Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Pet .22-250 Load

I bought this used Ithaca LSA 55 .22-250 in November 1984 at the age of 14, and it helped teach me the fine art of handloading. With my meager allowance, I could only try one bullet or one powder at a time, so it took quite a while to sort things out. After some experimenting with several powders and bullets in the mid-80's and getting varying results, I finally tried the 55-grain Sierra Blitz with 39.5 grains of H380. The load chronographed at about 3650 or so (I bought a Chrony in '87), and often grouped 3 shots into around .5 inch at 100 yards. One of my most memorable teenage memories is a 4-shot 2.25" group at 300 yards shooting over a truck cab. The rifle and load killed a pile of groundhogs for me in my late teens.

As I got older I strayed into bigger calibers and bigger loads. I first settled on a Remington .25-06 and then later a Ruger Swift for the bulk of my varminting, and the Ithaca seldom came out of the safe over the last 20 years or so.

Recently I had a local stocker touch up the checkering for me, and when I got the rifle back I decided to shoot it a little for old-time's sake. I mounted a new Leupold and tried some newer powders and bullets, but was a little disappointed in the results. Thinking it might be me, I looked on my shelves and found an old stockpile of Sierra Blitzes and H380. I loaded a few with my original RCBS dies and and it was just like turning back the clock. This rifle has the sweetest factory trigger I've ever seen, just absolutely crisp. The barrel was free-floated at the factory and a dollar bill still easily slides all the way back to the receiver. Here is a sample group from this afternoon, 28 years to the day after I bought it. All I needed was a slight tweak of right windage and I'm good to go. Modern powders and bullets are wonderful, but sometimes an old rifle and pet load is just plain therapeutic.

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" sometimes an old rifle and pet load is just plain therapeutic."

Damn right. Nothing better. Well done.

Swifty

36.5 varget and a 50 grain soft point at 2.40" has resulted in tiny groups in several .22-250's for me.

just nice to go back to what brings good memories

Love my Ithaca .243.

Love H380, I just got fresh 8-lb. jug to get ready for next season. There are many good powders for the 22-250 but I keep coming back to H380.

I had shot my way down to 9 rounds of my favorite pet 22-250 load. Yesterday I resized 50 RP brass in the RCBS sizer, set the CCI250 primers then dropped 38gr of H414 into the cases. Seated 50 64gr winchester power points. With steady hands I'll need to do it again in about 40 coyote 1 cougar.

h 380 was devloped and named for bruce hadgens pet load in 22 varminter(22-250) 38gr cant go wrong. i have been useng 3031 with good sucess

gaperry59,

Your load was the first handload I tried in my T3. My shooting partner had some loaded because his gun loves that load. He witnessed the previous owner of his rifle touch 3 shots at 300yds using that load. My rifle loved it too, first group went 1/2 inch.

Gaperry59: I have a number of Varmint Rifles in caliber 22-250 Remington and two of them prefer the 55 grain Sierra Blitz bullets for accuracy.
These bullets (as you probably know) are VERY lethal (explosive?) on all manner and sizes of Varmints.
Apparently there is NO "speed limit" on these Blitz bullets as I use them in a couple of my 220 Swifts as well.
There is a lot to like about the Sierra Blitz bullets including the all important "cost factor" as well as accuracy and lethality on Varmints.
I hope your Ithaca Rifle lasts you another 28 years!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Great story! I'm working on some loads right now using Nosler 55gr. Ballistic Tips and my favorite powder for that round, H380. Our local Cabelas had the 250 pack on sale but they were out of the powder as well as Sportsmans Warehouse. I'll be patient until it comes back on the shelves, worth waiting for in my opinion.