22-250 handloads

[scottbitterman]

Since i am just starting to handload can any of the longtime handloaders give me a starting point for my 579 22-250 sporter.I have 40 50 and 55 grain Nosler Balistic Tips I am not sure which powder or charge to start with any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[stonecreek]

My long-time favorite load in the .22-250 is 35 grains of H4895 (or IMR-4895) using the 55 grain bullet of your choice. Some guns will digest 35.5 grains, but start with 34.5 grains to be on the safe side.

There are plenty of other powders which work well with the .22-250, so 4895 is certainly not your only choice. But many other .22-250 shooters have independently settled on a similar charge of 4895 as their favorite. Its short grains meter well and velocities with it are always consistent.

In my opinion, shooting lighter bullets in the .22-250 gains you nothing. The 55 will have plenty of velocity (somewhere in the area of 3,600 fps in your 23" barrel), and the lower ballistic coefficient of the lighter bullets simply means that they lose velocity and energy faster. Therefore, at extended ranges, their trajectories won't match that of the 55 grainers, nor will they carry as much energy to the target.

 

[hayseed51]

Scott, It's been quite a few decades since I did much loading for 22-250. Still have my log books from back then, but rifles are individual enough that I don't think my data would be much use, other than in the broadest sense. I know some folks feel there are 'pet loads' that work great in most every rifle of that caliber - just hasn't been my experience though.

The Nosler BTs should be a fine place to start. Like Stonecreek, I've found the Speer 50 gr TNT usually shoot better than they've got a right to. I burned a ton of surplus 4895 back in the day - mainly because I had a gob, and it was less than a buck a pound. Might still be worth trying, even if a little on the slow side. Benchmark or H335 would likely be better.

The very best thing you could do for yourself would be to find yourself a good mentor. You're not looking for a guy who's always bragging about the speed of his reloads or a guy that knocks back a bunch of brews while loading. You're looking for somebody that takes it pretty seriously, and is methodical. To do it long term I think you have to view it as a sport unto itself, rather than just a means to an end.

Reloading for fine accuracy isn't for just anybody. It takes quite a commitment to aquire the skills and knowledge involved. Just the number of variables involved can quickly become overwhelming. The first thing you need to decide is if it's something you would enjoy doing. If you can find a mentor that is willing to show you the ropes on his equipment, you may be able to save the equipment investment and find it's not for you.

Lots of folks, including me have learned by themselves with the aid of a couple reloading manuals. Certainly can be done. Just a longer learning curve.

One last thing - Don't get into handloading with the driving force being that you're going to save a bunch of money. I think you can save some money, but how much will likely be determined by how much of a gadget guy you are. Best part is you should get to shoot more.

Best of luck, Dick

 

[alcap]

Where to start with the 22-250? Having no personal experience with this cartridge, I can only remind everyone that when Bruce Hodgdon found a powder that gave him one hole groups with 52 gr bullets with 38.0 gr load, he named it H380 and has been selling it ever since. What better powder to start a ladder working toward in small, safe steps?

AL W

 

[scottbitterman]

Thanks everyone i think i will start with the 4895 or the H380 and the noslers.

Dick I thought I had found just the person you were describing. I have always wanted to learn how to hand load and when a "friend" Offered to load for me and even show me how I bought what he needed to load the calibers I wanted.Well it turned out i like to shoot way more then he likes to load so I now had the start of the reloading concept with powder dies bullets primers and so on.This was all it took to convince me to do it myself. So for Christmas My wife went out and bought me the rockchucker supreme starter kit. I bought the tumbler and case trimmer and caliper(which is on order yet) and built a sturdy work bench so know i am picking the minds of those who have reloaded.
I do understand that there isnt one load that works for every gun.I thought I remember reading a thread about the 22-250 wouldn't handle the heavier weight bullets,that's why I went out and got the 40 grain Noslers.
Here are 2 pics of the said 22-250

its a pre-garcia L579 seria 74xxx bofors steel which I picked up in the middle of 08 then the mustang bug hit and shooting has been on the back burner for a time period. Now due to a turn of good events i now have the money to do both.

Thanks
Scott

 

[hayseed51]

Ok Scott - good deal. Sounds like you've got the basics of it, and someone to bounce anything confounding off of when it crops up.

A piece of unsolicited advice. Keep the distractions to a minimum. Nowadays, cell phones seem to be the biggest culprit. It will go kind of slow, especially at first, but best not to be in a rush or under time constraints. Dick

 

[stonecreek]

A Bofors in .22-250 is a great find! The cartridge was introduced as a commercial round only in 1965; Sako began chambering it sometime afterward, and dropped the Bofors mark in the 1968-69 time frame. Thus, there just aren't that many .22-250's around with the Bofors mark. I have a sporter like yours "with", and an HB "without". You'll enjoy your gun.

 

[scottbitterman]

i actually stumbled across this gun quit by accident.The perils of working night shift had my sleep a mess one as many weekends and on a sunday morning i was up way before my wife and searching the internet I found a little gun show so i decided to go well lo and behold it it turned up this gun only thing is the guy had a 243 that was as nice if not nicer i wanted the tow but settled on this one after 3 days of debate.I have yet to get it to shoot real good groups seems it shoots better dirty then clean and the best loads it has liked so far is winchester 45 grain factory loads at about 3k per second So I am about to venture into getting this little gun to shoot well.

 

[hayseed51]

Dang, I envy you guys that have a chance of dropping into a gunshow and finding a decent Sako. Around here it seems like you're lucky to see one in 150 tables or so. Then, it's usually a rough one. Oh well, still keep going, and hoping.

 

[scottbitterman]

I guess I must be lucky then. I routinely skip shows that are less then 200 tables because they are to small.But still i go to shows quite often and hardly ever turn up a decent sako and when i do sometimes i will see the same seller with the same gun for months.

 

[hayseed51]

I guess that would be an advantage of living in the 'land of many millions'...

 

[scottbitterman]

Its been awhile since i have been to a show so I am hoping that there is something of interest out there this weekend

 

[scottbitterman]

Well it finally go to the point where i did some shooting today
seems the gun likes to shoot dirty and does not like 50 grain bullets with varget powder
here are three groups i shot this morning right be for the rain started...yuck rain in the winter

 

[vlindustriesqld1]

Hi Scott,
Pete from australia here. I have been reloading 22.250 for years.I found by hours of experimenting that the 55 grain boat tail projectile is the most efficient and i am currently using sierra ballistic tips which hit really hard. The other thing I found, which at the time I thought unusual ,was that the round worked better with the old style slower burning powder.I am running this also in my ackley improved 22.250 with amazing results .I have tried ball powders like winchester etc. but get the best results from our aussie AR2208 powder.

Hope this can put you on the track
Regards,
Pete@vlindustriesqld1

 

[kelmoflip]

Hello Scott,

I use a 50 gr Nosler BT with 31 gr of IMR 4064 with very good results

Good luck

Kelly

 

[ditchdogger]

Your second target looks pretty good as it is. I have shot gophers to coyotes with my 22-250's useing Ken Waters pet load of A Hornady 52 grain BTHP Match bullet over 41 grains of H414 powder useing a federal 210 primer. All 3 of my 22-250's like this load, and my friend bought a used 22-250 at a gun shop and was concerned that it was a crow bar, as it was a realy nice rifle that had been bedded and had a trigger job done. He figured it probably didn't shoot because why would somebody sell a good gun , I told him to shut up and buy it because he wanted me to build him a gun and I said the price is what you will pay for an action to start with. Off to the range, the gun shoots factory ammo at about 1.5 - 2' he is just pissed, " I told you it was a crow bar" After teasing him a bit I reached into my range bag for my handloads I said give these a try, and even to my surprise it put 3 into a half inch at 100 yards.We put a composite stock on it and tinkered with getting the bullets about a thou or two off the land and it is a 3/8 inch gun at 100 all day long.

That was a bit long winded sorry but my point is that your second group was pretty good and you may want to tinker with that load in powder increments keeping an eye on pressure signs as many rifles will shoot their best just shy of max pressure. From there you will want to learn about just neck sizeing and many of the other bench rest tricks, flash hole deburing, neck reaming, setting your bullets just of the lands of the rifleing, then check the consentricity of the bullet to the bore. Remember that acuracy is afunction of repeatability.

Have fun and be careful.

 

[dalepalamides]

Try these:

50Gr bullet- start @ 34.0 Grns of IMR 4895, 3800 fps, 36 grns max load, use half grain increments, w/large rifle primer -

55Gr bullet - start @ 33.5 Grns of IMR 4895 - 3500 fps. 35grns max load, use half grain increments, same primer.

Best is to load 3-rounds doind half grain increments on both. Shoot for group size and see what your gun likes. A real good bullet to try is a Sierra 53Gr match king flat base for target and for hunting Sierra 55Gr spitzer boat tail. Good shhoting and always check your loading manuals befoire believing anybody>>>me included!!

Dale

 

[ram511]

Question?? Can I neck size using a full length die ?? If so, how do you de-prime the case ??
RAM

 

[misako50]

Yes, you can and to de-prime, you use the same stage of motion. You just need to back the die off a few hundredths instead of the full length range of motion. In other words- there needs to be a gap between the base unit and the die, that when set correctly, only allows the die to come down far enough to just size the case neck. Have someone close to your home help you set your die up.-Misako

 

[extractor]

Yep AR2208 Powder is pretty good. (But then I am from Aussie also)

I have a simialr setup and when it wore the sporter barrel 50g Ballistic Tips were great but then I tried 40gVMax and these went really well. I tried these to keep jump down so I could see my hits on rabbits/foxes under the recoil which can drift off.

When I put a secondhand varmint barrel on mt sako it actuall liked 55g VMax better than the 40g Vmax or 50g Ballistic tips.

A mates HS Precision in 22/250 likes the 50g ballistic tips.

What can I say. You just need to find the right one for your barrel.

Best things I did with my L579 was bed it/float it and lighten trigger.

Went from 4inch 3 shot groups at 100yds to <1". This may have been done by you also.