Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors .250 Sav. loads

I have a 1956 .250 Sav EG in great shape. Shooting Rem 100 gr. PSP Core Loks. I have yet to shoot any tight groups at 100 yds. Topped with a 9x scope. Are these shells producing good results for any collectors. Thoughts on better loads ??? Limited manufacturers out there for .250's

Factory ammunition has gotten better over the years but your results may differ.

Many of us SAVAGE SHOOTERS have resorted to hand-loading - reloading to get the results we're looking for in these older rifles to eliminate or at best reduce the variables in order to gain accuracy.

Not all .250s shoot MOA. What kind of groups are you actually getting?

I had an EG .250 that I couldn't get much below 2 moa.

I get around 3.5 to 4 in. groups. Not what I would expect...

If you reload, might want to try some 87gr Speer Hot Cores. Shorter, might be a stabilizing issue with the 100gr Remington length bullets.

There are as many opinions on this as there are fish in the ocean, but the fact is that many of the pre-mil 99s with a nominal 14" twist will not stabilize a bullet that long. Best bet IMHO is to switch to an 87 grain bullet.

My first suggestion is to remove the forearm and shoot it off the bench with a rest under the receiver. Lots of Savages have problems with uneven forearm pressure on the barrel.

I never shot much factory ammo in a .250 but the Winchesters did better than Remington when I did.

Therein lies your best bet for assured accuracy. The 100's are a crapshoot, and even the vaunted 100 grain CoreLoct is on the ragged edge of "maybe it'll work maybe it won't" in any given gun. The simple universal physical laws that govern this stuff can't be repudiated. Rate of twist, velocity, air temp, atmospheric pressure, humidity, elevation above sea level, etc. all have a say in the matter. You can dick around trying to make 100's work, and you may succeed, but if you have more important things to do with your life then just head straight to the 87 Speers. You won't gain a heckuva lot by using 100's over the 87's anyway.

I know the older 99's with a different twist were known to shoot the 87 gr bullets much better. Just thought the 100gr. were supposed to be better in the newer guns.

The twist didn't change to 1:10 until after the 1 million mark.

Which was 1960.

After checking the serial # again on ( savage levers site ) I found my Savage to be produced in 1950. I now need to be looking for some lighter bullets.
Any suggestions on where to buy factory suitable rounds as I don't reload..... Thanks

None of the big name manufacturers offer factory loads with lighter bullets anymore.

You'd either have to find NOS antique ammo, or find it from a botique manufacturer. BA has it in stock once in a blue moon.

https://www.buffaloarms.com/250-savage-ammo-250-3000-sava-amo250sav.html

Maybe now is the time to consider handloading......

That might depend on how many rounds you plan to shoot.

How true, but if proper new factory ammo is impossible to find (ie: they aren't making any 87 grain stuff anymore and likely won't ever), and what ammo is being made (ie: 100 grain stuff that may, or may as likely not, shoot ok in a pre-mil 99) it quickly becomes a matter of taking up handloading even if one is just an occasional shooter/hunter. The alternative is to haunt the gun shows and auction sites for old stocks of .250-3000 ammo, but you'll likely pay collector's prices for it*, and it may not work all that well anyway depending on how well it's been stored for decades. Even if a guy is rich and can afford to go that route with impunity he may well be kidding himself.

*Have you priced "vintage" ammo lately? It's all gone nuts, like everything else it seems.

You could try Hendetshots for custom loaded ammo, but it won't come cheap.

This is going to sound odd... but if you have Remington 100gr on hand that you want to shoot, you might try just filing the lead tip down a bit. Probably cut 3gr-5gr or so of weight off the bullet, but looking at a 250-3000 100gr Remington Kleanbore I think I could shorten it by 0.1".

That 0.1" might be enough to tighten up your groups.

I'd done the same thing by filing lead tips off of Nosler Partititons and watched the groups shrink tremendously.

Just a thought. Learning to reload is probably the best long term solution. Doesn't have to be an expensive start. I started with a Lee handloader, dies and scale for weighing powder. Nothing a competition shooter would want to do, but for loading up a couple boxes of ammo a month it was fine.

All true.
I do not reload. I will in year though...
I see a custom ammo niche developing.
Whether a large manufacturer, a hand loader or a custom loader, all need need brass, bullets, primer, powder, etc. which seem to be in short supply as well.

Fairly recently I went the Custom Ammo route. Found someone that did it. Paid the price. Couldn't be happier.
In parallel, I scrounged brass, bullets, dies and coerced a friend reloader nearby to assemble. Couldn't be happier.
I think I got 3 boxes of 87gr. at Savage Fest. Thanks Skidrow!
Couple more boxes on an on-line auction.

Fishing in many holes is good a strategy.

No, that's not odd at all.
What's odd is pulling 100gr bullets and installing Speer Hot Core 87gr!
I know this guy...