22BR and 95gr SMK experiences?

[jzerfoss]

I'm currently building a 22br to shoot heavy .224" bullets. My goal is to get 95gr SMKs close to 3000fps from a 28" barrel. The freebore on the reamer is .195" so that should give me a bit more capacity.

Anyone have any experience with this combo?

 

[supercorndogs]

How many RPM is that with your desired twist rate?

 

[Potsy]

I posted my experience with them on the .22BR thread on the Reloading Depot.
In my 24" 1:7 5R Bartlein, I was running them at 2850 w/RL16. They all landed in the same group at 600 and 1,000 yards, don't really remember how big the groups were (I gotta take better notes), but they were tight enough that I'd not fret stabilization (about 1,800' ASL).
I'm running 88's at 3,000fps, vs. the 95's at 2,850, I couldn't see much difference in the numbers (can't remember if it was Berger's calculator or DOF), but at 3,000fps, the 95 started to shine. The difference in drift started to be more appreciable at 1,000 and beyond that it carried a bit further before it went transonic. That said, I'm not shooting over 1,000, so I'm just gonna stick with 88's (for $20 a box less).
I'd say with another 4" of barrel and a longer throat (I'm only at .080") you could likely get 3,000 out of the 95, or at least close to it. That said, 3,150-3,200 wouldn't be an impossibility with 88's, if you wanted to go down that road.

 

[mcfred]

While not a .22 BR, I was blowing 95 SMKs up at ≥3050fps in a 1:7" 4-groove "conventionally" rifled barrel whose bore measured on the tight side of standard .218/.224 barrels.

If I were to do it again, I'd try to run odd numbered land/groove configuration 5R/polygonal rifling with a looser .219" bore in as slow a twist you can afford for your conditions to keep the jackets on if you want to hotrod the heavy .224 projectiles.

2¢

This guy was running heavies in the .22BR if you haven't been over there.
.22 BR thread

 

[jzerfoss]

I was blowing 95 SMKs up at ≥3050fps in a 1:7" 4-groove "conventionally" rifled barrel whose bore measured on the tight side of standard .218/.224 barrels.

If I were to do it again, I'd try to run odd numbered land/groove configuration 5R/polygonal rifling with a looser .219" bore in as slow a twist you can afford for your conditions to keep the jackets on if you want to hotrod the heavy .224 projectiles.

2¢

This guy was running heavies in the .22BR if you haven't been over there.

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I'll be running a Mullerworks 7 twist 4R .219 bore

 

[padom]

Just curious. Why 22br with 95's? I'm shooting 95 TMK's out of my 27" Kreiger 6br @ 3050 with 31gr Varget... stupid accurate and SD 7 over 31 shots.

 

[jzerfoss]

Just curious. Why 22br with 95's? I'm shooting 95 TMK's out of my 27" Kreiger 6br @ 3050 with 31gr Varget... stupid accurate and SD 7 over 31 shots.

My goal is to have 6 Creed like ballistics(slightly less than), 6 Dasher like barrel life, no fireforming, cheaper bullets, less powder, and less recoil for the weird ass unstable stages a lot of matches are doing these days. I like trying new things but it honestly usually bites me in the ass.

 

[padom]

My goal is to have 6 Creed like ballistics(slightly less than), 6 Dasher like barrel life, no fireforming, cheaper bullets, less powder, and less recoil for the weird ass unstable stages a lot of matches are doing these days. I like trying new things but it honestly usually bites me in the ass.

Gotcha. For fast heavy 22's I run a 26" 220TB. I sling 90smk @ 3100. One of my favorite guns.

 

[jzerfoss]

Gotcha. For fast heavy 22's I run a 26" 220TB. I sling 90smk @ 3100. One of my favorite guns.

I think it will be a good cartridge for my local 1 day matches that only go out to 700yds. I'll probably stick to my 6 Creed for 2 day PRS matches.

 

[jzerfoss]

I tried both H4350 and Varget with 95gr SMKs. No big surprise but varget turned out to be more consistent. 30grs of Varget with an 11 shot string(over 2 days) hitting 2987fps 2 SD/7 ES and a 12 shot string hitting 2985fps 3 SD/10 ES with all 23 shots falling into the 10 ES.

Only problem I'm having at the moment is I'm getting flyers. Small .2" or .3" 4shot groups with 1 that brings it between .5" and .7". So I'm going to tweak it a bit to see if I can get all the shots to fall into the group