22-250 reloading ammo

Itwasme

Hi folks,

I'm probably raising a tough subject here, but I've an RWS .22-.250 rifle and I'm on the point of beginning to reload my own ammo. I've got all the bells and whistles for doing it (rcbs) and I've read numerous books. I guess what I'm missing is other reloaders experiences and what their preferred load ended up being. I'm going to be using 55gr sierra sp heads and hornady cases. The barrel twist is quite slow 1:14. Any advice/guidance would be great

Thanks

dev110

Have you reloaded before?

There are a few on here that will be able to give you advice on reloading from a long range to a hunting point of view.

Itwasme

dev110 wrote: »

Have you reloaded before?

There are a few on here that will be able to give you advice on reloading from a long range to a hunting point of view.

Hi Dev

No, I'm a novice at reloading. Pretty good with a rifle and would like to produce my own ammo to see the difference and for the knowledge. At the minute I'm hunting out to about 320m with varying degrees of success. Bloody factory ammo costs a fortune too!!

dev110

The first thing that you will have to do is decide what powder you are going to use. Once you have that decided look up as many books as you can and see what they are saying your starting load should be.
From the book I have using 55gr v-max & Varget your staring load would be 34 gr.

After you have done all the research next you have to find out the OAL of the round.

Here is a handy clip that will show you what you need to know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lppK2jJ3XE

Once you have that done you will know your seating depth to the rifling. This is generally where people start and once they have an accuracy node they will play with the seating depth by either jumping or jamming the bullet. Most people jump their bullets by 10-20 thou.

People have different methods of testing loads. Some people shoot 5 shot groups with increasing loads until they find a load that has the smallest group.

Others will use a ladder test. This is the way I do it. You should try do it at the longest distance you have available to you as you will be able to see the difference between the increasing powder charge.

Before you start this I suggest you read up as much as you can about pressure signs. There are a few indications of pressure that can be seen from the case. These range from heavy bolt lift to a blown primer. You should never get to the stage of a blown primer though because when you are at that stage you have ignored the previous signs.

I generally load up a few rounds starting at the beginning and increase the charge by 0.5gr up to the max that the book states to find where you start to get pressure signs. Write down the load that you got the signs with as you now know not to go over that and you will now have an area to work in.

For the ladder test start at the load your book suggests and work your way up in 0.3 gr or 0.5 gr of powder. I always load up 3 rounds of each others might use 5.

Example:

• 3 x 34.0
• 3 x 34.3
• 3 x 34.6
• etc

After completing the test examine the target and find the load that gave you the least vertical spread. You are not interested in what the wind did.

After finding a good node I will load up 5 rounds with the same charge, 5 rounds 0.3 gr below and above that charge and fire these at the longest distance you have available. Again you are looking for vertical spread.

If you are happy with your load you can now play with the seating depth. Load up a few rounds 10 thou off the lands, 15 thou off the lands and 20 thou off the lands and try these.

I'm just after realising that I can play with my seating depth more because I single feed but for hunting generally the COAL is 2.8 or 2.81 so they will feed from a magazine.


This is a rough guide to reloading. Anything you don't understand just ask and someone will be able to answer it.

Itwasme

Dev

TA very much for the great advice, will let you know how I get on and be back with more questions no doubt. Heading to tannyoky tomorrow to chat about gun powder

Cass

A word of caution (one among many). Take on board the advice, and loads given to you, but please DO NOT use a load that someone else gives to you without working up to it.

They have, presumably, tried, and tested this for safety in their rifle, but it does not mean you will have the success or safe shooting they will. If someone gives you a load to try then i suggest you start at 10% less than the specified charge they give you and work up slowly checking for pressure signs at all times.

So if someone gives you a "hot" load of say 35gr (only an example). Do not try this load immediately, but start at 32gtr and work up in the 0.3gr increases as outlined above.

tac foley

Don't ask for 'gun powder'. 'Gun powder' is Black powder - what you need is propellant.

tac

Cass

Start with Varget. It is a temp. stable propellant, and easy to work with. Another option may be IMR 4064. Depends on what can be gotten.

Itwasme

Thanks for that Cass. Good man Tac, that was the novice coming out in me. I'm lucky enough to have access to an 800m range so I can take my time and use the ladder method or the 5 group method. Will let you know how things go

fish slapped

I find, once you get into it, reloading is almost another interest/sport onto the shooting aspect. The key thing is to write everything down, keep track of your cases - how many times fires etc, powers used, primers, bullets and the results.
Also if you change 1 thing it will have a big effect - different cases > different pressures etc.

Youtube is a great source of info, but use your common-sense ... if a lad's seating a bullet with a lump hammer and masonry chisel , then is probably best to skip to the next video , if you can reload in the company of an experienced person it's a great way of getting the little details....

also enjoy it.

Fish

Itwasme

Thanks fish, that's why I want to get into it. I really enjoyed the shooting aspect of using a rifle, so much so that my pb is 1137m onto a target with a lapua 7.62 round. But I really want to get into the nitty gritty of the ammunition and see want I can do with it. I have a friend (a feckin encyclopedia) lined up to give me a few lessons but I just wanted some plenty of common sense advice and help so that I have a good grasp of it before he frys my Brain!

EWQuinn

http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/22-250/

In case you haven't seen it here's a pretty good piece on the .22-250. I don't shoot .22-250, its really a flat one. I'm impressed that you can get loads well above 4,000 fps and shoot 69s thru 80s above 3,000.

Of course you can get data at Hodgdon's web page under Reloading Data Center, gives another frame of reference, although in some calibers I reload they have been actually skewed a little high IMHO. Note also, Hodgdon refers to their product as "smokeless powder" which is a category of propellants :-)

http://www.hodgdon.com/hodgdon.html

Glensman

It's a lot simpler than you would think!
I would go and watch your friend first. That way what you read will make more sense...

There are a lot of things you see that you maybe wont have to do.
For example I don't weigh my brass or heads. I also dont fire enought to have to trim cases....

I would offer to show you, but your mate the encyclopedia will prob be just as good!

Itwasme

Folks

Thanks so much or all the advice and help

Itwasme

Lads,

I've being trying to get the C.O.A.L for a round that would suit my rifle. I've tried the following methods:- placing a bullet head loosely in the case and when it touches the lands it pushed back into the case. The second method is, I took out the firing pin from the bolt to ensure there was no friction and then used the seating die to place the bullet head into the case until the bolt closed freely.

Here's my problem. Each of these methods gave me a coal beyond the max length allowed for a round of ammunition. It's 2.35 and I've got 2.39. With my lack of experience I'm assuming it's something I'm doing wrong but I just can't see what.

I have started loading and am using the mean average from a box of factory ammo until I'm happy with getting the coal safely. I've fired 20 rounds moving up in 0.2gr and it's amazing the difference it makes

Cass

Your OAL is whatever you want/need it to be. The OAL of 2.35 in the book is what the manufacturer used when testing. If your OAL is different then this is not a problem. You simply adjust to your requirements. So if that is 2.39 so be it. You do not need to replicate the book settings.

When increasing or decreasing OAL always make sure to check your load as pressures may vary depending on seating depth. So what was a safe load may no longer be.

tac foley

Sir - Note that reducing the COL for any given cartridge to a length SHORTER than that given in the data handbook for that particular bullet can be extremely risky, especially with a small-calibre high-intensity load like the 22-250. By setting the bullet back in the case you are reducing the internal volume of the case for a given amount of propellant - this will increase the pressure significantly, sometimes dangerously. Most data handbooks warn against this in the strongest possible terms.

cass and I are assuming that you are aware of the signs of increased pressure beyond those normally associated with the load - is this the case?

tac