Primer ? for 22-250

[Ruger GP100 fan]

I picked up my new(to me)22-250 Ruger M77 Mark II today and went to the range with a box of factory loads.Tonight I want to reload those 20 cases and primers are hard to find in my area. So the dealer that sold me the gun dug into his personal stash and gave me 100 CCI Bench Rest LR primers. The only bullet I came home with is 40 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip,part # 39522 (grabbed a box of 243 Sierra by mistake). He recommended and I bought Hodgdon Varget powder. Both Hodgdon and Nosler recommend a Winchester LR primer for their piece of this combination. Am I safe substituting CCI BR-2 primers?

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

By the way,I had concerns about this gun because of bad shoulders but it is just as gentle as a kitten to shoot.

 

[jbkebert]

No problem with the two diffrent brands of primers. Both are technically large rifle primers and will have similar ignition qualities. Not saying that your gun won't possibly like one or the other better or maybe a third is the sweet one. After you work up a load with whatever primer stick with it.

 

[medalguy]

Bench rest primers are exactly the same as regular primers with the exception of better quality control in the manufacturing. As noted by jbkebert your rifle may prefer one over the other for accuracy but you should not see any real difference in terms of performance.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

I see there is a great difference in price. My favorite dealer is down to almost half BR due to the current shortage.

By the way,thank you both for responding. I am chomping at the bit wanting to learn how to reload this caliber.

 

[Jefferson Herb]

Varget,or H380 powder is excellent in .22-250.This caliber is very forgiving and likes any good load in my rem700.It does very well w 39gr H380 and a 55gr Ballistic tip,ie qt oil jugs at 440yds[1/4 mi]and is still explosive.I normally use Fed match primers,and they're hard to get right now.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

Mind telling me the charge you'd give 50gr Nosler Ballistic Tip? Also,I've only loaded 38sp and 357 magnum in the past. Is the proper seating depth for this round dictated by proper OAL? One loader told me he decides by figuring out the clearance between shell step and step in the barrel.

 

[jbkebert]

At this point in time I would not worry about seating the bullet off of the lands. It requires a little more equipment and probably best after you gain some experience with loading rifle shells. I do load some of mine this way but I didn't try it until I had gained a little experience.

 

[jbkebert]

What your buddy is talking about is seating the bullet until it is just off of the lands of the rifle. The pict above is of .308 win the bullet on the left is seated to Sammi specs and the one on the right is seated to .012 off of the lands of my rifle. This bullet is for one gun and one gun alone. while the one on the left is pretty safe for any modern .308 in good working order. pressures can change and alot can go wrong if your not careful. Also if you can see the shoulder of the bullet on the right is slightly longer than the bullet on the left. That is because the casing on the right was fireformed in the chamber of the rifle this round is loaded for. This round may not even chamber in any other gun. Like i said before get your feet wet then start into more and more. For refrence the bullet on the left is a 165 grain Hornady interbond for hunting and the load of the left is a 168 grain Hornady A-max match bullet. I sure don't want to go hunting with the A-max its not a tough enough bullet. So for ease of identification the hunting bullet while very accurate does not need to meet match load specs. If the two rounds were loaded to the same OAL I don't think you could tell the diffrence by looking which bullet was which.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

So OAL is safest method for a newby?

Also,I have 50gr Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. Their website only lists data for other powders. Hodgdon Varget data chart only gives powder charge for a Sierra SIE SP in 50gr. Any suggestions?

If using OAL for seating,50gr is 50gr?

 

[twofifty]

Your dealer advised you well: Varget is a great powder for 22-250, so is H380, and RL-15. There are others too.

RugerGP100fan, with 20 cases I suggest you simply load them to the same COAL as factory ammo. When you've figured out the length of your chamber, you can then start seating the bullets out closer to the rifling, and see whether that improves your groups. Watch out for pressure spikes as you move the bullet out closer to the lands. Keep good notes.

Since in the long run you will probably end up buying regular Large Rifle Primers rather than spending money on the Benchrest ones, there is not much point in working up a load with the BR2s. You will only have to start over again with the regular ones.

Use the BRs up as you become familiar with your equipment, and learn what happens to a case as it is repeatedly fired and re-sized, etc. It is important to keep track of the life cycle of your cases, and to keep them sorted according to the number of times reloaded.

RugerGP, please do not take offence at this ... you barely have enough empty cases to properly and systematically work up a load. You ought to purchase a 100ct. bag of 222-250 brass.

If you don't have one, get a reloading manual and read it carefully several times. Then check back here and we will all be glad to help.

Have fun.

 

[sig220mw]

I have a Ruger model 77 I got in about 1991 or so and I use CCI 200 large rifle primers and have tried several powders. Mine seems to like the IMR powders best. I shoot 60 grain hornady spires and it likes 37 grains of IMR 4350 and 31.5 grains of IMR 4064.

It shoots both of them really well. Like someone else said earlier the 22-250 is really easy to load for.

 

[NCsmitty]

Primer differences between CCI BR and standard CCI 200 LR probably will not be noticeable in your loads. The BR version is supposedly made with tighter tolerances, including the quantity of explosive paste in each primer cup.

You need to reference the www.hodgdon.com site for starting loads and work up towards the listed maximum. Your accuracy load should be somewhere between the start and maximum loads listed.

When using lead core jacketed bullets, a 50gr bullet is a 50gr bullet, and data used for most 50gr bullets should be appropriate, as long as you are not pushing maximum loads when swapping brands.

I use the Hornady 52gr A-Max for my 22-250 target loads, pushed by 33.3gr of IMR 3031.



NCsmitty

 

[rcmodel]

bullet I came home with is 40 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip

Forget all about seating off the lands then.

That bullet is too light & short to do it without the bullet falling out of the case.

You need to seat at least one bullet diameter in the case for proper neck tension.

rc

 

[Rokman]

I also like Varget, H380 and RL15 for my .22-250. All that I have used for it is REM or WIN LR primers since that is what I have had on hand and they shoot great. My .22-250 is also a Ruger 77MKII with the all-weather stock. I have thought about changing the ugly stock many times, but since it shoots so well, I just leave it alone.

I picked up a pound of the new IMR8208 XBR and am hoping for excellent results with this powder for .22-250.

 

[Visionz45]

Ive got an older M77 tang safety that was customized and reamed out to .22-250AI. Ive been using 52 gr SMK's, IMR 4064 and FED 210M's with great success. I WS2 coat them in an attempt to reduce barrel wear. The 52 seems to mate up with it 1-14 twist quite well.

 

[billybob44]

52-55gr. bullet weights

GP, my Rem. Varmit 22-250 likes 52 and 55 gr. bullets best. I usually shoot Hornady+Sierra. Mine also works well with Hodgdon BL-C-2, at speeds around 3500fps. Yes I can go faster, but why?? My best groups are with Sierra HPBT Match 52gr. My best Groundhog getter load is with Hornady 55gr. V-Max loads. Good luck+have fun with your loads!! Bill...

 

[jbkebert]

I have a Savage model 12bvss and a T/C encore. I use 40 grain v-max and Varget for pasture poodles and 55 grain v-max and RL-15 for yotes.

 

[handloader357]

After some experimenting the load of choice I settled on for my 22-250 is the Hornady V-Max over 39gr of H380. They shot almost identical to the Hornady 55gr FMJ's as well as the cheap Berry's 55gr FMJs. I plink, practice and fireform my brass with the cheaper FMJ's and use the V-Max for the serious stuff. You could juice it up another grain or two before you hit the max load, but I didn't see the need for the extra velocity - it's a screamer to begin with. I didn't notice any difference between CCI, Remington or Winchester primers. Maybe at a max load it would make some difference.

IMR4064 is a good consistent powder in my rifle as well. Some say those rod powders contribute to barrel wear/throat erosion, especially in an already overbore barrel wearing caliber. When I couldn't find H380 I went to the 4064 as a good backup. The rifle is a sporterized 98 Mauser w/ a 24" bull barrel.

Just my .02 from my little bit of experience - hope it helps.

 

[jbkebert]

If using OAL for seating,50gr is 50gr?

Yes in a sense 50gr is 50gr as far as C.O.L is concerned. Actually anywhere from 40grain through 60 grain in most brands will have the same recommend COl which is 2.350". Heavier bullets will stretch a bit farther but not a very common use in the .22-250 because these heavier bullets will not stabilize with the rate of twist in most production guns. So even though a 50 grain bullet is longer overall than a 40 grain bullet it is just seated deeper into the case to give the same cartridge overall length.

Like stated above spend some time reading a reloading manual and get used to the diffrences between loading handgun and rifle. The overall idea is the same with a few changes. If you still only have 5 cases to work with start on the low end and work your way up. I typically start somewhere in the middle using a powder as versital as Varget.

According to the Hornady manual for your 50 grain bullets the low end would be 31.8 grains of Varget. And at the high end 36.4 grains. So for example I would work a group of loads like this. All cases trimmed to the same length and cleaned and sized.

Batch#1 33.4 grains of Varget make 5 rounds labeled #1
Batch#2 33.7 grains
Batch#3 34.0 grains
Batch#4 34.3 grains

I fire my test loads from a clean barrel with one fouling shot before the actual made up loads. Fire batch #1, clean your rifle one fouling shot then batch#2. Do this until all 20 rounds have been fired. Check your groups if say Batch #3 seems to be the best group its back to the bench. Now load at 33.8, 33.9, 34.1, 34.2 fire these batches. This should help you develope a very accurate load for your rifle. Once you find the sweet spot stick with it. Varget does not seem to be effected much by tempature changes. Good luck be careful and have fun.