I have a 250 Savage coming my way and I am wondering what bullets others have used and liked in their rifle. This one is a bolt with a 1-10 twist. Have most of you stayed with bullets which are 100 grains and under or have you tried the heavier ones too?

100 gr NPT, 100 yards om the bottom, 85 BT on the top

With a 1/10 twist, we have options, 87 and over for deer, under that for varmints. Truth be told tho, I shoot more 110`s and above.

Not much help here as my two favorite bullets have been discontinued - the Nosler 100grain solid base boattail and the Hornady 100 spire point. That said hard to beat the 100 grain Nosler Partition as an all around bullet in the .250.

PennDog

Very accurate...what type of rifle are you shooting?

Do you find the heavier bullets expand adequately with the reduced horsepower of the 250?

I would love to find some, but it seems they are out of stock everywhere.

Current Favorite is the 100 gr Sierra pro hunter because I have about 300 hundred left. The ones we have recovered from deer have all weighed about 60 grains. Broadsides , even at a couple of hundred yards, exit unless both shoulders are hit solid. Over the last 30 some years the wife has “ field tested” Sierra pro hunter, Speer hot cor , and Hornady interlock on deer and there is no noticeable difference. Dad used a 257 Roberts for about 15 years and I jumped on the 250 Savage bandwagon about ten years ago. All velocities were between 2750 and 2900 FPS. Just seems to be a good speed range for cup and core bullets. Which one we used doesn’t seem to make any difference in performance on game. Accuracy may vary a bit , but, haven’t really gone crazy trying to prove one bullet is better than another. We are not long range shooters and the 250 isn’t a long range wonder, so, it works out!

Awesome! It sounds like any cup and core will work within this velocity window. Now, if I can just find some

Rem 700ADL with a new barrel.

Over the last 30+ years my family members have 19 (1-shot) white tail kills up to 210 yards with the Nosler 100-grain Ballistic Tip with muzzle velocity of app 2850. All were body shots, with most dropped on the spot but none ran more than 15 yards. A good friend has had similar results with the 100-grain Partition.

75gr V-max at 32-3400fps make an awesome groundhog rifle, and 100gr Hornadys or NBTs do the trick on deer. The 87gr Hot-core from my 1:14 99 Savage is pure poison on deer, as well.

I am kind of partial to Nosler bullets on big game. I used a bunch of 120 grain NBT in a 7mm-08 and 280 early in my hunting. Good to know they work work in 25 cal too. How big are your deer in SC?

Yeah... I would love to smack a groundhog with a 75 grain Vmax in this rifle.

If the 100 Partition shoots well (and it usually will even in a 1-14 twist barrel), it works great on game--even elk.

But my favorite deer bullet in the .250 is the 100-grain Hot-Cor. Generally shoots well in1-14 twist barrels, and kills very well. If it won't shoot, the 87 Hot-Cor will.

Thank you, Mule Deer. I will keep an eye out for the Speer bullets as well. Good to know about the 100 grain Partition for elk too.

Get some of those cheap 115 grain Partition blems from SPS. I’ll bet they’d zip along fast enough to kill like crazy. Certainly should equal or exceed the old 117 grain Roberts load, and that one has killed a bunch of stuff. Still does in my family. To be fair, our shots are not usually at long range, so velocity has not dropped much.

100 Sierra ProHunter and H4895. Very accurate, and excellent for whitetail deer.

The 100gn Hornady Interlock is my faviourite bullet in my Ruger Ultralight 20 inch barrel with 1:10 twist. As everyone knows that bullet is discontinued but i have 11 or 12 boxes that I squirreled away. The 100gn Ballistic Tip was too hard in my rifle as velocity at 2772 fps in the 20 inch barrel. The Hornady seems to drop pigs a lot quicker where they ran aways with the Nosler bullet. Bullets of 100gn are the only weight I have ever loaded in mine.

I use the 100gr Hornady as well. They are discontinued but I have a good supply. DD care to share your load for the NPT?

Yes, I`ve not had a problem killing deer with the "heavies". You are handloading, and with a bolt gun should be able to get close to 2750-2800fps with the Sierra 117`s. As with any cartridge/rifle, shot placement is key.

Good to know. I once had a 257 Roberts and the only bullet I loaded in it was the 115 grain NBT. I shot a medium sized doe with it and she ran like she wasn't hit and made it 250 yards across a field before she finally started to stumble. I was a bit underwhelmed with that sample of one.

87 grain HotCor in a 1-14" ROT or 1-10" ROT - enough said for me.

I suspect my 99 somehow got out of the factory with a slightly slower than 1/14 twist, only bullet it will group is the stubby little Sierra 90 grain HPBT.

That does not surprise me that you found some accuracy with the Sierra 90 gr HPBT. If I have a 25 caliber showing accuracy issues, I load up the Sierras and if they don't group, then I look for problems with the rifle.

this is my experience also. But I'll add one more, that I like even better than the 100 gr. above for hunting in the bush for big northern deer at moderate ranges, say 200 yds and closer. The Hornady 117gr. RN. Loaded to 2700 fps or so in a strong bolt action it's been a completely reliable killer for me, from all angles. Accurate, expands well, penetrates like crazy.

I once owned an older .250 99 that would NOT shoot any of the usual 100-grain bullets worth a hoot, even though I live at 4000 feet above sea level, including the 100-grain Hornady Interlock and Speer Hot-Cor.

Finally I measured the twist with a cleaning rod, and it turned out to be 1-15. This sort of variation wasn't all that unusual back when most rifle manufacturers used sine-bar cut-rifling machines, which were adjustable for twist. So I tried the 87-grain Hot-Cor, and all of a sudden the rifle shot 1" groups.

I rebarrelled this Rem700 to 250 sav in Sept 2020 and shot a deer in Oct 2020 with 100 gr nos bal tip


I rebarrelled this Sav 12 fvss to 250 sav in Sept 2017 and shot a group in Oct 2017 with 100 gr nos bal tip


I rebarrelled this Sav 99 to 250 sav in 2019 and shot 115 gr Nos Bal tips and 100 gr nos bal tips

I see a bit of a pattern there.

As I mentioned in my post above I found the 100gn Ballistic Tip quite hard in my .250. Velocity is 2772 fps (20 inch brl) and the bullets are from about 20 years ago. I bought a heap back then as they were very cheap and still have some left. My load is 39gn H4350 and that was the max charge but I see the data now lists 40.5gn H4350. Maybe a bit more velocity would help the 100gn Ballistic Tips to open up more? But the 100gn Hornadys shoot into an inch or less so no real need to go back to the Noslers. The 100gn Ball. Tips are good killers in the faster .257 Roberts with an extra 350 fps.

The 250 Savage is also called the 250-3,000. It was purported to be the first commercial cartridge to break the 3,000 fps barrier. This was with 85gr bullets. I would think that the twist rate was selected to accommodate these bullets, so that would be the best place to start. If your gun also shoots the 100gr bullets well, that's icing on the cake.

The OP clearly stated his rifle has a 10" twist which is not the original twist of 14" which went with the 87 grain bullets hitting 3000 fps.

I get the 250 is a classic cartridge but obviously much has changed since it’s introduction. While 87-100 grain bullets have done a lot of work, I don’t get the resistance to using modern bullets, powder, and twist rates to get a bit more from it.

What a 115 or 130 grain bullet has to offer, it’s worth may be dependent on what the shooter is trying to achieve, it seems to me to have a place.

A light medium bore that can launch bullets from 75-130 grains at a decent clip with modest recoil and powder charges seems to offer a lot. Isn’t that why the Creedmoor became so popular?

FYI - I signed up for product notifications from Midway USA for the Speer 87 grain Hot Core and they notified me today that it had been discontinued ☹

I stocked up on the Barnes 80 Gr TTSX and love them in 250, 250AI, 257 Rbts. Also in the 25-204.

They shoot to same POI as the 75 VMAX in a 257 Rbts Montana.

Discontinued by Speer as a product, or by Midway as a stocking item.

I used 35 grains of H4895 pushing the Game King version on a number of pigs. Based on the results I'll have no problem popping deer with them.

I called Speer and they said it was not been discontinued.

Excellent, my rifle and I like that bullet.

That's good news. We'll need to find a new outlet for it

After reading this thread yesterday, I checked the Speer website. Like many other bullets, they are temporarily unavailable. I want some too!

100g NBT shot well in my 700 classic. And that 700 had a horribly pitted barrel when I received it.

Worked for the two deer I shot with it.

I had built a 250-3000 on a Sav bolt and it doted on 100gr Partition, 117 RN's and 75gr HP's(for coyotes, not fur friendly). I traded it to a fellow that needed a deer rifle for his daughter. So when a deer hunt was coming up in 2005 I decided to build a modern version of the 250 and built a 25-204, I was looking seriously at the 257 Kimber when 204 brass was released and realized the the 204 brass had already done all all the forming work to make a 257 Kimber clone brass. With velocities very close to the 250 Sav. it has become my favorite deer rifle. Out of a 21" barrel 100gr NPT at 2800+ fps, 85gr NBT 3000fps and 75gr V-max at 3150 fps. I have a good stock of 257 X-bullets but haven't shot them at anything other than paper.

The 100gr NPT is my favorite for deer as they can run big where I hunt. If I every get an antelope tag it will be the 85gr NBT.

2005 deer, my biggest with the 25-204

A lot of logic there. I don't resist "modern" bullets in the .250-3000, I simply have no use for long/heavy VLD's in the two .250's I have. For me, 200 yards is a long shot, 300 yards virtually unheard of, so the old tried and true 87 Speers work just fine and are way cheaper. I'm as loony as anyone else when it comes to rifle experimentation, but I have a pile of other platforms to mess with in that regard and view the .250's I own as companionable deer rifles, comfortably secure for that purpose with old proven bullet technology.

I'm down to my last four boxes of 87 Speers, I guess I better add them to my "be on the lookout" list in the near future.

The 100gr. Winchester Silvertips worked great my son's 250-3000

For the 250-3000 cartridge my go to powder is H4895. There is some IMR4895 on the shelf but the groups just aren't as tight or my aim is getting lousier with age. There is a sweet spot around 34-35 grains in both powders with a number of bullets and load combinations.

For bullets there is a stock pile of Sierra 90gr Blitzkings and 90 gr Gamekings which print to the same point of aim with my Savage Model 14 American Classic. These bullets shoot well out of my Savage lever guns and Model 1920/26s too. The Sierra bullets proved the most accurate.

The Hornady 75 gr V-Max printed well at the range and were quite accurate and effective on varmints. Remington Core-Lokts shoot close to MOA.

Played with Barnes TSX and TTSX 85 gr and 100 gr bullets with good results but, I'm still having a challenge finding a monolithic lead free bullet for the older 14" twist rifles. There are 150 or so rounds of Barnes 75 gr XFB in reserve but then again the pressures created by the solids may be too high for century old rifles, and I haven't found an accurate load at this time.

So for most 250-3000 rifles in my collection of 250s it's H4895 and 90gr Sierra's of one ilk or another.

For the last year or so I have been using Hornady 117gr. RN with 41 gr. of H4831sc in my Ruger M77. I haven't taken a deer with it, but it works great on hogs.

Deer run big where I hunt too, but I found the Speer 87 gr HotCor can handle them.

Is that 90gr Sierra a HPBT and if so are you using it on deer?

I've used it to hunt deer with several .25 calibers.....it's a very good bullet for deer in all my quarter bores but never used it in a .250 savage.

The Sierras are a Gameking:

https://www.sierrabullets.com/product-tag/gameking/?filter_diameter=0-257&query_type_diameter=or

But no, I have never used these 90 grainers on deer. Varmints - ground hog, fox, coyote...

Give CFE-223 a whirl with 87's. Astounding in my rifles.

100 grain Partition. No need for anything else