22-250 Kodiak

[Dfish1247]

Had a 222 hv barrel, maker unknown, it came off of a Stolle panda I bought last year, dowling was on the barrel, to 22-250 prefit for a Stolle Kodiak. It’s 1:14 twist. Finished length after rechamber is 21.5”. Receiver has a follower installed and it’s in a fiberglass benchrest stock. 2oz jewel trigger of course.

Took it out with some random loads I had, I loaded these for a Remington, but figured they’d be good enough for test run. No idea on powder or primers but the bullets were 52-55gr sierras. It averaged around .75” group at 200yds. Wasn’t mad with that using a hodgepodge of loads. Shot golf balls and bottle caps after getting the scope in order. No sticky bolt lift, no funky primers, no sticky chamber, etc.


With the back story done, I loaded 52gr Berger varmints over 32-34 grains of aa2520, federal gm primers,10 rounds each in .5gr increment changes, .015” off the lands. I am using nos Remington brass for these that were sized, trimmed, mouth chamfered, primer pocket deburred. Didn’t use the other brass since I can’t remember how many times I’d used it already.


How do you all feel these loads would do? I have other powder and bullets, but these two seem to work well together in anything else I’ve tried.

 

[Gary in MD]

I’m thinking that they will do fine, although your rifle will tell you better.
What’s your purpose for the rifle, varmints - targets?
One of my 22-250s shoots those Berger 52 grain varmints pretty good with Varget.
Good luck, Post your results

 

[Stormbringer]

My 22-250 also shoots the Speer and Berger 52 grain varmints with Varget very well! No speed demon but sure is accurate and gentle on the bore!

 

[Dfish1247]

Target hunting is it. You know how many feral bottle caps and golf balls are out there? A ton, that’s how many, and they seem to pop up 300yds or less for me. Been doing my part for the last 30 years, but geez do they breed like roaches.

Im going to try Wednesday or Thursday morning, it’s beyond too hot, well humid is more accurate to try in the afternoon. Hopefully I’ll find one of these that shows promise, really hoping for something in the .25” range at 100yds.

I’ll try varget, 760, h380, etc.

 

[358WCF]

If you have some, RL15 or H4895 have been stellar with 50 to 53s in all the 22-250s I've owned. RL16 shoots small with 52s in my current rifle but is too bulky for max velocities. I'll bet 15.5 would be great if I hadn't sworn off of buying any more Alliant.

 

[boltfluter]

H380 is the magic powder in a few .22-250 loads I have worked up. Varget is always a great choice. Looking forward to your next report.
Paul

 

[nakneker]

Sounds like your loads will do fine, I’ve had AA2520 speed up a bit with higher temps, that’s the only negative buts that’s not something to turn a guy off as long as he’s aware that can happen if he’s pushing max with colder temps.

Powders that have worked well for me in a half dozen 22-250s are H380, N135, N140, IMR 4064 and CFE223 with 50-55gr bullets, Alliant RL 15 and 15.5 too but I’m like you, I don’t like the new pricing or the availability of Alliant.

 

[Papajohn]

Going off memory here, but you mentioned "Dowling" on your barrel, and there was a Dan Dowling who was a well-respected gunsmith out of Colorado some years back, not sure if he's still around but he did excellent work, by all accounts. Hope that helps.

I picked up a NOS Remington 700 in 22-250 last August (fast-twist bbl), by late November it had shown me that it really liked CFE-223, in SIG brass, with good 53-grain bullets. After 40 years of trying I got my first perfect one-hole group, so I guess I should quit testing every load and bullet on the planet. But while I have the opportunity, I just don't have the gumption to quit, so testing continues unabated.

I know everyone says H380 is the schizzle, and I have several pounds of it on hand, but I haven't gotten around to playing with it yet.

I buy a lot of Blem bullets from Midway, and so far they have shot as well as the store-bought stuff, I like the Sierra's and Hornady's a lot but I'm also a cheap bastid....sometimes.

Did you get a chance to test those loads yet?

 

[TAJ45]

Target hunting is it. You know how many feral bottle caps and golf balls are out there? A ton, that’s how many, and they seem to pop up 300yds or less for me. Been doing my part for the last 30 years, but geez do they breed like roaches.

Im going to try Wednesday or Thursday morning, it’s beyond too hot, well humid is more accurate to try in the afternoon. Hopefully I’ll find one of these that shows promise, really hoping for something in the .25” range at 100yds.

I’ll try varget, 760, h380, etc.

 

[TAJ45]

With some seating depth and neck tension tinkering, l wouldn't be surprised if you found at least that .125 moa if not .2.

 

[Dfish1247]

Tried the loads this morning. Best group at 100yds was .317”, this was with the hottest load I’d made. The worst was .644”, this was with the starter load. Didn’t see linear improvement as the loads went up either, they got better, but not by much and not consistent, the .317” group came out of nowhere and I was tickled. Next 5 with same load shot .321”, I’ll attribute that to me.

I have room to increase powder charge, no sticky bolt, no clickers, no blown primers, no missing fingers or eyeballs, so I’ll keep going.

So, the gun is showing promise which makes me happy.