Im new here, but Im not new to guns and reloading. Ive been building guns for years and have a very nice collection of some fine shooters. But I didnt learn on my own and thats why Im glad I found this site, because we all need advise every now and then. Which leads me to my question. I just got done building a rifle for my brother, who lives out west on a ranch owned by his father-in-law. They have alot of prairie dogs. He wanted a good rifle for hunting them, so I built him a 22-250. Its a model 700 with a Shilen barrel (24in 1:14 twist), Kepplinger single-set trigger set at 8oz , H-S Precision kevlar/graphite stock with aluminum bedding block, Burris rings and bases, Leupold Vari X III 4.5-14X50mm with 30mm tube. This is not a cheap gun and it should be able to drive nails, but I cant find a load it likes. I broke in the barrel by shilen's instructions, cleaning after every shot for so many rounds then cleaning after every five shots for so many rounds. I tried several factory rounds but the best I could get was a 2" group at 150yrds. So I started loading for it. I have a 150yrd range with a shooting bench and a rifle vise, so Im testing the gun not me. Ive been through about 50 diferent loads . The best group Ive got so far is 1.750in. And that was with a 55gr V-Max with 36grs of IMR-4320. Most of the rest of the loads have been 2 to 2.5ins. Ive seen some of those guys out there make those 3 and 400yrd shots on prairie dogs, a 2in groupe at 150 aint gonna cut it on something that small. This is my first 22-250, did I get a barrel that is to slow, should I have went with a 1:12 or something else? Or should I keep playing with the loader until I find that magic number?

What bullet weights have you tried? 1-14 twist should be just fine for normal .22-250 loads. I'd think factory ammo should have done better... that's not good.

If you haven't loaded accurate ammunition on those dies before, then I'd suspect bullets aren't being seated straight.

Also, a major variable in my experience is trying different amounts that the bullet has to 'jump' to the lands. I like to start at 0.020" from the lands then load deeper and see if anything else works better.....

Change the forend pressure on the barrel for a quick and dirty test to check if barrel harmonics are really out of whack.

The best load I came up with for my old model 70 was, 36g of Varget and a Hornady 52g HPBT Match bullet. The next best was a plain old 55g HPPL Remington bullet and the same 36g of Varget. A good mild load was the 52g bullet and 34.1g of IMR4064. All loads used Rem brass and Win lr primers.

If you haven't invested in a runout gauge, might consider purchasing one and check for case/bullet runout. As MikeG suggests, the dies may be giving your loaded ammo a slight offset.

RCBS, Hornady and Sinclair sell them, just to name a few.

The bullets Ive tried so far is, Sierra SPT 45gr ,Blitz 50gr. Hornady A-max 52gr, V-Max 55gr. I have played with the OAL, Ive ran some touching the lands and have backed some up to .010 off the lands. The best load Ive had was the 55gr V-Max which was touching the lands and at max powder charge and C.U.P. The barrel is a SS bull barrel and is free floated. The dies are new RCBS. I dont have a run out gauge but will stop and get one today, I know they have them up here at the gunshop. So far all the brass I have used is new Win. with Win. LR primers. And the powders Ive used so far is IMR-4320,4064 and 4350- H-380 and 414 and reloader 19. Ill try loading somemore of the 55gr V-Max and checking with the run out gauge. I think Ill also give Shilen a call and see if they have any suggestions. Ill post back as I figure this out. Thanks for the info so far, maybe I can get this thing to shoot like I know it should.

The best load I came up with for my old model 70 was, 36g of Varget and a Hornady 52g HPBT Match bullet. The next best was a plain old 55g HPPL Remington bullet and the same 36g of Varget. A good mild load was the 52g bullet and 34.1g of IMR4064. All loads used Rem brass and Win lr primers.


Hawk, I do have a can of Varget and Ill see if can pick up some 52gr HPBT today when I get a run out gauge. Ill load some and give them a try this weekend, Thanx for the load.

If you go to Wally World or some place like that pick up a box of the Winchester "white box" varmint specials (40 rd.) these notoriously shoot well in most rifles. This will eliminate loading problems....shoot'em up and see how they do. With a gun like that you should be able to make headshots at 150.

Eliminate your variables....how is the crown ? bedding ? torque on the stock screws ? try lighter bullets .....1-14 twist is pretty slow but still very good up to 55 gr.

Yeah, call Shilen, sounds like something just isn't right. A bull-barreled rifle shouldn't be so picky with all of the ammo you've tried.

Thanx for all the input I think Ive just about figured this one out with your help. I bought a run out gauge this morning, I had 10 rounds left that I had loaded. They ran anywhere from .001 to .010 out. I pulled those bullets and reloaded them setting the bullet half way rotating the case 180 degrees then setting it all the way. Rechecked them and they were all less than .001 out. Took it to the range this afternoon and at 150yrds it put all 10 rounds in a spot the size of a nickle. When I went to break the barrel in I had bought out the store of all their cheap ammo. I had 2 boxes of the cheapest Federal makes , 2 box of PMC , 1 box of USA and 3 boxes of Remington. I used a little of all breaking it in then went and shot a little of all of it and just couldnt get a good group. After seeing that it wasnt the gun I pulled the bullets on all the factory rounds I had left. On the Rem I had a variance from 28.9grs to 34.6grs. On the Fed it ranged from 32grs to 36.8grs. PMC was 25.2grs to 30.5grs and the USA went from 26.5 to 33.4grs. If this isnt a good reason to hand load I dont know what is, very poor quality control! I ordered some of the 52gr HPBT that Hawk recomended maybe now I can get this rifle to shoot like I know it should. Thanx for the help hope I can return the favor some day!

Bet you were relieved to get it shooting!!!! :)

Glad to hear it worked out....

Bet you were relieved to get it shooting!!!! :)

Glad to hear it worked out....
Mike, you bet I was glad, I have about $1800 tied up in this rifle. Ive used the same componets in several rifles of other calibers and they are all tack drivers. What surprised me most was what I seen when I started pulling bullets on that cheap ammo. I know alot of the manufactures just slap together stuff for the discount stores so they can sell it cheap. But I dont think ammo is a good thing to skimp on when it comes to quality. I talked to our local gunsmith yesterday( hes been in business since 1968 and before that he was a gunsmith in the Army for their rifle and pistol team) I told him what I found pulling bullets. He told me several years ago he sent 700 back to Rem. because the bolt was welded shut. The guy was shooting factory Rem. ammo and it blew up. The ammo was bought at wally world, Rem. wanted the gun and the ammo or at least the box to get the lot number. He said the guy only had 4 or 5 rounds left so he kept the ammo and sent them the box. They sent the guy a new rifle and a case of ammo free of charge. He went back pulled the bullets on the rounds he had left and they were all 5 to 10grs over any max charge in Lymans reloading book. Ya know Im not affraid of guns but I do respect 'em. And seeing and hearing stuff like this just reinforces my desire to reload my own ammo.

This is rather startling, considering how factory ammo is usually thought to be conservatively loaded in due respect for the variance in firearms conditions they could possibly be used in.

A whopping 5 to 10 grain overage of published loading data in the relatively small capacity of a 22-250 could result in most rifles being welded shut.

How did you determine the type of powder in the factory cases?

This is rather startling, considering how factory ammo is usually thought to be conservatively loaded in due respect for the variance in firearms conditions they could possibly be used in.

A whopping 5 to 10 grain overage of published loading data in the relatively small capacity of a 22-250 could result in most rifles being welded shut.

How did you determine the type of powder in the factory cases?
The gun with the bolt welded was a 30-06 , I dont think they knew what kind of powder it was they was just going by how manys grains of powder they dumpped out compared to all the max loads in Lymans.