Hi guys I've just recently acquired a remington xp-100 in 22-250. Never having owned a hunting handgun. I have a few questions I need answered.
I do reload and I was thinking of just keeping the handloads for the new gun middle of the road and not pushing the envelope. Anyone shooting a xp-100 in 22-250 and what powders do you reccomend? Now of course the new gun isn't wearing any glass or mounts yet what fits? Seems that I've read that you can use standard rem 700 mounts? is that correct? I'm kinda partial to the dual dovetail mounts from Leopold. Now what scopes would you try? Thanks in advance. Rich

I just bought a Remington XP100R in .223 caliber. It was new in box. I'm new to the handgun hunting pistol too. I haven't fired it yet but I do have a scope mounted. You can use Leupold Rem 700 RH-SA bases. It will fit Rem model seven, 700, 722, 725, and 40x short actions, XP100 and 600-660. My base had the windage rear which I too don't prefer. The dual dovetail would be my pick too if I had it to do again but at the time it was all I could find at the local gun shops. Also mine is a one piece base Leu. model no. 50006. Go with the dual dovetails if you can find them. I bought my first Burris scope for it. I bought a 3x12 Burris pistol scope with the ballistic plex reticle. It has small dots on the reticle below the main crosshair which can be used for longer shots and comes with info on ballistics for 22-250 that guides you as to where to hold for longer shots. The dots below the crosshair are calibrated for a 55 grain bullet at 3200 fps. 1st dot is for 200, 2nd dot is for 250, 3rd for 350, and the top of the post for 450 yards. This is just a guide to go by but it should be helpful for long range holdovers. The Burris 3x12 I bought has parallax adjustment on the front. It also comes in a 2x7. While I am a Leu. fan this Burris scope is nice. Bought it from SWFA.COM for a little over $300.
I hear that these short barrels are a little loud. I'm gonna load my .223 with the same powder I use in rifles, Win 748. I'd stay with middle of the speed chart standard 22-250 powders and not the fastest burning nor slower powders. Also the Burris scope had caps for the lens with stretchy rubber between them to hold them on. Have fun. I'm gonna shoot mine for the first time I guess during Christmas.

Gunsdogs,

Congrats on the fine handgun, you truely own the cream of the crop in long range specialty handguns and the 22-250 chambering isn't to shabby either as a long range varmint round in the handgun.

I personally do not own an XP-100 in 22-250 but do have a couple 221 FB's,a 223 Rem, a 7mm BR and a custom 338-300 WSM. All are well under 1" handguns and the custom 338 is an honest 3/8" gun for three shots.

While I do not have one, I have developed loads for customers that do and have gotten some very good results.

You will hear alot of people say to use faster powders in the shorter barrels to get better velocities, in a very few cases this may be correct but in reality, the fastest loads in a rifle will still be the fastest loads in a shorter handgun barrel.

My favorite load for a 22-250 in my three varmint rifles is 41.0 gr of H-380 under a 50gr Ballistic Silvertip. This load is higher then most book loads but in my three rifles it is very comfortable and gets right around 3920 fps from a 26" barrel.

There are better powders on the market for the 22-250 but in two of my three rifles, this is a 1/4" load and in the third it runs right around 3/8" groups. With the velocity and accuracy, I have no need to look elsewhere.

That said, this load produces horrendous muzzle flash when fired out of a 22-250 handgun. From the few I have tested, I was able to get velocities in the 3400-3500 fps range with the 50 gr bullet and this load but the blast was very large.

Personally, if I were loading a 22-250 of my own, I would use H-VarGet with either a 50gr bullet of boat tail design and plastic Tip or a conventional SP 55 gr bullet.

Varget is a bit quicker burning then H-380 but the best features of this powder is that it is very stable over a huge temperture range and since it is a extruded powder instead of a ball powder, muzzle flash is very low.

Use the same loads that are listed for rifles and you will be fine. Remember that extreme velocity isn't always the best on accuracy so play with your loads and see what your handgun likes.

That said, the XP-100 is arguably the strongest action made, if you keep loads to sane levels, you will never hurt this action. Don't try to get rifle velocities but don't worry about going to full max loads, you have a hell-for-stout handgun.

An example of this is my 338-300 WSM. It wears a 15" Lilja barrel and with max loads using RL-15 and the .338" 180 gr Ballistic Tip, I get an average velocity of 2950 fps. That is higher performance then 90% of the 300 Win Mag factory loads with the same bullet weight out of a rifle length barrel.

As far as bases go, I use the Double Dovetail bases almost exclusively. They can be a bit hard to fine sometimes but well worth the effort. Order a base specifically for the XP-100, will save some headaches down the road, trust me on that one. Also, I use only Burris Signature rings for all of my handguns and rifles, period. They simply will not let a scope slip and at the same time, with the composite inserts, will never leave the faintest of marks on the scope tube.

As for scopes to use on your new toy, there are alot that work great on handguns but very few that are set up with eye reliefs that the center grip XP-100 has.

If your shooting off a bench then most will work OK, if you shoot prone, most will not give you a full diameter view.

On a varmint scope if is not as important as it is on a big game handgun. Scopes from Weaver, Leupold, Burris and T/C are all very quality handgun scopes but for field of view, the big Burris scopes with their 32mm objectives stand alone, as does their ability to handle extreme recoil.

My pick and the one I use the most is the Burris 2.5-7. Anything from here up such as the 3-12 would be great for your handgun with the 3-12 being a bit better for varminting but a bit harder to use for big game hunting.

With a hot accurate load and a higher powered Burris scope you will have a 1/4 mile varmint getter with few peers. Down the road you may even want to try the 22-250 IMP by rechambering you standard barrel.

From the two I have developed loads for, you can get pretty much standard 22-250 rifle performance out of the 15" IMP barrel.

Good Luck with your new handgun.

Good Hunting!!!

50

Good thoughts 50,
I don't have a 22-250, but I do have a 22-250 AI in 14 inch MOA Maximum that I have not shot yet. I currently have a 260 Remington on it at the moment that my daughter is using for deer hunting.
The 3-12 LER Burris is the best out there as far as long range shooting goes. I have the Ballistic Plex on all four of my 3-12's-I like them that much. Just load your rig for the most accurate load, the action can handle it if you treat as safely as you would a bolt rifle.
xphunter

It makes no difference if the scope is gloss or matte blue I always use matte rings and base on my XP's....I don't know why I got in the habit, I just did.

The matte finish Leupold dual dovetail base is a #53570 (the card says for XP-100 handgun) and the med. high Leupold matte dual dovetail rings are #49916.

Thanks gents just the kind of input I was looking for. Rich