Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Any tips for load workup on 22-250 would be appreciated.

Range day, Benchmark powder and 50 g Z-max, -.005
33.5 grains to 36, total of 30 rounds, most were decent if not actually good,
35.5 and 36 gr, 5 shot cloverleafs, 9 of 10 shots touching, I pulled the tenth....

H380 next weekend, but not sure on how I could improve on these 2 loads...

Fun gun to shoot @10.5 lbs

Almost wish it was mine.........

These come in leftys? (grin)

Thanks for the info. Mine does t like 55 gr. Mines a left hand Sako. And a lh 700

pics, or it didn't happen............

Pm me with your info !

I've had excellent results with a few different powders, IMR 3031, IMR 4895, and IMR 4064. Each of those was under MOA, most 1/2 MOA or less, so long as I used Honady 53gr bullets, flat or 52gr boattail both shot the same. I had a Remington 700 ADL at the time. Longest shot I had was 420 yds, and my wife had a 440yd opppurtunity, which I undoughtedly will never live down, since it was windy, and she hit it twice.

Hope thats a help

I just re-read the replys in this thread,

A few have mentioned "popping the primer" while using 380,

Describe that please.


It also appears many people are using several different powders that work very well,

At this time Benchmark is a definite go, Will try 380 next, (borrowed a couple hundred grains from a friend)

Then maybe try H4895 which has been mentioned often here.

Fun times.

If you have large temperature swings between the seasons of the year you'll be shooting, H380 and some others like H414 can have large pressure spikes between cooler and hotter weather. A load that is fine at 30 degrees can be way over pressure at 90+.

I run 55 grain V Max and Ballistic Tips, pushed with IMR 4064.... its pretty darn good.

Easy to cure. I developed my load for the temps it was going to be shot in for both a 22.250 and a Swift. Any powder where the load is at max and the temps hit 90+ you have the potential to go into the danger zone.

CFE223 has worked well in mine with 40 and 50 gr bullets. IMR 4064 has too.

50gr V-Max, 36.0grs Varget, WLR primer.

50 gr v max and h4895
And 52 gr Speer hp h4895

Just read though the whole four pages of load data and was surprised there isn't much love for Sierra bullets anymore just wondering why everyone likes the plastic tip ones now

Why buy sierra when you can buy a comparable bullet from hornady for less money?

and BSA points out the exact reason I don't shoot Sierra bullets any more....and haven't for a long time.

There are so many good combinations for the 22-250 to choose from. I don't care for H-380. It's dirty and pressure peaks quickly. In my first 22-250, way back around 1985, I shot 63 grain Sierras over IMR 4895, and accuracy load from an ancient Lyman loading manual.

That was a Remington 700 Varmint model with a long throat. My next 22-250 was a Cooper. In that rifle I started out with IMR 4895, then switched over to Varget as it is less temperature sensitive. I prefer a 50 grain bullet to a 55 grain bullet, but that's me. If I still had a 22-250, I would probably try CFE 223.

That about sums it up. I think my perfection load was verified with my latest 22-250 purchase. A Tikka varminter with a 1 in 14" twist. Here it is using the same old load my steven's 200 likes and the same load my buddies savage trophy hunter and predator likes:

H4895 works well, if not better than anything else I've tried in the 22-250, so that's what I'm going to keep using... The 50gr v-max is also a no brainer...

I’ve only had a couple of 22-250s. My Savage BVSS liked 4064 and 52 MEFs, shot in the .2s if I did my part. My LVSF is crazy picky and likes Varget and about any 40g. I think it took me 5 years before I finally tried the 40s. I was ready to throw in the towel and give up, never shooting better than 3/4” groups. Pretty sure I have almost every single bullet and powder suitable for the caliber and twist rates 😂.

Your going to have to choose a powder, for me I have H-414, H380, Varget, which are my main varmint powders I use. Make up some test loads of 50 /55 g bullets in various powders to find which shoots best...takes time but well worth it. In my M77 22-250 I have 36g Barnes varmint grenades loaded with 38.5g of Varget. 50g Nosler Ballistic tips with 39.5 H-380,,,,,,and 40g Nosler Ballistic tips in 39.5g H380....as of this moment I have some 40 Nos Bal tip loaded up with Trst loads with H414...get ya some data and some powder and work up some different loads and good luck.

Pretty damn good if it shoots in the ".2s". Hopefully that's 10 shot groups, because 3 shot groups shouldn't even be considered in a varmint rifle.