The Complete 22 Creedmoor

Soon after the 6.5 Creedmoor was introduced by Hornady in 2008, riflemen across the country necked down the case for .224-inch bullets and started bumping off varmints of various sizes at long distances. Among them was Texan Derrick Ratliff, founder of Horizon Arms and builder of extremely accurate rifles. Horizon and Hornady co-sponsored the cartridge sometime during 2023, and it gained approval by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer’s Institute (SAAMI) in January of 2024. Whether or not the 22 Creedmoor will catch on in a big way among major rifle builders is anybody’s guess. Still, due to the way it is being promoted, it may never give the 95-year-old 22-250 a run for its money among the majority of varmint shooters.  As an example of this, load data published by Hornady is only for bullets ranging in weight from 62 to 88 grains. Data developed by Hodgdon is for bullets weighing from 62 to 90 grains. I have lost count of the number of varmint shooters who have told me they would not have a rifle in 22 Creedmoor because they could only shoot heavy bullets in it. Not true.  

Heavy bullets, with their extremely-high ballistic coefficients, are just the ticket for some applications.

Overlooked is the fact that 50- and 55-grain bullets such as the Hornady V-MAX and Nosler Ballistic Tip of those weights have long been extremely popular among varmint shooters who use the 22-250 and the 220 Swift. Some who shoot coyotes for the fur market use 40-grain bullets. Important to varmint shooters who burn through hundreds and sometimes thousands of rounds each year is the fact that those bullets are less expensive than some of the heavier weights. While writing this, I checked 100-count bullet prices at Graf & Sons, and the Hornady 80-grain ELD-X costs 33 percent more compared to the Hornady 55-grain V-MAX. For reaching halfway across the county on a windy day and bumping off an unsuspecting coyote or rockchuck, I would want the 22 Creedmoor ammunition in my rifle to be loaded with the 80-grain bullet. For most of the varmint shooting that I do, the 55-grain bullet gets the job done with no complaint from me. Handloading is the answer, but before going there, let’s get a tiny bit technical.

The standard rifling twist rate for rifles in 22 Creedmoor is 1:8 compared to a much slower 1:14 for the 22-250 and 220 Swift. The quicker the twist, the greater the centrifugal force a bullet is subjected to. Some bullets cannot withstand the strain and will fly apart long

before arriving at the target. Years ago, Sierra made the 50-grain Blitz, a bullet with an extremely thin jacket made specifically for loading in the 222 Remington and 223 Remington. The company warned against driving it faster than 3,600 feet per second (fps), and yet when exiting the 27-inch barrel of my Remington 40X KS in 220 Swift at 4,050 fps, it never came apart on its way to a groundhog and performed like a bomb when it got there. 

The condition of a barrel matters. When the Sierra 50-grain Blitz departed the 26-inch barrel of my Winchester Model 70 in 220 Swift at 3,900 fps, very few made it to a target. How did the two rifles differ? The bore of the Remington 40X barrel was as smooth as a baby’s bottom while a few tool marks here and there in the bore of the Model 70 barrel dug into the thin jacket of the Blitz bullet, making it weak. That, along with the increase in centrifugal force applied by 220 Swift velocity, caused the bullet to

come apart in flight. I hasten to add that the BlitzKing made by Sierra today is designed to withstand higher velocities than the Blitz of yesteryear. I bring all of this up to emphasize the fact that some bullets made today may not be suitable for use in a quick-twist barrel, but in my experience, the Nosler Ballistic Tip and Hornady V-MAX of various weights are capable of withstanding the strain when fired from good barrels. 

The throat of the 22 Creedmoor chamber was made long enough to handle extremely long bullets, and for this reason, shorter bullets would have to leap through more space prior to engaging the rifling than in the shorter throat of the 22-250 chamber. This free travel is minimized by seating those bullets as far out of the case as is practical, and I seat them one caliber or .224-inch deep in the case. The 22-250 and 22 Creedmoor cases are quite close to the same length. In the 22-250, Nosler recommends the same loaded cartridge length of 2.350 inches for the 40-, 50-, 55- and 60-grain Ballistic Tip bullets. To minimize the jump of those bullets in the longer chamber throat of the 22 Creedmoor, I load them to respective cartridge lengths of 2.410 inches for the 40-grain bullet, 2.510 inches for the 55-grain bullet, and 2.540 inches for the 55- and 60-grain bullets. That puts the two heavier bullets .015 inch off the rifling when a round is chambered. 

Unable to find pressure-tested load data for light bullets in the 22 Creedmoor, I decided to see how the gross capacities of my Peterson 22 Creedmoor cases compared to Lapua 22-250 cases, Nosler 220 Swift cases and 22-250 Improved cases (Federal fire-formed case). This was accomplished by weighing each case and then weighing again after they were filled to the brim with water. Capacities were 44.3 grains for the 22-250, 49.1 grains for the 220 Swift, 49.3 grains for the 22 Creedmoor and 50.2 grains for the 22-250 Improved. Since the capacities of my 22 Creedmoor and 220 Swift cases are close enough to being the same, pressure-tested starting loads with light bullets published by various reliable sources for the 220 Swift was the place to start in my Peterson 22 Creedmoor cases. As examples, for 40-, 50-, 55- and 60-grain bullets in the 220 Swift, Hodgdon lists start charge weights of W-760 powder to be 42.5, 40.5, 40.5 and 38.5 grains, respectively. That’s no typo; the start charge of W-760 for Hornady 50- and 55-grain bullets is the same. Keep in mind the fact that the discussion here is of propellant starting charge weights and not maximum charge weights. 

Now for a bit of information on my extremely accurate Mark VII rifle in 22 Creedmoor. Built by Shaw Barrels (formerly E.R. Shaw) of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, the action is made by Savage to Shaw’s specifications, and it is easily identified as such by a serial number with an “S” prefix. Blueprinting by Shaw technicians includes lapping the locking lugs and truing the bolt and receiver ring faces. When building a Model 110 rifle at the factory, Savage uses a large nut encircling the barrel to secure it to the receiver. The nut is absent on a rifle built by Shaw, and the precision-machined recoil lug is much thicker. As adjustable triggers on mass-produced rifles go, the Savage AccuTrigger ranks among the very best, and Shaw technicians make it even better by what the company describes as a triple-honing process. The trigger on my rifle has no creep or overtravel, and it was easily adjusted to break crisply at 30 ounces.

I wanted a varmint rifle heavy enough to deliver tack-driving accuracy while not being too heavy to carry on long treks in hilly groundhog country. The 26-inch, button-rifled barrel has helical fluting, measures 1.250 inches at the receiver and .720 inch at the muzzle where it has a target crown. I would be shooting the rifle with a Nosler SR-30ALTi suppressor and chose 5⁄8x24 threads rather than the usual 1⁄2x28 commonly seen on rifles chambered for .22-caliber centerfire cartridges. Doing so allowed direct attachment to the barrel and eliminated the need for a 5⁄8x24 to 1⁄2x28 adaptor. A varmint rifle I shot during my youth had a Bishop stock of laminated wood, and I still enjoy the looks and stability of that type of stock. Shaw purchases laminated blanks from one source and has them shaped at another. The coloration of my stock is listed as Nutmeg. The receiver of the Mark VII rifle rests on synthetic pads in the stock, while the barrel free floats. My digital scale indicated a weight of 8 pounds, 10 ounces. A great varmint rifle deserves a great varmint scope, and a Bushnell 6-24x 50mm Match Pro with the Deploy Mil reticle attached to a Talley Picatinny rail by Weaver 30mm and 6-screw rings filled the bill perfectly. That increased head-for-the-hills weight to eight pounds, 10 ounces.  

When putting together test loads for the Shaw rifle, I used a Redding die set. Powder charges were thrown with a Redding Competition PR-50 measure, and bullets were seated with Redding’s Competition die with the precision-ground alignment sleeve and floating seating stem system. At the bench, the rifle was snuggled into a Brownells leather bunny-ear sandbag at the rear and a Lyman Match Shooting Bag resting on that company’s quick-adjust Bag Jack at the front. Graham wind flags were used. It is extremely important to note that the powder charge weights listed in my test results table  were maximum or close to it in the test rifle and should be reduced by 10 percent for starting loads in other rifles. Ambient temperature reached 106 degrees during my testing, and the barrel was water-cooled after each five shots. 

Peterson offers the 22 Creedmoor case pocketed for Large Rifle or Small Rifle primers. Since some long-distance competitors commonly use magnum-force primers in the 22 Creedmoor and other relatively small cartridges such as the 6mm Dasher and 6.5x47mm Lapua, I tried the Federal GM210M and the GM205M with the MagPro/Berger 80 VLD combination. From my Shaw rifle on an extremely hot day, there was very little difference in accuracy and velocity.