Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles New 22-250, looking for a place to start.

Hello folks,

I recently purchased my first predator rifle. It's a Ruger M77 Hawkeye All-weather in .22-250. I only had a few weeks with it before I deployed so I've only put factory ammo through it so far. I've tried Winchester premium ammo with 35 gr. screamers at an advertised 4350 fps, some Federal premium stuff with 55gr. bullets and a box of Hornady Superformance with 5o gr. VMAX bullets. It seems to like the Hornadys best in terms of accuracy.

Now that I'm deployed, I have all the time in the world to research potential loads and start collecting components so I'm ready to start loading when I get home. The rifle will be used for targeting, and for predator hunting everything from relatively small foxes to Wolves that occasionally tip the scales at 200+ lbs. I might consider using it for blacktail deer with the right bullets too, pending a check to see if .22 caliber rifles are legal for deer in AK.

What I'm looking for is suggestions for the best powders, primers and bullets for the 22-250 from those of you who have experience with the cartridge. I'll be re-using my factory brass for now, but I'll likely invest in some quality brass for fine-tuning once I come up with some loads that work well with the factory stuff.

Thanks, and happy shooting!

Matt,

I shoot a lot of 22.250...although I have a bad reputation for being old school, and none conventional in today's trendy circles, I can share with ya some stuff to contemplate while you are over there fixing trucks or kicking back...

I've got multiple ones, from long barrels ( 28 inches) to one with a 1 in 7 twist for shooting 75 to 90 grain match bullets...

right now I am playing with several of those 35 grain lead free bullets, both Noslers and Hornadys....I can report the Hornady is surprisingly the more accurate of the two...I haven't chronographed them yet, but I know I am running at faster than that 4250 to 4300 fps range....

of course I also slow them down to 22 Mag speeds at times if that is all I need out of it, which also saves on barrel wear..

the powders I use, most 'experts' of the current tabs will tell you is too fast for use in the 22.250.. but it is accurate as heck and gives up little with bullets under 60 grains to other powders, and will definitely BEAT max velocity with the real light 30 to 40 grain bullets...

in the long run, the nice thing is, a 22.250 can be a pretty flexible and not very picky cartridge to play with...

for blacktail, a 63 grain Sierra SMP at 3500 fps MV or a 70 grain Speer SMP at 3350 fps out of a 22.250 can definitely pull the rug out from under the feet of any sized one that ever walked...and that is do'able with a barrel with a one in 12 or 14 twist...

Sounds like a pretty versatile cartridge. The Ruger has a 1 in 14 twist. It seems to like bullets in the 50 grain weight class. I'm looking forward to trying some heavier options when I get started handloading for it.

H-380 is a perrenial favorite in the .22-250 and with that rifle and twist combo, its hard to go wrong with anything you like in the 50-55 gr. bullet weight range....

Matt,


For powders I have had good luck with H-380,H-4895,Varget,IMR82008XBR and Ramshot Biggame.

Your factory fired brass is just fine. I usually use Remington or Winchester due to price and availability.I'm kinda lazy so I use Winchester primers for everything.With a 1-14 twist for deer I would look at the Winchester 64gr PowerPoint or a Barnes 50gr TSX.

53 gr TSX works good out of a Ruger for deer....

Thanks gents, half the fun will be ordering the components and knowing they will be waiting for me when I get home. I give myself an "allowance" every month to spend on shooting related supplies. That's the nice thing about being deployed - the components tend to stack up since I'm not home to use them, so I get to spend a lot of time loading and shooting for the first two or three months after I get home.

ingwe - That's a very nice looking buck!!

I just started using 8208XBR with 50gr V-max and have been really happy with the combo. I switched from H380 because it was temp sensitive. T.S.

wanna see fireworks from the naythesayers?

I use Rl 7 in mine for bullet weights from 60 grains and down...

most accurate powder I have tried... but honorable mention goes to IMR 3031, IMR 4895... and for new powders... AR COMP from Alliant...

Hmm.... Interesting. I still have about a pound and a half of RL7 left from my .450 Marlin that I no longer have. Where did you find the load data for that?

50 TNT add powder of choice (H4895, R15, Varget are some of my favs) and you're Golden.

If, you wish to use it for big game add a 53 TSX or a 63 Sierra and rock on.

Or you could just use the 55 Horn w/c for all that moves and forget the 2 bullet notion.

Dober

been using it for years... but data originally came from the Lyman reload manual # 47... it is also listed with all bullet weights up to 63 grains in Sierra's # 4 and 5 manuals...

anything 50 thru 60 grains, I just use a load of 30 grains.. nice round figure and easy to remember...

for 35 and 40 grainers, I use a little more than that...

Mine shoots 40gr V-Maxes great with Ramshot TAC... anyone else mess around with TAC?

Besides the powders mentioned, try AA 2230 and IMR 4064.

For other bullets, try the 52 gr. Speer HP and Sierra 40 gr. HP. All the Sierra bullet weights shoot well in my 1x12 twist; your 1x14 may max out accuracy-wise with the 60 gr. versions.

Thanks for your service; my nephew was in Afghanistan with the Marines.

55gr VMax with IMR4064 works best in mine. Thank you for your service!!

So far I've been using 50 gr Ballistic Tips adn V-Maxs over Ramshot Big Game. I used to use H-414 with those bullets. Accuracy and velocity with Big Game has been excellent, and it measures like water.

Deployments are good on the savings account. Stay alert and take care.

Hard to beat 3915 fps in a 22-250. 50 Gr bullet with Benchmark the load is on the Hodgdon website. It's as accurate as fast in my gun YMMV.

I have been working with Hornady 55 grain V-Max and Varget powder, Winchester large rifle primers and Winchester brass out of an old Remington 788. Sure works well for the gun.

Thanks for your service

I just also bought an a-bolt 22.250. I'm excited to get it set up for deer season next year here in Alabama.


I appreciate your service soldier!!

Enjoy your new rifle.