Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 22-250 with 52 gr loads

What is everyone’s favorite powder for the 52 gr bullets out of a 22-250? In the past I used varget with good results with matchkings and the Berger varmint out of my heavy barreled rifle. I plan to use Varget or H4895 in the 788 I just bought, but also interested in what others have good luck with. No charge weights needed, just type of powder. Thanks!

H4895

+1

H-380, 4320 and R-15 with the 52gr Speer FB HP for my coyote hunting.

38 grs H380

Thanks for the input guys! I try to avoid temp sensitive powders like 380 due to temp swings here. My buddy had really good accuracy but I have just always leaned towards the extreme powders from Hodgdon.

Yeah, I wouldn't waste my time looking for another.

I would but he didn't list it so H4895 it is.

IMR-4064 and 4320 are every bit as good as 4895. I'd even use IMR-3031 with 50-52 gr heads, especially if accuracy is priority #1.

Thanks for the info guys. Just to strike up a bit more conversation below are the powders I have that the 22-250 can use.

H4350
H4895
Benchmark
Varget
XBR8208
Imr4064
Imr4350 (possibly)

I also bought a pound of StaBall as a joke one day for my buddy with a 6.5 creedmoor (based on an inside joke) and the other night we were looking at the claimed speed with 55 gr bullets out of a 22-250...pretty impressive if it is achievable.

I am a fan of IMR-4064.

Of the powders you list..
H4895,Benchmark,Varget,IMR8208XBR they are my favorite 223 powders but I never use them much for a 22-250

H4350 and IMR4350 both work well as does IMR4064, my go to for decades has been W760 with 52-55gr bullets.
As for the StaBall it works great with 75-80gr bullets but you need a 1-8" twist barrel for that

I use I4350 with 63 and 70 gr. bullets... An old friend of mine used it with 53 gr. Sierra's, but the speed was low as I remember..

It's been many years since I had a standard 22-250, but H4895 & RL15 would be among my 1st picks.

Varget with a 52 amax (now ELDM) is tough to beat in my 22-250. I'm hoping to try staball in it soon. Staball's been shooting good in my 7-08.

H4895

Shelton573: I have been shooting the wonderful 22-250 Remington for over half a century now (bought my first one in 1967) and I have two bits of advice for you - first, the Sierra 52 grain bullets are amazingly accurate and are amazingly prone to dangerous ricocheting and pass-throughs! When Hunting afield don't use these accurate but unsafe projectiles. They are great at the range but I won't Hunt with them and won't Hunt with anyone who uses them.
Please go with the Berger 52 grainers for safety's sake instead.
AND... secondly, out of my fleet of 22-250 Rifles I always start load development/testing with H 4895 and Varget powders.
Best of luck to you and be sure and let us know how things "pan-out" for you.
Long live the 22-250 Remington!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Sam H: Indeed, one of my Remington 40X Rifles in caliber 22-250 Remington came with an "accuracy" target that was shot at the Remington factory and the load they used and listed on the target used IMR-3031 and 52 grain bullets - the factory target/grouping was VERY impressive!
I get a tad more speed with other powders and get very acceptable accuracy as well.
But I agree with your contention IMR-3031 makes for accuracy in a 22-250.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Benchmark, 33.3 grains for accuracy....50 thru 55 grainers....

Rl 15, IMR 4895, 3031, H 322...and 4064 is NEVER a bad choice.....

Well for now I settled on trying the H4895 with 52 gr Berger’s. I have a bunch of that powder on hand and looking through all my loads, I haven’t used it in any of my rifles since I shot 53 gr vmax out of my 223 which was rebarreled to a 17 Remington. If it don’t work out I plan to move on to 4064 or varget. Thanks for all the info!

Try this thread

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...14199/all/22_250_What_loads_are_you_usin

I like Hunter, H4895 is good too. But Hunter is the most accurate I the 22-250’s I have owned lately.

CFE 223 and IMR 4064 and 40 or 50 gr Ballistic Tips, preferably the 50 gr BT.

One of my favorites and very accurate, 30gr of RL7 and any 52gr match bullet. Thanks Sea Fire!

Every 22/250 I've owned (Browning, Remington, Ruger, Weatherby, Winchester) have ALL liked 35 - 35.5 gr IMR 4064 w/ Sierra 52 gr HPBT. Not always the fastest (but certainly fast enough - 3,500+), but accurate and easy on the brass. Terry

My favorite recipe is the same: 35 gr IMR4064 with the Sierra. Works well. I've only loaded for a couple of 22-250s and neither was picky.

I would.... but I'll give you a Hint.... Its called Benchmark....

I will 2nd that. Imr 4064 and a 50gr nbt is the perfect recipe in my 788

I shot many pounds of 4064 through my .22-250s and 55 g. Sierra HPBTs.. But I found H4895 was easier to measure and gave me better accuracy.. Also faster.. This was in several .22-250's..

4064 is never a wrong answer at the reload bench if we are talking a rifle...bigger than a 222 Rem.

I use 8208 XBR in my .22/250.

When I bought my first 22-250 and acquired some 52 grain bullets, I wondered what Ken Waters said about it. H-414. Shot my up my supply and Hodgdon discontinued it, now use W 760.

I settled on a slow (33gr) H4895 load with 52 gr bergers. Verified a few times, it hasn’t shot above .6”. Also shot loads with 50gr nosler BT and Varget. Biggest group with those was .71” and the majority of the rest under .6”. Settled on a 35.5 gr load for those at roughly 1/2” groups. All were only 3 shot group load development other than the final 5 shot groups before loading enough for this winter…and yes I’m aware most say 3 shot groups don’t matter, but during a component shortage that’s all I’m doing for a coyote loads. Either way I am happy with that for a 46 year old rifle! Thanks again for all the info!

Have you had a chance to chrono your load?

I have not. I’m going to assume that it is pretty dang slow. I’m going to guess right around 3500-3550. I will get the Labradar out the next time it cools down and see what it is doing.

Finally got a chance to chrono the load. 4 shot average was 3523. Pretty slow but don’t want to be too hard on the 788 bolt so I’m fine with it. I’m sure it will kill coyotes.

ya know, I am not a fan of H4895 at all... however I will concede the most accurate load with 52 grain bullets in a 22.250 ( of the 5 different ones I own), is exactly the load you post. 32.5 to 33 grains of H4895.. same with 53 and 55 grain bullets, and it doesn't matter the brand of bullet.... unless its some foreign POS bullet.

I bought a Weatherby vanguard 22-250 from a member here for building my niece a deer rifle. While I wait on parts I put a scope on it just to see what it would do. I threw that 33 gr load in it and shot 2 3 shot groups. Both groups were right at 3/8”. Seems like it is a decent load. Just for fun I will try it out of my prairie doggin 22-250 once the barrel gets here.

H4895 or IMR4064 and that wonderful wide mouthed hp 52gr Speer made. Superb accuracy, avg MV was 3600 fps. Have my eyes on a pristine 788/22-250 as we speak.

I have a Tikka Varmint in 22/250 on the way this week. I've got plenty of XBR8208 on hand so that's going to be the powder of choice. I have 50gn Vmax, 55gn Vmax 55gn Sierra BTHP and some 52gn Sierra match. I may try some 62gn Sierra's if I can find some, but components here in Australian are probably worse that in the US.

8208 has become a very reliable powder for me. It’s all I run in 17 Remington and it is starting to edge out benchmark in my 204s. Can’t imagine it would disappoint you in 22-250

Thanks Shelton, I have about 4 pounds of that powder and use it in my 6BR with great success. Over Christmas all our ranges have been closed. In any case the rifle only arrived just before Santa came by. I've loaded some Hornady brass with 55gn Vmax and 55gn Hornady spire points. Starting at 33gn and working up to 35gn. I'm heading for the range this coming week. I'll let you know how it goes.
I called every gun shop I could before the rifle arrived and managed to scrape up 300 Sierra 52gn BTHP and another 300 Sierra match bullets.

AA2700 burning rate close to IMR 4350 and 2700 is one of the coolest burning powders made.

Win 760

H380

H4895, IMR 4895, IMR 4064, and Varget all perform well, burn hot, real hot!

If you are not hunting in sub zero weather, heed my advise.

34.0-34.5g of H4895 with a 52g Sierra with a Federal 210, bullet within .005 of the lands, expect all bullets to touch in a bedded, freefloated rifle with good glass

8208 with 50g Sierra and Ballistic tips is around 3800 in my rifle at the accuracy node, primers brand does make a difference!

Exactly what I’ve done. Hasbeen

Isn't W 760 & H 414 the same?

I believe it is. It seems to be the ball equivalent of IMR 4350. Just like the old H450 was to H 4831.
Hasbeen

I've been loading for 22-250 for over 35 years and IMR3031 is my go to powder. Recently got a different rifle and decided to try some other powders as it's a 16" twist, didn't know that when I bought it. Got a few loads to shoot decent and was really focusing on lighter bullets. Decided to shoot some of my old reloads with 3031 and 52gr Sierra hp's, its a hammer. No more load work up on 22-250 for me.

W760 and H380 both work exceptionally well.

IN Australia a lot of the powders you blokes can get just aren't available. Some of Hogdens powders are made here, but supplies of Alliant, IMR, Winchester ball powders etc are both expensive and not always available. So we go with what we have, and don't do too badly.
H4831sc,Varget, 8208, 4895 ,H4350 are all made here. There's probably some others but I forgot 'em.
JD

Varget, varget and varget

Found a great load with the 52s using h4895. Also ran some 50 gr NBT using varget and it did not disappoint. After I get done coyote hunting for the year I plan to try the 52s with varget as well. Thanks!

Thanks John, I may be traveling through your neck of the woods to pick up a new 22-250. How much benchmark are you going to sell me? ha ha. I'll be running lighter bullets (40's through 60gr maybe) because of the twist rate. Sweet little model 70 xtr fwt though. Couldn't pass up the deal I got on it..

I shot out a lot of 22/250's on P dogs, chucks, and jack rabbits, 220 Swifts also.

Accurate Arms 2700 has one of the coolest burning heat indexes of powder made on the market. We use this powder in 22/250,AI, 243, and AI. Throats last MUCH longer than IMR 4064, VARGET, H4895 which are very, very hot burning powders.

Winchester 760 is another powder that is cooler burning but not quite as cool burning as the AA2700.

38-39g of AA2700 or Win 760 in the 22/250 is money in the bank when it comes to accuracy and speed.

In these troubled times, you have to use what powder you can find.

TAC