Does anyone really consider the 250-3K an adequate deer cartridge? Do people really use it to hunt? Will it ever get a foot hold anywhere? roger

According to Frank Barnes in Cartridges Of The World: "It lacks the power of the bigger .25-06 Remington but provides less noise and less recoil. Performance is very close to the .257 Roberts. Arguably it is a better overall cartridge for hunting than the more popular .30-30, but in recent years has lost ground to the .257 Roberts and flatter-shooting 6mm cartridges like the .243 Winchester" (as stated in the Wikipedia article).

I would personally a lot rather have a .25-06 or .257 Roberts. And as to its being a "better overall cartridge for hunting than the more popular .30-30" I suppose that is debatable.

Will someone use it for deer? I'm sure they will/do. I've got a friend who swears by the .22 Hornet for deer, if you shoot them in the neck or ear, but I disagree. My guess is that if it hasn't gained popularity by now, its probably not going to.

I doubt it will ever make the top ten cartidge list but there are alot of guns out there and id doubt it will ever die. As to effectiveness on whitetails. Ive got three 250s and have used them to kill probably a truck load of deer through the years. Ive yet to loose an animal hit by one. Ive got one little ruger international that goes to camp every year. I havent used it myself in quite a few years as i usually have a differnt gun every year but that little gun is fought over by my nephews every year. they call it thor because just about every deer thats ever been shot with it drops like it was hit by the hammer of thor. it will never be a good 400 yard deer gun but if you keep the range to 250 yards which is a very long shot in whitetail country it will kill as well as any round that is carried in the field and wont beat you up doing it. No it wont do anytihng that something like a 243 wont do but to me its a bit cool to use something a bit differnt then everyone else uses.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Does anyone really consider the 250-3K an adequate deer cartridge? roger

....funny....

But seriously, even hampered with the wrong twist in the 99 Savage it has sold a lot of rifles and folks have been killing deer with it for a very long time. It's obvious by solely it's longivity that it's an adequate whitetail cartridge.

In my own quarterbore history it's the only one missing however.....I even shoot the .25-20 WCF but have never owned a .250-3K.....

It can be a prime candidate for those that want to shorten a '98 Mauser.....a spendy thing to do! However I suspect the goal is an unique Mauser.....not so much a .250-3K.

The only way I'd consider one is in a M-99 takedown model in pristine condition....or if I was to actually shorten a M-98 myself.....UNLIKELY!

Given that I haven't seen anyone hunting with one ever in my life.....I'd have to say that it's useful life is historical only.....a collector's item......a campfire discussion....a warm fuzzy feeling about our grandfathers.....shortly our great grandfathers.....but not soon forgotten, as it's place in history is cemented with tradition and proven performance.

Does anyone think that if Savage made a special run of the M-99 takedown in .250-3K that it wouldn't sell quickly?.....They'd have trouble keeping up with the orders for a while! But that's what the .250 Savage is and where it ends.

Not as long as you can neck down the .378 Weatherby to .25 cal.

quote:

Not as long as you can neck down the .378 Weatherby to .25 cal.

You 'da Man!!! Just make sure it has disposable barrels!!!!

I own two of them and have killed several deer with one shot kills. The last one I killed with the M99 was a doe at 200 yards, the 100gr speer went through both shoulders and made a mess of everything in between.
I have a book written by a Montana writer and hunter that tells of the many elk his father shot with a M99 in 250. My rifle came from Wyoming and has taken elk in the hands of the guy I bought it from.
If you have trouble taking deer with the 250 it's not the cartridges fault

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Does anyone really consider the 250-3K an adequate deer cartridge? Do people really use it to hunt? Will it ever get a foot hold anywhere? roger

Well, if you can stomach the lack of recoil, abundance of accuracy, and relatively decent selection of bullets, well, then have at it.

Me, I prefer something that will induce a man sized flinch and destroy way too much meat.

Anybody can shoot those "little" cartridges!

I used a Ruger 77 RSI to take quite a few whitetail... used mostly the 120 Speer. Never had an issue.

Fun round to shoot... the 250 Savage is to big game what the 223 is to varmints. Not the most powerful round but totally adequate. What makes it so much fun is its nearly total lack of recoil (noticeably less than the 243 for instance), and wonderfully "inherent" accuracy.

One of these days I'd like to build one on a Kimber 84M action...

I think it would be a great whitetail gun. Perfect for youth, small framed gals, or recoil sensitive people. Maybe it would keep folks with shoulder/back medical issues able to hunt?

I guess it also depends on your "deer". Our southern Coues whitetail are tiny. A monster buck may, and I mean MAY go 100 lbs.

I don't think I would reach for a 250 Savage if I was after a monster Mulie, on a "once in a lifetime" trophy hunt, say in Canada, or some of the huge Iowa or Illinois bucks that I see guys taking on tv.

I don't have one, but I don't see anything wrong with a guy having one in the gunsafe, or hunting with one.

For Roger:

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
For Roger:

Thanks VD.
The top most cartridge fits my deep throated 250-3k.What you see is a 120 grain bullet almost seated down to the junction of the neck and shoulder. The barrel twist easily accommodates the heavy for caliber bullets without infringing on the powder room. These features put the 250-3k in a slightly elevated category .
The next is a wild cat that is being built for me; not by me.
The third is an old favorite of mine.

My 250/3000 is a Savage 10 re-barreled.
I shoot 100gr Partitions over RL15. This rifle
has taken 25 to 30 whitetail, mostly does, doing crop control. Of the total only two were not DRT and they ran only 40 to 50 yds.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

The 250 Savage is totaly inadequate for deer. Let it be know that those hundreds of thousands of deer over the last 100 yrs. that were shot at with a 250 Sav. dies from the sound not from the bullets.

I simply cannot believe so many posters didn't realize that the OP was KIDDING!

So many emoticons, so little comprehension.....


.

Really,
Then the .378 weatherby idea with throw away barrels won't work. Oh well.

You bet it is a deer cartridge!!!

Mr. McCabe, you are a riot. You are right on!
Butch

Cartridges don't kill deer, proper bullets put in the right place do. The .250 Savage can put a proper bullet in the right place as well as any other. ??

Who is offering a factory rifle in 250 Savage (250-3000) these days?

257 Roberts is available in the Kimber and Ruger rifles.
250 Savage is currently sold in the Savage line.

What' the saying,
"even a blind hog finds an acorn, now and then....

A couple I've bumped into over the last year or so. The Roberts was new. The 250 Savage was unfired out of a friends collection (but I fixed that).
GWB



Rem 700 CDL Ltd. 75th Anniversary Edition, 257 Roberts

Remington 700 Classic ('84 Vintage), 250 Savage

Cooper also chambers both in a single shot and the 250 Savage in their model 54 repeater.

It’s not that I dislike any cartridge but how is it selling these days? what are the numbers?

Give the sales numbers and any fool can tell you how popular the cartridge is.

quote:

Give the sales numbers and any fool can tell you how popular the cartridge is.

Really? If 2010 numbers show the .300 WSM ahead of the .30-06 in rifle sales, does that mean the .300 WSM is more popular than the .30-06?



.

The 250 Savage has had a long time to make it’s point,,, it’s not very popular.

quote:

Originally posted by TX Nimrod:
[QUOTE]Give the sales numbers and any fool can tell you how popular the cartridge is.

Really? If 2010 numbers show the .300 WSM ahead of the .30-06 in rifle sales, does that mean the .300 WSM is more popular than the .30-06?
As far as the 300,, there is something there. Something worthwhile.

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:

quote:

Originally posted by TX Nimrod:
[QUOTE]Give the sales numbers and any fool can tell you how popular the cartridge is.

Really? If 2010 numbers show the .300 WSM ahead of the .30-06 in rifle sales, does that mean the .300 WSM is more popular than the .30-06?

As far as the 300,, there is something there. Something worthwhile. i think it will hold on.

It may replace the 06 and the 300 Win. Time will tell, but I doubt it.

The .250 Savage is a perfectly adequate deer rifle out to as far as most people should shoot one. I've owned two for a while - a Remington Model 7 MS out of the Custom Shop (bought used) and a mid-1920s German guild double rifle.

The last deer (a whitetail) I shot with the Model 7 walked about 50 feet after I put a Remington factory 100 grain bullet through the chest. Shot through a rib, both lungs and out the far side.

Ballistically, the .250 Savage is comparable to a .243 (I know it's a bit slower, but not enough to matter). Most people have no issue with a .243 and deer, so why would you have one with the .250?

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:
It’s not that I dislike any cartridge but how is it selling these days? what are the numbers?

Give the sales numbers and any fool can tell you how popular the cartridge is.

You are absolutely correct. Too many puppets driven by a marketing environment don't know a ballistic thoroughbred from an over hyped also ran.
Most guys that buy fire arms only go by what they read or hear from the counter person at Wal Mart.
Sadly you are right ,however, that sweet little 250 will never be a big seller. The field is too crowded with compromise cartridges pushed by frantic marketeers to trap the immature multitude. Moving right along. roger

To many fine cartridges are laid to waste by the marketing of the day. Reloaders keep them alive though.

quote:

Ballistically, the .250 Savage is comparable to a .243 (I know it's a bit slower, but not enough to matter). Most people have no issue with a .243 and deer, so why would you have one with the .250?

One reason is the twist rate on the savage M-99....It's just too slow for a longer bullet. I even hear that in some cases it won't stabilize a 100 grain bullet.

If we're talking a new build in a 1-10" twist...then we're talking about serious competition between the ole .250 Savage and the 6mm rifles of today.

Here's the other rub.....It's not just the 250 Savage that is lost to the ages....it's lever action rifles in general. I haven't seen a lever gun in twnety years of hunting except for my own M-99 in .308 Win. When I first started hunting, we never saw a bolt rifle....it was all M-94, M-99, and a few pump Remingtons.

Those old rifles haven't gone away.....they're merely waiting for the dawn of a new hunting era to come. Today we have the muzzleloader season.....maybe tomorrow we'll have the lever action season!

Till I paired down my collection, I would hunt white tails a lot with a 250-300. I had a Savage 99 so chambered. If I ever get around to it, I am going to have NULA do a Model 20 for me so chambered. With good handloads, it would be fine for pretty much anything in the lower 48 and most of Alaska too. In the old days it was considered a powerful cartridge, and some shot tigers with it.

I have only shot two deer with the 250. They were both bank flops though. the neatest thing about the 250 is it's nonexistent recoil. It is just so easy to shoot well.

The 250-3000 was obsolete years ago. Now if a rifleman wants to spruce one up and make do its fine with me. However there are alternative rounds that make more sense.

Savage made the twist 1-14" and loaded a 87 gr bullet to advertise that it made 3000 fps. Few care anymore for that load.

Getting something else makes sense.

CR,

Opinions vary!

Best
GWB

The 250-3000 is a nice, mild recoil, varmint and medium game cartridge, which seems to do about the same things that a 243 will do, but only if you reload.

The standard ROT was 1-14", which limits a reloader to, mostly, cup & core bullets up to and including 100 grains. The 75 grain Barnes original X and the 87 grain Speer HotCore are my choice for medium game in 1-14" ROT 250-3000s. I have some 1-14" 250-3000s that will shoot the 117 grain Hornady round nose OK, but most won't. In a 1-10" ROT barrel, the 250-3000 will handle heavier/longer bullets at reduced speeds, if those reduced speeds will work for your style/range of hunting.

Bottom line: If you're a reloader, the 250-3000 will work fine within the limits of its velocity potential. If you're not a reloader, the factory ammo is nothing to get excited about and limits the flexability of the cartridge, so I think that the 243 is the easier, cheaper, better choice for the guy who doesn't reload.

Jeff

Hello All


Mauser cam out with the 250-3000 in the 98 Kurz action,

I have seen and handled one, would give my left @#$ too have one, even if I have a 25-06.

That is just a beautifull acrtridge to look at

Nothing wrong with a .250-3000! I have seen the Bob at the head of the list of best deer cartridge ever. The Savage can shoot with the Bob any day.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Nothing wrong with a .250-3000! I have seen the Bob at the head of the list of best deer cartridge ever. The Savage can shoot with the Bob any day.

I'm in complete agreement.....as a handloader and in a 1-10 bolt rifle. In the Savage M-99 it's almost that good.

I'm a big believer in the "Bob"....It's right beside my 6.5 X 55 and don't take a back seat to any of my rifles when it comes to deer.

I have better rifles for elk hunting but I'm not at all sure I have better ones for deer hunting. Even my trusty .270 don't seem to put them down any better.