I have a Mauser in 8x57IS and I want to rechamber it for varmint hunting to a 22.
.
As its chambered in 8x57 my first idea was to chamber it to 5,6x57.
But there are other calibers that looks very interessing.
How can I compare it to

22-20
220 swift
5,6x61 SE vom Hofe

or is there something more (218bee??)

Is there a wildcat basing on the 8x68S necked down to 5,6mm(22 caliber)?

Which twist rate would you recommend?

Burkhard

.22-250! It is the right cartridge head size, it will fit in your action, it will give you all the speed you want, factory ammo is available in Europe as well as in most of the rest of the World (should you decide to travel with the rifle).

The .22-250 is a great cartridge for hunting roe as well. You may consider the option of being able to use some of the heavier bullets for that application. In which case, you should think hard of getting a 1-9" barrel.

- mike

22-250! I agree! It's been there, kicked butt, and bought the T-Shirt!

As stated above lots of information and readily available ammo. I own a bull barreled 22-250 and I love it!

Go with the 22-250, you will not be disappointed. Easy to load for, lots of very good bullets and components and very versatile.
Regards,
BJB

Me too, 22-250!

Not sure how well a 22-250 feeds from a mauser....

243 and 308 have to be kept well back in the mag or a block inserted in the mag. 22-250 is likely to be worse.

I would get 4x 220swift cases, load with the bullet you want to use and check to see how they feed from your action.

A 22-6mm rem will feed but will require custom reamer. With a 10 twist and 65gr sierra gameking roe had better watch out inside 300yards!

If 22s are made legal for English roe I shall be making just such a thing!

22-250

I'll be contrary! .220 Swift, .243, .257 Roberts
.22 Cheetah. They all will fit the action without modification but, the .22-250 Rules.

220 swift,..top of the heap. Go with a 1:10 or 1:9 twist at 26" and you will be able to launch the high BC, long heavy pills at great speeds.

I like the 22-250,..but I like the swift better.

Screw those! When I finally get done with the other stuff (working my way down the bore sizes) I'm doing a 224 Clark probably. It is perfect for you as it is a 7x57 necked down and should give you no problems feeding.

It was developed by a guy out of Madera, 45min. from my town (in fact local gunshop owns original reamers and such that they bought from his estate, even had his custom bullet supply that they said sold out real fast).

You'd have to go with a 1:7 or 1:8 twist to stabilize the 80-85 grain bullets it was designed to shoot, but it puts you in the upper end of hte small bore arena.

Red

I have a 220 Swift built on a 8x57 action, 26 " Shilen bbl, 1-10 twist. no feeding problems and it shoots great. Very tight chamber, needs attention to detail when reloading.

I really think that you should consider the european classic 5,6*57.

It´s a RWS special round purpously built for shooting Red deer a smaller european deer, average body weight 80 Lbs.

The 5,6*57 would feed like a dream, it´s wery fitting to the mauser system ie no need to change the feedramps och anything.

Regarding brass there is RWS ( some of the best in the world) with the correct headstamp or you can just make then from the 8*57 your self.

The 5,6*57 barrels usually comes with a twist that will allow you to shoot the heavy .224 bullest like 70-90 grains bullets or use the longer Barnes X/TSX or even the HV-bullets.

In short i recommend the 5,6*57 for your varmint rifle.

Best regards Christian

I see the 22-250 is the favorite of most of you. But in Germany ammo and brass are hard to find. So I think I will go with the 5,6x57, which doesnt bring any problems for me.

Barrels are available in different twist rates. Which one you would recommend 1:8, 1:9 ?
I prefer heavier bullets.

Burkhard

quote:

Originally posted by Burkhard:
So I think I will go with the 5,6x57, which doesnt bring any problems for me.

Bukhard,

I think you are making the right choice but should seriously consider getting a custom reamer to normal neck dimensions and turn your brass.

5.6x57 brass and chambers feature a very thick neck (outside diameter thicker than a 243) to allow the use of 22LR adaptors.

Many comment (including the Hornady load notes) on the requirement to be within a grain or two of max to get the neck to seal properly.

You are likely to be using the reamer more than once if you shoot a lot

Standard 5.6x57 twist is 1in10 which stabilises all hunting22 bullets and potentialy the 70gr Hornady A max. All VLDs require a tighter twist which can require lighter bullets to be reduced in velocity to avoid blow ups.

Favoured hunting bullets would be 53gr TSX,60gr hornady sp, 60gr nosler partition,64gr winchester power point, 65gr sierra gameking, 70gr speer semi spitzer and 70gr TSX (lord knows what twist that requires)

53gr TSX at over 3,700fps - roe at 300m are in mortal danger!

I would consider sharing a such a reamer with you but we will not know if 22s will become roe legal in England for at least another year.

You can of course do very nearly the same sorts of things with a 6mm rem with less barrel wear. A 70gr 6mm hornady soft point leaves my barrel at 3,500fps under a sub max charge of VVN150 and is very efficient on roe!

First of dont go the .224 Clark or costum route with the thinner normal neck walls, if you do then you will never be able to use factory ammo in the rifle.

Personaly regarding barell tvist, I would opt for the slowest tvist that will safely stablize the heaviest/longest bullets I wil use.

That means that I probably would go with the 1:8 tvist and just accept the slight drop in accuracy with the lighter 45-55 grain bullets that in real life hunting newer will be an issue.

Best regards Christian/from Sweden.

quote:

Originally posted by Christian N:
I really think that you should consider the european classic 5,6*57.

It´s a RWS special round purpously built for shooting Red deer a smaller european deer, average body weight 80 Lbs.

The 5,6*57 would feed like a dream, it´s wery fitting to the mauser system ie no need to change the feedramps och anything.

Regarding brass there is RWS ( some of the best in the world) with the correct headstamp or you can just make then from the 8*57 your self.

The 5,6*57 barrels usually comes with a twist that will allow you to shoot the heavy .224 bullest like 70-90 grains bullets or use the longer Barnes X/TSX or even the HV-bullets.

In short i recommend the 5,6*57 for your varmint rifle.

Best regards Christian