Favorite .22-.250 load

[amboy49]

I am heading to Colorado mid September for an archery pronghorn hunt. Hopefully, I'll shoot a goat early and have some extra time. The rancher said they hate antelope almost as much as they hate prairie dogs and I told him I would be happy to help eradicate a few of them.

Its been years (actually decades) since I've loaded any .22-.250 loads. I'll be shooting a Remington 700 ADL with a sporter weight barrel. I'm not looking for quater minute accuracy but as I recall the gun used to shoot MOA if I did my job. I plan on checking my powder inventory to see what I have. Anything on the shelf will be at least 15 years old. Most of my bullet inventory consists of 52-55 grain pills.

I guess I should be asking if my 15 year old powder will still be consistent. The powder has been stored in my attached garage - never gets below freezing but is subject to summer heat and humidity. I'll trim the cases to the proper length and hand seat the benchrest primers. I'll probably not try to get fancy with overal cartridge length and just set the seating die to the most common "factory" specs.

So . . . . . . favorite powder and charge plus favorite bullet ?

Hoping for suggestions so I can load up enough to put a dent in the Colorado dog population. I guess lastly, anyone got an excess of reloadable cases ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[amboy49]

Awesome - thanks everyone !

 

[oldpink]

There aren't all that many folks in our area who use .22-250, so that probably explains the lack of responses.
As for what loads to use, the best I can tell you is to assemble a few loads (don't just wing it; go with what's actually in published manuals) with the powders you have that are suitable, each with a different bullet, then go to the range to see what performs best.
As long as you didn't store your powder in excessive heat or in a damp area, it's almost certainly still good.
A good way to see that your powder is still good is to sniff it and examine some of the granules.
If it smells like ammonia or the granules look like a rusty brown, that powder may have deteriorated and probably should be discarded.
If the powder smells of ether and has a nice graphite black to gray color, it's good to go.
Generally speaking (not always, but more often than not) the most accurate loads operate at or near maximum charge level, with the powder that most closely fills the case often being the ideal choice.
Another suggestion for you would be to seat your bullets out close to the lands, which can be found with the little tool Hornady sells used in conjunction with a modified case they also sell that has a loose neck that allows the bullet to slide when it touches the rifling lands, whereupon you measure that special case length, then use that with your loaded rounds, seating the bullet in approx 0.10" to prevent it from getting into the lands and pulling it if you don't fire that round or cause excessive pressures.
You can also do this without the Hornady tool and case by using a fired case that hasn't been resized with the specific bullet you intend to load in the neck, loosely held there.
You then slowly and gently chamber this, locking the bolt all the way down, then carefully and gently run a cleaning rod down the barrel, stopping when the rod touches the bullet tip.
You then mark the cleaning rod right at the muzzle crown with a pencil where it is at this point, carefully eject the case and bullet (make sure the bullet comes free, possibly needing to be gently nudged out with the cleaning rod), then fully close and lock the bolt again, this time without anything in the chamber, push the cleaning rod until it is resting against the bolt face, then mark the cleaning rod at the muzzle crown again.
You then measure the distance between the marks to find your seating depth, again ensuring that you seat the bullet about 0.10" deeper, as with the Hornady tool.

 

[Broom_jm]

H380 got its name when Bruce Hodgdon was working up a load with a new mil-surp powder. It took 38.0 grains of this powder, in his 22-250, to get excellent accuracy from 50-52gr bullets.

A friend of mine has a 22-250 and his preferred 39.5 grains.

 

[RMC]

I did a ton of shooting with my 22-250 a few years back and shot a lot coyotes, fox, rabbits, and prairie dogs. I mostly used Hornady 50 gr V-Max that I moly-coated. I also used the 55 gr V-Max but the 50's performed better with my rifle even at 500 yds. Of all the powders I tried, IMR 4895 was the most consistent and accurate. Varget sucked and I ended up using what I had left for charcoal lighter. I recently pulled my rifle out of the safe, loaded up some rounds and headed to the range.

The rifle is a Remington 700 Sendero and it's an absolute joy to shoot.

The recipe I'm sticking with is 36.8 grs of IMR 4895 and this is a group of 3 shots at 100 yds.

Keep in mind that I use moly-coated bullets that cause less friction and every load reacts differently in every rifle. I recommend starting off with a lighter load of maybe 32.5 - 33 grs and work your way up or down to get the accuracy you want. I still have my RCBS rock chucker setup if you want or need some help.

 

[55fairlane]

Hornady 50 gr Vmax super performance , seems to make my old M77 just shot nice little tight groups, i like Hornaday ammo, seems to shot accurate every time, so i don't do hand loads, sorry i could not help more,but being i do not shot my 22-250 a bunch factory loads seen to work good

Aaron

 

[dooshie]

33.5 grs. 3031
Sierra 55gr .224 fmj
m.o.l. 2.350

I have used this reciepe for years, I love 3031 for speed.

 

[foxmustang]

My top 3 loads for 22-250 out of my 700 VS:
52 gr A-Max 34.3 grs Hodgdon Benchmark .530" groups
40 gr Nosler BT 38.6 gr IMR 8208 XBR .680"
35 gr Hornady NTX 36.6 grs IMR 8208 XBR .710"
My rifle got best results from near max loads and all COAL were by the book. For some reason my gun didn't like 45gr and above bullet weights(save for the 52 gr AMAX for some odd reason).

 

[RMC]

I guess lastly, anyone got an excess of reloadable cases ?

Thanks in advance.

I may have some. How many are you looking for?

 

[Broom_jm]

...and now you know why fishing for loads online is pretty much pointless, if not dangerous. Once you start trying different loads, you'll find out what YOUR rifle likes. Nothing we can tell you is going to really mitigate for that, because each rifle is unique.

 

[natdscott]

Nevermind.