22-250 Remington
(22 Varminter)
(22 Wotkyns Original Swift)
Charles Newton, who designed the
.250-3000 for
Savage, is usually credited with being the first to neck down the cartridge
for the .248" bullet in the late 1920's. Later, in the 1930's, other wildcatters
increased shoulder angle to 28 degrees and loaded the cartridge with .224"
bullets. One of those wildcatters was gunsmith Jerry Gebby. For those who
wanted a ".22 varminter," as Gebby called it, but didn't handload, custom
loads were available from J. Bushnell Smith.
Prior to the introduction of the
.222 Remington
family of cartridges, the .22-250 enjoyed greater popularity than any other
varmint cartridge. All of which makes one wonder why it took Remington until
1965 to domesticate the cartridge. Even today the .22-250 is only second
only to the .223
Remington is popularity among varmint shooters.
The first factory rifle available in the .22-250 (even before factory loads
were available) was the Browning. Remington followed with the Model 700 and
now every rifle maker , big and small, offers this chambering. Many serious
varmint shooters consider the Remington 40X to be the most accurate factory
made .22-250 available since it is capable of placing five bullets into less
than 1/2" MOA.
For long range varmint shooting, the .22-250 is an outstanding cartridge
and when chambering in a top quality rifle is capable of superb accuracy.
The hollow point bullets are fine for punching paper with this cartridge
but some don't expand at extremely long range as well as soft point bullets.
When all is said and done, the .22-250 is seen at its best when loaded with
a 55 grain spitzer.
H380 is an outstanding
powder for the .22-250. Other propellants worthy of a try are
IMR-4064,
W-748, and RL-12.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
Historical Notes:
The 22-250 Remington was adopted early in 1965 as one of the calibers for
the Remington 700 series bolt action rifles and also for the Model 40XB match
rifle. Browning bolt action rifles were offered in 22-250 caliber two years
earlier. This is not a factory design, but rather a popular wildcat that
has been around for many years and made good. However, Remington's adoption
of the round moved into the commercial classification.
There is some confusion regarding date of origin of the 22-250 which is based
on the 250-3000
Savage case necked to 22 caliber. Its moniker is derived from the caliber
(22) and the parent case name (250). The parent cartridge was introduced
in 1915 and a 22 version may have been made up experimentally shortly thereafter.
Harvey Donaldson, Grosvenor Wotkyns, J. E. Gebby, J. B. Smith and John Sweany
all worked on the version 22-250 between 1934 and 1937. J. E. Gebby and J.
B. Smith are usually credited with having developed the present configuration
in 1937. However there are different versions of this cartridge and much
depends on which one is referred to. The Gebby version was named the 22 Varminter
and he obtained the copyright on the name. Othergunsmiths renamed it the
22-250. The Wotkyns version was the forerunner of the
220 Swift, although
Winchester ended up using the 6mm Lee Navy case rather than the
250 Savage.
At the present time, all the major American and European rifle makers furnish
bolt action rifles in 22-250 chambering. In addition Ruger, Thompson/Center,
and other single shots are available in this caliber.
General Comments:
The 22-250 is one of the best balanced and most flexible of the high powered
22 centerfires. It is also the most popular of the long range 22 varmint
cartridges, effective to ranges of 400 yards or more. The 22-250 also has
a reputation for outstanding accuracy and has been used with some success
for benchrest shooting. Many individuals that have had experience with both
the 22-250 and the 220
Swift report that the former gives significantly longer case life with
full loads than the latter. The 22-250's, as with most of the other high
powered 22's, is not recommended for use on deer or other medium sized game.
The reason, of course, is the light varmint bullets are made to expand quickly
and will not offer sufficient penetration on a large animal.
Source: Cartridges of the World
| 22-250 Reloading Components & Accessories | |
New Unprimed PMC Brass
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RCBS
Trim Pro 3-Way Cutter .22 Caliber
 |
Hornady Shell Holder #1
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RCBS Case Trimmer Pilot, 22 Caliber
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| 22 Caliber (.223, .224) Bullets | RCBS
Ammo Box (#86902) |
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