snake284
Member
I was looking back in the archieves and ran across an old thread on the .250 Savage. I think some people get a little over eager with reloading. This person wanted to get 3000 FPS out of a 117 grain bullet in a .250 Savage. You have to be careful with your expectations.
I load my custom .250 Savage with 117 grain either Sierra GKs or Hornady Interlock BTSPs with 40 grains of IMR 4831 and get 2800 FPS. This is a custom made rifle on a Howa 1500 Action and 25.5 Inch Krieger Heavy Sporter Contour barrel with 1-9 twist rate. Also, my gun smith throated it out a tad farther in anticipation of shooting longer loads. The Mag well is plenty long for my 2.69 inch loads. This all no doubt contributes to getting away with a hotter load without any pressure issues. But I personally think without some major breakthrough in powder technology it is merely a dream to think you can get 3000 FPS with any bullet heavier than 100 grains, although I did see a couple of loads listed for 110 grain bullets that surpassed it. But I would be very cautious and personally I would hold the line to about 3000 and no higher.
I'm interested in the new RL 17, but haven't tried it yet. However, here's the bright side. 2800 FPS is fantastic. That's a heavy for caliber bullet in a .250 and it has a relatively high BC. It will kill deer and hogs way out to 300-400 yards with well placed shots. This is all I would ever ask of a cartridge. And to think it is almost 100 years old and doing this good? That tells me that the .250 Savage was way before its time.
Also, a 250 Savage is just an excellent deer-varmint cartridge and I have even heard of some people taking elk with it, although I would be cautious there.
No recoil to speak of is its biggest attribute in my opinion. Just be reasonably satisfied with what you can get out of it safely because it beats the heck out of many cartridges much newer.
"ALL HAIL the .250 SAVAGE", a true wonderment of the cartridge world!
I load my custom .250 Savage with 117 grain either Sierra GKs or Hornady Interlock BTSPs with 40 grains of IMR 4831 and get 2800 FPS. This is a custom made rifle on a Howa 1500 Action and 25.5 Inch Krieger Heavy Sporter Contour barrel with 1-9 twist rate. Also, my gun smith throated it out a tad farther in anticipation of shooting longer loads. The Mag well is plenty long for my 2.69 inch loads. This all no doubt contributes to getting away with a hotter load without any pressure issues. But I personally think without some major breakthrough in powder technology it is merely a dream to think you can get 3000 FPS with any bullet heavier than 100 grains, although I did see a couple of loads listed for 110 grain bullets that surpassed it. But I would be very cautious and personally I would hold the line to about 3000 and no higher.
I'm interested in the new RL 17, but haven't tried it yet. However, here's the bright side. 2800 FPS is fantastic. That's a heavy for caliber bullet in a .250 and it has a relatively high BC. It will kill deer and hogs way out to 300-400 yards with well placed shots. This is all I would ever ask of a cartridge. And to think it is almost 100 years old and doing this good? That tells me that the .250 Savage was way before its time.
Also, a 250 Savage is just an excellent deer-varmint cartridge and I have even heard of some people taking elk with it, although I would be cautious there.
No recoil to speak of is its biggest attribute in my opinion. Just be reasonably satisfied with what you can get out of it safely because it beats the heck out of many cartridges much newer.
"ALL HAIL the .250 SAVAGE", a true wonderment of the cartridge world!