Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 250 Savage resizing issues with 22-250 brass

Hello all.

I posted this in hunting rifles but thought it may be a better fit here.


Took my NULA 250 to the range today and had issues chambering one of my loads. This load was using once "real" fired (fire formed with COW, then loaded and shot) Lapua 22-250 brass. It was very difficult to chamber so I shot the other loads I brought and took the remaining back to the reloading room.

Initially thinking I had had seated the bullets incorrectly I remeasured with my Stoney Point and all checked out fine at 20/1000ths off the lands.

Next I measured a sized case for length, with it coming in right at SAMMI 1.912. Curious as if it could be too long by some chance I trimmed to 1.90 and still had issues chambering and opening the bolt. A word about the difficulty - it's tight to close the bolt, then the initial lifting of the bolt is firm, and when the lift is about 3/4 complete it hits a very tight spot, the for lack of a better term "clicks" over and opens the rest of the way. The feel is similar with a sized case and a fired case.

Then I compared a Hornady 250 savage case , once fired, sized in the same die with the same setting (Redding FL) - this one worked just fine, smooth as silk. Same with a Winchester case.

Also, Hornady factory ammo, Winchester factory ammo, and handloads with Winchester and Hornady brass are all just fine.

I tried sizing the case more by screwing in the sizing die deeper into the press but this did not change things.

Am I dealing with the "dreaded donut" caused by .22 to .25? I'm thinking not because it was COW fired formed vs resized when new and then fired.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help,

Courtney

I have necked up several hundred Winchester 22/250 brass to 250 Savage without any issues. I do use Hornady cream lube inside the neck applied with a Q-tip and of course on the case. I just loan them and shoot my selected load without any needed fireforming....accuracy is the same on virgin brass or once fired. FYI....I am shooting a single shot rifle.

Years ago I necked up some Winchester .22-250 brass by running it through a .25 tapered expander and then over a 7mm expander. Then full length sized it in a .250 Sav die to get the shoulder angle correct. I think from memory there is a one and half degree difference between the .22-250 and .250 Sav. It worked fine but I probably over worked the necks as a lot of the cases split in the necks a few years later after only one or two reloads. I should have annealed it after all that working. Buggered if I'd do all that again. If I ever do it again I'll just neck new .22-250 cases straight to .25, load and shoot.

As to your issue, I'm not sure. If you have full length sized the cases they should chamber in your rifle. And you have ensured they are not too long. Is this with one case only or a whole bunch?

I don't know why you're bothering to neck up 22-250 brass when brand new Hornady 250 Savage brass is available. Lapua brass has to be much more expensive than Hornady brass and you have extra steps and barrel wear.

Regarding your problem, I have simply run 22-250 cases through my 250 Savage die, loaded them, and fired them. No problems. However, case necks don't last as long when stretched from 22 to 25 caliber.

My rifle is a Savage Axis with an E.R. Shaw barrel, 24" long. It is a real shooter.

Coat the entire case with layout fluid and chamber it. You should see rubbed off area where it is tight. A poor man's substitute is to use a sharpie. Report back on what you see.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Elvis: So far it appears to be all of the Lapua but I have not had the time to check them all, but so far the first ten displayed this trait.

Jersey boy: Thanks for your reply. I stated with the Lapua because at the time , a couple of years back, the hornady component wasn’t available. I used the cream of wheat method to form them, which was easy enough and did not involve putting bullets down the barrel.

Azshooter: Thanks for the idea, I’ll try it when back at the house tomorrow.


I called Melvin to run it by him and he suggested measuring the case head diameter, thinking it may be a bit big. It measured .469, so that probably is not the issue.

I’ll keep measuring and using the sharpie to see what is revealed. An initial measurement of the case neck after running the die all the way to the shell holder revealed a bit of a larger diameter just above the neck/shoulder junction. I’ll take closer measurements when back at the house.

Are you compressing the load? I've actually had compressed loads that seemed to swell the case just enough to make it tough to chamber. Backed off the load a tad and the problem went away.

Would there be any reason to check for a tight chamber in the rifle?

I also had problems with Lapua 22-250 brass in a 40x Remington chambered in 250 savage. I switched to Winchester brass and had zero issues. I was told the Lapua brass was thicker in shoulder area and this kept it from doing what it needed to do.












Happy trails

Thanks for your reply, and thanks to OSU Sig as well, it appears your comments were on the right path.

The Lapua brass measures right at SAMMI spec just above the extractor groove. When I colored the case with a Sharpie and chambered it and lifted the bolt handle repeatedly it showed a rubbing in this area. (And wow, did it ever prove to be difficult to get out of the rifle, with me having to carefully put a cleaning rod down from the muzzle and then tap it all out once I got the bolt handle lifted).

Spec is .4668, and if memory serves the case measured right at .467-468, with the other brands measuring .463 or less. I spoke with Melvin about it and he told me he would be glad to polish the chamber to fit the Lapua brass if I send him the rifle and a couple of pieces of brass.

I may or may not do that, but at least there is plenty of other brass on hand that works OK.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions.