22-250 Ackley ... finally!

[Legionnaire]

Back in February, I kicked off this thread about the .22-250 cartridge. I really wasn't in the market for a new rifle at the time, even though I was slowly assembling parts for the next build. By the end of the thread, though, the enablers here on THR (you know who you are) had me convinced that I "needed" a .22-250 Ackley Improved.

So here's a shot of some of the parts of my second budget build. I bought the trued 700 SA from Old Dominion Custom Rifles and the HS Precision VSF stock via AccurateShooter. I bought the Timney 510 second-hand but unused from a guy who decided to go a different direction. Not sure when or where I picked up the bottom metal. The Vortex HS-T 6-24X50 was second-hand from Sniper's Hide. The EGW recoil lug and Leupold Mark IV rings are new; I had the 20 MOA Leupold base in my stash.



The barrel is a 24-inch 8-twist Remage from McGowen bought on sale. However, the barrel did not initially screw into the action. I took both down to a local custom gun builder and he verified that the problem was the threads on the barrel rather than the action. I called McGowen, and they said "Send it back. And if you'll send us the action, we'll get the barrel right and install and headspace it for you." So that's what I did. They had it back to me in a week.

I needed to enlarge the recoil lug slot in the VSF stock, but 10 minutes with a Dremel did that easily enough. Last night I assembled the rifle, and this evening I mounted the scope. I think it came together nicely.



I already built 50 fire-forming loads: 55 grain Sierra spitzers over 35.0 grains of IMR 4320 in new Winchester brass. So now I'm hoping that schedule and temperature allow me to get to the range Saturday morning for a shakedown cruise. It has been very hot, so I doubt I'll be able to get through 50 rounds. But I hope to be able to break in the barrel and procure a sufficient number of fire-formed Ackley cases to start thinking about proper load development.

And to all you enablers? Thanks!

 

[horsemen61]

Sweet looking rifle dude!

 

[troy fairweather]

looks good hope she shoots good, i am interested in in what fps you get.

 

[Legionnaire]

I'll definitely give you a range report. I may or may not take a chrono first trip out, but will definitely do so when I start load development. I'll be driving something heavier than 55 grain pills at that point.

 

[Demi-human]

MUHAHAHahahahaaa!
Ahem..uh, I mean.

Beautiful rifle! I love a basic black dress...

What weight were you wanting to run in it?

 

[troy fairweather]

I'll definitely give you a range report. I may or may not take a chrono first trip out, but will definitely do so when I start load development. I'll be driving something heavier than 55 grain pills at that point.

what is it throated for

 

[Legionnaire]

Beautiful rifle! I love a basic black dress...

What weight were you wanting to run in it?

Thanks. Thinking 68-75 grains. I have some 68 grain Hornady HPBTs and 75 grain A-Maxes to test first.

 

[LoonWulf]

very nice....oh if you decide to form via cow method, it took me 10gr of 231 to form perfect shoulders on my .250AI, so you could probably get away with less.

 

[Legionnaire]

Got to the range this morning. 85° when I arrived, 95° by the time I left. Hard to let a barrel cool at those temps. Went through a break-in procedure, firing one and cleaning for the first five, shooting two and cleaning for the next ten, three and clean twice, then the last four for a total of 25. Given the break-in pattern, I didn't really shoot for groups. Wouldn't have mattered anyway; the rifle didn't like my fire forming load. I shot the first five at 25 yards to get on paper. At 100, the rest of the shots "patterned" just over three inches. I'm not worried; I just threw the loads together to use up some powder I haven't used in a while.

And now I have 25 nicely fire-formed cases. Serious load development work will begin with those ... when it's a bit cooler!

 

[Legionnaire]

Got to the range again this morning. I wanted to fire-form some more cases as well shoot a pressure test with 75-grain A-Maxes over H414. I also took along a box of Federal V-Shok 22-250 ammo loaded with 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips to give me a baseline reference.

Temperature was 78° at 8:00 a.m. when I arrived; sunny, minimal wind, humidity 80% and dropping. I took a minimum of three minutes between shots all morning. Temperature climbed to 92° by the time I left at noon.

I started out shooting some of my original fire forming loads (55 grain Sierra Spitzer over 35.0 grains of IMR 4320) to find out their velocity, as I didn't have my Labradar last time out. They didn't shoot well. Average velocity 3,235, spread of 79, standard deviation of 22.93, and they patterned rather than grouped. They did nicely fire-form the brass, though.

I then shot my pressure loads. 40.0 grains of H414 pushed the 75 grain A-Max to 3,279 fps. Unfortunately, my Labradar didn't pick up my last shot at 40.3 grains. No signs of pressure across the full range, so I'll try pushing them a bit harder next time out. The pressure loads had been loaded into once-fired fire-formed brass; upon extraction, I noticed that the shoulders were more well defined after the second firing; the slight radius on the shoulder of the once-fired fire-formed brass was gone. Looks like it takes two firings to get fully formed brass.

I then cleaned the barrel, shot a couple of my original fire-forming loads to foul, then shot two three-shot groups with the Federal ammo. Average velocity of 3,485, spread of 31, standard deviation 11.40. Both groups were sub MOA.

After cleaning and fouling the barrel again, I shot a number of groups using a stiffer fire-forming load: 36.0 grains of IMR 4320 under the 55 grain Sierras. They shot better. Average velocity of 3,366, spread of 55, standard deviation of 17.88. I am not real worried about the spread and standard deviation while fire forming, though I wouldn't be happy with that with fire-formed brass. Nevertheless, the target shows the potential.



The group in the upper left was one of the Federal ammo groups: 0.717 inch. The rest are the fire-forming loads charged with 36.0 grains of 4320. There are two bullets through the same hole in the upper right group, which measures 0.930. Group in the center: 0.895. Lower left: 0.811. Lower right: 0.595.

So I think she shows promise: sub-MOA with factory 22-250 and fire-forming loads. I should be able to find a couple loads that tighten down nicely once I have fully-fire-formed brass to work with.

 

[troy fairweather]

Ackley recommended warm standard load to get a good fireform. I have done the cream of wheat method for all my ackley's and so did my dad. Tho we both have shot factory ammo and have gotten good accuracy and descent fps. The cow method maybe better for the 22-250, there a lot of brass moving to take all that taped out.

if using the cow method be sure there no muzzle break or flashhider. Either my next Ackley or if I need to firedformed more for my 7x57ai I want to mess around with lubeing the brass with Vaseline like what slamfire does and see if there any difference.

 

[LoonWulf]

lubeing the brass with Vaseline like what slamfire does and see if there any difference

hey now! id forgotten about that, I'll have to try it next time out with the Christensen.

the factory federals I'm shooting out of my .280Ai require a second firing to finish taking the roundy but out of the shoulders.

 

[troy fairweather]

hey now! id forgotten about that, I'll have to try it next time out with the Christensen.

the factory federals I'm shooting out of my .280Ai require a second firing to finish taking the roundy but out of the shoulders.

Ya worth a try, next batch I do. I'll test it. My dad said you can load bullets backwards and it can help, thing it just give that little bit more seal to help push the shoulder out. I remember him doing it when I was a kid and the bullets shot very good.

With the Vaseline I think it maybe good to clean the chamber every few.

 

[redneck2]

My dad said you can load bullets backwards and it can help, thing it just give that little bit more seal to help push the shoulder out. I remember him doing it when I was a kid and the bullets shot very good.

Is the B.C. About zero?

 

[troy fairweather]

Is the B.C. About zero?

Be cool to find out, I remember shooting some at 200 yards and didn't notice anymore drop. The trick really works on a barrel that the throat is worn out.

 

[22250Rem]

Interesting thread here....... Always wanted to do a 22-250 AI but never got around to it. My old Mod. 700 Varmint Special in 22-250 still shoots pretty good but the throat is so worn there's no way to seat a bullet anyplace near the rifling. Might just try that backward bullet thing to see what it does. If that gun ever gets re-barreled it will then become a genuine 22-250 Ackley Improved; and yes, it will have an 8 inch twist.

 

[Legionnaire]

... Always wanted to do a 22-250 AI but never got around to it. My old Mod. 700 Varmint Special in 22-250 still shoots pretty good ... If that gun ever gets re-barreled it will then become a genuine 22-250 Ackley Improved; and yes, it will have an 8 inch twist.

@Demi-human should be chiming in with, "Go for it!" any time now ...

 

[troy fairweather]

I have always wanted to try a 22-243 ai, with a 1-8.

 

[lightman]

My 22-250AI is a custom barrel on a Remington Stainless action. I fireform with a max load from the parent cartridge. My firefrom load is about 175FPS slower than the same load in a standard 22-250 chamber and is extremely accurate. I built mine for varmints and its a 1 in 14 twist. My loads are with Varget and IMR 4350.

 

[Demi-human]

but the throat is so worn there's no way to seat a bullet anyplace near the rifling.

If ever there was a more perfect reason for a new barrel, I haven't seen it.

Of course, other reasons to rebarrel include,
Tuesday, wrong twist this week, length too short, length too long, barrel profile no longer "cool", crown damaged, crown improper degree, crown not damaged enough, worn exterior finish, rust spots found (even on a different firearm), original barrel not fluted, and the ever popular "it shoots okay, but".

All these are perfectly valid reasons for a new rifle barrel.
Want is never a good reason, as there are far too many needs to worry about want.

And just so there is no misunderstanding, the other six days of the week are perfectly valid reasons, too!

 

[Bfh_auto]

Be cool to find out, I remember shooting some at 200 yards and didn't notice anymore drop. The trick really works on a barrel that the throat is worn out.

Is that why boat tails were invented? Depending how work the barrel is changes which way you load them.

 

[LoonWulf]

Be cool to find out, I remember shooting some at 200 yards and didn't notice anymore drop. The trick really works on a barrel that the throat is worn out.

I remember that being suggested as a possibility for shooting overly long for twist projectiles at subsonic velocity as well. Moving the balance forward gives the bullets some added stability to help compensate for the reduced rpms.......that's just what I remember reading tho, and it's from a while ago.

 

[LoonWulf]

If ever there was a more perfect reason for a new barrel, I haven't seen it.

Of course, other reasons to rebarrel include,
Tuesday, wrong twist this week, length too short, length too long, barrel profile no longer "cool", crown damaged, crown improper degree, crown not damaged enough, worn exterior finish, rust spots found (even on a different firearm), original barrel not fluted, and the ever popular "it shoots okay, but".

All these are perfectly valid reasons for a new rifle barrel.
Want is never a good reason, as there are far too many needs to worry about want.

And just so there is no misunderstanding, the other six days of the week are perfectly valid reasons, too!

guess I have 3 new reasons to order barrels!

 

[Picher]

I toyed with the idea of having one of my .22-250s into an improved version, but they were so accurate, I decided not to screw up either rifle, which both shot 3/8" MOA, and better, to win lots of turkey shoots.

I don't have a .22-250 anymore because my needs are different now. I mostly do range shooting or larger varmint hunting, including Maine coyotes. Duties are split between .223 Rem and .243 Win. The grandkids have shot several deer with the .243s, but they're older now and can handle bigger rounds like .30-06, 270, etc.

 

[Legionnaire]

Loaded up some OCW test loads today. 77 grain Nosler Custom Competition bullets over six different charges of H414. Hoping to get out next Saturday.