Okay, so I'm new at this

[mmcauliffe]

Okay, so I'm new at this reloading thing and I have been doing a lot of reading.

I have a 22-250 Savage Model 12 long range varminter with a 1" dia. stainles barrel. Haven't even gotten it yet, probably show up Monday in the UPS truck.

We aren't super serious, but hey we shoot for bragin' rights and I figure that's enough. We shoot 5 rounds at 5 different targets at 100 yards, 2 targets for group, 2 for score and a fifth for score but it's a novelty type target that changes from week to week, it's all good fun.

Most of the guys on our centerfire varmint league are shooting either a .223 or a 6mmPPC and they already told me they will NOT like my LOUD gun, so here is my question.

I don't even know where to start with picking out a load, I mean I may as well pin up the pages from the Speer and Sierra cook books on a wall and throw a dart. Can you guys give me some suggestions as to where to start with a load? Something not to hot but also something I can work with to be competive?

I will have "once shot" Remington brass to work with, looking at 52gr HP/BT Speer and Sierra bullets to start with. Lots of choices for powder/primers, haven't bought any of that yet.

 

[ReedG]

Lots of unanswered questions, but ...

Is your once-fired brass from another gun or are you planning on shooting factory loads to get the brass? If from another gun, full length size; otherwise neck size.

Pick the bullet of your choice, there are lots of choices of excellent 50-55 gr. bullets. I go to the Hodgdon or Speer manuals, find the two loads with the highest velocity,!) with that bullet weight. Find out where the bullet just touches the lands. Load 3 rounds each at that length starting with the "starting" or minimum load listed and move up by .5 gr. to the maximum load.

Shoot under very controlled conditions and keep good notes. Take the load that shot the most concentric group and load 3 of that weight of powder at .010" off the lands, .005" off, at the lands, .005" into the lands, .010" in, and .015 in. When you have finished you should be able to clearly see what load your barrel likes.

Probably not a lot of people do it this way, but to me half the fun of a new rifle is finding "the load" for it.

Learn to clean it well, keep the copper out of the barrel, and your friends will start not liking it because of the way it shoots, not because of the "noise". Few people have good enough ears to tell the bark of a .22-250 from a 6 PPC. Enjoy ...

 

[BoydAllen]

I have always found that Sierra 53 gr FBHP bullets did a good job at the range, as have Federal 205 primers. A friend gets excellent target results with his 22-250 with a fairly light load of 2015. Seating depth is huge. I usually get my best accuracy with bullets seated around .010 into the rifling. Most shooters,except for those that shoot competition Benchrest) do not use wind flags or a mirage shield on their barrels. I recommend that you use both. Sticks with surveyor ribbon tied to the top work for flags. You absolutely cannot tell what the wind is doing without something to look at down range and a ribbon on the target doesn't get it. One classic mistake that I see all of the time is guys setting up their bags so that the front one is too far out and the sling swivel stud ends up in the front bag. Neither bag should come in contact with a stud either before or after the shot is fired. Good luck with your rifle. You might try a collet die and a body die for two stage sizing for straight sized brass. Standard dies that use expander balls are not good for the straightness of sized brass.

 

[mmcauliffe]

Lots of unanswered questions, but ...

Is your once-fired brass from another gun or are you planning on shooting factory loads to get the brass? ...

YES- That is my plan, to get the scope in the ball park, break in the barrel and end up with some brass all at the same time.

Will this mess me up down the road or am I okay with this idea?

I'm just now getting the components together to build my reloading station and want to shoot my gun in the mean time.

Still trying to decide which dies to get. The press, beam scale, etc., all that was pretty straight forward, but the dies and the brass/bullet/primer/powder combinations are still a mystery but the posts and some private e-mails are starting to help.

 

[Twud]

39.5 grains of H-380 has always done the trick for me. After you fire form neck size only. If you've got the money to spend go for Redding's competition bushing dies. You can always call the guys at Sinclair International for help. They know shooting and enjoy sharing the knowledge. Their catalog is an education in itself.

 

[ReedG]

You're OK with shooting factory loads to get the brass. Just remember to keep the brands separate. I personally like Winchester brass, but they will all work fine.

With a factory chamber, I prefer Lee Collet Neck Sizing Dies. They are easy to use if you set them up by the instructions, do not require any lube and are the most concentric dies I've seen. There are so many choices and personal preferences that it is just about impossible for someone to advise what equipment you will want when you figure out what you're doing.

Any of them will work and load excellent ammo. I have won egg shoots with ammo loaded on a Lee press with Lee dies. In my opinion you will only need bushing sizing dies if you get a custom-chambered barrel and neck turn your brass.

I have always used Hodgdon powders,except for W748) and CCI primers. Some primers are soft, some hard but there is little demonstrable difference in their performance. I find Hodgdon powders to be very insensitive to weather/humidity and Varget and Benchmark are as good it gets.

My first .22-250 was a Ruger 77V/T and to this day was the most accurate true factory rifle I ever saw. Sierra,or Hornady) 52/53,the 53s always outshot the 52s) Match or Hornady 52 Amax over 34.5 to 36.0 Varget with a CCI primer in my rifle would shoot phenomenal groups and was an egg shoot terror.

You have a good rifle and a long ways to go ... enjoy the ride!

 

[mmcauliffe]

Thanks everybody!
Good info to be sure and I talked with the guys at Sinclair, they were very helpful as well.
I got my rifle today, she's real purty, especially after we mounted the 36X silver Weaver scope on it, can't wait to shoot it but I need to be patient. I've got a Lucas bore guide coming and a Dewy one piece nylon coated rod I want to use to clean and condition the bore before I put that first round through it.