Thread: 250-3000 (250 Savage)

I have an old rifle in this calibre , 1 in 14 twist , curious if anybody loading for one and what they are using for pills , think they were designed for 87 grainers and slow twist rate wont stabilize larger weights bullets , so options are limited bullet wise

I had one back in the late 80's Back then if I remember correctly I used 87gr hollows. It was accurate but I only took a couple small sika with it before I sold it before really getting to know it.

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I have a 25/303 which I load to replicate the Savage. It has a 1:12 twist Sportco barrel. Shoots 75gr Sierra hollows to 100gr well enough.

Originally Posted by R93

I had one back in the late 80's Back then if I remember correctly I used 87gr hollows. It was accurate but I only took a couple small sika with it before I sold it before really getting to know it.

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Who made those 87 grainers ? only ones under 90gr I can find are Monolithics by either Barnes or Hornady

A friend has a savage takedown model 99 in this cal it's a beauty and yes the twist is 14 and the std weight was 87 grains at 3000 fps and the speed was a real point of difference. A 100 grain bullet was also available but doesn't do the magic 3000.
Winchester still make ammo for this I believe, or you could neck up 22/250. There is a reasonable selection of 25 cal bullets available. Sierra make a whole range of 25 cal bullets from 70 to 120 so do speer. 100 is probably as heavy as you would want to go though.
Use it and you will grow to love it.

Used to load mine with 80 gr Barnes, always did the job if I did mine.

Have a little Oberndorf Mauser 1-10 twist shoots a group the size of my thumbnail with 110 accubonds with 3031/4895, with your barrel the Sierra 87 grain spt and the Speer 87 grain hot-cor would be a a good start.

Originally Posted by Lucky

Who made those 87 grainers ? only ones under 90gr I can find are Monolithics by either Barnes or Hornady

Pretty sure there was a couple around at that time. Speer was what I remember (could be wrong and getting confused with the poo 4 3 I had at the time and used 87 hollows in as well)

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@nor-west mentioned the Sierra and Speer 87 grain Soft Points both of which are still being made. I have used the Sierra in my 257 Roberts and have shot a few deer with them. They left a surprisingly large exit wound in a red hind I shot though the chest at close to 300m

Thanks fellas , shit I looked at the Sierra website and never saw the 87gn SPT , that will be spot on if I can source them

Originally Posted by nor-west

Have a little Oberndorf Mauser 1-10 twist shoots a group the size of my thumbnail with 110 accubonds with 3031/4895, with your barrel the Sierra 87 grain spt and the Speer 87 grain hot-cor would be a a good start.

With the original barrel ? mine is a 1930 Oberndorf with 1-14 twist

Nope - Nor-west's one has a replacement barrel, a Keiger if I recall correctly, it was along time ago now I had it done . . . .

@Lucky - I have a full box of Sierra 100 gn spitzers #1620 and maybe half a bix of #1625 100 Gn boattails if thay are any use to you - Ken Waters in "Pet Loads" says they will stabilize in the 1:14 twist , and the listed loads get them going at 2770. I'd say a bit more speed is perfectly feasible in a Mauser 98 action like the Kurz, I run my Kurz 6.5x47 fairly warmish (by "Mauser" standards anyway) and I'd say you should get them to 2850 fps. If you send me your rifle and case capacity I'll tun some scenarios in GRT and Quickload for you.

Thanks for the offer @Tentman ,but now that I know they are still made I will try and get my hands on some 87gn’s first as that’s what they were designed to shoot , to be honest I have not actually confirmed the twist rate but it is the original barrel and if you believe what you read almost all early built 250-3000 rifles were built with 1-14

Originally Posted by Lucky

Thanks for the offer @Tentman ,but now that I know they are still made I will try and get my hands on some 87gn’s first as that’s what they were designed to shoot , to be honest I have not actually confirmed the twist rate but it is the original barrel and if you believe what you read almost all early built 250-3000 rifles were built with 1-14

Hi Lucky,

Reloader Supplies has the Speer 87 grain showing as available and NZ Ammo are showing the Sierra 87 grain as being in stock. It may be worth giving Deadeye Dick a call re the Sierra as their website these days is a dead waste of time.