Load development for ruger American 22-250

[smokey3]

Ditch the sled and the IMR 4350. There is a reason Hodgdon website lists 21of its powders and does not include IMR 4350. I would go to a faster burning powder along the lines of H380/IMR 4064.

Reloading Data Center – Hodgdon Reloading Data Center

hodgdonreloading.com

IMR Is a great powder for the 55 grain projectiles shooting in my Ruger varminter but that's a far different rifle from the American of which I have one of those also. I have never tried the heavier bullets with that powder though. The older reloading manuals all have load data for IMR 4350.

 

[Seabeeken]

Scopes are made to handle recoil that moves. Fastest way to kill a scope is butt the rifle up against something immovable and pull the trigger. You can get away with not strapping the gun in the sled and removing the weight and letting it slide on the bench, but a front rest and sandbag is ideal.

For your group size, adjust your seating depth but keep an eye on pressure and velocity.

Ive used a Lead sled for about 10 yrs and have shot groups under .1" off of it. I have never damaged a scope by shooting off it either. I also dont normally use weight with it either. I do use weight when shooting my 9.3x62 and its 34# recoil as it can wear on me after a while. Never lost a scope there either. It always moves rearward at the shot. I dont want to remove recoil, just tame it a bit. I'm not disputing others experiences, just relating my own experience with it and I do massive amounts of load testing and experimenting.
To the OP, Id bed the action, ensure float on the barrel, proper action screw torque and then change faster powders as already mentioned

 

[JiggyIi]

My 22-250 loves Varget with the 55 gr V-Max bullets. Great PD load.

36.5 of Varget in mine ️

 

[smokey3]

My Ruger is an old 77 mark 2, beaver tail stock etc. It likes 55 gr. Nosler Ballistic tips and H414 with cci benchrest primers. Way back I started it long and touching and started backing off till the gun showed me what it liked. They would ramp up and chamber perfect but would not load in the internal magazine as designed by Ruger, I modified that part. My brass is turned and squared. My projectile starts out lined up center with the bore. Just sayin
This target was shot with a Hart rest, baby powder, and a rabbit ear bag,,, under duress from a Viet Nam Gunny pounding the bench telling me how bad he was going to kick my rear, Ha ha ha Dennis didnt bring his cotton to the gin x3. My wife beat us all with a perfect score & her 222.
View attachment 535208

Mine likes the ballistic tips with the IMR 4350, shoots same clover leaf holes at 100 yards. 55 grain bullets and 39 grains of powder from model 77.

 

[Calvin45]

53gr V-Maxs are hard to beat for varmints and accuracy, but if I were starting out I'd try those new 62 Gr Varmint bullets Hornady came out with and if you're wanting a bit heavier bullet that might be the way to go. Match Kings have a pretty tough jacket and not the best for killing things, they'll work but there's better bullets out there in abundance.

Oh I forgot about those new ones haha. Haven't seen any up here north of the border yet, but curious about them for sure

 

[Radman]

I've honestly never used one but I have lost count of the times that this subject has come up and almost without fail, knowledgeable shooters that have experience with the sled have said they are detrimental to the integrity of the scope. It's got to do with the recoil forces that are incurred during firing and the rifle being held solid and not being able to move a little. Someone else could probably explain it better. With a little practice, you can hold the rifle just as steady on bags.
Adjusting seating depth usually pays dividends.
Incidentally, Sierra lists IMR 4350 as "Acurracy Load" with their 69 grain hpbt in edition V manual.

I've been shooting for 57 years now & I take great pride in the accuracy of my shots. Every method of rifle support that I ever used offers some "give" to the weapon's recoil.
My hat is off to you sir. Your observation impresses me. No matter the amount of recoil - what you say makes perfect sense.

 

[Citified]

I also have a 22-250 and it is a fun caliber. As others stated, H380 is your best choice in powders based on my experience. I went up and down the spectrum on bullet weights and like you, the 69 match kings were just so-so on groups. Odd, because I expected better. About MOA was the best I could get. Ultimately, 52 or 53 grain bullets provided the best groups consistently. With 1:10 twist rate, I would try the 62 grain bullets or switch to Hammer bullets if economically feasible. They would need to be lighter but speed does improve and they are certainly consistent.

 

[waveslayer]

just a thought on the situation... you may already be at the max performance for that rifle. Not all rifles are able to achieve sub .5" MOA accuracy, keep that in mind before you start chasing your tail

 

[nksmfamjp]

I'm shooting off of a lead sled with a 35lb Olympic barbell weight in it. It's solid. I have no issue holding on target.

Can you elaborate I little more on the scope failures? Considering 22-250 recoil is virtually non existent. Not arguing with you at all. Genuinely interested.

The lead sled is worse than just scope failures. It also broke my recoil pad on a 458 Lott. It can break stocks, bedding, numerous issues. Not to mention it is horrible for developing good bench technique.

Most of this comes from a conservation of momentum, force application to a moveable object viewpoint. Basically, how much force can you apply to a Kia bumper before it moves vs an F350.

What happens is that recoil impulse gets split into force applied through the rifle and rifle movement. We want the gun to move, under recoil, when the gun fires similarly in the bags and in the field.

Now, you are talking 22-250. You probably won't break anything….but will your zero be different?…yep will your groups change, yep….at least in my experience. I'd much rather see you, or me, shooting off a rock solid leather, sand filled, dry, lubed FR & RR rest with a light contact to the shoulder.

I have it in a MDT chassis. Didn't care for the factory stock at all.

Those too can be tricky as they are not well dampened, but if it fits and you like it, it should work.

So 35.3gr shot the best. 5rnds @ 100yds 1" group.

According to Hodgdon, they recommend a range between 36 - 38.2gr(please check the data yourself) with IMR 4350, 70gr Speer SP @ 2.330". Did you try anything in this range? Your bullet is a tad longer, I would bet so you will likely see pressure over 37.7gr. At 0.02" off the lands, I would guess you might be long enough to not see that pressure point.

I guess I'm saying is there a higher node that is better?

 

[Jim’s Hunt]

Out of the 4 22-250 I load for they all like 50gr VMax bullets. 2 are Savages one Rem 700 varmint and the other is a cheap Stevens 200 which has an aftermarket trigger. All of them are 1/2" to 3/4" moa shooters and all of them use Varget powder. And that is off of a lead sled just a front bald eagle front rest and rear bag. I personally hate lead sleds as I am not comfortable shooting from them. If you are recoil sensitive it might help you with big kickers. I still prefer the front rest and rear bag even with thumpers.

 

[BALLISTICJESUS]

Buy one of the Rugers in a 1-8 twist and be happy.

 

[Stonyman88]

Hello guys, I'm a newbie to reloading and I'm trying to get some heavier bullets for my 22-250. All the factory ammo I can find is 55gr and with the 1:10 twist of the ruger American I'd like to shoot the 69gr sierra matchkings. Sierra says 1:10 or faster so I figured I was on the right track. I was able to find IMR 4350 on the shelves at most local stores so I'd really like to make that work.

I looked up sierras load data for 69gr mk's and it shows a range of 5 different powder charges, so I loaded 5 rnds of each charge and went shoot.

All once fired nosler brass fully prepped and sized, seated .020 off the lands. CCI large rifle BR primers.

So 35.3gr shot the best. 5rnds @ 100yds 1" group. I went up a grain and it looks like the group opened up. I went down a grain a still no improvement.

I've tried weighing the bullets for consistency, measuring all the brass for uniformity and still not getting better than a 1" group.

Is there something else I can do to improve my load or should I abandon the IMR 4350 and try another powder? Or a lighter bullet?

My led sled has about one 1" of dust on it, have heard many bad things about them not letting the recoil get used up. I shoot off a Rodzilla rest, and found that in MY 6.5 Creadmoor and the Hornady ELD-X and M's in 140-143 gr, that they sit off the lands in my gun 60 thou. and it shoots .25 to .35 groups with H 4350 and H1000. So I load all my loads the same as the factory's seating depth, or very close to them.

 

[nocannons]

Once upon a time owned a Savage model 12 bull barrel 26 in. 1-12 twist. Sierra listed their 63 gr. SMP bullet with Varget powder at 33 gr. with velocity of 3300 fps. Not a nice sleek looking bullet everyone likes today but worked on everything from foxes to deer and it was very accurate.

 

[turkeyguide]

You need free recoil. Dump the lead sled.