250 savage questions ?

[Yoda]

Is there any loading data for the 250 savage for modern bolt action rifles ? I’m assuming that the data from both Hogdon and Nosler for data for the the savage model 99, correct ? Has anyone ran the pressures up in a bolt gun ? Seems to be quite a bit of room left in the case for more powder .
I have a prefit on order for one of my Stevens model 200. Just putting together a lighter whitetail rifle.

 

[cloverleaf]

Nosler, Speer and Hornady all list Data for the 250. I havent done a whole lot of experimenting, and none beyond the Data. 38 Gr of 4350, over a 100 Gr BT seems pretty tight to me and is listed as Max for that powder. I have run that for years in my Mauser action. I also load VHT N150 by the book and 35 Gr IMR 4064 under 100gr BTs also in my Mauser which plenty hot for my rifle. I use different loads in my 99 (87 Gr Speer over 39.5 of IMR 4350 so far...) (edit) only because the 99 has a 1:14 twst rate that the 87s are supposed to stabilize better, and because I could find some Speers. I just haven =t tried anything else yet. CFE 223 is listed in the speer data for 87 and 100 gr bullets and looks really fast. There are others here who load for "THE" cartrige and for the Ackley'd version. Keep asking you may get what you are looking for. CL

PS- one of the dumber things I ever did was sell a Stevens 200 in 7mm-08. The most accurate off the shelf rifle I ever had. Keep us up to date on your build. I knew of a gunsmith who preferred the 200 trigger ( after he worked on it) over the accu-trigger. Sold mine before he had a chance. Good luck! CL

 

[Blkram]

The data in Nosler's newest handloading manual was completed in a 22" barrel and has velocities to 2950 fps for 100 gr bullets, so would think that this was performed in a bolt action. A call to the reloading techs at Nosler would probably confirm this.
The newest Hornady manual uses a 26" barreled TC single shot rifle with 100 gr bullets to 2850 fps.

If I recall correctly the Winchester 100 gr loading for factory ammo is listed for 2820 fps in the Savage Model 99 rifle...I just do not recall if that was in their 24" barreled rifle or not...others here may know for sure. This load has developed a good reputation for on-game performance over the years, and I hope that my rebarreled Winchester Model 88 will fair well with its new 22" Benchmark barrel when I get it home (may finally be finished next week!). Have found a Boyd's nutmeg laminated stock to put it in. Was told today that the Cerakoting (black) was finished this past week.
I have a good supply of 100 gr BT's for it, as well as a good supply of Winchester 100 gr ammo.
We'll see if I can get to 2950 fps with those BT's and obtain acceptable accuracy. Will be happy with any accurate load of 2800 fps or more.

I know that PO Ackley rated the AI version to be able to push a 100 gr bullet to 3200fps with IMR4350. Have not found anyone else that could verify that they achieved this velocity with this improved case. I have one, and will be working up a load with the 110 gr AB in my LH Model 700. QuickLoad suggests that I should be able to achieve 3200 fps with Re-26, and 3100 fps with IMR-4451. It remains to be seen if I will be able to achieve these velocities in my rifle's 24" King barrel.

 

[RL338]

PS- one of the dumber things I ever did was sell a Stevens 200 in 7mm-08

My 1’st rule is , never sell just buy and shoot

 

[Yoda]

Thanks for the input fellas,. The online Speer data looks like what I’ll use. I have a pound of cfe223 in my cart at midway USA. Was just looking for a bit of input from someone with hands on with this cartridge before I placed the order.
I also wanted to migrate back to the standard cup and core bullets. Those couldn’t hold their mud inside 100 yds at 25-06 volicitys.
I ordered the barrel july31st, with a 12 week lead time so I won’t get too much time to play with it before our rifle season opens on the 15th of Nov.

 

[GregoryB.]

Y’all are making me want to get my Ruger 77 RSI in 250 Savage out for a Antlerless hunt I got drawn for here in WV. I think the lightest 25 caliber bullets I have are 115 Gr BT. May have some 80gr TTSX.

 

[Blkram]

That RSI would be just about perfect for a spot and stalk hunt in your neck of the woods!

 

[cloverleaf]

An RSI would be outstanding, true. Dont make me tell my Story about the RSI /Weaver K4 for $200.00 I had to pass on 30 years ago.... dont make me do it....dont make me do it...its still too painful.... But then for a straight up hunting rifle I dont think you can do much better that a Stevens 200. in 250 Savage. 100 Gr BT's have worked really well on several antelope from 80-250+ yards for me. CL

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Y’all are making me want to get my Ruger 77 RSI in 250 Savage out for a Antlerless hunt I got drawn for here in WV. I think the lightest 25 caliber bullets I have are 115 Gr BT. May have some 80gr TTSX.

Have you tried the 115gr PT? Know a guy whose wife has one of these rifles and that's what they used. Dan.

 

[cloverleaf]

Have you tried the 115gr PT? Know a guy whose wife has one of these rifles and that's what they used. Dan.

I've always been a little leery of going that slow. One chance I had to Chrono that 38 Gr load came in just over 2800 on a hot summer day. I was so happy with that I refused to try again. I'm sure that 115 would work well. Dont recall how much velocity they need to expand. Im kinda of the old school- I want that bullet to come apart in the boiler room and stop the clock works. CL

 

[GregoryB.]

Have you tried the 115gr PT? Know a guy whose wife has one of these rifles and that's what they used. Dan.

I have not tried the 115gr PT. I figured with the velocity a NBT may be better . If I get the ceiling in my Man Cave this week I can start working on installing my loading bench and unboxing my toys.

 

[SJB358]

I have a 1976 Ruger 77 250 Savage. I haven't gotten around to really ringing it out but I had some good results with Ramshot Hunter and 115 BT's. I ran my data using QL and reformed Lapua 22-250 cases. Worked like a champ.

Cartridge : .250 Savage
Bullet : .257, 115, Nosler BalTip 25115
Useable Case Capaci: 37.730 grain H2O = 2.450 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.515 inch = 63.88 mm
Barrel Length : 22.0 inch = 558.8 mm
Powder : Ramshot Hunter

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.25% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-12.5 97 35.00 2532 1637 40488 8843 91.9 1.274
-11.3 99 35.50 2571 1688 42309 8993 92.7 1.248
-10.0 100 36.00 2610 1739 44218 9139 93.4 1.223
-08.8 102 36.50 2649 1792 46225 9280 94.1 1.198
-07.5 103 37.00 2688 1846 48334 9415 94.7 1.174
-06.3 104 37.50 2728 1900 50549 9546 95.4 1.150
-05.0 106 38.00 2767 1955 52880 9670 95.9 1.127
-03.8 107 38.50 2807 2012 55333 9788 96.5 1.104 ! Near Maximum !
-02.5 109 39.00 2846 2069 57919 9900 97.0 1.082 ! Near Maximum !
-01.3 110 39.50 2886 2127 60643 10005 97.5 1.061 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 111 40.00 2925 2185 63517 10103 97.9 1.039 ! Near Maximum !
+01.3 113 40.50 2965 2245 66553 10194 98.3 1.018 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.5 114 41.00 3005 2306 69759 10278 98.7 0.998 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+03.8 116 41.50 3045 2367 73151 10353 99.0 0.978 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+05.0 117 42.00 3084 2429 76740 10420 99.2 0.958 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.3 118 42.50 3124 2492 80547 10478 99.5 0.939 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 111 40.00 3070 2407 77388 9883 100.0 0.961 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 111 40.00 2729 1902 51427 9748 91.2 1.140


I think RL17, Big Game, etc along with the others will make great numbers in a modern 250 Savage.

artridge : .250 Savage
Bullet : .257, 100, Nosler BalTip 25100
Useable Case Capaci: 38.913 grain H2O = 2.527 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.515 inch = 63.88 mm
Barrel Length : 22.0 inch = 558.8 mm
Powder : Ramshot Big Game

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.282% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-12.8 89 34.00 2675 1589 39692 8591 94.0 1.212
-11.5 90 34.50 2715 1636 41445 8728 94.7 1.188
-10.3 92 35.00 2755 1685 43281 8859 95.3 1.165
-09.0 93 35.50 2795 1734 45204 8986 95.9 1.142
-07.7 94 36.00 2834 1784 47217 9106 96.4 1.119
-06.4 96 36.50 2874 1834 49327 9221 96.9 1.097
-05.1 97 37.00 2914 1886 51541 9331 97.4 1.076
-03.8 98 37.50 2954 1938 53861 9433 97.9 1.055
-02.6 99 38.00 2994 1990 56297 9530 98.3 1.035 ! Near Maximum !
-01.3 101 38.50 3033 2043 58855 9619 98.6 1.015 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 102 39.00 3073 2097 61544 9702 98.9 0.995 ! Near Maximum !
+01.3 103 39.50 3112 2151 64368 9777 99.2 0.976 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.6 105 40.00 3152 2206 67342 9845 99.4 0.958 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+03.8 106 40.50 3191 2261 70455 9905 99.6 0.939 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+05.1 107 41.00 3230 2317 73765 9958 99.8 0.922 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.4 109 41.50 3269 2373 77236 10002 99.9 0.904 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 102 39.00 3209 2287 74451 9376 100.0 0.923 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 102 39.00 2883 1845 49882 9510 93.4 1.089


Now I feel bad I haven't really done much with the old rifle. Need to break it out and get it warm again.

 

[RL338]

And to think the old 250-3000 was using 87gr bullets. Now today your projection in QL is getting 115gr near that magic 3000fps

 

[GregoryB.]

I used 115gr NBT in my initial and only loads for the 250. Shot about an inch at 100 yards. Need to get it out and play with it. My antlerless hunt starts 26 Oct.

 

[salmonchaser]

My ex-wife killed a Roosevelt Bull with hers shooting 120 partitions.

 

[ShadeTree]

What a sweetheart cartridge that is highly efficient. That info Scotty posted is pretty impressive. 2950 in a 22" barrel with a 100 gr bullet and only 37.5 gr's of powder while still at a mild for modern rifle pressure of under 54,000 psi.

I don't shoot or use mine near as much as I should either. Guess I'm saving for when I'm old and can't take shoulder pounding anymore. Ha.

 

[Blkram]

And the 250 Savage keeps on performing!
Looking forward to getting my rebarreled Model 88 (22" Benchmark barrel) home and then working up loads for it and the Ruger 77 RSI (18.1/2" barrel). I have a good supply of 100 and 115 gr BTs and 110 gr ABs to try. Looks like I will have to pick up some Big Game and Hunter powder.

 

[cloverleaf]

Beautiful rifle, and those numbers w/ Ram Shot big game and a 100 gr BT are certainly interesting! Other numbers quoted are great as well. Such a nice cartridge. Please post your results! CL