22-250 and cast

[Marlin Junky]

Has anyone had success loading the .22-250 down to .222 performance levels with 55-60 grain cast boolits without using fillers? I don't own a .22CF yet but want to start shooting one.

Thanks for your input,
MJ

[AZ-Stew]

Should be easy with a powder like 4198, 3031, 4895 or 4759. I've loaded it down to .22 magnum (18-1900 fps) with J-words using some of the slower pistol powders. You're only talking about dropping about 600 fps.

Regards,

Stew

[rhbrink]

Use to, don't own a 22-250 anymore but probably used Unique and 2400. Got very good accuracy out to 100 yards about minute of squirrel most of the time.

[stephen perry]

Marlin
The .222 is a primo cast bullet cartridge. The 22-250 is a hyper 22 cf that is best suited for jacketed bullets 55 grn and up. Go with the deuce and don't look back. I have a 722 in .222 that shoots 225 415 and 225 462 very well, most times 5 shots under an inch at 100. The 22-250 with same Cast bullet is only a couple hundred fps more according to Lyman manuals.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

[Marlin Junky]

Should be easy with a powder like 4198, 3031, 4895 or 4759. I've loaded it down to .22 magnum (18-1900 fps) with J-words using some of the slower pistol powders. You're only talking about dropping about 600 fps.

Regards,

Stew

Cast boolit pressures (< 40K PSI) are obtainable with the powders you mentioned even at very high speeds (for cast) but what level of accuracy can one expect with all that air space in the case? For example, using IMR 4198, QuickLoad says you can approach 3000 fps from a 22" barrel, generate < 38K PSI (HT'd WW metal can handle this) and burn all 25.0 grains of powder with about the same muzzle blast as a .222M max load. The negative?... the case is < 75% full. Slower powders like the 4895's will require about 5 more grains of powder, 2000 more PSI at the muzzle and still won't fill the case much past the 80% level.

What I'm really interested in are the accuracy result shooters have experienced with the 4198's and 4227 and any other powders that'll break 2900 fps with at most 25-26 grains. How hard can this be? It kinda sounds like loading a '06 down to a 30-30 (in terms of case capacity and pressure), right? An added benefit of shooting a 22-250 like this for everyday type stuff, would be the ability to load the same rifle up to factory spec's with copper patched boolits for serious coyote hunting. Or, if said rifle happens to be a Savage, perhaps one could "effortlessly" switch barrrels back and forth to handle copper patch and grooved/lubed boolits... cool or what? I'd say cool depends on how well it groups cast boolits at 2900 fps. The 14" twist on typical 22-250's should be a heck of a lot more forgiving than the typical twists on current .223's.

MJ