I'll be getting a Savage Predator Hunter in 22-250 sometime next week and wondered what powders may work best in a 1:12 twist using 50-60 gr bullets. I'm going to try Varget for one and IMR 4895 since I have those in stock along with IMR 4064. I doubt the rifle will stabilize heavier than 60 gr bullets so, I'm shying away from anything heavier that a .243 can handle. Any other suggestions?

The 22-250 is an "easy" cartridge, and you should be able to get excellent results with all three powders you mentioned.

Similar powders like RL15, H4895, and N140 would be excellent too.

I've never had to go beyond 4064.

I've had real good luck with CFE-223 in the 22-250.

try the 55's with 34.0-35.5g of IMR 4064 with a Fed primer, call it done.

34.0-35.0g of IMR 4895 with the 55's and fed 210 have worked very well also.

Varget not so good as the above powders with the 55's.

38 grs H380

As keith and the others have said, there are a lot of good options.
I have had the best luck with imr 4064 and imr 4895 with 50 to 60 grain bullets.
34.0 grains of 4895 and a 50 grain ballistic tip has worked really well for me in a bunch of 250's.

If you feel the urge, your 12 twist will stabilize the 63 grain sierra smp and it is an excellent bullet for anything up to and including deer. I have had good luck with 33 to 34 grains of varget and the sierra.

I have a 12 twist Savage that shoots up to the 64gr Bergers very well but the 53gr Vmax and Varget shoot great

Very good suggestions. I'd like to try H380 but currently it's not in my stash...should have gotten some at the gun show a couple weeks back as i saw some but, I didn't have the 22-250 then or rather, considered buying it until a few days ago. They have a show every three months so, I'll pick up some then. Sure beats paying a $27 hazmat fee plus shipping. I have RL19 but no 15.

+ 1

I run 30 grains of RL 7, which gives right at 3500 fps with a 55 grainer.... however, I would never feel stranded with a batch of IMR 4895 or IMR 4064 on the shelf...

of course IMR 4895 and IMR 4064 are my first choices for almost ANY Caliber I regularly shoot...

I'm running low when I am down to 12 to 15 pounds of both...

If you are shooting varmints, don't overlook the old Speer 52 grain HP... real accurate and very explosive....and a good price when ya order the 1000 round boxes....

Mr 'H' designed H380 for the 22-250

38 grs.......

For decades I an mostly IMR4895 in .22-250's with fine results, but recently tried a bunch of new powders with various bullet weights in a 1-12 twist Savage. With 40's Benchmark and Varmint were outstanding, with 50's CFE223, with 55's Big Game, and with the 64-grain Nosler Bonded H414 was very accurate.

I think you could possibly near about wear a barrel out trying every bullet/powder combination. Looking at three different manuals they even suggest different powders along with the old standbys. Until I recently got the Nosler and new Sierra manuals I had never heard of Benchmark, Varmint, Big Game and CFE and a few others they listed.

I reckon I'll just start with a few old tried and trues and go from there. If I can ever find it I'd like to try H380.

Always had good luck with 39.0-39.5 grs of H-414.Rick.

I've found the 22-250 to be so accomadating that I sometimes use it to "clear out" some of the partial cans of powder I accumulate from projects that didn't pan out. They seem to digest just about any reasonable powder and load with good results.
My go to powder is H380 because it is very accurate in the 22-250 and meters so well that you can do high volume loading for Pdogs shoots.

not mentioned but I tried AR Comp in the 22.250 also before it disappeared off the shelves with the rest of Alliant's Powders...I figured if RL 15 was great in the 22.250, then AR Comp had to do well also...

Sure wasn't disappointed...

I managed to find some RL15 and H380 thanks to a tip from a forum member. More options to try.

I used to use Varget and H380, but like Mule Deer I have found Big Game to give me the best with 55's.

Jerry

What mathman said. I fav. is H4895.. But as many have said it is easy to load for... With 63 grain bullets, my fav. powder was I 4350

Grew up on 4064. I'm a big fan of Varget with 55's.

8208XBR is the goto powder for my 22-250 pushing a 50 Berger

I have a Kimber varmint that either needed to be broken in or is just picky, but I didn't find anything that shot well until I went to H414 with 50 gr BTs or V-Maxs. Prior to that, I tried H380, IMR4064, Varget, etc. Then I tried Big Game per Mule Deer, and suddenly those same bullets were shooting a half inch or under for 3 shots. I like using the 50 gr bullets for prairie dogs - they just seem more explosive than the 55 gr versions of those bullets.

shoot a mauser in 22-250 loaded with h-4895 and 40grr moly coated bullets.Takes the heads off p-dogs to 500 yards

33 grns IMR 3031, 55 grn V-Max

I'll be that's a real hummer of a load...what, about 4000 fps?

AR Comp sure works for my two 22-250's

I dug up some loading data on my last barrel, may help some.

32-33g of IMR3031 with a 55g V Max knawed up the same hole.

For a long range crow load, I went to win 760, and the load was an over book max load at 3725 fps with a 55g Nosler. I read on the net that the coated Combined Technology bullets decreased the pressure to where you had to use more powder vs the naked bullets. So, on a box that I tried, I upped the powder charge 1.5g as accuracy dictated to get the best group of less than 3/8" and it gave me 1 1/2" at 400 yards(Rem VSSF) at 3850 fps(fastest 22/250 I have ever seen.

39g of Big Game with the 55g Nosler gave me 1/2-5/8" groups.

As the throat got worn bad, I went to the 63g Sierra(only takes a 14 twist to stabilize this bullet), and 33g of IMR 4064 gave me excellent accuracy at 3475 fps...I got another 800 rounds out of the barrel because I could reach the lands with this bullet.

I can't believe IMR-4320 hasn't been mentioned yet. It's my accuracy powder with 55 gr. Ballistic Tips.

I'm inclined to believe that like the .222, you'd be hard pressed to find a powder that didn't work in this caliber. I've even seen 3031 listed...one of IMR's nearly forgotten powders. I used it once in a 38-55 and that's been it.

ditto

Ive been using 38.8 gr of RL-15 under a molyed 50 gr V-max for 4000fps out of my 26" barreled savage. I've killed yotes with a bunch of different cartridges over the years and the 22-250/V-max combo just seems to give more DRT results than anything else Ive used.

I don't even own a 22-250, but of the four I've loaded for, 34.5 grs of IMR 3031, a 55gr bullet of Nosler or Sierra make with minimal runout and a CCI 200 has made under 1/2 inch 5 shot groups with each one; or at least each time I've shot them.

A Weatherby FN, a Savage 110, Rem.700 and a Sako Forester.

best ive found is 4064 and h380,depending on what im loading

CFE-223 and 50 grain BT's!

33 grains IMR 3031. CCI primers. 55 grain Sierra blitz bullets. Probably because i have a lot of 3031. Going to try 3031 in my 204 Ruger too.

[quote=VernAK] 38 grs h 380

Has the been tried before?

H380 or Varget

I have 3031, Varget, H380, RL15, 4064 and 4895. I'd say I have a lot of shooting ahead.

Dont overlook Benchmark, its wicked accurate with 50 grainers in some rigs.

h380
4064
imr4350
heck they all work good,just some gooder

It's the best powder I've ever used in this case......best accuracy/best velocity. My std. 22-250 is a Savage sporter.......37.5 RL15/50BT @ 3926 in that gun. Primer CCI250, bullets have thin dry film of Lee Lube.

"Curiosity killed the cat, But for a while I was a suspect." Venatic - While I haven't named a rifle in years, you have just given me the perfect inspiration to name my new savags 22 with the Kestril screwed on the muzzle - "Ms Curiosity" Thank you Sir! So not to derail this thread - my 22-250's are necked to .25 and h380 and h414 work in them too!

Is there any reason to use a magnum primer with H380? I've seen that recommended in some manuals with that powder.

I never have.

To me there is good reason not to use a magnum primer with H380, shooting through a chronograph there will be higher E.S. and S.D. numbers with every load. H380 also is one of the most temp sensitive powders ever made and mag primers make this condition worse.

Speer's #14 manual was the one that recommended the magnum primers.

Speer has always recommended the use of magnum primers with any ball powder.

+1 on this. Very accurate powder in my rifle and meters great for high volume reloading. H380 is a great powder for the .22-250

.22-250 is a great round and a good one to have during periods of powder shortages.

It will do pretty well with a variety of med burn rate powders. It seems forgiving and not finicky about what it's being fed...

DF

Check this site for great loads reported by shooters:

http://www.centerfirecentral.com/viewer.html

Click on rifle data, then choose caliber

That's a cool website, Kieth. I thought I knew all the good ones.

I had a 22-250 that liked everything. IMR 4350, 4064 4895. I bough a bunch of H414 for 7 bucks a lbs and worked very well. Even Some H 205 worked well .

Same here along with 50gr nosler bt. Several rifles I load for take the same load.

I took the Savage out to the range the other day and got varying results. Most of the bullets were 55 gr and either Nosler B. Tips or Sierra. Powder was 4064, H380 and Varget.

Groups were not up to what I thought a 22-250 was capable of and of course, new rifle, new brass, new scope and old man could have been the problem. My best group was .380" for three shots and then I had to screw it up by firing two more rounds to open the group to 1 1/2". That was with 34 gr of IMR 4064 and the Ballistic Tip Nosler. I got a similar group with 34 gr of Varget and the same bullet with two shots opening the group from .423" to a bit over 3/4".

I will try again and add some 50 and 52 gr Sierras and Bergers to the mix.

Of the powders we have available here in Australia ADI AR2208 is the stand out performer in velocity and accuracy, I have tried in my .22-250 a lot few types of powders in search of accuracy

ADI Bench Mark 2 = reasonable accuracy low on velocity
Win 760 = poor accuracy but fast velocity
Win 748 = reasonable accuracy and velocity
ADI 2208 = excellent accuracy and velocity, no need for further experimentation

So what velocity are you getting with 2208(Varget). I use it in mine with 52gr amax bullets. The accuracy is very good by velocity isn't the fastest...others would be faster. I chose it so that I wasn't dealing with velocity issues shooting a coyote in 0 degree weather.

NTG, I have a load of 37.5 gr of 2208 with a 55 gr Vmax for 3720 fps, it is one grain over Max in the ADI book but not so in another that I have, I have no pressure signs in my rifle, accuracy was fantastic while my barrel lasted and has since been shot out and I'm waiting on a .22-250 AI barrel

At 100 yards I was getting one ragged hole for 3 shot seated 40 thou off the lands, none of the other powders I tested could do that or get close, was in a average of 18 deg c temp if it's of interest

Thanks for the info.