.250 Savage, a long venerable history but ... ?

After I'd acquired a 99 in .250 I found out the problem in buying ammo. Not regularly available, back in 2014. Expensive when found. That's okay if you reload.

Basically a good deer cartridge, but for me it's best for shots inside 300 yards; maybe no more than 200.

To truly be a 250-3000, the 87-grain bullet became the 3,000 ft/sec standard. A friend of mine killed a good many deer with his iron-sighted 99 with the 87-grain bullet.

I've got a 250ai, out of a 26" tube I can drive 115s to 3100 using superformance.
According to quickloads, with a standard 250 from a shorter 18" tube, you should be able to come close 2850-2900 with a 100 grain bullet at its relatively low operating pressure (pretty much the same as the 7.62x39).
Up the pressure to around 60k which is what most modern cartridges run at and your in to the 3ks.

Nosler specs load at 2950 from a 22" tube as well.

thats not too shabby honestly.
If we compare regular hunting bullets between the 6mm and .250 the numbers look alot closer than when we compare the really pointy vld types available for the 243.

Again i LIKE the .250, but if we DO compare the heavier higher bc 6mms, to the poor bc .25s they dont look great on paper.
The 6mms will also do pretty much anything a .25 will do, have more bullet options and generally be easier to get cases and ammo for.

shooting a .250 tho, has a certain amount of enjoyment in and of itself for some reason......

jski said:

I've read that Charles Newton, who invented the cartridge, actually resisted the 87 gr bullet as a purely promotional gimmick and always intended a 100 gr bullet for this round.

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Rumor also has it that the 87 grain grain bullet was used in order to get the velocity above 3000 FPS. This was 1910 or 1915, depending on who you believe. The 250-3000 was highly touted as the first cartridge to exceed 3000 FPS.

Only problem with that claim is the fact that it isn't true. The 280 Ross clocked 3145 FPS with its 145 gr .287 dia. bullet......in 1907. There may be others that did it even earlier.

NewI have an opportunity to pick up a Ruger Mannlicher .250 Savage.

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The heck with the ballistics. If I could get that rifle for anything close to a decent price I would be all over it. Buy it. You will never lose money on it.

Ratshooter said:

The heck with the ballistics. If I could get that rifle for anything close to a decent price I would be all over it. Buy it. You will never lose money on it.

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^ that!

I am still kicking myself for passing on one like that...

Exactly what someone else already said. Forget about the "long range ballistics" and just buy the gun. If not, send me the details so I can buy it. The 250 Savage is such a cool, unique cartridge in its own right.

jski said:

I have an opportunity to pick up a Ruger Mannlicher .250 Savage. This cartridge has a long venerable history but appears to be on the cusp of winking out. I did notice tho that Hornady recently began offering .250 Savage rounds:

• Grain Weight 100 Grains
• Muzzle Velocity 2800 Feet Per Second
• Muzzle Energy 1741 Foot Pounds
• Bullet Style Jacketed Soft Point
• Bullet Brand And Model Hornady Interlock
• Ballistic Coefficient 0.35
• Sectional Density 0.216

Often compared to the .243 Winchester but not the barrel burner.

What's the long range community's take on this cartridge?

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I have an older Ruger Ultra Light in .250 Savage, and it is an absolute joy to carry in the woods.
Since I reload, ammo is not a big deal for me.
I say "go for it"

Easy to make brass out of .22-250 .I shoot mostly .25 acp out of my Savage model 1920 mini Mauser in three cartridge convertors I have.

Early 250's had 1-14" twisted barrels. I would not want that!

The 250-3000 is an obsolete cartridge that never caught on.

Of course somebody's grandad shot a deer with one long ago.

Savage99 said:

Early 250's had 1-14" twisted barrels. I would not want that!

The 250-3000 is an obsolete cartridge that never caught on.

Of course somebody's grandad shot a deer with one long ago.

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I shot one several years ago - the cartridge still works just fine.

Savage made a run of them several years ago in the M110.
It is a splendid deer,black bear, and hog cartridge. With a 100-120gr bullet it punches above its perceived weight and in my experience the.25’s just kill better than the 6mm or .22’s.
I would jump all over a Ruger M77 International in .250Savage.

I

jski said:

View attachment 789761 Here's the aforementioned Ruger.

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I'd kill for that rifle! Ok maybe not kill, but bludgeon and run would be likely......

Barrel life should be excellent, tho honestly most of use would never shoot out the barrel of a .243, at least in terms of hunting accuracy.
Heck it took almost 8 years and 16ish lbs of powder for me to ware my 7mag enough to get 2" groups.

OP if you are looking at one of the newer Rugers be careful. My brother and I each purchased one. Neither would feed. We sent them back unfired. That issue was resolved. When doing initial firing my brother found his had excessive head space. Like incipient head separation head space. Occasionally would crack the brass. He purchased a no go gauge and a cartridge length gauge . The brass was growing about .012 on first firing. The bolt would close on a no go gauge with 4 or 5 layers of masking take. Checked mine and it would close on 3. Back to Ruger. They would not repair or return the rifles. They did make it right. I took a refund and my brother a rifle. Found another 250 and it also had excessive head space. My brother found one and it was perfect.This is not to bash a fine Company. We have had 25 or so Rugers in the family and all have been great.

Anyway I had E R Shaw build a 250 Savage and the wife has a model 99. We both run 34 grs. of 4064 for around 2950. This is actual over a chronograph. Use 100 gr Sierra pro hunter. Knocks the stuffing out of deer to 150 yards or so which is as far as we have shot one. Honestly can't tell the difference between a 250 and my 30/06.

Sav 250 ammo can be found. Some locations may be harder than others. One solution is reloading. Bass Pro carries it. Plus,most Gun shops will order it for you.
To the poster who stated ,"it never caught on." Really! Course that`s your opinion.

Certain Savage 99`s are in very high demand. Especially the pre-million ones. Guys that own them know what I`m talking about.
The 250 cal being among the most sought after. I guess those owners never knew , they wasted their money on a cal that never caught on.

I confess, I`m one. To the nay sayers I say............... I have one. A perfect lever in a great cal.

jski said:

What's the long range community's take on this cartridge?

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I’m not a member of the long range community but the context of your post infers you have an interest in shooting long distance with the rifle should you buy it. If you want to shoot long distance with a .257 caliber bullet, get a .257 Weatherby Magnum.

On the other hand if you want a hunting rifle in chambered a cartridge that oozes class then get the rifle. For me there is a short list of cartridges that while not being the most efficient or or practical anymore they are the coolest.

.404 Jeffery
.300 H&H Magnum
.250-3000 Savage
.218 Chicharrone

The sweetest Savage I've had was a .250 99 Take down. It was a little higher grade than standard and I sold it 10-12 years ago when I found how hard it was to get ammo. I got a good price tho. When I found a Model 1920 for $250 I COULDN'T PASS IT UP ! I will sell this shortly, but like I said I shoot .25acp in it at gophers around the yard

jski said:

I have an opportunity to pick up a Ruger Mannlicher .250 Savage. This cartridge has a long venerable history but appears to be on the cusp of winking out.

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Personally, if I found an old Savage 99 in good condition in either .250 Savage or .300 Savage at a good price I would snap it up. Any other gun in either chambering, I think I would pass on since there are plenty of more easily available cartridges with similar performance to chose from.

The .250 is a good 300yd deer/antelope cartridge and would do fine on hogs with the right bullet but it's not my favorite. After buying one, I found out how tough it was to procure brass. I had to buy antique ammo just to shoot the thing because Remington only runs them once a year. Now that I've managed to scrounge a few hundred rounds of ammo and brass, Hornady is producing it. My Ruger is a fantastic shooter but after having 100gr Remingtons blow up on small deer, I switched to Barnes. Been wishing it was a 6.5CM for heavier, better bullets.

Savage99 said:

The 250-3000 is an obsolete cartridge that never caught on.

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Never caught on??? You need a history lesson.

CraigC said:

The .250 is a good 300yd deer/antelope cartridge and would do fine on hogs with the right bullet but it's not my favorite. After buying one, I found out how tough it was to procure brass. I had to buy antique ammo just to shoot the thing because Remington only runs them once a year. Now that I've managed to scrounge a few hundred rounds of ammo and brass, Hornady is producing it. My Ruger is a fantastic shooter but after having 100gr Remingtons blow up on small deer, I switched to Barnes. Been wishing it was a 6.5CM for heavier, better bullets.


Never caught on??? You need a history lesson.


View attachment 789782

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When I first bought mine I settled on WW silvertips, and proceeded to buy a lifetime supply.

BUY IT. You won't regret it. I had a Ruger M77 ultralight in 257 Roberts, until my neice decided that it was her deer rifle after she got 5 bucks with 5 shots. I gave it to her for her 18th birthday.

Ammo is available at any large gun show as well as online.

IronHand