22-250 problems stabilising 55grain

s8mdevo

Well-Known Member
Anybody else have problems with a 1:14 twist 22-250 stabilising 55 grain pills. Im pushing 55 grain nosler bt's out at 3500fps over N140 and getting a shotgun pattern. The rifle shoots PPU 55 grain soft points quite well so i thought the same weight in a ballistic tip would be fine.

I did a bit of research and apparently it is not 100% down to the weight of the bullet but also the length. The noslers are actually quite a long .22 cal bullet at .0810 so was thinking to maybe try the sierra 55 grain semi points which are .0690 long. I dont really want to drop back to 50 grains and wondered if anybody had had issues stabilising these bullets in a 1:14 twist barrel.

Would i be correct in saying that shooting a 55 grain bullet from a 1:14 twist is right on its limit? What are your thoughts on the ideal twist for a 22-250??

All help appreciated as always
Sam
 
Ive just put all my loads through this and only one is coming up as mildly stable even though i am shooting great groups with my other rifles.
 
I reload for 7 different 22.250 including my own R93. All are 14 twists and all shoot the 55 gr V Max sub .5".

I am not a fan of N140 with the 55 gr but use exclusively N150 - all 7 rifles have their bullets seated well well back from the lands. Mine is seated 222 thou back and a short barrelled Tikka is 148 thou back
 
I reload for 7 different 22.250 including my own R93. All are 14 twists and all shoot the 55 gr V Max sub .5".

I am not a fan of N140 with the 55 gr but use exclusively N150 - all 7 rifles have their bullets seated well well back from the lands. Mine is seated 222 thou back and a short barrelled Tikka is 148 thou back
Peter
Yes i dont think the n140 is the right gear for the job, i only started with it because i use it in my .308 I have n150 lying around and will try that, I have also been told to try ramshot big game which i have a tub of so will give that a go. Have you used the twist rate calculator that JCS suggested? If not could you put a couple of your loads through it to see what it says, would be interesting to see if the rounds shooting .5" are stabilising as to what their calculator says.
 
Peter
Yes i dont think the n140 is the right gear for the job, i only started with it because i use it in my .308 I have n150 lying around and will try that, I have also been told to try ramshot big game which i have a tub of so will give that a go. Have you used the twist rate calculator that JCS suggested? If not could you put a couple of your loads through it to see what it says, would be interesting to see if the rounds shooting .5" are stabilising as to what their calculator says.

Not used the calculator but will have a look at it. I have regularly taken my 22.250 out to 400 yds and it will always (wind permitting) group within 2.5 to 3.5 ins which for me is fine for what I use it for.
 
22,250  207 yds.jpgJust put the info into this calculator and the result is 'unstable' Hm.... if that is the case then why do 22,250 manufacturers default to a 14 twist. I except that the 55 gr is at the limit of a 14 twist but as I have never had any issues with this weight of bullet as stated being poor accuracy and key holing. This was my 22.250 after a friend said my rifle was off when he missed a fox at 207 the previous night ! Therefore I am inclined to disregard this calculation.
 
Even if you put the information with a 50 grain bullet it still recommends a 1:10 barrel. I can't seem to input any data to have a bullet stabilise properly.
 
Take the calculator with a pinch of salt. It has its uses but I found that whatever load I tried to input for my .22-250 it showed as unstable or, best case, marginal. Field tests disagree. Bullet length is a problem especially when you get to 50gr+ in a 1-14 twist. Lead free bullets can cause problems at 50gr or less as the material is lighter than lead therefore it must be longer to reach the same weight.

An example of this from my experience is the 53gr vmax which doesn't group at all for me. It is longer than the 55gr vmax which groups well and longer than the 52gr Amax which is fantastic.
 
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Have you tried different powder weights to find the sweet spot?
If the powder is fine have you tried different seating depths?
 
I think you need flat base bullets in 55grn to stabilise in the 1/14 , I have used N140 as you have from when I had a 308 and with the flat base Vmax and SP have always had very accurate ammo .
Years ago though when I first had the 22.250 I had a batch of undersize bullets that was good for s--t and giggle's when somebody from the shop at Minsterly came down and enquired how the load development was going.
 
That was one of my next questions, flat base or boat tail? I went for the noslers just because they were there and I'd heard good things about them, to be honest I did not even consider the base of the bullet before purchasing. Loads of people on the forums have said about shorter bullets with flat bases seem to stabilise a lot easier than the longer ones. I made a mistake with bullet choice I think. I am going to persist with a couple different powders and seating depths before changing bullets first.
 
No sweet spot from 33 to 36.5 grains bud. Which leads me to believe it may be bullet weight not suiting twist.

Please don't think I'm being condescending (I'm not) how did you check, ladder test and if so what distance? Seating depth may help
 
Don't think that for a second, I didn't mean to be rude either! Shot groups from 33 grains up in .3 grains to 36.5 being careful not to overheat barrel. Normally you would see the group's tighten and widen through the different charges till you find the optimum weight, but with this particular rifle it sprayed the lot! 200 yards they were shot at as I don't think you get a true reflection at 100. Will play with seating depth if changing powders and increasing velocity doesn't work.
 
For interest I couldn't get my 222 Sako to group with boat tail bullets, problem solved when I switched to flat base, this with both 50 & 55 grain bullets, make didn't seem to make any difference. Rifle also has a 1:14 twist.
 
Take the calculator with a pinch of salt. It has its uses but I found that whatever load I tried to input for my .22-250 it showed as unstable or, best case, marginal. Field tests disagree. Bullet length is a problem especially when you get to 50gr+ in a 1-14 twist. Lead free bullets can cause problems at 50gr or less as the material is lighter than lead therefore it must be longer to reach the same weight.

An example of this from my experience is the 53gr vmax which doesn't group at all for me. It is longer than the 55gr vmax which groups well and longer than the 52gr Amax which is fantastic.
I may try the 55 grain vmax with flat base if these noslers don't work out.
 
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