Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 250 Savage the Darling of the Campfire?

For Decades I lusted for a Savage M-1920, Never found one. Saw just one chambered for 30-06 here in CT and it was gone before I could go get my checkbook. So If the chance ever comes, I am going to have Mel Forbes build me a NULA Model 20 so chambered. A modern version of the 1920. For a number of years I had a 99 and killed every deer I ever shot with it. Think about it a 100 hornaday SP is just about perfect, at the 2800 fps you get from the 250. And just about no recoil or muzzle blast. You could do a whole lot worst than going with a 250-3000 most deer hunting applications.

I lusted and looked for a 250 bolt gun I could afford for years. They're so scarce because people who have them never give them up. (There's a non-subtle hint in that, you know.) Finally gave up and had a 25-308 built. The 25-308 almost exactly duplicates the 250 AI in every way - but with easy-to find brass.

It is simply a delight to shoot, whether at original 250 speeds or juiced a bit to AI numbers. Accurate with almost any powder and bullet combination, low recoil, mild blast, and it just flat kills things.

Are there bigger, meaner, louder .25-cal rounds? Of course. Does bigger always mean better? Of course not.

Rocky,

The .250 AI and .25/.308 just about match the case capacity of the .257 Roberts--which also fits in a short action. It's pretty easy to find brass for the .257, or at least that's what I've heard....

I always thought that just the name of the cartidge sounded
cool. I dont one now, but have owned a two Savage 110s,
an FN Mauser Supreme, and a Remington 700 Classic.

Have a Ruger ultra light in .250, looking for another for the other grandaughter. Sure are hard to find.

There's ALWAYS bigger and badder of anything....but there's a saying "it's not how big it is, but how you use it"

All this ..."ONLY 2800 fps....blah blah blah" meanwhile my former miniscule 6BR using a mere 28.5gr of powder under a 105gr dropped my furthest deer....right at 400 yds.

How much is ....ENOUGH? It's not how fast or KO, or Ft. lbs. - it's Shot placement with a good bullet thru vitals.

Like Scott says headstamps don't matter and I can't recall any animal I ever killed having a Chrony clocking incoming rounds to decide if they drop after impact.

LOTS of nice rounds, all have a niche, a 250 is like a 6BR but there is nothing to worry about feeding. Is it 'better' than a 243 or another round?

Does it NEED to be any 'better?' should be the question.

I'd bet 80-90% of deer are killed under 200 yds a Deuce or 223 w/right bullet in the right spot will handle those chores.

Nope, a 250 won't impress w/ballistics nor Chrony worshippers, but game won't argue when properly hit

250s should be more abundantly used IMHO as they do a great job at a minimum of blast and recoil - both which are counterproductive to the most important part of the killing equation - shot placement.

If one's 'ego' requires magnum on your bbl and headstamp, feel free - as they all work....when the pilot does his/her job.

JB is correct, as Rocky, a Bob as the 25 Souper offer the same and then some, but the 250 is not 'impotent' - lest anyone think so stand behind said target

The difference isn't great, for sure, JB. I can't load to pressures that would allow my 25-308 to match the Bob because my Rem 788's rear lugs allow for too much action stretch if I lean on the powder measure. I can get 3400 fps from a 75-gr -- 3450 if I don't care about case life. That's a good 100-150 fps behind even standard-pressure Roberts loads. I load heavier bullets to regular 250 Savage speeds, because that's plenty and the lower pressure babies my rifle.

I had the chamber neck cut so I can form 25-308 directly from Winchester 308 or Rem 7-08 cases just by sizing. And now there are 260s (which came about after I'd built my 25-308). So brass is abundant no matter how we look at it.

'Sides, anybody can have a Roberts. I'm the only kid on my block to have a 25-308!

I have a 250 Savage in a left hand NULA.

Easy to load and shoot, and very accurate and effective.

It's a sweetie.

Steve

A little trip down memory lane, Bob Milek used the tidy little 250 Savage, out of the Remington XP100 pistol, with great effectiveness on lots of mule deer, etc.
Seems to be another of the modest rounds that time and time again proves itself to be a great hunting round.

The 250-3000 is a nice cartridge, but pretty limited if you don't load your own, since the only U.S. factory ammo options are the 100 grain loads from Remington and Winchester/Olin. For the average guy, the 243 is clearly more practical, but for the "Rifle Looney", the 250-3000 has a nostalgic feel to it that makes it different/special.

Other than in the Savage 99, the 250-3000 has never been widely chambered, either in action types or manufacturers. Nobody ever cataloged semi-auto or pump guns in 250-3000. Lots of different manufacturers cataloged the 250-3000 in bolt guns, but other than the Ruger 77, they generally disappeared before too long. Pre-'64 Winchester 70s in 250-3000 are rare. Remington only chambered the 700 in 250-3000 as a 1-year Classic. Only Ruger has embraced the 250-3000 over an extended period, but not continuously. Savage has also been in and out of the 250-3000 business with the 110 series.

The 250-3000 was designed almost 100 years ago, introduced in 1915, and was a great match for the 99 and 1920. The 1920 failed to capture the public's interest, so it was superseded by the 40/45 Super Sporters that were chambered for the 2 most popular cartridges of their day, the 30-30 and 30-06, in addition to the 250-3000 and 300 Savage. Even with the advantage of being chambered for the 30-30 and 30-06, the 40/45 Super Sporters were never very popular and many people, even "Rifle Looneys", have never seen or owned 1. Only the Savage 99 was continuously chambered for the 250-3000 from 1915 thru 1961/62, with time out for WW1 and WW2, and again from 1970/71 thru 1981/82.

Regarding the Ruger #1, from a practical POV, I can't think of a rifle less optimally suited for the 250-3000. Why chamber a single shot falling block rifle without COAL limitations for a short cartridge?

JEff

PS - I think that in bolt guns, the nicest 250-3000s have been the Savage 1920, not the 20/26, the Ruger 77RL & 77RSI, and the 1986 Winchester/USRA 70 Lightweight Carbine. The Winchester/USRA 70 even looks like a current version of the Savage 1920 if you swap the barreled action into a 70 FWT stock. A sweet little rifle that is light to carry, a dream to shoot, and has all the right curves in all the right places.

FWIW, the 257 Roberts will fit and feed through the staggered box magazines of the 99C and 99CD, although not as a factory specs option.

JEff

Regarding the 25-284, it is and remains a great .257" bore cartridge, even if nobody is banging the drum for it. No more a "fad" than it ever was, just not a cartridge that will ever be commercialized, like a lot of other wildcats and cartridges that have been superseded by newer cartridges that fill the same niche and have elbowed out the older cartridges that are their performance equals.

JEff

I have a .250-3000 in a Sav Mod 99 that was made in 1919 and has very nice wood. In my opinion it is a much better deer/black bear cartridge than the .24 cals and it was proven in Canada and the north country years before the .257 Roberts or WBY. Mahap the best ladies/child big game cartridge.

I think you need a Barrett 50 BMG, myself. That is way mo' betta than your ho-hum 9.3x62... or anything else in your gun cabinet, for that matter.

I'd love a nice lightweight bolt gun chambered for the little 250 Sav. I have a 6mm-250 that does very nicely even though it isn't a .243 Win. After having chrono'd loads through it next to my buddy's .243 Win, I can't imagine an animal that'd know the difference between the two.

Of course I don't come from the "more is always better" school of thought, and as others have stated the 250-3000 is "just enough" not only for killin' but also to make the practice a whole lotta fun!

Every year, I bend the ears of the reps at Brownchester, Ruger and Savage to come out with a downsized youth/lady/small people rifle in 250 Savage. To date, only Ruger and Savage have shown any interest whatever, and that only verbal -- probably to get rid of me. They all repeat that "no interest and no ammo" line but it's a chicken/egg deal: if there were rifles, both ammo and interest would blossom.

I still firmly believe that a Browning MicroHunter 250 would be an ideal rifle, as would any similar rifle from another maker. The few rifles that have been chambered in it sold out immediately, and very few of them show up in used racks. That's the best evidence that strong interest does exist.

I got into reloading when I was 12, 'cause I couldn't buy factory ammo that suited my needs for the 219 Zipper, 250-3000, 7x57, and 30-40 Krag rifles that I wanted to shoot. My friends with 222s, 22-250s, 243s, 30-30s, and 30-06s didn't share that problem and, probably because of the easy availability of factory ammo, never became reloaders or "Rifle Looneys".

The "Chicken/egg" or "Egg/chicken" thing has killed many a good cartridge. If you can't buy either, or both, in a high volume retail outlet, the chances of reaching a self-sustaining critical mass of enough rifles in circulation to sell enough factory ammo is slim. See the 260 as a prime example.

JEff

A #1A is a handy, compact rifle, yet still offers a 22" tube. It's not on my "buy" list yet, but lots of folks seem excited to get one. You can of course do anything you want with bullet weight or seating, as long as the round will chamber. Last, if one is inclined to load warmer than factory, it's better in a #1 than a fine old Savage.

When I worked for a hardware store/gun shop, I heard many customers say about how accurate their .250 Savages were. I thought how accurate would a 40XB Rangemaster be in that caliber. I wasn't disappointed!

I have one too...

R R - Yes, there's a statement made when people don't turn loose of a gun/caliber. Also seen in the Rem M 6 270 w. When I was hitting every gun show from Memphis - Ft Worth - Tulsa, the only ones I saw were 1.FEW 2. Poor Condition.

Back to this thread (250 Savage); in 39 yrs. of deer hunting from Ark,La, Miss, & Alabama, I've ONLY SEEN 2 used by deer hunters. One was Savage 99 the other Savage M20. That says volumes to me.

I like, appreciate, & love some of the RIFLES mentioned in this thread. The best that I can say for the cartridge is; I never had a desire to own one. HO HUM ! !