I just ordered one with a 22" barrel for my encore. I am thinking this should be a good coyote whacker so what bullet 75,85, or 100. Really I just needed to tell somebody I ordered it but by all means information please.

Kevin,
I'd say you made a fine choice. I used to have a 250 Savage Imp. 14" barrel for a Contender. The only thing lacking was the stronger Encore frame (hadn't been invented yet).
What co. is making your barrel? Be sure to let us know how it shoots. If it is a factory barrel, the throat will be loooooong. If not, the lighter bullets work great and shoot flatter at all reasonable distances.
T.D.
PS> I have an article that was published in the Varmint Hunter mag about that 250 Sav. Imp. If you get that one, look it up. Lot's of load data there.

I ordered it from Bullberry, I didn't say because some here don't speak that highly of them but the first barrel they did (9" TCU) you can almost shoot it with your eyes closed and still hit @100 yards. Fred's compition down the street are 1 for 2 when it comes to barrels so this order went to Fred. one thing that was nice he had 3-5 scope nounting systems to choose from. This save me the trouble of shopping for them. On the plus side his stock work impressed me. I went with a standard chambering because the custom dies stuff is disappointing $$$! Besides I have been enjoying not having to fireform my other rounds.

I have a 22" octagon .250 Savage Encore barrel from VVCG and it's a sweet piece of work. One deer so far with it - 100 grain Barnes XLC put a clean 1" hole through it's chest.

.250 Savage is a classic, elegant caliber that'll whop small to medium game with no problem.

Mark Dumais

It's a great caliber. I've used .250s in rifle, Encore and XPs and have always been impressed because if offers so much from a rather small package. One thing I will add: for me, the top velocity and accuracy with 85-100 grain bullets has come from Re-15. H4350 also worked quite well but never matched the velocity/accuracy blend I could achieve with Re-15.

What twist rate did you get?

Kevin,
Bullberry does good work. And Fred is an okay guy. I've only got one barrel from VV, haven't shot it yet. But the ones I have from Bullberry have all been keepers (4). I had a rebore from Mike, but it was a 10" barrel and I didn't keep it for that reason.
It seems to me that the 250 Savage is easier to get to shoot well than the 243, while doing as well on varmints and better on deer. Just my experience.
I'd bet you'll like that barrel.
Lefty

The barrel is a 22" blue twist 1-10 heavy sporter.
Also thanks for the perferred powders but I thought
I heard that RL-15 is not available anymore. Has anybody tried IMR-4895 or IMR-4064, I have those on hand now.

Other powder that I have but I don't think would work very well are IMR-4198,H-322,IMR-4350,RL-19, and RL-22.

I used to have a SSK Super 14 Stainless-Steel Contender Barrel in .250 Savage. (The unfortunate part is I used to have it, but one of my shooting buddies now has it so I still get to shoot it from time to time).

At any rate, I used it on one Prairie Dog Shoot using 75gr. Hornady Hollow Points at a little over 2950 FPS with Winchester W-748. The load was super accurate, and quite mild to shoot.

I also had the pleasure to take a really decent WhiteTail Buck with a 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip with the .250 Savage as well. This one was loaded with H-322 (a load out of an article by the late Bob Milek), and was amazingly accurate. Bullet preformance at the 225 yard distance was excellent, and the exit hole behind the off side shoulder was a little over an inch.

Currently I have a bunch of test loads loaded with 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips and H-4895. Unfortunately we have not shot them as yet, so info on them will have to wait till we get them shot.

Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I have never used the cartridge in a Rifle Length Barrel.

Larry

SD Handgunner
I'm very interested in your results with H4895. I have a project that I will be working on & your results would help quite a bit. Please post it when you can.
Rich Jake

My barrel is a 16 1/4" T/C Custom Shop Rig. This barrel really likes both 75 gr V-Max and 100 gr Ballistic Tips. The only powders I have used have been IMR-3031 and H-380 (the best for 100 gr Ballistic Tips from my rifle). My rifle has a Mil-Dot scope and with 100 gr B-Tips sighted in 1.75" High if I hold one dot lower the V-Max's hit 2" High. Works well for me year round. Sean

Rich Jake, I talked to the owner of the barrel on Saturday night. He told me he still has enough rounds of the previous load for this year, so am not sure when we will get the test loads with the H-4895 shot. The guy that now owns the barrel is being a pain in the, , well you know. I have had these test loads loaded for over a year and he still has not showed the slightest interest in getting the testing done.

However as soon as I can get him to get up here and we can shoot them, I'll let you know the results.

Larry

Larry
It is not a big rush, But I would be interested in your restults. If or when you get to do it. Don't want to cause a fight with you & your friend!
Rich Jake

[ 11-01-2002, 16:52: Message edited by: Rich Jake ]