Has anyone got a sugestion for a load for the 70gr Speer bullet in a 22-250 Rem?? Gun is a Ruger M77 with 1 in 14 inch Twist. Hows the accuracy and velocity? Will mostly be used for shots under 150 yards.

You are going to have trouble stabilizing the 70 grs bullet in a 1:14" twist barrel.

Stabilization is really a function of twist rate vs. bullet length and bullet velocity. But, for approximate values of what you can stabilize in what twist rates, refer to this:

Rifle Twist Rates from Benchrest Central - Courtesy of Shilen

Don't ask me why .22-250 barrels are often 1-14?? 1-12 , 1-10 or 1-9 would seem to make a lot more sense, given the size of the case. Perhaps it is historical, in days gone by over-stabilization was more of an issue than it is today. Otherwise, the .22-250 would be a perfect match for the heavier .224 cal bullets.

- mike

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
You are going to have trouble stabilizing the 70 grs bullet in a 1:14" twist barrel.

Stabilization is really a function of twist rate vs. bullet length and bullet velocity. But, for approximate values of what you can stabilize in what twist rates, refer to this:

Rifle Twist Rates from Benchrest Central - Courtesy of Shilen

Don't ask me why .22-250 barrels are often 1-14?? 1-12 , 1-10 or 1-9 would seem to make a lot more sense, given the size of the case. Perhaps it is historical, in days gone by over-stabilization was more of an issue than it is today. Otherwise, the .22-250 would be a perfect match for the heavier .224 cal bullets.

- mike

The reason .22-250 barrels are cut with a 1/14" twist is that these rifles were originally intended to be VARMINT rifles, and 1/14" is correct for the bullets most often used for shooting varmints with one! The old boys that dreamed up the .22-250 never thought we'd shoot deer with them!

I had good resutls with my .22/250 and Speer 70-grain bullets using IMR 4350. My max. load turned out to be 36 grains, and it produced 3200 FPS in mine. But this load may be TOO HOT in your rifle-approach with caution!!

The 70-grain Speer is short enough to work pretty well in 1/14" twist guns at .22/250 velocities.

As already stated, your Ruger will not shoot the 70 grain bullets well.

But if you really wanna try:
http://stevespages.com/224_7_70.html

Lourens, Are you South African?, in South Africa? (Lourens is a SA name)

If so e-mail me off line at pmillan@angloplat.com and cc to iti30621@mweb.co.za

I can give you some info on this. 1:14 won't spin your 70gr. 1:12 will but accuracy is lousy. You are better off with the 1:10 or 1:9. If you are SA then you are pretty screwed wrt the gun laws and licencing.

Cheers

Pete

quote:

Originally posted by El Deguello:
I had good resutls with my .22/250 and Speer 70-grain bullets

I was lucky also using the 70gr. Barnes' original with as much 4831 as I could jam into the case.
At the time( 1966) it was the only powder I had or could afford, but it really did the job. It successfully killed mule deer at some very long distances.

The rifle was made with a Harry McGowan barreled acction with a 1:14 twist. At the time I bought it it was called the 22 Varminter(22-250).

Try loading up some you might get lucky too. roger