After much effort (hint never let anyone talk you into cutting off the angular forward guard screw on a Model 77 Ruger) and three gunsmiths I now have a nice 250 Savage that shoots 100 grain loads well. So it gets to walk with me around the mountains of Southern Arizona in search of a Coues buck.
Anyone else hunting with a similar piece this fall?

I've been carrying my '36 Mex Mauser in 250-3000. No blood yet, but it's not over 'til it's over.

I have some swampland and a bridge I'd like to discuss with you.......


Nope. Got a couple of .24 calibers though.

Happy hunting.

What did they do to make it shoot the 100's.

I have one and it has been a problem child.

All it needs is a 1:10 twist. Although, my XP-100 in .250-3000 has a 1:13 twist Hart barrel and shoots 100 BTips “okay”, not moa but the bullets are stable.

I have shot the 250-3000 a lot. 75 grain V-Max and Sierra HPs, 87 grain Speers, 90 grain Sierras, and 100 grain BTs and Partitions all shoot good groups in every rifle that I've tried them in.

Have one....shoots lights out and will NEVER be sold.

When I mentioned to gunsmith number two what I had been talked into, that is cutting off the front guard screw he told me that I must replace it to hold the action tight in the stock. So I had him install a vertical screw that solved the problem. Problem number three was a Leupold scope that would not hold zero. Once it was replaced all was well.

250 is my 2nd favorite deer cartridge after the Roberts. My Ruger M77 Tang Safe with it's 1 in 10" twist does real well with 100s, Hornady Interlock, Speer Hot Core and Nosler Ballistic Tips. My M99R Savage however only shoots the shorter Hot Core 100 decent. That 1in 14 twist does much better with the 87 grain Hot Core and so far I haven't seen it lacking on deer.

Now just load it with an 87 grain Sierra. Bang flops. Classic cartridge and classic load (87).

There is a really nice '76 model Ruger M77R with box on GB right now. Probably a decent price on the rare chambering, but more than I want to pay.

I will be using a Savage 99 in 250-3000 this year in NY State. With a 1 in 14" twist, it won't shoot 100 grain bullets, but shoots 87s and the 90 grain Sierra HPBT very well. I also have a 250 Savage rifle put together using a Savage Axis 243 as a donor action. I bought the barrel (E.R. Shaw) from Midway on a closeout. I paid $137 if memory serves. I had to buy a 22-250 magazine to make the rifle feed properly. It has a 1 in 10" twist barrel and shoots about any 25 caliber bullet. In the 250 Savage Axis I like 100 grain bullets at 3,000 fps.

Jerseyboy,

Your Savage 99 may not actually have a 1-14 twist. I've had a number older 99 .250's, and had a terrible time with one even when trying the 100-grain Speer Hot-Cor, which is the shortest 100-grain spitzer I've encountered over many years of playing with 99's. Length, not weight, is the major factor in bullet stabilization, and previous 1-14 twist 99's had all shot the Speer well.

After trying for a while, I eventually had a flash of very limited brillliance, and actually measured the rifling twist in the rifle, using the standard method of a cotton patch around a bore brush. It turned out to be 1-15, and such variations are common in older mass-produced rifles, because they were often rifled with sine-bar machines, which allow adjustment of the twist rate.

After discovering that, I tried the 87-grain Hot-Cor, which shot fine.

I have a Savage Model 20 in 250-3000 that shoots the 100gr Speer Hot Cor really well. I have taken a couple deer with that bullet and it has worked well.

Yeah, it's a very good bullet at .250 velocities. And so far Speer has kept making it!

I have recently acquired a '59 99F in 250 which is supposed to have a 1:14 twist. First two groups I shot with it, using Hornady Custom Lites 100gr factory ammo, first two shots were in same hole. Third shots were 3/8 and 5/8 out. This was at 50 yds with factory irons. Went home and measured rate of twist. It is 1:10 1/2. Go figure.

Top was shot with 85 BTs and the lower with 100 gr NP in sequence at 100 yds.




Rem 700 ADL that has been house trained.

I have about a lifetime supply of them squirreled away, just in case.

I’ve still got about 3-4 boxes of the Hornady 100 grain Interlock and now about the same number of 100 grain Hot Cores. I’ve only taken two deer with the Hot Core so far, they worked fine, but seems to be slightly softer than the Interlock in this limited sample. Both shoot great in the 10 twist Ruger

The only bullet I ever used on deer with my Ruger 77 RSI Mannlicher was the 120 gr. Speer Hotcore... in and out.

The 250 Savage is to deer rifles what the 223 is to varmint rifles... "kicks a little and kills a lot."

Don't let that rifle get away from you.

Brad,

So well said.."kicks a little and kills a lot". A prefect description of the little 250 Savage.

I have one in a Ruger K1A, but also a Roberts in the same gun. Both are SO pleasant to hunt. Both have nice lumber too.

I have 250's. One of my favorites

I've got about 11 boxes I think. I'm loading it in my Ruger Ultralight .250 Sav with 1:10 inch twist. That is a great bullet in the .250 and .257 Roberts. I used to load the 100gn Ballistic Tip in my .250 but it was too hard at 2770fps from the 20 inch barrel. The 100gn Hornady kills much better. I never took mine out for a walk this year as I had a couple of new ones to play with but I will set a goal to take a deer with my .250 next year.

Thanks Doc... found a pic of a 250 Savage kill. 120 Speer Hot Core, November 1990:

Love the 120 Hot Core. Used it for years in a 257AI. Great performer.

Thanks for the comment, John. However, after reading what you said about that 1 in 15" twist in one of your books, I carefully measured the twist on my 99F. It is truly 1 in 14". I have been shooting the 90 grain Sierra HPBT and the 87 grain Speer in the rifle, and both shoot very nicely. I guess I will have to settle for one of those.

Very nice!! I have been using the Hornady 117 gr SST in my 250 savage and have been extremely pleased the bullets performance out past 300 yards which is a bit far to be poking whitetail with a .250.... or at least i used to think so.

Your pic is great! Reminds me of the old gunsmith I used in NorCalif in the early 80's. Just a small very professional one man shop. The only person I ever trusted to do all of my trigger work. I stopped in one Saturday to pick up my 7mag. I casually asked hiim - with all you have seen and worked on, if you were to do it all over again what gun and cartridge would you choose for big game hunting. No hesitation to his answer - a Ruger RSI 250 Savage with an aimpoint red dot for hunting deer in thick areas up close and a 338-06 for everything else. The 338-06 would have a 3-9 scope. With those 2 he said he could hunting anything he wanted to to in North America forever. Your gun, circumstances, and deer reminded me of that. For some reason an RSI in 250 was always an ideal combo to me. Yeah - that was a long time ago and that RSI model was only back in the days of the tang safety. They felt so natural to shoulder and point. Thanks for posting!

The 87gr Hot-core is the way to go. Hammers deer out of my grandfather's 99 (circa 1919). Loved it so much that I got a 700 Classic and a Dakota Alpine. Soft shooting for varmints, deer, and pronghorn. As Dad said, "This gun doesn't go 'bang'. It goes 'meat'!"

Soft shooting it surely is. With as little powder as it takes to get 3000 fps with the 87 Speer out of my 700 Classic the recoil/report is extremely mild. 100 grain bullets at about 2950 fps with 35 grains of H4895 are far from teeth rattling as well.

I measured the twist in my 1918-vintage Savage Model .250-3000 (what they called the takedown rifles before name change to 99G in 1920, and they were only in .250 and in fact intro'ed the cartridge). The mark on the rod is a skinch shy of the 14" way point, call it 1-13½. It still much prefers 87 grain Speers over even short blunt 100's. Go figure. Magic, I guess.

Model 70 Ltwt carbine in .250/3000 here, the one on the right.......it is a 1-14" twist gun.

and, a Remington 7KS in .250/3000 also; that one is 1-10".

the left one in the pic was a third rifle in .250/3000, it was a pac-nor rebarreled model 7 in an MPI stock, sold that one to another campfire member who killed a real good buck with it last year.
also have a pair of 25/35ackley improved single shots that duplicate .250savage speeds with 87's...all seem to kill stuff pretty well.

Been giving them a try for a long time

Wife has used the 250 on and off for 33 years. Model 99 Made about 1955. All flat base cup and core 100 grain bullets we have tried shot fine. Knock the stuffing out of white tails also. Had e r Shaw build one for me a few years ago. Haven't shot anything but 100 grain Sierra pro hunter in it. Put one though a good sized buck last year. About 225 dressed. Passed all the way thru both front shoulder blades and exited at around 150 yards. Went about 30 feet. The lads at work make fun of our little cartridges cause everyone knows you need a magnum to hunt deer

Gorgeous wood!

I have an early Model 7 .308 that might end up as a .250. Bought it with my graduation money in 1984 and the barrel is getting tired, and I'm liking kick less and less...

Hi all
Any 25 cal is great.
A 243 is a waste of time take the barrel off use it for a tomato stake on put a real barrel on it in 25 cal you will have a better rifle.
My personal 25 is a P14 with a lightened action, timney trigger, llijla match grade barrel in a boyds stock.
My 25 is my own creation a 25/303 Epps Newton. I got told it was a waste of time by one Smith but found one to do this stuff.
End result a 25 that launches 100grain Barnes ttsx at a chronoed 3,670fps with 58 grains of superformance or a 117sst are 115 nosler combined technology at a chronoed 3,370 fps. Groups .9 inch at 200 yards.
Drops our fallow deer as if struck by lightning.

Long live the 25 caliber and to all that own one be proud and be grateful it ain't a 243

Tell us all how you really feel about the .243!

Oh my!

I don’t think he likes a 243!

In Sept 2019 I built a Sav 250 on a 1917 Sav 99 takedown action with a Bartlein barrel, with a post WWII forend.



In Sept 2017 I built a Sav 250 on a 2003 Sav FVSS 11 action, Lilja barrel


Neither rifle have killed anything. The first got beat by a 7mmRM I built, the second got beat that year by a 6.5-06 I built.
The short actions are not as good for long range.

I support this message!

I had a pre64 M70 in 250 Savage and with very careful loading I could get just over an inch groups with any 85gr bullet. I sold it for a lot of money, bought a Rem 700 classic that was like new and it shoots everything well. It really likes 100gr NBT. It's the best gun deal I've ever done. Unfortunately I'm a loony of the first order and two custom rifles have kept me from enjoying it afield. To many rifles not enough hunting time.

Nice rifles, Clark!