22-250 Ackley

[TonyH]

Often been tempted by this and other Ackley calibres; my trans-Atlantic chum uses his custom Sako in .243 AI to great effect on long-range groundhogs, and the tiny .17 Ackley Hornet sounds great fun. Changing my Remington varminter in 22-250 to the Ackley version clearly has pros: I could use my existing Redding Comp bushing dies for a start. Of course, it would be noisier - I love the sound of high-velocity riflefire echoing round the Devon hills & combes but not everyone else does, damn wimps...

So why would anyone shoot a 22-250 Ackley rather than, say, 22BR or 20BR or.....?

TonyH (still gathering the dosh for a custom rifle...)

[baldie]

I built this not long back Tony. Its a 1in7" lilja to shoot the real heavyweights in 22-250 AI. I havent got to the next stage of load developement with it yet, as things are just too busy at the moment. It was blowing up berger 90,s, but shoots the 80 grain smk very well.

 

[nemasis243]

Dave just a thought mate if you havent got the time to shoot that rifle ,I surpose I could help you out and put a few rounds down it for you , lol.

If it shoots like it looks its gonna be a cracker, nice job

All the best Andy

[TonyH]

I built this not long back Tony. Its a 1in7" lilja to shoot the real heavyweights in 22-250 AI. I havent got to the next stage of load developement with it yet, as things are just too busy at the moment. It was blowing up berger 90,s, but shoots the 80 grain smk very well...

Gorgeous rifle Baldie! What's it for? Foxes? I'm not a fox specialist and shoot few of them these days, but I do like zapping smaller varmints, and I would use 22-250 AI with something like 1:9 barrel together with the 75gr A-Max or maybe 69gr Sierra HPBT. I'd be interested to know why you (or anyone else) would go for this calibre rather than something like the 22BR, though, which burns less powder, is quieter (a bit), ballistically more efficient in terms of flatness for the powder consumed...

Regards, Tony

[baldie]

The 22br has a reputation for being finicky, though not all are, Tony. I,m a great fan of the br in all its forms, but the next one i build on that case will be a .20.

I didn,t build it for anything in particular....i just had a vacant space in my armoury for a fast .22 cal.....i also had a reamer.

The rifle is the basis of any 1000 yards br gun, single shot, lawton, .308 bolt face, 1000 yd stock, jewell etc. If i dont like the cartridge, the barrel will come off, and something else will go on. Maybe a .20 br next, or the other way and a .284 win...who knows.

 

This winter will see some serious developement, as i fancy the cartridge, with the right bullet for the 600 yards br at Diggle.

[Ronin]

Ive run a 22-250 Ai for several (7) years now.

 

I recommend a 1-8 twist for 75g A Max if you choose to use these.

 

Easily attain 3000 fps with them using slowish powder.

 

I cannot use less than 60g bullets in my barrel, accuracy goes to rat if I try.

 

A drawback of mine (based on a Tikka 595 is getting it to feed from the mag - I could ajust the feed ramp, but thats would be a once only option....

 

I'm happy to use it single shot, I rearely need a follow up.

 

 

If I were to consider an alternative I would go the 22BR route - Trigger2 has one and its amazingly accurate.

 

My 22-250AI is pretty good out to 600, but ive seen Glen hit some tiny targets at twice this distance with the BR.....

 

 

I'm pretty certain that with the right throating, you could get a standard 223 or 22-250 to shoot heavy for calibre bullets at slightly reduced (than AI) velocities - the plus side of this would be increase barrel life.

 

Although I have to say mine has had 5? 000 rounds through it and still holds .3" -.4" ..

 

 

 

Spolit for choice here Tony

[Elwood]

22 BRX top trumps

[Vermincinerator]

Great cartridge, i built mine back in 2007, since then it has sent many happless varmints to the fields in the sky.

Mine is a 1:14 twist for standard weight bullets and although i had my fun driving 36grn varmint grenades to 4890fps (could not reach 5000fps) i settled on a pet load driving a 52grn berger match varmint at 3800fps but this now down to 3400fps due to shortening the barrel to 20".

 

Ian.

[Alycidon]

and it shoots well.

 

One of the pleasures of shooting things is seeing the arrival of the bullet. This won't usually happen with 22.250 or the AI version unless it weighs a lot. I had a 22.250, good killer yes but I rarely saw a hit. Vermincinderators 22.250AI is indeed a very nice rifle and it certainly kills very well with the Berger 52s he is currently pushing through it.

 

I now use a heavy 20BR, no modertor and see the hits almost every time. I am told that 22BR has the edge accuracy wise by a well respected member here who has a 20BR/22BR switch barrell set up. I download to about 3500 with the Berger 50gr, use about 29.0 grains of powder a time so significantly less than the 22.250AI.

 

A

[bramble basher]

Tony this is my 22-250 ackley built by baldie 1:14 border on a surgeon sat in mac A-5 , dont run it as hard as i could it loves 55gn bergers boringly accurate foxes hate it

p.s not sure about all the ackleys but mine is surprisingly accurate whilst fireforming factory loads velocity down but good enough for foxing out to 250 yds ish .

[loach369]

Tony this is my 22-250 ackley built by baldie 1:14 border on a surgeon sat in mac A-5 , dont run it as hard as i could it loves 55gn bergers boringly accurate foxes hate it

p.s not sure about all the ackleys but mine is surprisingly accurate whilst fireforming factory loads velocity down but good enough for foxing out to 250 yds ish .

 

What a cracking looking rifle with Dave's usual high build quality readily apparent!

[sir-slots-alot]

I run a standard 22.250 with 75 grn Amax - I get 3360 fps with no pressure signs using 4350 powder in my new Lapua brass.

 

Personally , I dont see the point of going through the whole fire forming rigmorole , and getting less velocity than the standard calibre.

 

I did consider going for the Acklized 22.250 and the 22 BR myself. But I did a bit of reserch and was happy with the accuracy and velocity figures given by some of the american varminters with the standard round.

 

Back to Tony's original question

[b]So why would anyone shoot a 22-250 Ackley rather than, say, 22BR or 20BR or..[/b]...?

 

The answer is pretty simple , the 22.250 AI with the right powder / bullet choice will give far more velocity than the equivelent 22 BR.

 

For example , Glens ( Triggers ) 22 BR does similar velocity to my 22.250 - but needs a 29 inch tube to get it , (mine is 24 inches )

 

If you lobbed 5 inches off Glens barrel, the bullet would be around the 3000 FPS mark.

 

I would have thought the 22.250 AI would reach velocities well over 3400 fps with 75 grn Amax from a standard 24inch tube.

 

More powder , more noise , more kick yes ... but more speed.

 

 

 

Alan

[devilishdave]

what is the metal finish on it? It looks good, is it a Ti nitride?

[Scotch_egg]

I If you are refering to the surgeon I think its duracoat. Nowt like the old TiNitde on my old pace mountain bike forks, thats if any one knows what i'm on about.......

[TonyH]

I If you are refering to the surgeon I think its duracoat. Nowt like the old TiNitde on my old pace mountain bike forks, thats if any one knows what i'm on about.......

No Bob, haven't the foggiest! But bramble-basher's rifle certainly looks the business: I know some say they don't care what a rifle looks like so long as it's accurate and comfortable to use, but I think things that are designed, really, really well for function tend to look good too (think Spitfire, Colt 1911...) and it's pleasurable to carry a handsome rifle into the field.

I'm impressed by the amount of valuable expertise & advice here, invidious to single out anyone (though Alan's come closest to answering my original question) and I'm very grateful. I think it's easy to imagine the grass is greener etc with calibres, and to ignore the simpler possibilities: leaving aside powder consumption, maybe the best thing I could do with my Rem700 is just have it re-barrelled in the same standard 22-250 as at present, to maximise accuracy potential, and use my existing dies, powder, bullets and so on.

Thanks to all - TonyH

[22/250 foxer]

No Bob, haven't the foggiest! But bramble-basher's rifle certainly looks the business: I know some say they don't care what a rifle looks like so long as it's accurate and comfortable to use, but I think things that are designed, really, really well for function tend to look good too (think Spitfire, Colt 1911...) and it's pleasurable to carry a handsome rifle into the field.

I'm impressed by the amount of valuable expertise & advice here, invidious to single out anyone (though Alan's come closest to answering my original question) and I'm very grateful. I think it's easy to imagine the grass is greener etc with calibres, and to ignore the simpler possibilities: leaving aside powder consumption, maybe the best thing I could do with my Rem700 is just have it re-barrelled in the same standard 22-250 as at present, to maximise accuracy potential, and use my existing dies, powder, bullets and so on.

Thanks to all - TonyH

 

have it with a faster twist so you can push the heavierbullets. thats what i would do. saves limiting yourself to lighter rounds

[Elwood]

Comparing the 22BR with the 22.250 AI isn't really a fair run, it's a bit like comparing a 243 against a 243 AI.

 

Now compare the 22.250 AI against the 22 BRX or Dasher and we have a like for like comparison.

[no bull]

My 22-250 AI will shoot in the .4 at 300yds with 69gn Nosler cust comp, however i prefer the Nosler 60gn at 3850 fps fast flat and bloody hard hitting. The downside if any is the fireforming powder, primers, heads, but i have found fireforming loads to be very accurate as well.

 

 

P.S mine is up for sale

 

[Andrew]

I would really like to see the 22-250 and the 22-250 Ackley compared in a pressure gun with velocity readings. I think many shooters would be surprised at what they saw.~Andrew