Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters MD best Powders for 250 Savage

Just scored a 1975 M77 Ruger in 250 Savage on gunbroker that was delivered today. Rifle is in amazing shape without a mark or ding on it anywhere. I don’t think it’s ever been fired. What powders and loads work best? Want to run 100-117 gr bullets and have Big Game, CFE 223, H 4350 and IMR 4451 presently on hand.

Thanks
Robert

Not MD, but curious to know the rifling twist in these??

Reportedly 10 twist.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2019/2/4/the-little-savage-250-3000/

DF

Ruger 77s in 250-3000 have a 1-10" ROT.

The only factory built 250-3000s made in the past 50 years without a 1-10" ROT that I'm aware of were the 1986/87 Winchester/USRA 70 Lightweight Carbines that had, for no known reason, a 1-14" ROT.

250 Savage case is basically a new Koolaid Creedmoor case i would think same powders would work and do the same thing in both cases. i know that`s how i check out new and old reloading manuals for powder amount and kind to use. good luck,Pete53

The old standard seemed to be 4895, but I didn't have any when I got my .250 barrel, so I used Big Game. Results are just fine. I never measured the groups, but it was sub-moa with 100 grain Hornady flat base.

Of those listed Big game would be the first.

I have used good old IMR-3031 mostly as well as some IMR-4064 with all bullet weights.

For deer and just general hunting critters i use the 87-90 grain bullets.

Congratulations on the find. That would be a lovely rifle.

I have a Ruger tang safety Ultralight with a 10" twist. I've only ever run 100gn bullets, mainly the 100gn Hornady SP. I tried H4895, Varget and H4350. H4350 gave the best velocity (even with the 20inch barrel) with really good accuracy so that's the only powder I have used in the past 20 years.

Those 100 gr Honady’s are scarcer than hens teeth, must be a bunch of them squirreled away by a few. I unfortunately don’t have any.

CRJ1960,

Have had a few 1-10 twist .250s, including one of the tang-safety Ruger 77s Ultra Lights with the skinny 20-inch barrel. In that particular rifle 100-grain bullets shot best with 35.0 grains of Accurate 2495, which is their version of a 4895. Never got that rifle to shoot very well with 115-120 grain bullets, despite the twist--perhaps because of the slim barrel. Had a Savage 99A, the later tang-safety model with a 20-inch 1-10 twist barrel, that shot 100-grain Speer Hot-Cors well with 33.0 grains of IMR4895.

I also had one of the 1-14 twist Winchester Model 70 Lightweight Carbines that 260Rem mentions that shot just about any 100-grain spitzer well with either 41.0 grains of H4350 or 36.0 grains of Big Game--the bullets including the Hornady Interlock Spire Point, Nosler Partition and Speer Hot-Cor. (The Interlock, an excellent bullet, is now discontinued.)

Other 1-10 .250s did shoot OK with 115-120 grain bullets. A Remington 700 Classic did well with 115-grain Nosler Partitions and 42.0 H4831, and a custom .250 on a Remington 700 action with a 1-10 Hart barrel liked 43.0 H4831SC with the 115 Partition--but it shot best with lighter bullets from 75-100 grains with Reloder 15.

My last .250 was a Savage Axis, with a Shaw pre-chambered and threaded 1-10 twist, 22" barrel I installed myself, and it might have been the most all-around accurate .250 I've ever owned. Here are its best loads, all of which grouped three shots at 100 yards into an inch or less:

85-grain Ballistic Tip/36.5 grains CFE223/3098 fps
100 Speer Hot-Cor/ 35.0 IMR4895/3038 fps
100 Barnes TTSX/ 35.0 Reloder 15/2963 fps
117 Sierra GameKing/37.0 IMR4451/2745 fps

IMR4451 is very close to H4350 in burn-rate, how close depending on the specific lot ow powder. With my present lots 4451 requires perhaps a half-grain more powder to match velocities with H4350 in cases that size.

Thanks John!

My 1 in 10 250 Savage rifles both shoot best for me with Nosler book max 100gr partition H4895. Groups tightened up at book max. It's nice to be able to see the deer drop in the scope. For my 1in14 250 I load 87gr Speer hc. With R15 in my 99f.

Have any of you ever tried RL-17? My .250 shoots it good with pretty good MV and MOA accuracy or better if I'm doing my bit.
But my rifle is different than any listed here. It's got a 26 inch Krieger barrel on a Howa 1500 action with a 1:9 twist and I shoot mainly 115 Ballistic Tips. I'm thinking of trying 110 Accubonds and maybe a 115 grain Partitions. Once I get a load that shoots good and kills I'm not too much of an experimenter. I need to broaden my horizons. I had this rifle purpose built for me because I don't walk around and I sit in a ground blind. With a 26 inch heavy sporter barrel it's a little on the heavy side. Anyway, that's what I do if it helps. But what the hell, I'm weird.
'

I have a Axis rifle with an E.R. Shaw barrel from Midway like Mule Deer's only my barrel is 24" long. Following Mule Deer's recommendation, I have had good results using H4350 with 100 grain bullets. 39.5 grains gives me over 3,000 fps. Pretty much any medium burn rate powders work well with lighter bullets, but I like Leverevolution with 87 and 90 grain bullets in my Savage 99 250-3000 rifle with 22" barrel. 37.5 grains gives me over 3,000 fps with low pressure and very good accuracy. CFE223 is very similar to Leverevolution,and I have used that as well.

Getting back to the bolt action rifles, I plan on trying the new StaBALL 6.5 in the 250 Savage Axis rifle. The burn rate is a bit slower than the 4350s, and it is a compact ball powder. I am getting very good results in my 7mm-08 rifle using it. It should be just the thing with heavier bullets in the 250 Savage.

tag

Wow, just found 4 boxes of 25 cal Hornady 100 gr spire points on GB for 20 bucks a box. They’re coming out of California and were cheap due to the lead ban.

I am down to my last 600.

No love for IMR 4320??

I have 11 or 12 boxes.

I was wondering that too. 4320 is what my Dad used 40 years ago and I still do