22-250 and H380

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hmr-hound

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I am working on a load for my stevens 200 in 22-250.

I have 50gr nosler ballistic silvertips. When I put 40.5gr of H380 in the case it is very full and leaves very little room for the long bullet. The powder doesnt shake in the case. I am seating to 2.345-2.350 OAL with a lee loader.

I made 3 of 39,39.5,40,40.5 and 41gr loads for a test loads. I got a .632" 3 shot group with the 40.5 load so I want to test it more. I also found my bolt to be stiff to lift up after my 40.5 and 41gr groups.

Am I doing something dangerous by tapping the bullets into the powder?

Is the heavy bolt lift a pressure sign? I checked my cases and they look fine with slight extractor dents. The burnt powder also leaves residue down the neck of the cases on some of the lower power loads, a sign of low pressure, correct?

Thanks for the help
 
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If you're getting extractor dents and stiff bolt lift, you're clearly over-pressure.

If memory serves, I think, max load in my manuals is around 38.0 gr for that bullet weight/powder combination.
 
I believe H380 got its name because Hodgdon's namesake liked 38.0 gr behind a 52 gr bullet. Most loading manuals list 41gr as a maximum...maybe you should back it off to 38.0 and work your way up again. You find a tack driver load under 39 gr. Good luck.
 
I've got a max load of 40 grains from two of my manuals, and a max of 39 in my McPherson manual. Are you full-length resizing? I only resize the neck and it seems to lower the pressure a bit.

My best load for a 50 grain Vmax uses 38.5 grains of H-380.
 
My manuals list 41gr as max compressed.as suggested you might start again from 38gr but if I am not mistaken the stevens 200 also cocks the bolt as you lift it.causing a stiff bolt feeling .have a look at your primers do they still have rounded corners also are you seeing any ejector hole embossing on the case head.post a pic of the fired rounds if possible.
 
AB.boy said:
I believe H380 got its name because Hodgdon's namesake liked 38.0 gr behind a 52 gr bullet. Most loading manuals list 41gr as a maximum...maybe you should back it off to 38.0 and work your way up again. You find a tack driver load under 39 gr. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I believe 38 grains with a 55 grain bullet is Bruce Hodgdon's classic load.
 
I've never used a powder in the 22/250 that had so much variation from lot to lot, source to source, and hot to cold as H380. I've seen the listed maximum range from 36 to 41 with a 52 grain bullet so I wouldn't bet any large sums on anyone's data.
You can get great accuracy from H380 in the summer, just to find the load fall apart in the winter calling coyotes. It works the other way around too, a great cold weather load may be too hot in hot weather esp with a warm barrel.
In the end I finally just gave up on H380, in favor of powders that are easier to get along with. 4895 for the most part.
 
Try Varget

I'm getting 0.3 MOA groups out to 400 yrds with my Remington. I'm shooting a 1-14" twist 26" barrel with 36 gr. of varget and a 50 gr spitzer bullet that my gunsmith makes. This combination is deadly (got my first yote last night), plus, I've heard and can attest that varget is one of the best powders for temperature sensitivity. I have yet to see if this holds up in my 22-250 but my .308 sure proves it true.
 
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