Gentlemen,
Found my OAL with the Sinclair OAL tool with a 50 grain Sierra Blitzking. I've zeroed my Forster Ultra Seater out and neck sized 95 fire formed Winchester cases with my Lee Collet Neck Die. Powder is Varget and primers are CCI BR-2. Any recommendation would be appreciated.

Regards, Matt.

Hey Matt-
Looks like we're in the same boat. I'm just starting load development for a .22-250 also. See my post just a little bit down the board. This is my first time to develop a load. Today was frustrating, but it's great to learn.

LDO,
It will get better:-). Oddly enough I had very good luck with 52 grain Bergers in front of 34.6 of IMR 4064 and Federal GM Match Primers in this very rifle. However, that was a few years back with someone else figuring seating depth by the old imprecise, if effective, method. Now that I'm flying solo and working to the thousandth I seem to be having an information overload. I've had everywhere .003" to .025" recommended and I don't know where to go other than the generic .010". Sierra is said to recommend a bit of a jump in hot .22s, however, I don't know if it comes from honest advice or avoiding the liability of pressure concerns. Would go back to IMR 4064, however, I'm giving a Harrell's Premium Culver a spin and prefer the better metering of Varget. That is if I can make it shoot.

Best of luck, Matt.

Matt-
Do you get Precision Shooting magazine? There was a great article in the May 2000 issue on finding seating depth. The article is called "Best Seat in the House".

Are you going by COL or measuring off the ogive? I'm ordering the Stoney Point Bullet Comparator tomorrow. COL is not precise enough.

LDO,
Unfortunately no I don't. I missed that article. Would love to read it.

I'm going by the OAL length of one particular Sierra Blitzking per Sinclair's instructions. However, I also use a Sinclair Comparator as bullets do indeed vary by length. That said my die(Forster Ultra) is seating them to the same length via the comparator and Starret 6" Dial Calipers. So I'm guessing the seating stem is contacting the ogive as opposed to the tip. Dunno though...

Regards, Matt.

I find seating my bullets just touching the lands is the best place to start. Your rifle will tell you what powder it likes best, then adjust the seating depth for best accuracy. The 22-250 has many powders it will give very good performance. Varget is a fine clean burning powder that is not affected by tempurature, but your 22-250 may not like it. One of the first powders to try in any 22-250 is H-380. The 22-250 was born and began with H-380 powder. That is how H-380 got its number designation by shooting such tight groups in a 22-250 using a charge of 38.0 grains of H-380. Always follow your reloading manual and work up slowly and do not exceed the Maximum loads listed. No shooter can force his rifle to shoot a powder it does not like even if he was told that is the only powder to use. Match the bullet weight to the twist of your bore. Your rifle will not like every bullet you try. It is a rare rifle that will shoot all weight bullets well. My 22-250 has 1 in 12" twist bore, yours may not. If you start with your bullet just touching the lands and it does not give you the groups you want then seat the bullet deeper into the case by a few thousanths each time. I load three rounds at a time to find the sweet spot. After I find the sweet spot I load 50 rounds and shoot 10 five shot groups to see how consistant that load is. If I am not satisfied I try another powder to see if the groups will shrink more. The fun of shooting is finding that super accurate load your rifle will consistantly put round after round under a dime at 100 yards.

Many 22-250 rifles like 50, 52, 53, 55, HP bullets. Many 22-250 rifles have 1 in 12" or 1 in 14" twist rates.