Case Length Gage and Rem 700 in 22-250-- lands ho?

[Gun-Ther]

So I just got a Rem 700 in 22-250 and decided to figure out some bullet seating depths for handloads.

I used my Hornady case length gage with the required modified 22-250 shell, but every bullet I tried from 45 to 55 gr left the shell before it hit the lands.

Two questions for you
1-- is the chamber really that long, and if so, do you just seat the bullet in the case so about a caliber's worth of the bullet length is in the case?
2-- what bullet weight would be max, in your opinion, in a 22-250 with 1:14 twist? Heavier bullets would be longer, but can a 1:14 in 22-250 stabilize them?

 

[Larry E]

I've seen Remington's with throats that were long enough that a bullet of normal weight was nowhere near the rifling if the bullet base was in the case. A 1 in 14 twist will usually handle 55 gr bullets except for Nosler Ballistic Tip's which are longer than most others. The 55 gr Hornady V-Max might be worth trying since it's a flatbase bullet that gives a bit more bullet shank for the case to hang onto.

You can drop a bullet into the chamber pointy end first, give the bullet base a light tap with a cleaning rod, then carefully put a cleaning rod (with a flat end) or a dowel down the barrel until it touches the bullet's tip. Mark the cleaning rod, tap the bullet out of the throat with the cleaning rod, remove the bullet, insert and close the bolt, then push the cleaning rod onto the bolt face and mark it again. Measure the distance between the two marks and that's the maximum OAL with that bullet. If you place the bullet and empty case on your loading bench end to end and use a caliper set to the max OAL you can see where things are.