Has Anybody Tried a .22-.308?

[jasonprox700]

Has anybody tried this round and what can I expect out of it in terms of velocity?  I was thinking about a .220 Swift with a 1:9 or 1:8 twist for the heavy stuff (75 grain and up).  Then the .22-.308 came to mind.  Would this be similiar to the .220 as far as ballistics?  I was comparing the case between the .308 and the .22-250, and found them to be similiar, except for the .308 definetately has more case capacity.  Another thing is .308 cases are cheaper than .220 cases.

[Lone Star]

This has been done many times.  Google the .22-243 Middlestead , .22 CHeetah, etc.



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[nomosendero]

Sometimes I wish I was a barrel maker.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

700, Had a .22 Cheetah II. It was maybe the most accurate rifle I ever owned.  On the down side, after 1200 rounds the throat was badly eroded.   Sold it to a friend for the price of the action. He shot it a bit, then sold it back to me I rebarreled to a std. .22-250. Your idea is one that has crossed my mind several times, have a 1-8 twist .22 barrel that is currently in a .22-250AI. I took it off but plan to place it on an action in the near future. Catfish has a .22-6mm. Have a Swift with std. barrel twist. It is one of my favorite coyote killers. While wildcats are different, at this time in my life, I would soon be shooting that working brass into a shootable form.

[Catfish]

As Lonestar siad your really looking at the .22-243 Middlestead. There is limited data for it around and with an 8 twist will handle the 80 gr. bullets real well. It will leave big holes in all coyotes shot, but if the price of hides hwere your at is like they are here it really doesn`t matter. I saw a nice .22-243 Middlestead at the Ohio Gun Collectors show last Sat. The guy was asking $ 1,200 for it and didn`t know how many rounds was down the tube. Can`t think of the name of the action it was on, but it was one of the high dollar custom actions, problem was it had a slower twist for the liter bullets. Another hint, if you can find a wildcat already built that comes with dies it will be considerable cheaper than building one and buying dies, which run around $ 100 for most wildcats.

[Varmint Hunter]

I shot a 22-243AI, 8" twist, for quite some time. It was rather lethal on groundhogs out to about 1,000 yds with the 75gr A-Max (moly) bullet. My best group was .625" @ a 600yd target, witnessed. Velocity was 3,670 ft/sec.

I eventually set the barrel back and rechambered for 22-243 (plain). This way fireforming was not necessary. This would be my recommendation for a new barrel or rifle.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Varmit Hunter, I had trouble with the 22-250 AI with a 1-8 twist and 75 gr. vmax. they would tear apart before they hit the target many times. Maybe I just had a bad batch of bullets. You seem to have had good success with them.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

 ;DI just did a double check, mine were A Max 75 not V max

[charles p]

When you can shoot .625" at 600 yards, and ground hogs at 1000 yds, do you allow for the curvature of the earth?

[Lone Star]

..My best group was .625" @ a 600yd target, witnessed.

So then the best group at 100 yards would be....  0.062"?     Flyers can go into the group as well as outside the group; still I bet it was an outstanding rifle.

I had trouble with the 22-250 AI with a 1-8 twist and 75 gr. vmax. they would tear apart before they hit the target many times...

Sometimes that problem is due to barrel condition rather than the bullets.  A rough, erroded throat can tear the jackets enough to cause in-flight failure.


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[Varmint Hunter]

Never considered the curvature of the earth or relative direction of the shot. Maybe I would have done better if I had. 

The .625" group @ 600 yds was only achieved once, but it sure made me a happy camper.

I never dusted a single bullet in my 8" twist bbl. I attribute that to three things:
1.  A particularly smooth Hart match barrel
2.  Moly used on the bullets from day one. Moly definately allows bullets to be engraved by the rifling with less stress on the jackets.
3.  All bullets were loaded .008"-.010" into the rifling. Presumably this also lead to less  jacket stress.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

Lone Star, The barrel I used was a new Douglas Premium Grade with less than 200 rounds though it. It may have been a bit rough, but no fouling occured, beyond normal. I may try them again when I get this barrel back on an action.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Varmit Hunter, Wackmaster, and others: I have that  almost new, 1-8 barrel chambered in .22-250 AI. I am looking to put it back into action for this winters coyote shoot. I have  cases and dies, because I have  another  rifle in this cal. with the std. twist of 1-14. BUT I am thinking I might have a reamer run into the chamber for a larger case. I have a set of Cheetah II dies. This is a possibility, I also thought of  the std. 22-243, but this would cost a new set of dies, and cases. Also considered the 22-6mm. But the same deal new dies and cases. Also if I went with the .22-6mm, I felt I might use an 06 length action for better fit for the longer case, plus I could easily adjust the seating depth as the throat wore in the rifle. What caliber do you like best??

[nomosendero]

That's a fine group!!

[ratpatrol]

I have two 22-250ack gun made on mauser actions,one is 1-8 twist other is1-14 twist. I bought the float pilot reamer and gages ,just as cheep to do two guns than to rent reamer twice.  
   I am loading the A-max 75gr molly bullets over imr4831. What is the load you guys are using? Not mush listed for heavy bullets in .224 in any case-brass.
 I'm taking 1-8 twist gun with me on a trip tomarrow, calif. to iowa to a fire works show,PGI. Going to do a little pd shooting on the way and try a little coyote calling to. I hope to get a 500yrd dog with the 22-250 ack.  Fagen ace varmit laminated stock,glass beded milatery  mauser action,shilen1-8tw 27 inch long barrel,6.5x20 efr leupold scope.   I shot it over the chronograff at 3600ft per sec. that's hot, what are you getting?

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  ratpatrol, Sounds like I must have got a bad batch of amax, 75 grain. I didn't crony my loads as the barrel was only on the action a short time. I will get an action as soon as I can, and give this another try. Prairie dogs in my country are scare. At least compared to a few years ago. Several of the best dog ranches were bought by a big out of state outfit, and they now charge $200/day for shooting that used to be free. As a result, the public land dogs have been hammered. I have only shot a few. Plus I think something is going on with the hatch this year. There just don't seem to be any dogs on the ranches that I still can access, and they haven't been shot over this year. For some reason the dogs are down in this area. I am sure that is NOT true state wide. I will check the loads I used, but I am sure I did not check the speed. Sounds like that is a good long range rifle.

[ratpatrol]

That's bad news, I was planing a stop north and east of Evanston hwy 189 blm ground. on to Gillette area.It's been a few years sence I've been back that way. Got any addvice on a hot spot?

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  ratpatrol, I wish I had some spots to direct you to... You might find dogs where you got them before. I have NOT hunted Evanston, so you might be in good shape there. I have shot some in Gillette. But not for many years. If you have private access there you could be fine. With the advent of the Varmit Hunter magazines, our dogs have taken a dreadful beating. Plus they can poison on private land, so they are having a tough time. So far I have only maybe shot 200 dogs all summer. In good years I could shoot that many in one day. So things have changed. I am sure there is still good shooting out there just harder to locate or much more expensive. If I come up with anything, I can drop you a line.