I have worked hard on finding a load for 100yds and have setteled on one that gives me a hair under 1/2 moa consistently
in the mid to upper .4's. my best is a .390 it's 22-250 Varmint its a stock barrel,floated ,bedded and 2 lb trigger...
I ended up using Hornady brass and H380 to get where I am.
My main question is it possible to get groups smaller by going with lapua or norma brass? Is the price of this brass worth it?
Other than going with a premium barrel what can I do to improve groups a little more?

I'd say before you go dropping money into buying more brass, etc., you try extending your range to 200 yds and possibly reworking your load.
I had phenomenal groups @ 100 yards at one point in time that went to #@LL @ 200yds.
Now EVERY load is checked at a minimum of 200, and my 100 yd groups (when I shoot them) are better than ever.

Depends on how much money you want to throw at it. You could use competiion bushing dies with carbide sizing buttons and competition seater die. Get yourself a Sinclair International catalog and get out the credit card to you get sick of trying new tricks.
Good Luck

There are a lot of other things I'd try first. I would be really surprised if it was worth the cost.

The reason Im on this quest is because my gun range club in my small town has a fun shoot once a month.

DGC, the first thing that I would spend money on would be a tool to check your runout and then use that tool to adjust your dies etc. to reduce runout to a minimum. That seems to help accuracy more than a lot of other factors. The $75 RCBS unit works fine but Sinclair makes one that's even nicer..................DJ

You could also take 8 oz off the trigger, practice your breathing timing with trigger pull. More scope power helps also. Depends on how much money you want to throw into the project. I am good shooter and my benchrest buddies keep trying to get me into a BR rifle and I just don't want to spend that much cash to try to beat them.

try IMR4064 and sierra 55gr hpbt. i've seen this load do some wonderful things in group size.

Chasing accuracy can be a bottomless money pit. There's always one more gadget that you can buy that sez it will lead you to the promise land.
If you're CONSISTANTLY getting sub .5 groups, I'd call it happy. You can try adjusting your bullet jump a bit or even neck turning but I wouldn't try to spend your way into the winner's circle. As posted, use the money to make more ammo and practice your bench technique.
I went down the same road as you and found that neck turning, even with a factory chamber, will give you a slightly better group. The money I spent for 100 Norma cases was wasted. You might take a few more oz's off the trigger if you can do it and it still be reliable.
What bullet are you shooting? My 22-250 shot better using the flat based 53gr Sierra MK than it did the BT 52gr Sierra MK. But my XR-100 in .223 shoots the BT better. Go figure.
FYI, I don't think Lapua makes brass for the 22-250.

I have loaded 4064,3031 benchmark,4320.varget,4895,h380 and RL15 have tryed 3 different sierras,hornadys,Barnes
and setteled on Nosler BST'S in 50grain have never tryed anything under 50grn.
I started reloading 7 months ago and never looked back I LUV THIS HOBBIE!
I dont mind spending the money just want advice on what to try next. Like I said I played with the col and this rifle does not like them anywhere close to the lands with this particular bullet it is the best at 2.390-2.395

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
DGC, the first thing that I would spend money on would be a tool to check your runout and then use that tool to adjust your dies etc. to reduce runout to a minimum. That seems to help accuracy more than a lot of other factors. The $75 RCBS unit works fine but Sinclair makes one that's even nicer..................DJ

Could you give me a link to the tool your refering to?
are you talking about turning the necks?

quote:

My main question is it possible to get groups smaller by going with lapua or norma brass? Is the price of this brass worth it?

your groups could increase!.....the probability is that it will make no difference.

Once you've hit the sub 1/2 MOA it's extremely hard to improve from there.....unless you go the benchrest route.

Lapua does not make 22-250Rem brass. Norma does. So does Nosler.

Do you use a proper rifle rest like this: http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?catego...m=04-2610&type=store

No I use this
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=149023

and sometimes just this along with a rear.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=610698

That could be your problem. Nobody in any of the benchrest diciplines uses a lead sled or a bull's bag. Ask around. One of the most critical things of bench shooting technique is to get the rifle back to the exact spot after recoiling. The fore end stop does that. Do you remove you sling swivel studs that could hang up on your bags? Also, a little baby powder on the bags helps the rifle slip instead of grab.

Just a couple little things could reduce your groups another tenth or two.

DGC, Here's a link to Sinclair's page that show's thier tool and the Neco:

http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=REMTCG&type=store

Here's the RCBS:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=310955


The RCBS is the least expensive and will measure interior case wall thickness and a couple other handy things in addition to measuring runout.

Runout is how much the bullet is aligned off centerline. A perfect bullet wouldn't wobble as you rolled it on a flat surface. Here's a site that helps describe it and has a couple articles about a tool that will let you actually correct runout on loaded bullets:

http://www.bersin.info/english/ebene_2_e/media.htm

The Bersin tool is the most expensive of the bunch but it will actually straighten bullets for you. I bought mine here:

http://www.kinneman.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=237

It's not a cheap tool so I would recommend that you study up on it a bit first. For me it's helped me reduce some of my group sizes from 3/4 go 1/2 MOA or so. It's especially noticable at longer ranges. You might want to experiment with the less expensive RCBS tool first but the Bersin is the one of the bunch I personally use the most.....................DJ

Just MHO.

Do you have a chronograph? The thing that makes small groups is consistency. If you have a chronograph check the standard deviation and mean average deviation (if your chrono has that function). If you have deviation numbers in the single digits over ten or more rounds then you have very consistent ammunition and then you can look at runout, technique etc. If you have high deviation numbers then something in your ammunition is not uniform and maybe a more uniform brass will help.

Focus and adjust your scope to get the maximum performance from it. The better you can see, and avoid parallax the better your groups will be. Practice the bench technique and try free recoil and a hard hold to see what the rifle likes best. Once you reach the 1/2 MOA level with a factory rifle a trip to the reloading store is not always as effective as time in a pew praying for better results.

quote:

Originally posted by Dgc940:
My main question is it possible to get groups smaller by going with lapua or norma brass?

Hey Dgc940, If you are already doing a full "Case Prep" and Weight Sorting, then the answer would be - probably not.

quote:

Is the price of this brass worth it?

Not for me, but if a person wants to spend extra money on it, then they should.

quote:

Other than going with a premium barrel what can I do to improve groups a little more?

Lots of Trigger Time - at a long distance - will teach you more about what to do and how to do it than anything else I can think of.

As you gain Trigger Time, all the small things that allow a person to become an excellent shot fall into place. There are plenty of minor Tricks of the Trade, but nothing replaces Trigger Time.

By the time you completely wear out a few barrels, you will be where you want to be.

Best of luck to you.

quote:

Originally posted by 308Sako:
Once you reach the 1/2 MOA level with a factory rifle a trip to the reloading store is not always as effective as time in a pew praying for better results.

I really like that analogy

The fun really begins when the Sinclair Internatinal catalog hits the mail box.

I just bought some 22-250 norma brass, Its brand spankin new and I wanna work up a new load I am going to start with berger and JLK bullets first, I already have a load for the gun using H380 like you that is extremly accurate and shoots a 50grn vmax, the problem is the vmax pushed with 40.8 grns of h380 at 38+ hits yotes like a hand grenade is going off inside them, also the biggest problem is lack of temp stability with h380, my load shoots great if the loads have cooled below 40 degrees but if I shoot the loads in any warmer conditions I get a sticky bolt. so now I have settled on working up some loads with benchmark, hopefully I can still get the speed I am getting and get the temp stability I need

Instead of hunting a temp insensitive powder (I don't believe there is such an animal), why not back off on that powder charge a half or two thirds of a grain? That might be all it'd take. I've shot about a ton or two of H380 thru a 22-250 and think its THE powder.

quote:

Originally posted by Dgc940:
I have worked hard on finding a load for 100yds and have setteled on one that gives me a hair under 1/2 moa consistently
in the mid to upper .4's. my best is a .390 it's 22-250 Varmint its a stock barrel,floated ,bedded and 2 lb trigger...
I ended up using Hornady brass and H380 to get where I am.
My main question is it possible to get groups smaller by going with lapua or norma brass? Is the price of this brass worth it?
Other than going with a premium barrel what can I do to improve groups a little more?

You didn't say what bullet you are using. Try a better bullet first.

DG,HAVE NO FEAR I'AM HERE! shoot Winchester brass to save the day.Also,check for runout and buy reloading dies/press that are made for accuracy.Also,clean your bore the right way for accuracy.

I would also try longer range. The pre 64, 220 Swift I had shot terrible at 100 yd's with the 60 gr Hornady. Mostly around 3". But at 350 yd's I put 5 in 1/4" and head shot chucks to almost 600 yd's. I found the bullet wasn't going to sleep at close range and was circling the flight path.
I kept three guns in the car, a.44 BH for up to 100 yd's, a .222 for out to 300 and the Swift for anything over 300. I just had trouble hitting a chuck at 100 yd's with that rifle.

I have tryed several differant bullet combinations from seirra Nosler on and on.
I also have two differant loads for longer and shorter ranges. benchmark does very well at 200and 300 meters. while h380 and varget do well at 100 yds but no powder does well at all ranges. With this being said Im not trying to do br quality grouping I just want to hit the .300's I have a sinclair catalog on the way. I think my next step is get some better quality dies on the way! and try some bergers.
one more question is should I go with redding or foster dies or mabey the higher end rcbs.
My best groups have been shot with the Nosler/combined tech. bt's and 37.4 of H380 at 50 degrees

The first set of "better" dies I would try would be a set of Redding Bushing dies. That way you can neck size only and maybe try different bushing to adjust neck tension. Their Micrometer seating dies are sweetness.
The new RCBS bushing dies might be good too but I haven't tried them yet.................DJ