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250-3000 handloads
kenny550
Member Posts: 20 ✭✭
I got a 250 sav. barrel for an encore and I just wondered if anyone could share load data that works well for them in this caliber.
Comments
RL-15 is also a great powder for the 250 Savage, as is AA-2520.
100 grain bullet and 33.0 grains of RL-15 will get you a good start..
Work the weight up a little bit at a time until you have a smile on your face........
"Do you have any luck with the 100 or 117grs."
That is going to depend on the twist rate in your rifle and the length of the particular bullets in that weight range. You need to measure the twist in your barrel first then pick the bullets that you want to test. There are twist rate calculators on the internet that will help you figure this out or you can post back here and I'll help you.
My 250 Savage barrels are all 1:10" twist rates so they will handle everything except the really long Custom Match bullets.
Best.
As nn posted you have to find the twist. No, I don't have any luck what so ever with 100's and 117's because my twist is one of the very early ones made for the 87 gr. bullet, 1-14". It will stabilize 87's. But some kinds of 90-95 gr. it won't stabilize. Find your twist. Then that will be the heaviest bullet you can use accurately.
I know that Savage 99's used a 1-12" and a 1-10" twist as well. I don't know the time frames these were used. The 1-12" will stabilize 100 gr. bullets and the 1-10" will stabilize up to 120 gr. lead tipped spitzer type bullets or pointed soft point. It's kind of a fuzzy deal with the whole twist thing. Getting the speed they needed, and to be guaranteed of that, they went with the 1-14" using an 87 gr. bullet. But Rem .25 and Win 25-35 had been using 117's for a long time prior to the introduction of of the .250-3000. And Savage, for marketing purposes, finally decided(after the hype wore off) they needed to up the bullet weight and thus the twist. Not a bad idea at all as 1-10" works just fine for as far out as you are going to shoot 60 and 75 gr. varmint bullets. I know this whole paragraph is a sideshow to what you need but it sometimes helps.
If you are buying off the shelf ammo today, you would need at least a 1-12" twist as all I can find out there is 100 gr. loaded to about 2600 fps. As you noted though, you want to reload. -good luck with this.
I had a suspicion that was going to be the case. Make sure your barrel is clean.
The 1:14" twist, at the velocities controlled by the pressure will stabilize bullets with a length of 0.890" when kept near the 2850 FPS velocities. This confirms what Nosler has printed, none of their bullets will be stable in your rifle.
This leaves you with the 85, 87 gr. soft point or Spitzer shaped bullets being pushed at the upper end of the pressure scale. These are the lead jacketed bullets, not any of the mono-metallics like Barnes or the higher BC Match bullets. Speer, Hornady and Sierra all make good bullets to these specifications.
Best.
My rifle (1-14") will stabilize the Nosler 85 gr. BT's. I used 35.1 gr. of VV N140 to get 3020 fps. I know it doesn't come recommended but I think you can do it. You might try a box of 50 to see if they do.
Incidentally, their website does carry a load for 85 gr. in .250 Savage: http://www.nosler.com/?p=15&b=25cal&s=129
Hope that might work for you.