that probably will draw a lot of different opinions, here is mine. If you load the 22.250 hot you will probably see 2000 - 3000 rounds or less. If you shoot a lot and get the barrel really hot, you could ruin it in one outing (so I have read). The barrel heats pretty fast on a 22.250, and heat is a problem..... If you load a little more conservatively maybe 3500 rounds.

The key is not to overheat the barrel. If you are shooting inside of 300 yards a .223 might be the answer for you. Its a lot easier on a barrel, and cheaper to shoot.

Good luck,

Frank D

I have to agree with Frank D. Heating up the barrel is the real problem. A heavy barrel will allow you to shoot a few more rounds in a string, but you still have to watch it. I have a heavy barrel on mine and I'm also shooting a max load. After 8-10 consecutive rounds, I need to set it down. I'm not sure how many rounds I will get out of this barrel, but I've accepted the fact that it won't last forever. However, here's my feelings on the 22-250. This cartridge was made to go fast. If you're gonna throttle it way back, you may as well get a 223. What you get in the 22-250 that you don't get in the 223 is the speed (obviously), the flat trajectory that comes with it and a greater effective range. The best choice would be to have one of each. This may not be reasonable for you. So, if you are going to shoot allot and barrel life is a big issue for you, I would choose a good 223.

Jim, the difference between the .22-250 and the .223 are not great. The .223 is some 200fps slower, and the effective range is about 100 yards less. I wouldn't be afraid of either one.


Personally, I like and use the .22-250. Both are available in heavy barreled variants, and both will dispatch varmints cleanly.

You didn't mention if you were a handloader. If you are I'd get the .22-250, if not, get the .223, as ammo will be cheaper.

I shoot mine alot, and seldom do I touch off more than 10 rounds in a row. Barrel life, I've never given it a thought.

packrat

I suppose you can look at it this way the sooner you shoot out your factory tube the sooner you can put on a nice shillen or whatever

Yup, I gotta weigh in with the heat boys. You don't have to motor every round at top end. drop back a couple hundred fps and reap considerable benifits. Use some discipline in your shooting. Wait at least a minute between shots-by a watch. Shooting groundhogs east of the big river usually doesn't present a problem but when shooting prairie dogs out west it is very tempting to arkansas the little boogers as fast as you can go. Also, your barrel will not suddenly pack its bag and go south. Its a gradual thing and can be compensated for. For quite a while. Add a pinch of powder. Seat the bullet out a bit further. Last winter I sent a 22-250 vss to be re-barreled. It had made several trips out west on sage rat shoots and I used it to compete in factory matches. How many rounds had been thru it, I don't know but on a sage rat shoot, I would usually shoot between 800 and 1000 rounds. When I sent it off to be rebarreled, I was using about a third of the case neck to hold the bullet. That's how far I was seating the bullet out. Almost a quarter inch further than when I first got the rifle. FYI, I won the last match I shot in with that rifle.
One lesson you do need to learn: Never, ever send a rifle back to Remington to be re-barrelled. Don't ask, just take my word for it. You don't have the time to listen and I don't have the time to tell you about the "love story" about remington and the simple rebarreling job they were supposed to do for me.

I just put a nice new Hart SS barrel on my .22-250Rem. and it didn't take too long to get there, about 1500 rounds. I'm being more careful with this barrel since new SS ones don't come cheap. I shoot mainly from a bench and now wait until I can grip the barrel about an inch in front of the action and hold my hand there. I also limit my 55gr. handloads to about 3500fps and have toned the 50gr. bullets down to 3600fps. It helps. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I have a friend, a retired machinist and gunsmith, that liked the 308 Norma Mag. He had one he built that was super accurate, 1/2 to 3/4" groups consistently, and he claimed that accuracy didn't begin to fall off noticably until he hit around the 5,000 round mark. At about 6,000 rounds, he set the barrel back a couple turns and rechambered. The barrel was finally retired after about 8,000 rounds. and all this he claims were with full power loads.
Based on his experience, I would say that a 22-250 should last you the better part of 5-6 thousand rounds, again depending on how fast you shoot.

It definitely matters how you treat the barrel on a 22-250.
I am one of the bad examples who shot out two different barrels at a bit over 1000 rounds. Both were shot out simply because I forgot the old story to let the barrel cool between shots so it is no more than warm to the touch. When the temperature is above 90 deg. and the sun is shining, the barrel doesn't seem to cool much at all. Under summer conditions 5 minutes between shots would not be excessive. I simbly lack the self control to wait that long when targets are looking at me and laughing in my face.
Finally gave up on the 22-250 and moved on to more forgiving rounds like the 223.

The guys who limit the 223 to 200 yards are actually not telling the whole truth. With those little 40 grain pills they are telling the truth....however.....simply get a 1-9 or 1-8 twist barrel and shoot the 69 grain Matchking if you want to make it into a 400-500 yard tack driver. If memory serves me correct the Remington model 700 PSS in 223 has a 1-9 twist barrel as does one of the Savage varmint models.

You asked how long a .22-250 barrel will last shooting factory loads. I would say that 5 boxes, loaded and fired as fast as possible, should about do it.

Obviously, you don't intend to do that. I can't imagine shooting enough to damage a barrel unless shooting prairie dogs or ground squirrels. I would never consider going hunting for these unless I took at least two guns to trade-off. If you'll alternate between two (or more) guns, your .22-250 barrel will shoot more ammunition accurately than your bank account can stand to buy. For prairie dogs, I like to use a "short gun", maybe a Hornet or some such, a "medium gun", such as a .223, and a .22-250 or .243 for a "long gun". I don't bother to bring the "long gun" to bear until the shots are in the 300 yard range or longer. That way, your short and medium guns, which don't heat the barrel as much, will do the bulk of the shooting, leaving only the longer and more deliberate (and less rapid) shots for the .22-250. Popping dogs at 125 yards with a .22-250 is an unchallenging expenditure of ammunition and prairie dogs.

Stonecreek, now that's smart. I've always taken at least two guns but they've always been 22-250's. On the theory that I can feed them all out of the same sack of ammo. (I f/l resize when I'm going sage rat shooting so one size fits all) I never thought of it in a "short range"/"long range" context.