January 2008 American Rifleman magazine page 52

Half-Mile .22s

That's the article about a .22-6mm Ackley Improved. This is the most interesting thing I've seen in American Rifleman in years. Kudos to Ross Seyfried for writing the article. It will take me a while but I'm going to build one of these. I've been looking for something to do that's different and interesting and I think I found it. I need to think through what kind of action I want to use and start getting the parts together to build it.

A rifle maker I know who has set some world bench rest records wildcats a .22-257AI. He makes those rifles with extra fast twist and long throats to handle 75 to 80 grain bullets. He also makes .22-243AI that shoots standard 50 to 55 grain bullets if you want a pure speed rush. That would be right up there with your .22-6mm. Still, the .22-257 with longer higher BC bullet, but somewhat slower bullets are the way to go if you want ultra-long range shooting and better barrel life. I can email you his number if you are interested. He mostly uses Rem 700 actions for these I think.

Lots of similarities with Seyfried's article. I thought the clear path to inexpensive wildcat ammo really completed the picture showing a path how to get there from here bringing it into the realm of possibility for an amateur enthusiast.

What would be the difference in the 257AI case and the 6mmAI case once necked down to .22?

I would judge practically nothing, bt02.

The 257 Robt's is derived by necking the 7x57 case down to .25 caliber. the 6mm Remington is the same case necked down to .243 caliber. The makers of the 22-6mm Rem AI and the 22-257 AI are using the same 40 degree shoulder, so the case capacity should remain the same.

I read an atricle in guns & ammo from around 2000 about long berger 80 gr vld bullets fired at 800 and 1200 yards out of special wildcats. .22-243, .22-264, and a .22-06 i believe. They had some awesome groups, I wanna say in the range of hittin water jugs at that range.

Flashhole, the aritical stated that the 22/6mm would remain supersonic to 1500 yards on to possibly 1 mile which is far greater than 880 yds- 1/2mile.
As long as the bullet remains supersonic it should maintain it's accuracy. The problem being judging elevation correction and windage would be tricky at that range.

I seem to remember a cartridge called the 22 Cheetah, wasnt that similar to the 1/2 mile 22?

I seem to remember a cartridge called the 22 Cheetah, wasnt that similar to the 1/2 mile 22?

The Cheetah came in 2 versions based on the small and standard primer sized "benchrest" 308Win case from Remington.

The 22/6mmAI has many variations including 224Clark/224THH in the US and 5.6x57 in Europe ... all do essentially the same thing, push a 22cal pill fast.
Cheers...
Con

Now you guys are making me think about other options ..... stop it! :)

I wish we had more gun stores around here than we do. I will start looking for an action in February. Once I get the action I'll decide on the cartridge.

What would be the difference in the 257AI case and the 6mmAI case once necked down to .22?

Sometimes the brass from one or the other can be stronger or thinner, or have some other characteristic which makes it better. The inventor of the 224Clark for example found that Winchester 257Roberts cases took heavier loads than Remington 6mmRem cases.
Cheers...
Con

I have one built on a Savage action....easy to switch barrels to something else.

It's a PacNor 3 groove 28" Varmint contour 8" twist. The rifle started life as a 270. The 22/6mmAI rounds feed perfectly out of my magazine with no modifications.

I can get 3950 with a 65 grn sierra GK and 3750 with a 75 grn Amax, some say it'll dust them but I haven't had any problems with it yet. The 80 grn Amax will do just under 3700. Using the barnes 70 TSX I get 3780 and sure don't have to worry about blowing up bullets. Very accurate with most loads I have tried. Less than 1/2" with the best somewhere around 1/4".

Remember that barrel life will be relatively short........use it sparingly. I have around 120 rounds through mine and the throat is still in nearly new condition. You can barely see a slight amount of throat wear starting. I estimate less than 1k rounds of usable life.

As a side note, I was ecstatic to see an article by Ross again. I hope he's going to be a regular contributer to Rifleman from now on. I really enjoyed his articles in Handloader / Rifle magazines.

You know, I've got a nice Ruger Number One collecting dust........:D


Lobo in West Virginia

Mr. Wolf - can you post a picture of the Numero Uno?

Well...........I can give it a try. I've never posted a jpeg to the list.

Lobo in West Virginia

Check your private messages on this board, I sent you an email. There is also a sticky in the general forum that details how to post a picture.

With good conditions, even a fast twist 223 or 223 AI throated properly can do quite well, since we are only considering a half-mile.

Flash you might think about using a Savage action. This is something you can do at home with Savage barrel changing so easy. Even the Savage bolt face's are only 18 bucks and can be changed out in a couple of minutes. Savages feed from a drop in magazine and with the magazine feed lips controlling the feeding changing those out is also really simple for bigger or smaller diameter cases. A plus is you can get the accu-trigger also.

With my 204 delivering 4000 plus speeds and the 243 doing 4000 fps with 55 grain Nosler ballistic tips my need for speed is quenched, but it's still fun thinking about all those really hot numbers.

Another advantage of the Savage is with barrel eating speeds like those generated in those fast twist guns changing out a barrel on the Savage is a minimal cost thing compared to all the other barrel head spacing systems on other bolt guns.