Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 22-250 Loads

Gentlemen,
Just returned for an afternoon at the range. Blessed with a great day to shoot. Here is what I tried today and would like to have some recommmendations to short circuit the testing.
Rem 700 Classic 22-250 shooting 55 grain Sierra's over 37g of H380. Shot right at 3380-3400 over a friends Oehler.Accuracy good. My problem is the velocity number. I can bump the H380 a little but I will soon run into room issues.
Any recommendations. Looking for an accurate load that will launch the 55 grain Sierra around 3600. Those claim are made in some research I have looked at with Varget which is 8 spots fastet on my burn chart than H380 and it works pretty well in my other 700 BDL Varminter 22-250.
Headed out in about 4 weeks to shoot some PD's. The Classic is a second gun. It is throated .080 deeper than my 700 Varminter so instead of 52 HPBT's in it I had about 300 55 grain Sierra Spitzers and want to use them up. Seated .040" off they are in the neck @ .145".
Any ideas that have worked with good accuracy and another 100 - 200 fps.

Thanks,
Dave

I have been using Big Game with the 55's and have reached 3,700fps. 3,600fps shouldn't be too tough.

CCI 200 primers and Winnie hull.


Have a blessed day,
Travis

Travis,
Thanks for the info.

Dave

Yes sir. Ramshot's site has data.

That was in a 24" tube FYI.


Travis

Hey if ya wanna get 100 to 200 fps faster, get up to starting load on the H-380! You are a grain light at 37. 38 to 41 on that bullet and powder. If ya wanna get gutsy, 40.5 and a mag primer, just dont do it on a hot day. 39-40 grs H-380 and standard primer will get you into the ballpark. Varget may get ya there but doubtful, but its still a good powder in the 250.

Swifty

Swifty,
I saw the Hodgdon reloading data after I posted. It appears there is a lot of differing data as to how much H380 to use. The overwhelming bulk of my experience is with BLC-2 in another 22-250.
Now that someone with some experience with H380 has posted I can get on with it and not worry about adding a couple of grains of powder. Thanks for the help.

Dave

H4895 has been my recent powder of choice for about 15 years..I seldom shoot 55's..mostly 50 grain vmax or blitzking..they move along about 3900fps. For us H4895 has out classed H380...others may find things different, but h380 got its name for 38 grains of it with a 55 grain in a .22-250...to me there are many b etter powders for this fine caliber...

Old school.... my most commonly used powders for the 22.250:
1. RL 7
2. IMR 4895
3. AR Comp
4. IMR 3031
5. H 322

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned IMR-4320 yet.

Gentlemen,
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I got out this morning before it got to hot. Took 5 rounds w/39.8 grains of H380 pushing the 55 Sierra Spitzer. I seated it .040" deep. 5 shot diagonal string all touching.
Also took 5 rounds with 40 grains of H380, same bullet but seated .075" deep to get a little more bullet in the neck and see what it would shoot like. Good group in fact a little tighter than the first group.
40 grains is all it wanted though. Bases of the brass burnished just a tad on the rim. Bolt didn't lift hard but I figure it ought to be backed down to 39.8 grains.
Did not chrony them but with 37 grains the gun shot 3385 over a friends Oehler. Guessing probably around 3500-3550 with 39.8 grains.
I have IMR4895, IMR4320, and H322 as well as Varget and Benchmark. I am going to give the IMR4895 a run hopefully tomorrow morning real early. The wife had me over at Lowes this evening and bought plants and is now waiting for me to look at a landscape drawing. Might not be able to get out tomorrow.

Dave

If you find them, Hornady 35 grain NTX bullets are worth a try... there are not lead, so they are longer than you think... plus they are flat shooting and you can really crank up there MV out of a 22.250...

they will also blow the crap out of a varmint.. not recommended for coyotes or anything else you might want to keep the hide from...

36.1 Varget gets me over 3600 with that bullet and 26" bbl. Max load according to Sierra book. Shoots dime size 5 shot groups.

IMR 8208 XBR might get you in the 3700 range, the new CFE 223 lists 3,800 with 55's. For me Varget shot so well I never tried the others.

+1 on the 8208 XBR, gives great speed and accuracy with 50 and 55gr pills for me and is not temperature sensitive. T.S.

Bowman,
Am going to give the 8208X a try. Seems like a few of the new powders including CFE 223 and AR Comp are really doing a good job. Sounds like it is time to try some of the new stuff.

Dave

It has done really well for me across several calibers and with its small kernel size it seems to meter better than most extruded powders. I have also noticed that it burns rather clean. T.S.

i'll second 36gr varget with 55NBT

For almost 30 years, I have been shooting 39.5 grains of H380 and a 55-grain Sierra Blitz for about 3550 to 3600 (depending on lot) with spectacular accuracy from my Ithaca sporter. I have generally used WW cases and CCI 200 primers.

Greg Perry

Thanks for the recommendations. Always good to have some more ideas and short circuit testing. Gotta try some of the 8208X. My 700 Classic likes H380 real well. Going to stick with it until I get back from the Prairie Dog shoot next month.
The Classic is my 2nd shooter. 600 rounds loaded for my heavy barrel 700. The old standby load 36.2 grains BLC-2 pushing a Moly coated 52 grain Sierra HPBT.
Looking forward to working with some new powders when we return. Will have plenty of brass.

Dave

i have great results with the old 3031. it may not get you to 3600 but close

RL-15 is my fave.