gamestalker
member
I've been seeking the magic load for this Ruger American 22-250 for a while, I think I found it.
I've been working with Varget for a good while and with fairly decent results, but I didn't have any Varget at the moment for these 40+ yr. old 52 gr. Sierra HPBT's, and 55 gr. PSP's, they were so old, they didn't have a part number on the box. I remembered I had used IMR4350 many years ago for the 22-250, and decided to try the same rather old Speer data from the late 70's.
I ended up at 39.7 grs. for both bullets, CCI-200's, and the 52 gr. HPBT's, and once fired Win. brass seated up against the lands. No pressure issues at all, but certainly not mild load. Even though I didn't recall any issues way back then, I honestly thought IMR4350 was going to be too slow burning for this application, as I believe the data for IMR4350 and 50 gr. - 60 gr. bullets has since been eliminated from modern published sources. It started out pretty poorly at 36.0 grs. though, very dirty, looked way under pressure, but as I worked it up, it really cleaned up at 38.5 grs., and velocities were very consistent. As I continued working up to the final 39.7 grs. everything about the load was excellent.
Velocity ended up in the low 3600's fps, and groups are well under an inch. Shot a coyote at 328 yds. on Sunday morning, the HPBT bullet didn't even exit, it just exploded internally. I think I found the perfect combination for 52 and 55 gr. bullets for this 22-250! Unless I can't find 4350, I don't think I'll ever go back to Varget for 50 gr. or heavier bullets in 22-250.
GS
I've been working with Varget for a good while and with fairly decent results, but I didn't have any Varget at the moment for these 40+ yr. old 52 gr. Sierra HPBT's, and 55 gr. PSP's, they were so old, they didn't have a part number on the box. I remembered I had used IMR4350 many years ago for the 22-250, and decided to try the same rather old Speer data from the late 70's.
I ended up at 39.7 grs. for both bullets, CCI-200's, and the 52 gr. HPBT's, and once fired Win. brass seated up against the lands. No pressure issues at all, but certainly not mild load. Even though I didn't recall any issues way back then, I honestly thought IMR4350 was going to be too slow burning for this application, as I believe the data for IMR4350 and 50 gr. - 60 gr. bullets has since been eliminated from modern published sources. It started out pretty poorly at 36.0 grs. though, very dirty, looked way under pressure, but as I worked it up, it really cleaned up at 38.5 grs., and velocities were very consistent. As I continued working up to the final 39.7 grs. everything about the load was excellent.
Velocity ended up in the low 3600's fps, and groups are well under an inch. Shot a coyote at 328 yds. on Sunday morning, the HPBT bullet didn't even exit, it just exploded internally. I think I found the perfect combination for 52 and 55 gr. bullets for this 22-250! Unless I can't find 4350, I don't think I'll ever go back to Varget for 50 gr. or heavier bullets in 22-250.
GS