I am about to buy a Sako 85 with a short, 20" barrel.

Is there any factory ammunition which would be more suited for a short barrel 222; I'm thinking of ammo' with a faster burning powder.

Or is the only option reloading ?

The velocity loss in a cartridge with an expansion ratio like a .222rem going from 24" or 22" down to 20" is so negliable I would just ignore it. Pick a factory load that suits your purpose and have at it.

I recently had my .222rem chopped back from 24" to 21.5" and had a moderator fitted. Performance is as good - maybe even better - as before.

If you want to handload, RL7 and Benchmark have proven excellent for me.

In two of my 222 rifles, 22.5 grains of Benchmark behind Nosler 50 grain SP's produce 3/8" three shot groups at 100 yards.
My old 222 likes 19.6 grains of IMR 4198, but that powder doesn't deliver accuracy in the two new rifles.

Don

First off, the same powder that works best in a 24" barrel will also be the best in a shorter one as well. As someone who has been heavily involved in single shot specialty pistols for about a quarter-century, I can tell you that the "fast powder for shorter barrels" is nothing but internet heresy.

As an example, the favored load of a 26" heavy-barreled .260 was 46 grains H3450 under a 120 grain Ballistic Tip. It developed 2975 fps and was extremely accurate. In my 14" 6.5x308, that same recipe afforded the highest velocity of any 120 grain load (2693 fps) and also gave sub-0.5 MOA accuracy.

Secondly, there is no way to know what powder is used in a particular factory load as that changes fairly often -- and many times, the powder is actually a blend and not something available to the general public.

Use whatever shoots best in your gun and dont fret over the barrel length.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
First off, the same powder that works best in a 24" barrel will also be the best in a shorter one as well.



Use whatever shoots best in your gun and dont fret over the barrel length.

Many thanks for all the advice.

I'll close the deal on the Sako 85 and, initially, run with factory ammo'.

Havn't yet had the courage to venture into re-loading.

I agree with Bobby's take on powder burning rate: The optimum powder for velocity and pressure will be pretty much the same for a 26" or a 16" barrel. However, you can effectuate slightly less muzzle blast (lower report) with faster powders. You would probably have to have an audiometer to detect the difference, however.

Contrary to popular opinion, faster powder does NOT improve performance in short barrels compared to slower propellants. As mentioned above, the powder that gives the highest velocity in a 26" barrel also gives the highest velocity in a 20" one....

Then you can add to all the above good advise that there can be a variation between barrels of up to 100 FPS!! thus the benchresters references to fast barrels and slow barrels..