The 22-250 Remington cartridge was designed for high performance. Outside of the 220 Swift, I can’t think of a faster .224″ round. The SAAMI max pressure is not modest at 65k psi and there are few good loads that do not end up as a case full of powder. It is also a round that delivers excellent accuracy at or near maximum velocity.
Light loading the 22-250 Remington to save wear and tear on a barrel is a waste of time for a couple of reasons. The first is that there are many cartridges that have a much higher capacity to bore ratio and no one tags them as “barrel burners”. Secondly, there is no point in having a resource like this and limiting it to 223 Remington like performance. Light loading a 22-250 Remington is like owning a 427 Ford T-Bolt and never driving faster than 25 MPH.
Defining parameters for handloads
Sticking to the maximum cartridge overall length spec for the 22-250 Remington works fine for light, flat base bullets, not so much for high B.C. boat tail bullets with a shallow angle ogive. Boat tail bullets 50 grains and above tend to turtle; the bullet seats so deeply that the parallel shank portion of the bullet is set down below the case mouth and far back from the rifled portion of the bore. The use of an inexpensive overall length gauge can often improve that situation by identifying freebore that would allow cartridges to be safely assembled to a length longer than spec.
The Remington was able to digest a COL as long as 2.665″, depending upon bullet selection, compared to a spec COL of 2.350″. Additionally, the rifle’s magazine length and bolt stroke reliably accommodated the same. No rounds were loaded to this extreme length. In fact, no bullets greater than 55 grains were loaded, in deference to the rifle’s 1:14″ rifling twist. However, this potential was partially put to use for one specific handload in our project.
Four bullets were selected; Sierra Varminter 40 grain, Berger Varmint 50 grain, Sierra BlitzKing, and Remington PSP 55 grain. All except the BlitzKing are flat base. With the exception of the 55 grain Remington, these are all very thin jackets bullets for varmint hunting.
Lots of folks use the 22-250 Remington for deer and pronghorn hunting and without going to heavy for bore bullets above 60 grains. While the issue is beyond the scope of what we are doing here, however, good choices for hunting other than varmints: Barnes TTSX 55 grain, Nosler Partition 60 grain, Sierra GameKing 55 grain SPBT.
Powder… Yup, used some
One of the best moments I’ve had in a long time, handloading… ly speaking, was getting to use some of the 5,000 pounds of IMR3031 I purchased before realized I hate the 308 Winchester. Not sure how those long grains would have fed into that small case mouth using a culver type powder measure, but it worked well with scale pan and funnel filling. Alliant’s Re17 mostly led in velocity, although there were no losers selected in that regard.
I like Norma for the same reasons people like the Lapua brass. It sounds precision, Scandinavian, lofty, exotic… although Norma is not as much fun to say as Lapua. But then it is way overpriced as smokeless powder goes and who can resist that sales tactic? Unfortunately, energy was below predicted and the loads were not light. As time permits, I will go back and take another run at Norma as I have had good success with other cartridges. Lapua… sorry, just had to say it. Lapua, Lapua.
Reloading dies
Handloading was done with a Redding Turret Press and a full length sizing Redding die set. Redding is my favorite die maker, but I have to say the seater plug was short for the task, which means some finagling was required to assemble shorter rounds. When I get some time I will make a longer plug and further justify owning a lathe.
Brass
Working with PPU brass and an RCBS hand operated APS primer was a pain in the neck. For a while, I couldn’t figure out if the issue was oversize primers, worn jaws on the priming tool or deformed primer pocket. I cleaned the primer pockets with a uniformer, with no improvement, then noticed the primer pocket lacked a lead in chamfer. A touch with an inside case mouth reamer fixed the problem.
Handloads
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Warning: Bullet selections are specific, and loads are not valid with substitutions of different bullets of the same weight. Variations in bullet material and length will alter net case capacity, pressure and velocity results. Primer selection is specific and primer types are not interchangeable. These data represents maximum loads in our firearms and test equipment and may easily be excessive in other applications. All loads should be reduced by 3%, and developed following safe handloading practices as represented in established reloading manuals produced by component manufacturers. Presentation of these loads does not constitute a solicitation for their use, nor a recommendation.
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Below, the first 6 shots out of this new rifle before moving on to zeroing the rifle and shooting the control groups; 0.4″ top and 0.7″ bottom with the low shot me losing my mind halfway through a trigger squeeze. A couple of hundred rounds and a little more handload refinement, this would be a consistent sub half MOA rifle.
It is a little cool in Maine this time of year, mid to high 50’s during the day and still air. The barrel ran cool, not requiring long pauses to maintain reasonable temperatures. Recoil was virtually non-existent. Accuracy, no recoil, moderate report? It is a rifle that is difficult to put up.
Unfortunately, the end of the project…
With an MSRP of only $761, sold through discount retailers at approximately $600, Remington has put serious value into this rifle. Well made, great shooter and a good looking firearm. A very nice combination that would see a lot of use in the hands of most hunters. Nice rifle.
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