Hi all,

I shoot a model 99 in 250 Savage and find it a fine small game caliber. There is just one drawback that I find here in South Africa, and that is that bullets that we can get here for it all tend to break up on shots that are under 100 yards (most of the hunting done here is under 100 yards)

What I would like to know from the forum is firstly has anyone used Barnes X 100 grain bullets in a model 99 and secondly how accurate where they and thirdly at what velocity?

Thank you all for you input.

When it comes to the 99's I think that if you go with with the Barns X be carefull to work up to max pressure. I have a 250 improved, and have chose to use the 100gr nosler partition. It will give great expansion at distance, but will still go all the way through on a close shot. I also think that with a close shot the frount porthin that gets wiped off dose a lot of dammage and brings down game faster. I have used a 75gr Barns X in a thompson contender when I could not get anything heaver than 85gr bullets to shoot well. It has performed very well in this application. I do not see this bullet for sale anylonger, so perhaps nosler will make a 85gr partition and make my year. The X bullets are great bullets, but not the only game in town.

Thank you Elliot for your input.

I think I am going to have a client vring over some 100gr Barnes x bullets and then do as you suggested, work up slowly to a decent load. I am looking for accuracy more than velocity.

I thank you.

I am also interested in loading the .250 Savage with the Barnes X bullet. I am eyeing the 100g XLC and the 115g XLC. I've been able to get about 2900 fps out of 100g Noslers and 2700 fps from 115g Nosler BTs. My rifle is a limited Run Savage 111 bolt action, so I suppose I have a little more flexibility in the pressure department.

my savage M99 in .300 savage has the rotary magazine and overall length is important so that the case fits into the magazine. some of the long spitzers weighing 165 to 180 grains have to be seated to deep to be useful. i find "short for the weight" bullets work best. i do not know if this is true of the .250 savage. i really like the M99, the look and feel is exactly right.

Ive had real good luck with my two .250s with 120 grain bullets on game.

I too load for the 250 Savage. I have a custom rifle on a Kimber 84 action. I shoot the hornady 117 gr. round nose bullet at deer size game and it seems to perform better that even the nosler partition. The veloctiy is 2800 f/s and is more than up to the task out to 250 yards. I have many X bullets in the 85 gr. and 90 gr. They are dynamite killers but I don't want to shoot that fast and prefer the heavier bullet in my gun. Barns will eventually make a triple shock in 100 gr. and I think that it might be very good bullet for the 250 Savage.
lb404
lb404

lb404,

Have you tried the 115 XLC in the .250 Savage? I wonder if it will stabilize due to the length. My 111GL has a 1-10" twist but that's still a long bullet!

I am pretty sure that the 115 XLC will stabilize in my rifle with 1-10 twist. They were not very accurate in my rifle! The 85 gr X that I moly coated were very fast and very accurate. I only have 150 of those bullets left as Barnes dropped them from production. I am saving them for long distance shooting at Antelope!!!!!!!3250 f/s into .550 group for 3 shots all day long!

My M99 in 250 savage shoots very good groups with the lighter i.e. 85 and 100 grain bullets. However when I load up with anything heavier like speers 120 grain BT she then groups like a shotgun (very big pattern).

I have tried from very reduced loads (2350 fps)to very high velocity (2700 fps)and did not go any higher as there was no change in accuracy or group size.

[ 03-16-2003, 10:00: Message edited by: Zingela ]

Zingela,

I believe the M99 has a 1-14" twist in the .250 Savage. That would probably explain why your rifle shoots good with bullets 100g or less.

The Hornady 117g SP is said to be a good grouper in M99s - but I've never tried it.

If the rifle will not shoot well with 120 grain jacketed bullets then you should not consider monometal bullets of 100 grains as they are about the same length. A 100 grain jacketed lead bullet and 80 to 85 grain monometal bullets are similar in length and should stabilise equally well. Do you know what the twist of your rifle barrel is? If it is one in ten then any bullet longer than 29mm or 1.1" is a waste of time.

My Savage 99E shoots decently with 120 grain bullets, but I vaguely recall hearing Savage changed twists at some point. Been years since I measured the twist in mine, but I think it has 1 in 10.

I've always been more concerned with making sure the bullets expand than with the possibility of them breaking up.

Try the Hornady 117 gr. bullet. It is shorter than the 100 gr. Nosler and at the velocity you are wanting to run they will fully expand-not come apart and will be an excellent killer out to 200 yards on deer size and smaller game./ The rifle will stabilize that bullet no matter what the twist rate is.
lb404

Thanks for all the input here.