Powder for the .22-.250

Jar Head

Beginner
May 7, 2006
73
0
Hi fellas,
I ordered a Rem. 700 VLS in a .22-.250 today & I am wondering what you guy's recomend for powders. A couple guys from work say H380.

Happy Holidays,
Jar Head
 
H380 is a great powder to work with and shoots great groups in both of my .22-250's. Don't overlook Varget. Work your loads up in half grain increments. It will be obvious which is the right combination. Should easily get .5" groups out of that 26" barrel. Good luck.

Jerry
Bend, Oregon
 
I shoot a 700 VLS in 22-250. Using a 50 gr BT with 36.0 grs Varget, W-W case and Federal GM210M primer. SHoots consistantly in the .5's.
Best group was with the same load and the Nosler SHOTS 50 gr PSP, group measured .187".

Good luck with your new rifle.

JD338
 
I have played around with more 22-250 rifles than probably makes any sense. I have three in the safe right now. I have pretty much settled on either H 4895 or Varget as the powders of choice for that caliber. (Although N 140 is pretty darned good also.)

I would not recommend H 380 for several reasons. If you look through several reloading manuals for loads using H 380 you will find a wide variation in the recommended maximum loads. I feel this is due to a wide variation in burning rates for different lots of this powder. I found large velocity changes from lot to lot of H 380.

I am a big Hodgdon fan, but feel H 380 and H 414 are pretty sorry powders over all.

Now, I have to admit that I shot some pretty impressive groups with H 380, but at very mundane velocities and with no consistancy. Just my experience.

I have given up on all ball powders, in fact. They meter great, but every one I have tried has shown too much temperature sensitivity. I used to use H 335 in my 223 till I saw how much faster it was going on a warm afternoon compared to earlier the same day.
 
+1 R Flowers

The 22-250 would be my all time favorite round for most everything !
I use Viht N-140 with 55grn's out of mine. Shoots just over .5 all day long. ( Rem 700 Varmiter second barrel ) The Viht is a very clean buring powder!
Good luck, and Congrats !!
 
It's a tad expensive but Vihta Vuori N-150 delivers very consistant results. Here is a group I shot about a month ago. 35.5g under a 50g Hornady V-Max -- .3585" center to center
group.jpg
 
Rule of thumb I use with my 22-250

Bullets lighter than 55 gr........H380 or H414 with Fed 215M primers
(38.0-H380 with Speer 52gr HP)

Heavier ..........Varget or RL 15......IMR 4350 with CCI BR2
 
Hi on a 22/250 that is my favorite callibers. I have had great sucsess with H4895. One thing to keep in mind with reloading data is there is a diference between imi4895 and h4895, not much but there is some diferences. I have found a go to load of 34.5 grains of h4895 ontop of a 52 grain hpbt bullet. I think nosler shows a max of 34 grains on there data, But they do not have data on a 52 gr bullet even thought the make them, this is for a 50 grain bullet. Sierias data on this bullet show a max of 35.4 imi4895, so on h4895 thats about max in ther book as well., IT IS HOT, so be carfull if you use this load.


I have friends that swear by h380, I have used it and it is fine. I was told the load got its name for a 22/250 load of 38 grains on top of a 55 grain bullet, according to Sieria load data this is max load.

Other I know swear by varget, I have it as well and i like it better than h380.

I dont know what the twist rate is on a 700, The load works great with a 1/12 twist savage with a 26 in bul barrel. I resume no responcibility in this load data if used. Have fun and be safe
 
I have friends that swear by h380, I have used it and it is fine. I was told the load got its name for a 22/250 load of 38 grains on top of a 55 grain bullet, according to Sieria load data this is max load.

Other I know swear by varget, I have it as well and i like it better than h380.

I dont know what the twist rate is on a 700, The load works great with a 1/12 twist savage with a 26 in bul barrel. I resume no responcibility in this load data if used. Have fun and be safe[/quote]


I am in the process of trying H380 in my 22-250. It is a Rem 700 Varmint Special, one of the old ones, it has a 24" barrel. I am using Nosler 55gr BT's & Sierra 55gr BK's.
So far with the Nosler's, starting with 35.5gr to 37gr, so far, my largest 5 shot group has been .646". I am seeing velocities from 3223fps @ 35.5gr to 3344fps @ 37gr. My best 5 shot group so far with the Nosler's was at 36.5gr & 3282fps for group size of .353"
I have just started with the Sierra Blitz Kings. I have only had enough time to try two loads with the 55gr BK so far. The results have not been as promising with the BK's. My first 5 shots were loaded with 35.6gr of H380 & gave me a group of 1.140" & a velocity of 3272fps. The second group was with 36.1gr of powder & shot a group of .749" @ 3304fps.

I am very impressed with the both the powder & the Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet.

I have tried IMR 3031 & the 55gr Nos BT with good accuracy but poor velocity. I have also tried the Hornady 55gr V-Max with Varget. The results were respectable. The best group I could fire was at 33.3gr of Varget with a velocity of 3345fps for a group of .495"

There was atleast a 20 degree temperature difference between the time of these tests.

I have a Hodgdon manual that tells the story mentioned about how H380 got its name. Mr Hodgdon treid out this un-named powder in his 22-250 (22 Varminter at the time) & with a load of 38gr & a 52 or 53gr bullet got very good accuracy. As a result he named the powder H380 for his favorite load in his rifle.

The twist on the Rem 700 VLS in 22-250 is 1:14". This should be listed on the Remington website.
 
IMR is coming out with a new powder in the burning rate for the 22-250.
IMR 4007 super short cut. Should be fun to try. IMR powders always shoot
better in my rifles than Hodgdons.

I will also be looking at using
it in my 30-40 krag single shot if they come up with load data. (Hint hint Nosler, something in the lighter bullets-- 150 or 165)
 
That is where the 38 comes from H380.......in the 22-250/ 38 grs with speer 52 BTHP make sure you use a Mag Rifle Primer.....keeps the bore cleaner with spherial powder.
 
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