demoIL

I am going to buy my first "small rifle", lol.. I have all big bores now..

I kinda fell for a Remington 700 Varmint SF thumbhole gun in 22-250.. They also made one called VLSF II I believe.. BUT, can't find one anywhere.. So first off if anyone knows where one is please let me know.. They were a thumbhole, vented stock with a fluted stainless bbl...

I did find one in 223 but I'm not so sure on that caliber quite yet.

So my question is... 223 or 22-250? I'm sure this one has been beat to death so I'm sorry..

More important is my knowledge of twist rates in small bores.. All the guns I've researched so far have a 14" twist rate in 22-250 and a 12" twist rate in 223rem.. i.e., Remington, Howa and Browning.. I seen that Savage offers 223 in a 9" twist and 22-250 in 12" twist..

What twist rate should one be looking for in either caliber? I know the faster the twist the heavier bullet that can be shot but is there a happy medium... Is 12" for 223 and 14" for 22-250 to slow of a twist rate?

Any replies are appreciated.

dogslayer

.223 ammo is much cheaper . You give up a couple hundred feet per second - but it shouldn't really affect "actuall" shooting scenarios .

DAVID WHITE

Sir,

the twist rate should be determined by the bullet weights that you are wanting to shoot...

I just finished building a heavy barreled 223 Ackley Improved on a Stolle action where the barrel had a 1-7" twist! This gun was buils specifically for shooting Sierra's 80 gr. and 90 gr. B.T. - H.P. MatchKing bullets as well as Hornady's 75 gr. A-MAX. This gun will be used for 600 meter and 1,000 yard shooting...

Decide on the weight of bullets you want to shoot and the distance at which you most likely will be shooting and let that be the deciding factors in determining the appropriate twist rate....

DAVID

demoIL

(Got your pm and will consider it, thank You..)

As far as the bullet goes I'm sure it will be somewhere around the 50-55 grain and I'm not capable of shooting much over 300 to 400 yards yet, but with practice I do want to shoot much farther..

I like the idea of the 22-250 a bit more but many are saying 223 is better cuz you can shoot more rounds without heat and because you can see the bullet impact the animal due to low recoil.

#40Fan

Get the Savage with 1:9" twist. You can shoot from 40 gr up to 65 with ease.

Howler

a heated barrel won't be an issue, unless you plan on sitting over a highly populated prairie dog town with only one gun to use. .223 is cheaper to shoot. If you think the majority of your shots on coyote sized game will be less than 300 yards, than the .223 is fine. The 22-250 doesn't have that much more recoil, although seeing the impact can sometimes be a problem, if you concider that to be a problem.
It's a tough choice, either way you're getting a new gun. Sounds like a win win situation to me!

RemingtonDoesItAgain

I have a Remington VSSF II. Varmint Synthetic Stainless Fluted in .22-250. this your go to gun. you'll want to get the faster twist rate if you r looking for accuracy as the bullet will spin faster out of the 26" bbl. if you have any questions let me know at my email.

North Texan

My .223 is a Browning, and it has a 1:9" twist, which has worked well for me. But even a 1:12" should have no problems handling 50-55 gr. bullets, so no need in letting that stop you.

westOKman

Have you considered HOWA. Really good rifles, at a good price. Check out
http://www.legacysports.com/product/specs/howa_supreme.htm

westOKman

Sorry, I just re-read you post and noticed that you had already researched HOWA.