22-250AI, .22 Creedmoor, 22/243, 22TTH

I would go straight 22-250 and load up some 69 grainers. Come to think of it that's what i did but i used an 8 twist.

Looks like what your after is some serious speed based on the choices. If that is the goal I say go big or go home. Pick the biggest case and don’t look back.

Here in Maine, I rarely shot more than 300 yards at a woodchuck, due to terrain and field dimensions, but did get a few over 400 yards with my handloaded .30-06. When I switched to the standard .22-250 and shooting mostly 53 grain bullets, most of the longer shots were 250-300 yards due to difficult spring wind direction/velocity and lack of a good rangefinder.

Although the .22-250 Improved was available, I didn't want to hazard the rifle's accuracy, since it was a "one-hole" shooter at 100 yards and won lots of turkey shoots, putting lots of meat on the table. However, the biggest fault with the standard .22-250 was the amount of case taper that made cases stretch considerably, drastically affecting case life. (If I had a .22-250 rifle today, I wouldn't hesitate to rechamber to AI.)

I'm not a dedicated varminter these days and feel my needs are covered by .17 HMR, .223 Rem, and .243 Win. Bigger pests might require my .270 Win, but that's not likely, unless I'm deer hunting and encounter a large varmint/game like a coyote, bobcat, bear, etc.

With that twist rate, you'll be able to shoot up to 77 gr bullets. I run a 1-7 twist on my 22 Creedmoor barrel's, and can shoot up to 95 gr bullets.
Just know that the 22 CM, 22-243, and 22 TTH won't have very good barrel life. Depending on how hard you push the loads, only expect to shoot 800 - 1200 rounds before accuracy starts dropping off.

What does he want it for? Hunting or just shooting. I like the 6mm Remington, so the 224 TTH has always intrigued me, but from a practical sense, I think you are on the right path with the 22-250AI.

In a big case with a little bitty bore situation barrel life is a concern. I would start small and then ream out each time that you burn a throat. I guess setting back and rechamber it a time or ten is an option but it’s more intensive than simply reaming out from one thing to the next. If there’s an option for using one case head size and continuing with that from one chamber to the next which is longer, then that’s where I would be.

Hard to say for me, I've always wanted to do a 22-243 since 243 brass is all over and cheap. Same said for the 22-250 brass to. I'd prefer a case with minimum taper and a sharper shoulder both would help with brass life and sharp shoulders seen to help with the throat erosion and seal. A 6mmai maybe a good choice for me since I have 7x57ai did set and could just get the 6mm mandrel.

22br would be nice, think that will clean up the throat area on that 223 barrel. So many good ones to pick from, I'd save a 22cm for a 1-8 tho.

I like the 22-250ai for the available brass. With the 1-9 twist it should be a good with the mid weight bullets 50-65 grain.

With the faster twist 1-7 i would go up to one of the faster cartridges and take advantage of the heavy bullets.

LoonWulf said:

Hunting? nothing probably, possibly pigs, sheep, goats..... he's got my old 250AI that's sort of his "official" hunting rifle.
Its mostly just a shooter and because he's intrigued with odd ball cartridges right now.





I dont know how many rounds will get run thru it, or how quickly. He does tend to shoot the crap out of stuff when theres ammo for it, so It might get fried in pretty short order. Then he might decide he wants to be able to use the 90s and the barrel will get yanked and a 1-7 or something will get spun on after cooking this one, or moving on to another cal.


Im not positive you can ream a .223 to 22br BUT it would be cool, Would also allow us to ream out to a larger round later if so inclined. The downside is finding dies for stuff right now. I figure with the sharp shoulder of the .22-250AI I can at least use the dies on hand to neck size and seat bullets in the other rounds should we go that route. Id actually NEED 22BR dies for that tho.

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Our 12 twist can run the 62 swifts no problem, I'd say you'll get away with a few shenanigans, run the .22-250ai!
Eta based on your previous reviews, I picked up some 70gr speed, might be a good all around shorter range do all for him!

Thank goodness the twist is reasonable. I’ve just never understood the fascination with heavy-for-caliber bullets. Choices? For nostalgia and “kewl” factor, go ‘250 improved. For modern fung-shui, go Creedmoor. I think the 22 caliber is best with bullet weights from 45-65, so either of those two platforms would be perfect.

220 Swift. Unless it wont fit in your action, in which case, 22-250.

horsey300 said:

Our 12 twist can run the 62 swifts no problem, I'd say you'll get away with a few shenanigans, run the .22-250ai!
Eta based on your previous reviews, I picked up some 70gr speed, might be a good all around shorter range do all for him!

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I'm a little surprised that your 1-12 shoots 62 grain bullets well. That's great !!!
My 700 varmint really opened up with bullets heavier than 50 grain. Its 1-12 barrel would shoot the holes in lifesavers with 40 BTs.

Txhillbilly said:

With that twist rate, you'll be able to shoot up to 77 gr bullets. I run a 1-7 twist on my 22 Creedmoor barrel's, and can shoot up to 95 gr bullets.
Just know that the 22 CM, 22-243, and 22 TTH won't have very good barrel life. Depending on how hard you push the loads, only expect to shoot 800 - 1200 rounds before accuracy starts dropping off.

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I shot a few 60 grain bullets in my (Rem-factory) .22-250, but they didn't shoot well and slightly corkscrewed, so stuck to 53-55 grainers. It was extremely accurate with the 53 grainers, which were my favorites.

WisBorn said:

I'm a little surprised that your 1-12 shoots 62 grain bullets well. That's great !!!
My 700 varmint really opened up with bullets heavier than 50 grain. Its 1-12 barrel would shoot the holes in lifesavers with 40 BTs.

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The 60 partition, 64 bonded solid base,62 swift, 62 sierra, and 70 speer all looked good on jbm stability calculator from our .22-250, nothing else looked attempt able. Sierra was out of stock, speer on back order, so gambled on the swifts and with the cheasy cheapo scope that came on the rifle, my 11 yr old can put em 5"@300, good enough for deer anyways. I think once we get better glass, we can shrink that a lil more, with the 50-55 varmint bullets it's easily a 1holer. That being said, I'm counting down till he burns that barrel up so I can explain to mommy how we need a 7 twist .

22/6mm AI, running 80 gr AMax at 4K is nothing short of spectacular.

More than likely, the 1:9 twist will stabilize 75 gr pills.