I recently inherited a Ruger M77 RSI (Mannlicher style stock) in .250 Savage and it shoots very well with 100 grain Winchester or Remington factory ammo. I would like to experiment with either the 115 or 120 grain Nosler Partition bullets, but the Nosler Manual says that older rifles with 1-14" twist barrels will not stabilize any of thier bullets (but that the newer 1-10" barrels will). Does anyone know the twist rate of Ruger barrels in .250 Savage (I believe the rifle was manufactured in the mid 1980's)? I am also wondering if anyone has had good or bad experiences with this rifle and load combination? Any info would be appreciated.

Your Ruger should have a 1:10 twist barrel, which became the "standard" for the 250 Sav at some point many years ago. My Remington Classic 250 Sav (24" barrel) handles 120 Speer/117 Sierra's w/o a problem, but I have not tried the heavier Nosler.
Winchester did reintroduce a 250 Sav (briefly) in their Mod 70 (early 90's?), but did it in a 1:14 twist! Kept me from snagging one, as it really handicaps the use of the 250 Sav (IMO).
Ruger's little 77RL was offered in the 250...still would like one of those.
Great cartridge...enjoy!

The 1-14 twist barrels was mostly the Savage 99 rifles.

The Ruger should be a sweetie with strength to hold modern pressures but personally I'd stay with 100 grain bullets in the 250-3000, Sierra's 90 grain HP is an outstanding deer bullet.

I agree with vapodog, just stick with the 100 grainers for the .250 Savage. FWIW, I think the 1:10 twist is marginal for 120 grain bullets in the quarter bore, 1:9 being better. I realize most of the 1:10 twist barrels will do the job, but I ran into one that wouldn't handle the longer bullets very well at all. IIRC the Greenhill calculations actually show something in the range of 1:9.3 twist as being appropriate for the likes of the 120 grain Partition or longer bullets.

Anyway, the .250 Savage really doesn't have the case capacity to really utilize the 120's very well.

The former is my experience, the latter an opinion.

I am envious of your RSI in 250 Savage....

That is high on my short list of guns I would like to see in my gun cabinet as keepers... never sellers....

The RSI in the 250, the 7 x 57, the 6.5 x 54... are three on that list....

Others include a Model 54 in 30/30, 35 Remington, 250 Savage, 257 Roberts...

A Model 30 S in 30Rem, 35 Rem, 32 Rem and 25 Rem..

I just hope to find anyone of them in good shape and affordable some day... so far batting zero, and I have had that list for 20 yrs I bet!

Cheers
seafire

seafire

Thanks for the input and for clearing up the twist question for me. My father had great success with the rifle on deer with the 100 gr. Hornady SP, but I just wanted to see how the heavier bullets would work. With the twist question cleared up I think my next step is simply to try them out. Thanks again

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
I am envious of your RSI in 250 Savage....

That is high on my short list of guns I would like to see in my gun cabinet as keepers... never sellers....

The RSI in the 250, the 7 x 57, the 6.5 x 54... are three on that list....

Others include a Model 54 in 30/30, 35 Remington, 250 Savage, 257 Roberts...

A Model 30 S in 30Rem, 35 Rem, 32 Rem and 25 Rem..

I just hope to find anyone of them in good shape and affordable some day... so far batting zero, and I have had that list for 20 yrs I bet!

Cheers
seafire

seafire

I would also love to get my hands on a 7x57 or 6.5 x 54 in the Ruger M77 International. I have never seen any of those calibers floating around in this model in my neck of the woods.

93 - I'm envious; I passed on a RSI many years ago and have regretted it ever since. Two source books I have says your rifle is a 1:10 twist, as the other fellows indicated. I currently have an Encore with a Fox Ridge 24" barrel that shoots into less than an 1" (100yds) with the following load: 37.0gr/AA4350 with a 120gr HPBT Sierra @ 2715fps. I've tried H4831 and several IMR powders, but cannot match the velocity or accuracy of the above load without pressure problems. I've read the other posts and would normally agree that the .250 neither has the powder capacity or the twist to accurately "spin" the bullet fast enough for effective hunting. So far it has accounted for 3 deer (furtherest at 200yds) and none went over 40yds. The old 25/35 did pretty well with the 117gr RN for many years, albeit at a much slower speed and usually shorter range. You never know until you try it! BTW, the load I quoted is a "moderate" load in my rifle; I believe it could be "boosted" another 50 to 100fps safely in a "bolt" or strong single. The neat thing about the "25" is the when you use bullets above 100grs you jump into a whole new class of penatration and power that the "6mm's" can't duplicate; otherwise, why bother. My 2 cents. Mags

mags,
I agree with your two cents. I think that the 6mm's are fine cartridges for deer, but I like the idea of increased penetration with the heavier bullets in this rifle. I plan on using the rifle when hunting thick timber for local mule deer. I don't forsee any shots over 200 yards in the area where I will use this rifle. I hope to find a load that will launch these bullets at around 2400 fps (from the stubby 18.5" barrel) and that can be tweaked into at least 1.5 inches at 100 yards. If this can't be done, then I will stick with the 100 grain loads. Thanks for the input and for sharing your load data.

I have a couple 250s and think that the case capacity is a little small to get the best performance out of bullet over 100 grains, unless you're going to shoot elk with it. After years of shooting the 90 grain Sierra BTHP, I have moved to the 87 grain Speer HotCore for deer and 87 grain Speer TNT for varmints. I had a couple of failures with the 90 grain Sierra, but have found the Speers to offer a nice combination of velocity/penetration/accuracy potential.

Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by DigitalDan:
FWIW, I think the 1:10 twist is marginal for 120 grain bullets in the quarter bore, 1:9 being better.

Very true.......... Sad the manufacturers haven't caught up yet....

BigRx

As far as I know, Ruger never chambered the 77 RSI in 6.5x54, despite what the Sierra manual said. I grew up near the Ruger plant in Guild, NH, and know quite a few people who are "in the know" there. I've asked them about the 77 RSIs and they say that none left the factory in either 257 Roberts or 6.5x54. According to "them", the 7mm-08 and 7x57 were the only non-cataloged calibers sold in the 77 RSI. I think that they were made for Davidson's.

I don't think that Winchester 54s were made in 35 Remington. Winchester 70s were, for a short time, but I don't think that the 54s were.

Jeff