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My main concern is barrel life I guess. I currently have 3/4 pound of H380 to go through, and Remington shows a 3300fps load with my bullet (55 grain FMJBT) and 35.6 grains H380. Rifle is a 12FV with a 1:12 twist. Anyone have experience with slower loads in this caliber?
What would be the point of a slow load for a 22-250?
3300 with 55 grain bullets seems pretty slow already.
OP load for accuracy and forget about speed. I have a hunch that 38 grains with that powder will be the most accurate.
I use H4895 in my 22-250 with the 55 grain Vmax (will be switching to the 53 grain though)and that's what I shoot them at... 3300 fps is plenty fast for Sage Rats or Prairie Dogs out to 300-400 yards.. I was thinking barrel life as well.
SageRat Shooter,
Considering barrel life in an accurate rifle is very reasonablen.
The .22-250 when pushed toward Pmax is known to be a bit of a barrel burner.
I have an old Remington 700 with a 1:14 twist that has had about 5,000 rounds down the tube and is just beginning to show a degradation in accuracy.
While I did push some pretty hot rounds with light bullets up into the 4000 fps now and then, I found the best accuracy with slower rounds in the 3400-3450 fps range with 52 & 53 grain bullets.
I bought a new Savage model 11 with a 1:12 twist barrel to replace it and have stayed under 3500 fps with the same bullets to make a comparison.
The new Savage shoots better than the old Remington with equivalent bullets, but I hope it will also like some heavier bullets.I will be trying some 55 grain bullets and maybe even 60 grain bullets to see if the 1:12 twist likes them too.
I am also considering adding a 12 FV model in .22-250 1:12 twist after finding that my two new 12 FVs are incredibly accurate in .223 and 6.5mm Creedmoor.
Enjoy your new rifle.
I have found that 55 FMJ bullets are not very accurate in any rifle that I have tried them in, and I am a nut for accuracy.
I would recommend trying some 52 gr # 1410 Sierra Match Kings and Berger 52 grain flat base #22408 bullets as well as 53 grain # 1400 Sierra Match King Flat base bullets.
They shoot really well out of my old Remington and the new Savage.
The Berger 55 grain #22810 flat base bullets should also shoot well in the 1:12 twist.
My 12 FVSS really likes the 40 & 50gr V-max. For factory stuff it shoots the 45gr white box Winchester stuff very well. I really like the speed of the 22-250 as most people do. For slower stuff, I just dig out the 223. :D
My CBI barrel is a 1:9 twist which I built to shoot the heavier bullets. Funny thing is I never jumped up past the 55 grainers because they only sold them in lots of 100. I was buying the 500 count Zmax bullets in both 50 and 55 grain. I discovered that the 53 grain has a BC way higher than either the 50 or 55 Zmax, so I've decided to start shooting those, as I'd have to jump up to a 68-70 grain pill to get a better BC, but would sacrifice the speed. Like I said, its my PD gun and I can hit 'em out to 400 yards. If I want more distance, then I bust out the 260 Rem with a 143 ELD-X... I'm a 3 rifle guy... got my varmint buster (22-250), my mid size game getter and LR rifle (260 Remington) and my Elk/big game rifle (30-06). For the critters I hunt, and the shooting I do, that all I'll ever need.
I even use a Dillon speed loader for the 22-250... Load can very a little bit from case to case... I'm not checking every powder charge to make sure it's exactly the same. I still get 5 shot groups that I can cover with a nickel.