New To Rifle Cartridge Reloading

the spank

the spank

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So I have many years of loading shotshells behind me and I have recently decided to take up rifle cartridge reloading primarily to take advantage of a bunch of supplies given to me. I have been given a bunch of stuff for reloading 22-250 as well as bullets/brass for .348 Winchester my Grandfather left me. This is a far different world than loading for shotgun so I have a few questions if anyone has some good advice to solicit.
First up, the 22-250. I was given a couple boxes of Speer Semi Spitzer 70 grain .224 dia bullets for loading in my 22-250. I would like to find a good load for these as I want to load them for winter coyote/wolf hunting. I have found several loads for these but how do you select a good powder? I have always had good luck with IMR powders for shotgun. What are your findings with them for rifle? Also I have several hundred CCI large rifle primers so I need a powder that works good with them. The bullets themselves are .224 70 grain soft point semi spitzers. They are recommended with a 1-10 twist barrel. My Ruger #1 is a 1-14 twist. What would be the effect of firing them through that 1-14 twist barrel. Will the bullets jacket separate with that much spin? Also I was given several boxes of 47 gr, 49gr and 53 grain Nosler Ballistic tip bullets. Can I get a powder that can be used to load all the diferent bullet types effectively without having to purchase several different powders and primers?
Next up, the .348 Win. First off I am looking for a set of dies. Only thing I can find on line is Hornady makes them for about $90 but all the stuff I was given is RCBS. Would Hornady dies fit an RCBS Rock Crusher press? I was given 7 boxes of factory ammo with the rifle, 3 of which are old original WW Super Speed 200 grain silvertips in the old yellow boxes so I prefer not to shoot them off. I was also given a 100 pack of Hornady 200 gr FP bullets and 3 boxes of brass, that is what I intend to load up and use. Does anybody have a load they have had good luck with for this calibre. I am not looking to break hypersonic speed records. Something equivalent or slightly better than factory ballistics and has delivered good results at knocking down deer/moose etc would be great. Oh BTW I am shooting this out of an original Model 71.
Thanks in advance......
Frank
 
First with the 22-250 and a 1-14 twist.You will be driving those 70 grainers and nose bleed velocities to get them to print nose first on paper.I had a buddy using them in a .220 Swift and he had the same dilemma.Powders for the 22-250 include H380,IMR 3031,IMR4895+ IMR 4320.Any 7/8"x14 dies are interchangeable in the same threaded press.
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The 70gr will likely not stabilize in the 14" twist barrel, may as well park them off to the side someplace. You may find the 47-53 gr bullets will work with one powder, they also may not, have to develop the loads and find out.

Large rifle primers you have will work in both cartridges.
Don't waste your breath on asking for loads from other people's rifles, yours is different, and you need to work them up for your rifles. You can get the same info out of reloading manuals, the powders listed in them all work in those cartridges, but, either the bullet or the powder may or may not deliver the accuracy or velocity you desire, in your rifle. There are no shortcuts, unless you get lucky on the first try or two. Don't try for hot loads for the Mod 71, just something accurate and maybe close to factory specs.

Read the online bullet and powder mfgr's sites for data, and pickup some reloading manuals.And read those.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I truly appreciate it. Yes I wasn't looking to get anything hot for the 348, something around factory specs is fine. I just prefer to shoot the supplies I was given as shoot those old factory Super Speed loads, they are in mint condition and I want to set them aside. I received a PM from another member stating the same about the 70 grainers and a 1:14 twist so I won't even bother. I'll see if I can swap them on the EE for something else. Mbogo, thank you for the manual data!! That is awesome!
Thank you kindly............
A buddy called today and has offered to help me out at his bench to guide me along! Can't wait to try this out!
 
You're lucky to have a mentor - good way to learn.

WRT dies Hornady dies fitting an RCBS press - yes. They're standardized these days.

WRT loads, 209Jones is right. Every rifle seems to like different loads. What you do is called a 'ladder test'. Pick a bullet and propellent, then start at the minimum load and load five rounds. Up the load by a bit and load five more. Keep loading until you start getting up to the max recommended load for that bullet and that propellent. Take it all down to the range and fire five-round groups. You'll probably find one or two that seem tighter than the rest. Take those and start shifting the propellent load a bit, up and down. You may find that you get further improvement, maybe not. When you find the most accurate one, you can start screwing around with other things to tighten up the groups still more, but that's advanced stuff.

On the other hand, that bullet/propellent may be total duds for your rifle and you lose the crapshoot and have to start again with different ones. You at least get to spend time on the range.
 
Well I received an email from a friend on here who read my thread. He explained to me that my 1:14 twist rifling is not enough spin to stabilize the 70 grain bullet properly in flight and I will find it may even tumble and is probably going to be very inaccurate. I think I may scrap the 70 grain idea. I have a bunch of 53's to try.
 
the spank said:
Well I received an email from a friend on here who read my thread. He explained to me that my 1:14 twist rifling is not enough spin to stabilize the 70 grain bullet properly in flight and I will find it may even tumble and is probably going to be very inaccurate. I think I may scrap the 70 grain idea. I have a bunch of 53's to try.
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I know of some that have shot the 70gr. Speer in 14 twist rifles. Its actually quite short so it should work....its not about bullet weight its all about the lenght in this case. But generally yes 14" dont' shoot bullets heavier than 55gr. very well...again it depends on the bullet's profile.
 
I fond that the heaviest bullet I can shoot in a 1;14 is the Sierra 63 gr semi-spitzer. i found the 60 gr Sierra HP to be very accurate.

A heavier bullet shoots flatter and has less wind drift. A guaranteed performer is a 55 gr bullet.

A good [powder for both calibers is H414 or Win 760. meters perfectly, too.
 
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