Performance of loads at 100, 200 yds . . . .

M

Montana Pete

Guest
I am beginning to figure that 100 yds and 200 yds are not the same ball game.

I came up with a bullet for my 22-250 that does best of anything I have at 100 yds. A second bullet does not do as well as the afore mentioned bullet at 100 yds, but turns around and outperforms the first bullet at 200 yds. Same powder used in both loads.

The first bullet is the 52 gr. Nosler Custom Competition bullet with 30 gr. #3031. The second bullet is the Sierra Varminter 60 gr. flatbase HP with 29 gr same powder.

On a couple of range sessions now, the lighter bullet takes the blue ribbon at 100 yds. I just used both yesterday at 100 and the Nosler came through again at 100 with tightest groups.

At 200 yd the heavier bullet does significantly better than the lighter bullet. Groups go from around 1.7 inch with the Nosler to about 0.9 inch with the Sierra. This is not one isolated range session, but several.

Being rather new and self taught to this "small group game," I am beginning to figure out that a good short range load is not necessarily a good long range load.

Is this a fairly common experience?

As a final comment, people may ask why I like IMR 3031. Well, I myself don't like it so much as that my rifle likes it. I don't know why. I have used half a dozen powders at least, and the rifle just likes the old powder I have mentioned. IMR 3031 is one of the oldest powders still manufactured, having been designed prior to WW II for loading 303 British Enfield ammunition. Thank God it is still being manufactured in fresh lots.

Anyway, both these two bullets have proved out well in my rifle, but what is best at 100 is not best at 200.

Any comments are welcome-------
 
Cant say there all the same, But my 22-250 loves the sierra 55gr #1390 38.0 gr. H-380 at what ever that is for speed, just touching the lands. this load works as well as a savage stainless barrel model 12 action will shoot in a bedded boyds varmit with a 36 power scope as far out as I can shoot . Normally, If it holds together at 200 the 100 to 300 yardages should be only a slight tweak to condition adjustment. Use wind flags while practicing and developing loads. Many other things contribute, barrel twist is a big one in this caliber. My rifle will not shoot anything over 55 grains with any consistency 1-14 twist . Have you tried any berger bullets?
 
.22-250

Pete -

Howdy !

If your rifle has a 1-14 24" barrel or there abouts; might I suggest you try
powders like I4064, WW760, VV160, I4350 in you .22-50 ?
Especially... with 55gr bullets.
( Or... 60's w/ I4350 ) .

I've had/shot a lot of .22-250s. .220 Swift, and a large-cap .224" cal wildcat.
I'd be suprised if you didn't come up w/ a load in there, that does well at ALL ranges you wish to try.

Regards,
.357Mag
 
There's some data missing that might influence your decisions on what to do next. What's the OAL difference in the two loads? I suspect you'll find that the ogive on the Nosler bullet is slightly different than that on the Sierra. That'll affect accuracy unless you make the adjustment to accommodate the difference. I'm also curious if you're group is spread horizontally or vertically and if you're using both of those or just one to determine your rifle's consistency. If you haven't tried laddering with your loads you might find it gives you a better idea of consistency than factoring in both horizontal and vertical spread.
Also keep in mind that your rifle might fall in love with one powder for a given bullet type/weight but the relationship can cool when you offer it a different bullet. A load of "X"grains of Varget with your 52gr bullet may work well in your rifle but if you change to a 63gr bullet your rifle may decide to favor "Y" grains of H380. They're fickle that way.
 
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I've got a 22-250 with a 1-14 twist that loves 53gr barns tsx with 34.5gr of the 3031. if I try to put anything else through it it tends to make groups similar to shot gun patterns. but seeing the only bullet it likes out of the dozen or so I have tried is the tsx,and I hate them (verry poor terminal performance). point being have you tried speeding up your noslers to see if it kills a little bit of flight time wind could be hurting your 52gr bad at 200 where your 60gr will be less affected even if going a bit slower. also you might have issues with the larger bullets being fully stablesed at 100 and lined out and flying right past that mark. try splitting the difference and shoot both at 150 and see what you come up with,it might be enough to take the wobble out of the heavyer of the two bullets. just a thought but heck its worth a try.
joe orr
 
Short range benchrest is always shot with light-for-caliber bullets and longrange benchrest is always shot with heavy-for-caliber bullets. It is generally accepted that somewhere in the middle crossover occurs, the place where the advantage of intrinsic accuracy is overtaken by better flight characteristics.

I suggest that for your setup this is true...... the heavier bullets are holding together better for you, bucking the conditions better and giving you better groups than you're capable of with the little pills.

al
 
Thanks for a number of great ideas and possibilities.

One guy was wondering about OAL with the two bullets. Both were loaded with the OAL length from base to ogive -- using a comparator device -- at 2.11 inches. I had to fiddle with the seater a little to obtain this with both loads. I didn't bother to measure the length from bullet base to tip since it is "mach nicht".

One guy wanted to know about the dispersion with the poorer load at 200. It tended to be along the horizontal axis.

A couple of people guessed my barrel's twist was 1/14 but it is actually 1/12. This should favor bullets from about 60 to 64 grains or so.

One guy suggested that whatever bullet I shoot first might do a little better, because my rifle might favor the first dozen or so rounds fired after a cleaning, and then slide off from that point. He suggested firing the other bullet first next time to see if there's any pattern to it.

One guy stated rightly that my loads seemed a little on the light side in his judgment. Yes. My rifle seems to like a little milder load. With my 26 inch barrel, I am still not losing too much speed when compared to the max load velocities stated in the manuals. Look at it this way-- 3450 fps is not as fast as 3600 fps, but it is not exactly a snail either. And fed a steady diet of this mild fodder, my barrel life should be very long indeed.
 
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