Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Rate of Twist for a .250 in a Super Sporter

I recently acquired a Super Sporter in .250-3000 and have been wondering about the rate of twist. I assume this rifle will stabilize heavier bullets but it is my fist .250 and I don't really know. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated? Thanks in advance.

Any Savage made before 1960 in 250-3000 or 250 Savage should be a 1 in 14" twist. Probably do fine with factory 100gr or shorter 100gr bullets.

Thanks

You'll need to try heavier bullets and see. My 250 made in 1926 puts 100 grain bullets sideways at 75 yards, but 87 grain bullets stabilize nicely and group well.

mike

It's not the weight, it's the length. Find the shortest 100gr bullets and you may be okay. But the actual twist rates varied on these guns, so if you have one getting towards 1 in 15" or so you may find that no 100gr bullets are short enough to stablize.

I got Nosler 100gr Partitions to stabilize pretty well by simply filing the lead tip off. It reduced the weight to 98gr, but the key was that it made the bullet short enough to stabilize in my two test rifles - at least well enough for hunting. Probably wouldn't win any benchrest tournaments with it. With the lead tip on, it was shooting 5" to 8" groups at 100 yards, with it off it was shooting groups in the 1.5" range.

That's pretty impressive. Are Nosler 100-grainners the shortest you found?

Oh no, they aren't nearly the shortest. In fact Nosler includes a blurb in their loading manuals that says they make no .257 bullet that will stabilize in a 1 in 14" twist 250 Savage.

It was just one that I picked out.

Y'all gotta remember that back in the first half of the 20th century not very many people handloaded their ammunition. The factories built rifles and the ammo companies made ammo to match them, and all was right with the world. Up until the 1930's Savage was the only one chambering the .250 in a factory rifle, and after that I believe Winchester only threw out a couple in the M70. The ammo companies only made .250 ammo loaded with short bullets to work in the Savage guns- mainly 87 grainers. Nobody gave a hoot that long heavy bullets wouldn't work- heck, did anybody back then even care? Yet somehow people innocently went about their business killing stuff all over the place with the rifles. Then along with the boom in handloading also came hotter .25's- the Roberts, .25-06, etc.- and along with them longer heavier spitzer bullets which naturally theretofore innocent .250 shooters had never thought of using in their rifles but had to try them nonetheless. Complaints about 100 grain, and heavier, bullets started mounting and 60 years later we're still answering questions about stability.

I'll bet the Jetson-like Savage shooters of the 22nd century will still be asking if anything but short stubby bullets will work in their pre-mil 99's, because with increased information technology comes decreased attention spans. I can see it happening already, sometimes right here on this forum. The internet is a two-edged sword in that respect.

Thanks gnoahhh. I have no problem matching appropriate bullet technology with the rifle as you suggest. This is my first .250 and I wasn't aware that the change in twist rate came so late. For some reason I thought Savage had did it earlier than the 1960s. For me, the .250 is what it is and my need for anything hotter in that bore range, in this day and age, would certainly merit a different cartridge and rifle. I never subscribed to things like making a .308 out of a .300, or perhaps even a .257 Roberts out of a .250 Savage. But I do think that playing around with the .250 could be a bit of fun. Now I need to start my research into 87-grain and stubby 100-grain 25-caliber bullets. My thanks to everyone who chimed into this thread.

87gr Speer Hot Cores is good for any coyote, antelope or deer hunting you will do, and will probably give you the best accuracy. Hornady makes a good chuck/coyote bullet as well.

Which brings up the question as to why the 100-grain bullet has become the "gold standard" for the .250 if 87-grain bullets are fully capable of getting the job done? Especially when you take into account how much bullet technology has improved from the day of Newton, Charles that is and not Sir Isaac.

My old Savage likes the Sierra 90 grain h.p. bullet which has a reputation of holding together on game animals. Which the 87 grainers are not necessarily designed to do...

The Speer Hot core is designed and marketed as a medium game bullet. The Hornady is designed and marketed as a varmint bullet. Even the 90gr Sierra was designed as a varmint bullet rather than a medium game bullet, but Sierra states "it may also be used on medium game from smaller-capacity cartridges, such as the 250-3000 Savage and 257 Roberts."

I personally worry about penetration using varmint bullets, and I'd hate to lose a once in a lifetime buck due to bullet choice and sub-optimal bullet placement. That's the actual reason I played with the Nosler Partitions and getting them to shoot from a pre-1960 250-3000. If I head out with a buck permit, the gun is going to carry either Partitions or Hot Cores. Just my preference. Hunt with whatever you like.

I betcha a .25 roundball would stabilize.

I dunno.. would it engage the lands enough if it wasn't a .257 roundball?

When I drive it in the case with a ball peen, it will engage, Joe.