Ruger 250 Savage vs NOE 260 100FN

[jjnpg317]

With a cold barrel this rifle with this boolit shoots groups , but the moment it starts getting warm to hot , boolits are everywhere , on and off the target stand. The barrel slugged .257 so I sized boolits at 257 , 258 & 2585. Still a no go. Next I changed lube & got same results. I had read somewhere that Rugers didn't have good barrels on the early models and chalked it up to that. My last session at range I was so mad , I shot every 100 grain I had just to free brass up for further use. The barrel was so hot I could not put my hand on it. Looking through my box I found some more 250s and thought I'll shoot them too for the brass. I shoot three at 100 yards and my buddy says " Nice group. About an 1 and half. " What!!
I look and the ones I'm shooting are from a NOE 260-80 Ranch Dog Mold GC. I loaded them on a boring day when I had cast for a buddy's 25-20 Marlin. I never considered them to be useful in this rifle. The real shock came at approximately 190 yards. In 6 shots I hit 3 skeet with holdover and a barrel red hot. Now I'm not so sure about what I read about Ruger barrels. I don't know why the 100 grain won't shoot , but RD is now the mold for this rifle.
Can anyone here help me understand why the 100 does these crazy things?

[376Steyr]

My guess is the 100 gr are longer than the 80 gr and the 100 gr are not rotating fast enough to be stabilized. You didn't mention what velocities you were shooting at; but maybe your bullet speed (and rpm) is dropping off as the barrel heats up and the 100 gr load, which was just barely stabilized at cold barrel velocities, suddenly becomes unstable from a hot barrel. I'd try speeding up the 100 gr bullet and see what happens. You might also check your Ruger's twist rate, it may be unusually slow.

[quilbilly]

I had similar problems with other calibers (not 250 Sav) in single shots. The first shot of a string was great, the second was a little off, then the third would be anyplace. Waiting five minutes to cool the barrel would start the process again. Eventually I started varying velocities from my desired and discovered that I was asking too much of the caliber with CB's. By backing off on velocity, the groups were fine even when the barrel warmed a bit. My 250 Sav single shot with 103 gr boolits shoots great at an MV of about 1800 (17 gr of 4198).

[jjnpg317]

376Steyr
I will increase the powder charge according to the RCBS cast book I have. The book shows 21 to 23 grains of 4895 and thanks for the help.

[pietro]

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I have a tang-safety Ruger M-77RS in .250 that shoots commercial (Remington) 100gr J-things into groups that hover just under/over 1" @ 100yds.

Has your rifle shot accurately with ANY other ammo ? (It may be a candidate for re-bedding)


http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r431/pwawryk/DSCN1558_zps67e6ebe0.jpg


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[jjnpg317]

Pietro
I have shot jacketed 87,100, & 117 grain with no problems & good groups with this rifle. I shot it with jacketed until the barrel was hot and the jacketed did not wander like the 100 grain cast. The load I shoot with cast is 20.5 grains of H4895 , filler, and 376Steyr may be right in that the 100 grain is longer than the Ranch Dog 80 grain. It's length might be my problem, plus they weren't being driven fast enough to stabilize it. Both cast boolits were loaded with same load and the next loads will be higher for the 100. The NOE 260-100 is a great mold and there is nothing wrong with it. I believe it's my fault for the bad performance.

[pietro]

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It looks like you know your way around cast boolits, so I think you might be on the right track (regarding the boolit choice)............ Interesting....


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[donald duck]

Would like to trade a Weatherby Vanguard in 25-06 for a Ruger or Remington in .250. Has a Boyd's wood stock, nice looking rifle. Anyone interested email me dworley790@gmail.com..thanks for looking!!!

[jjnpg317]

Update: I change powders from 20.5 grains of H4895 to a starting load of 21 grains of IMR4895 and no filler. The 100 grain boolit shot entirely different with a change of powder. It was accurate even with a red hot barrel. When I finally got up to 23 grains of IMR, accuracy went out the window, so I went back to 21 grains and accuracy returned. Speed was the key & thanks again for your help & advice !

[35remington]

I might suggest you lay off the "red hot barrel" bit. There is no good reason to let it get so hot, it will last longer if you do not, and you have found undesirable things happen when it gets hot. Barrel wear greatly accelerates from a hot barrel shot continuously.

Bring more than one gun to the range and shoot something else for a while when it gets warm.

A hot barrel is not the actual situation when you use the gun in the field for the vast majority of shooting for which a .250 is suitable. A cool or cold barrel situation is. Give the gun a break.

[ammohead]

With a very hot bbl the lube will begin to melt as soon as you chamber the cartridge. If the boolit sits below the neck the lube can mess with the powder especially if you wait to shoot.