22-250 whats a good velocity to try for

[nofun1]

I got  CZ550 Varmint and am trying to work up a load for it. It seems to shoot almost everything wel,l in looking around I find velocities from 2500 to 4500 what are some of your opinions on an ideal velocity for the 250 for med-long range varminting? 200-400 yards I am going to use 50gr Vmaxes.   

[dw06]

Hi nofun1,I also have a 22-250 that shoots everything well,in fact its hard to find anything that will shoot over an inch at 100 yards.That said I have a few loads that will go under half inch at 100.I settled on a load that is a grain under max and have shot my best group with at .24 for three shots at 100,it will always do half inch or better if I do my part.So i just shot it a bunch at longer ranges to get trajectory down and use that one load only.Works well as allot of groundhogs would confirm,if they could.This load goes around 3500-3600 with 50gr sierra depending on book you look at,and I'm pleased with it.Load is 33grs imr 3031 with oal of 2.36,give it a try see what you think.

[Glanceblamm]

agreed with dw06 as I use a case full of the 3031 but with the 55gr bullet seated .010 back from the rifling for around 3,760fps and honest five shot MOA groups.
My loading of H380 with the sierra bullets will cut the group size in half or a little better.
The 4064 is a good old standby and the vagrant seems to be very popular as of late.

I sure have heard alot of good things about that 50gr Vmax but always stuck with the 53 to 55gr as the ballistic uniformity was more consistant. Reports are so good though on that Vmax that I had meant to try some before now.

[kyote]

 what are some of your opinions on an ideal velocity for the 250 for med-long range varminting? 200-400 yards I am going to use 50gr Vmaxes.   

I do not know what you are going to shoot in the way of varmints.I would want my velocitys at the edge of the envelope.I have several rifles chambered in 22-250,and I enjoy shooting the lighter bullets in them.I find almost anything I do with in reason for loading The 22-250 is accurate.well thats not really true.let me tell you what I do.I keep all the brass seperate by the rifle the brass was fired in,I neck size only untill they start to chamber hard/not easy.then full length untill they chamber smoothly again.I trim the brass to the same legth keeping them as long as possible.as I believe longer necks make for more accurate ammo.I uniform all the primer pockets,deburr the flash hole with a sinclair flash hole deburring tool.I use a VLD chamffering tool for inside the neck when I trim them.I only use federal match primers.I measure the chamber and set the bullets close to the lands and grooves.ensuring they will fit the magazine if need be.I normally go to the sierra manual are the Nosler manual.find the best powder they say they found.and go right to max load five rounds and check her at the range.If I see no signs of presure.and the bullets were accurate.I go home and load more for more testing.after a second work out with a lot more ammo.I will load a bunch.good luck.

[iiranger]

I got  CZ550 Varmint and am trying to work up a load for it. It seems to shoot almost everything wel,l in looking around I find velocities from 2500 to 4500 what are some of your opinions on an ideal velocity for the 250 for med-long range varminting? 200-400 yards I am going to use 50gr Vmaxes.   

As you indicate, the .22/250 has a rep for shooting about any reasonable load pretty good. Thus its long life. AT THE SAME TIME, and while you will kid yourself that this does not apply to you [HA, HA], WHAT are you going to shoot at?
BOTTOM LINE: the hotter you load, the faster your barrel wears out.
Many, many a prairie dog shooter has promised himself that he will "pace himself" and not let the barrel get too hot and ... he still comes home with a burned out barrel. Now if you intend coyotes, you don't have this problem. Not much. [If it needs to be said, I speak from experience... not enough experience IMHO...] If the CZ is twisted 1 in 14 or 1 in 12, you will not get much with the fast twist bullets. VLD. 69 grain boat tails. Etc. Pick your target. Pick a reasonable selection of bullets. Study the drop tables in the loading manuals. Figure what your gun scope combination can handle and load to suit it. If you choose a K3 Weaver scope... You don't need preformance much beyond that of .30/30 (or .25/35). If you have a 6x24 and plan to shoot p'dogs far, far away, then... more velocity is useful. Your gun will probably have a sweet spot where accuracy is best. And if this is not as fast as you can load... You might be happier there... But at any level, barrels tend to wear out in p'dog towns...(enjoy) luck...

[beemanbeme]

I've always shot 55's in my 22-250's and I try not to motor them too hard nor shoot them too fast since paying for needless re-barrel jobs can cut into your travel expense money for going Pdog shooting.  I like 3400-3500fps.  And I use H380 because when you'rre loading up several hundred rounds for a Pdog shoot, you can't be trickling powder charges.   

You are right about the 22-250's ability to digest just about anything.  I often used it as a "clean up" cartridge in that I would use up some of the quarter and half pound cans of powder I had sitting around that hadn't worked out on other projects.

[Catfish]

Don`t get hung-up on velosity, load for accuracy and take the velosity you get. I would also recomand that you use at least 55 gn. bullet if your going after coyotes.

[oso45-70]

Nofun

You should never start out with a new rifle loading full pressure loads, In other words go to your loading rags and start slightly below the maximum loads and gradually work up to where you get the best accuracy. Some rifles have a tighter chamber than others and you might be pushing more pressure than you want and could result in doing damage to your rifle which would be a shame. Good luck Sir.........Joe..........