Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots #1 in 250 Savage

Am I the only one who thinks they screwed up when they spec'ed it with a 24 inch barrel? A 20 inch would have been perfect, IMO.

I think 22" is best for looks.
Had a 20" in .243 and blast was annoying
Only a shorty in RSI config and then in something more mild mannered.

A types get 22" IMHO

I got a big mule doe opening morning in Oct 2020, with a 250 Sav with 20" barrel, bang flop at 100 yards.

115 gr Nos bal tip naked 2.515" 65k psi per quickload with cfe223
Chronograph:
2693 fps
2715
2731
2694

Hit the 1/2" bullseye at 200y and is sighted in for hunting


I am sold on 250 Savage for deer hunting.

With the 1A forend, 22 inches looks best. If you have the 1B style forend, you need a longer barrel to balance the appearance.

My 1A .250-3000 was rebarreled from .270, with a 22" Douglas barrel. Retained original barrel contour, and original 1B fore arm. I didn't like the looks of the fore arm with that length barrel so I whittled it slimmer and shortened it, and added a rounded ebony tip. Overall length of the revised fore arm is now equal to a 1A fore arm, and the gun looks snazzy again.

I haven't killed anything with it, and may not ever do so. I have plenty of "deer rifles" and I'll never get around to hunting with all of them. Its fast twist would handle heavy .25's easily but I've only shot 87 grain Speers out of it (at an even 3000fps), the same load I use for old slow-twist Savage lever guns. It returns really sweet accuracy with that load and I may never get around to trying 100 grains and heavier. If I want a bit more moxie out of the #1 I'll reach for the 1A in 6.5x55 anyway.

Actually, I think a 24” barrel gives a classic look.

The SS Wanut models of a few years ago were very handsome, but alas, the discretionary funds well was dry. Pretty hard to justify one at this point, cash in hand or not, with stuff stacked all over the place and being neglected. Same goes for the SS .30/30s I lust for.

I left my Ruger 77 Shilen 250 Sav Ack Imp barrel at 24” thinking I would later cut it back to 22”-23” but very happy with it at 24” which is where it will stay. My 35 Whelen No.1 is the medium weight 24” barrel and I think it’s perfect.
SO,... I’d be very happy with the 24” light Sporter barrel No.1 in 250 Savage (one of my favorite rounds).
Actually, I think most No.1A rifles with 22” barrels are a bit ‘stubby’. I wish the No.1AB 270 Win I have was a 24” barrel instead of 22” but I couldn’t pass it up at the deal it came with. Shoots extremely well though!

Timely thread. I'm getting in a Browning B78, 22-250 with a heavy barrel that I'm going to have re-bored to 250 Savage. The larger bore diameter will take away a few ounces but the length of the barrel is a little concerning to me.
I have considered cutting it back from its current 26" to 22" in an effort to help it balance better. I will also thread it for a suppressor.
What does this group think?

Nice conversion, IMO. Personally, I would leave it at 26". That extra few ounces up forward will help move point of balance slightly forward which is a good thing, again in my opinion, for position shooting in the field. For bench work I don't think it matters much either way. For years back in the 80's-90's I hunted a lot with a 26" B-78 .30-06 and never felt handicapped in the least, balance-wise, accuracy-wise, threading through laurel thickets/briar patches-wise, and deer killing-wise.

May I ask why a suppressor?

I have no issues with my 1A 250 Savage with 24 inch barrel. IMHO it's but ugly with a very plain stock even though it was a Lipsey's exclusive. It shoots very well however and thats what counts. Perhaps someday it will get new wood.

Thanks for your insight. I should leave it as it is until it proves that it needs to be a different length. You convinced me. As to why a suppressor, I have become accustomed to shooting with one and like it very much. It's not a necessary thing but I have invested in them and like to use them when possible. Hanging a 6-8" can off the end of a 26" barrel will become a little clumsy I suspect...

Well, I'll reserve judgement until I see it with a can on it! Haha!

Who knows, you might like it strictly as is. There's a B78 .22-250 out there I've been eyeing up. Price is downright reasonable, condition is literally minty. Gotta resist. Gotta resist.

What's holding me back is I just have little need for the long range punch of a .22-250 anymore. Groundhogs have dried up, and my Hornets, .223's, and other small-ish wildcats, make perfectly good holes in paper at 100 and 200 yard targets without the sturm und drang of a .22-250. Still and all....

We might have to chat after you finish with the .250 conversion, because that's exactly what I would be inclined to do with it if I got it.

I'm committed to go through with the conversion. I will take your advice and wait until its finished and I get it back in hand before I cut and thread it.

I have several Ruger #1-B rifles that have had the barrel cut to either 23 5/8 or 24". IMHO; 23 5/8" is just about perfect. The 1st one I did was a .270 Win. I liked the balance so much, I had it bored to 9.3x62. Then I cut my .257 Bob and the .218 Bee. In fact, I don't think I have a 1-B left uncut. (Except for a .300 Maggie. and that was purchased for a project.) As far as I'm concerned, balance is far more important than velocity... YMMV -GH

Every time I read a post on the effectiveness of the .250 Savage I think of a poster here on the campfire whose
screen name is " Nifty Two Fifty". He is one that knows how effective the little .250 is and wining a new convert one rifle at a time.

I bought a #1S .45-70.with a truly delicious stock from a guy in Eastern Washington State about 40 years ago. Got it cheap because he just couldn't hack the recoil enough to get it sighted in sufficiently for his standards. He had wanted it for elk hunting.

I didn't want a .45-70, for sure, but I had killed my one and only elk to that date with my grandfather's "coyote gun," a takedown Savage 99 in .250-300. Since it had been borrowed and I had to return it to my brother, I decided to get the #1S rebarreled to .250-3000, and sent it to Bulberry to have that done with a medium weight Shilen 1in10" twist 25" long. Called it my "recoiless rifle" and used it the rest of the time I stayed in Idaho and killed 3 nice mulies with it.

It was a victim of the Great Northwest Slump of the early '80s--and was turned into house payments on my house in Vermont where we lit after our escape from WA/ID!

A #1 in .250-300 is a great idea. But now I have that 99 back....

Some things just never go out of style and the 250 Savage is one of them. In addition to the #1 I have a Remington 700 classic in 250 Savage and it's big brother the 300 Savage. My smith is beginning a custom #1 in the 300 Savage and when thats done I think the 250 will get new and much nicer wood.

I have 3. 250's. The aforementioned #1, a Savage Model 1899 .250-3000 ( vintage 1918, the original takedown platform the cartridge was introduced in- I'm the 3rd owner), and a Model 1920 Savage bolt gun. Three different platforms, three different tools, one great cartridge. Yeah, I'm smitten with it.

As an aside, search out a copy of Jim Bashline's "The Spiteful Crack of the .250-3000". Entertaining look at a boy's first encounter with a .250, and reason for him to develop a lifelong love affair with it. I knew Jim, and he told me the back story to that story. If you ask nicely I'll tell y'all!

Please do.....inquiring minds want to know.

The story centered around Jim as a young boy working for tips as a baggage handler in an upstate PA small town hotel, and a well heeled sportsman who arrived for the deer season armed with a .250 Savage lever gun. Over single malt scotch (way too much single malt scotch) one night in a bar, again in a small town PA hotel, Jim told me the salacious side of the story involving said well heeled sportsman, the hotel bar, and a rather loose floozie. Such stories are best saved for bars, single malts, and cold winter's days. Watcha up to next week, Doc?