Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .250-3000 Reloading

That may or may not be true, as I've found that most of my short action bolts will handle cartridges with an OAL significantly more than the SAAMI specs. Load it to the lands works just fine with these guns. The 250-3000 and 300 Savage cartridges were built for the Savage 99 receiver, and I've never owned a Savage 99 that I could load the bullets close to the lands or significantly over the specs and have it load into the magazine.



Again, your opinion which is backed by.. umm.. nothing. Please quote ANY source which says there's no difference in pressures between different brands of primers. Point of impact may not change enough to be noticed, but one should NEVER assume that pressures won't change for the worse. Especially if one is brand new to reloading.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/newsletters/July_2011.html

Your "logic" is laughable, to say the least. How would any of your "logic" differ from a bolt gun with a long throat?

Again, your half-baked "opinion" is back by, um, quoting someone else. Please quote some actual experience, dumbass.

You're one of the typically dickheaded, self-important [bleep] whose expertise comes primarily from your ability to access and post on the internet vice any real or tangible experience in any particular area. If you want to know how to load the .250-3000, you just let me know, little man.

vkeksm, just follow the manuals and the advice of people you trust on this forum and you'll do fine.

I can provide beaucoup actual, personal experience reloading the .250-3000 in both 99s and bolt guns. Can you, Rory? All I've ever seen you do is regurgitate what you've read somewhere.

Here, try this on for size, [bleep]:

100 grain Hornady SP over 33.5 grains RL-15 in R-P brass, WLR primer, seated to an OAL of 2.515" with an average velocity of 2809 FPS and a five-shot group measuring 0.861" at 100 yards with an ambient temperature of 80 Deg F from my 1941-vintage 99EG with Lyman 56S.

100 grain Hornady SP over 33.5 grains RL-15 in W-W brass, Remington 9-1/2 primer, seated to an OAL of 2.515" with an average velocity of 2764 FPS and a five-shot group measuring 0.743" at 100 yards with an ambient temperature of 78 Deg F from my 1950-vintage 99EG with Stith-mounted Weaver J2.5.

100 grain Hornady SP over 34.0 grains Varget in W-W brass, Remington 9-1/2 primer, seated to an OAL of 2.515" with an average velocity of 2833 FPS and a five-shot group measuring 0.493" at 100 yards with an ambient temperature of 87 Deg F from my 24-inch Shilen-barreled Remington 700 BDL and 1 in 10" twist.

Those are the things I know, dickhead. Experience your sorry ass will never get.

Now kids ....thanks for all the info....I've been reading the manuals and am going to give it a 'shot'. Will start with the 87, 3031, and work from there. thanks again.

Disregard [bleep]...sometimes he gives good info, sometimes he gives the same BS he bitches at others for giving. The one constant factor with him is that he is an azzhole.

My fairly limited experience with my 1-14" twisted Savage 99 in .250-3000 suggests that the 87 grain hot-cor is very effective on deer/antelope sized critters. I don't have my notes handy, so I don't know the charge/powder/primer/COAL, but the bullet is well suited for the task. Assuming it's accurate in your rifle.

Good to see there are people in the world still passionate about reloading. It seems to be a lost art in my part of the world, with prior generations in my family having done it. Unfortunately, they have all passed away. . Working it out on my own with your help on the forum. Appreciate it.

I believe I have almost everything needed. A Lee Turret press, calipers, scales, dies, powder(3031, 4065), Lyman reloading manual, primers (winchester large rifle), brass (Remington), primer hole cleaner, case trimming tool. Need to pick up the Speer 87 hot-cor.

What I'm trying to sort out is matching up components - powder to bullets to primers. Still working through that in the manuals, etc. E.g., if for some reason i wanted to substitute a different 87 grain bullet for the 87 Speer hot-cor, could i do that? or i do i have to match componets for each recipe exactly. If it calls for CCI primers can I use Winchester? Can i substitute a ballistic tip bullet in place of a Spitzer? I guess this will come with time, practice, and experience, and following recipes to a "T" for now will be the way to go. Seems everyone I've known that did reloading in the past has gone to the happy hunting grounds, and took their knowledge and experience with them.

Substituting the primers and bullets isn't a huge deal if you're starting from the minimum load.

The ballistic tips -- I assume you're referring to Nosler -- are a no-go. Nosler has an admonition stating that none of their .25-caliber bullets will stabilize in any of the 1-in-14" twist .250-3000s. The 87-grain Speer and Hornady bullets do well in 1-in-14" twist 99s as do the Hornady 100-grain SPs and Winchester 100-grain SPs. (The Winchesters used to be available from Midway and Midsouth in bulk.)

In general, yes, you can swap components. But to be on the safe side, always start with a minimum load and work your way up when swapping. The first reason to do so is to watch for pressure signs showing up at a lesser powder load than it did with the other set of components, and the second reason is that you'll probably find that your sweet spot for accuracy is achieved with a different amount of powder as you use different components.

Take good notes.

Having said that, it's only true for components that are like each other. If you were doing a 300 Savage, there wouldn't be any significant difference in min/max loads for going from a 150gr Nosler Partition to a 150gr Hornady Interlock - though I'd still check each mfr's published loads to compare to each other. But if you swapped to a 150gr Barnes TTSX solid copper bullet, your min/max loads would almost surely change since the bullet dimensions are significantly different.

If you can, check the bullet and powder mfr's web sites and load data to compare to each other. Go with the lower of the two max loads.

I would watch your brass closely after firing.
I wanted a 99TD in 250-3000. The first one had a head space problem so the brass stretched lengthwise. Second one had a sloppy, out of round chamber and the brass stretched quite a lot near the web.
The third was much improved in the above issues, but it had a slow barrel.
I was able to shoot some damned small groups with open sights at 100 yds using 87 gr. hot cores. Killed a deer and antelop with those hot cores and then sold gun, dies and components.
Neat gun, but I couldn't get much past 2800 fps and I was looking for the 3000.
Some good advice above. Follow the manuals (which vary), watch for pressure signs and keep some data and notes.
jmho
Tim

Thanks for the information and the advice. Still digesting it. Stopped today at the local gunshop and they don't have a supplier that carries Speer 87 hot core. Time to go shopping online.

Teach me how to fish....when I look at the recipe on http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp, for 250-3000:
"87 GR. SPR SP" "IMR 3031" there are no "Grains" indicated for "Starting Loads" (it's blank). Only has "34 Grains" indicated under "Maximum Loads". Should I still start with less than 34 Grains, or is chart telling me that 34 grains is what should be used with this combination of bullet and powder? And by the way, the chart doesn't tell me what primer to use. Thanks in advance.

Powder companies used to only list max loads along with the disclaimer to reduce by 10% for starting loads; use 30.6 grains as your starting load. As for primer, if you attempt to print that data, the sheet states a Remington 9-1/2 primer was used.

Thanks. Just ordered 87 hot-core from midwayusa.

I don,t know how much experience you have in hand loading but as others have mentioned the 250 case will stretch in the 99 esp. with moderate or max loads. Pay attention to case length and trim as required and about a med load should be sufficient.

I use a 22-250 case in a large chambered 250 Savage 99 I own, neck it up to 7 MM then back down to .257 leaving a very small false shoulder to fire form on. Then use same case in same rifle neck sizing only. To maximize case life. If I use standard 250 brass and do not watch case set back and load strength I get case failure about 4th firing. With moderate loads not as concerned if I switch primers. I like IMR 3031 or RL 15 for powders.

I'm a beginner at reloading...so any and all advice is welcomed and appreciated.

For punching paper I always go with medium loads. First to preserve the firearm (tang cracks on Savage 99's are FAR too common), and second to allow the most reloads with the brass. The paper doesn't care if the bullet is doing 2850fps rather than 3000fps...

Good luck!

Wow, you're really a salty dog.

Ok guys. Need some more help please. Received the 87 grain HOT-COR from Midwayusa. Have new Remington brass, and IMR 3031.

The recipe calls for Remington Large Rifle 9 1/2 primers--Will my "Winchester Large Rifle Primers for Standard Rifle Loads" work okay instead?

Lyman Reloading Manual says, "Primer and firearm manufacturers have carefully worked out the nuances of primers, and the reloader need not be concerned with specific differences so long as the correct size and type primer is used."

Thanks.

Yep, I like 'em better.

fwiw
My end loading for my 99TD was
87 gr HC
WLR primer
RP brass
39 gr RL17
2800 fps.
With open sights shot under 2" at 100 yds and same poi @ 50.
Shot a whitetail and antelop with that combo.

With 32 gr of IMR 3031 I got 2750 fps.

I suggest you work up loads slowly and if the brass is starts to stretch, you have reached your max.

jmho
Tim