The Nerve! Nosler 64gr Bonded Solid Base bullets

Barnacle Brad

New member
The same general area being specifically where? Cheyenne or Casper? I am hunting the Big Horn Basin. We are subject to an occasional "blow" that last ten or less minutes with gusts to 30mph. You can see that weather coming for miles and have time to batten down the hatches. The norm is 5-10 on a "windy" day.
Average wind speeds at the Greybull Airport (32 miles south) range from 4.1 miles per hour in January to 9.5 miles per hour in April, with an annual average of 6.9. Wind direction is from the northwest most of the year, but changes to east-southeast October through December.
http://www.lovellinc.org/climate.html

If you and your family find it best not to hunt your area with the 250, I would not dissuade you from that course.
 

603Country

New member
I just got my order of that bullet. Very soon now I'll reload some in the 220 and in the 223. Hopefully, they'll stabilize in the 220. As I said before, when I know, I'll tell ya'll.
 

Barnacle Brad

New member
Excellent. I will try to get out and record some muzzle velocities and check zero at 200yds as well.

For added entertainment I am playing with my triple deuce (Sav m24v) with a 60gr Nosler Partition. I put my dads old Bushnell Chief 4 power scope on it the other day. I haven't shot that rig in a while because of the horrible trigger pull, but I found a site that provides info on improving that.

http://www.savage24.com/
 

603Country

New member
Now that I'm about to load up some of these bullets for my 220, I realize that the powder I want to use is R-17. I have no idea what min and max loads are for that powder. If any of you have info, I would sure appreciate it.

I'm going on the logic that the faster I can push the bullet, the better my chance to stabilize it and R-17 is the closest powder I have to 4350 - which would be the first choice for MV.
 
Barnacle, I took apart a Savage 24 once and lightened the pull, via both cutting the mainspring and working the engagement surfaces, and in the end came out great (went from around 15 lbs to less than 5), but *warning*. It is QUITE difficult to reassemble the receiver. Takes 3 hands, a vice, and some luck (and likely cursing & sweating). That's one job worth paying a professional for.

The more I think about it, the more I love this bullet for southern whitetails, for a variety of .224-cal rounds, not to mention speed goats as you proved. I'd go so far as to say that it breaths new life and purpose into the .22-250 as a cartridge, wouldn't you?

I may just follow suit on this project, but in a .223 rem.

Say, do you know Mr. Wyosmith?
 
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Barnacle Brad

New member
Dremel, I used a piece of q-tip stick to hold the spring in the trigger, placed the trigger into the receiver and pushed the stick through with the pin.
trig13.jpg


I wish I had a trigger pull gauge, for before and after results working on the 24v.

As for breathing new life into the 250, I would agree that the effectiveness and success of the 64gr makes the caliber a more rounded tool and adds versitility. New life...I think so!

I do not know Wyosmith. Will have to check his profile for location.

603Country, I can't help with R-17 data. Go easy!
 
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Barnacle Brad

New member
Oh yeah - I have been through Shoshoni - it's between Riverton and Thermopolis. It's not so much in my neighborhood, but then in Wyoming...nothing is close! He would be more Wind River Range, to my Big Horn Range. Guys like Jim Bridger and John (Liver Eatin') Johnston used the region exploiting the fur trade...but I digress...
 
So you can fish on the Wind River Reservation for an annual tribal license fee, but what about hunting? I'm assuming no hunting if you're not a tribal member? Sorry, maybe this is too much tangent for this thread.
 

Barnacle Brad

New member
I have no first hand experience on the Rez. I have heard that fishermen are required a tribal permit, but that is the extent of my knowledge. There are a number of Wyoming residents on the forum. Maybe worth a new thread?
 

Barnacle Brad

New member
Went to the range and tested 3 rounds through the chronograph at two hundred yards yesterday.

I was sighted in one inch high at a hundred. At two hundred the bullets impacted two inches low, but produced a sub moa group at 1.75".

Average muzzle velocity is at 3350.

I don't have enough ammo to sight in three inches high at 100 right now, as the Point Blank Range calculator suggests, so will just have to keep in mind the bullet drop and pass on shots beyond that.

I can live with those results!
 

603Country

New member
All my reloading gear is set up, but I haven't tried the 64 grainer. Guess I'll get out there this morning and shoot some in the 223 and then....and then...I'll cross my fingers and see if it'll stabilize in the 220. I don't suppose that my 'wanting it to stabilize' is going to have any impact on what happens.
 

Wyosmith

New member
Hello all.
I have been getting some calls to rebarrel 22-250s with 1-9 twist barrels and so far the results have been very good. At the higher velocities of the 22-250 over the 223s you can get bullets up to 80 grains (and maybe heavier) to stabilize very well and accuracy is excellent. Swift makes some heavy hunting bullets for the 224 bore size. To the best of my knowledge all the bullet of 65 grains and over are target bullets except for the Swift offering, and the 70 grain Speer.
Shooting the Swift from a 22-250 makes a very satisfactory deer and antelope rifle out to about 500-600 yards. The standard 5.56 with the same bullets are good out to probably 350 to maybe 400 if you are a high expert.

I know the accuracy is good enough to make hits on deer size vital areas out to 1000. You need only look at what is being done with AR-15s to prove that, but hitting is not the same as killing clean. The 223 is still pretty small no matter how accurate it is, and to my way of thinking, we owe a high degree of respect to any animal we are hunting, so a risk of a bad hit or a lingering death is to be avoided. Ethics should play a role in this scenario at all times. If you shoot bigger calibers it plays no less a role, but you will have better penetration and cavitation with a 100 to 150 grain bullet than you will with a 75 grain bullet if the 2 bullets are equal in their construction.

Anyway, back to the topic. Bullets and guns. If we want to shoot deer and antelope with a 223 or a 22-250 or a 220 Swift I believe it is a good idea to rebarrel with a 1-9 twist. The only down side to the faster twist is if you want to fire the Blitz” or SX type of bullets for varminting. Such bullets have very thin jackets and at 22-250 velocities they can come apart in mid air. If you go from a 1-14 twist to a 1-9 twist the problem get far worse. But the answer is simply to fire other bullets. “Standard’ 50-55 grain bullets break up very well at the speed of a 22-250 when they are turning fast. So there really is not much of a need to shoot SXs or Blitz bullets unless you are shooting among cattle or around buildings, which here in Wyoming is usually not a problem.

Both the 220 Swift and the 22-250s have fairly short bore life if you shoot them a lot, so if you need a new barrel in the future you may be well served to use a 1-9 twist barrel.
 

603Country

New member
The 64 gr BSB apparently does not like AA2230 powder. Maybe I'll try H335 next. Varget might work nicely, but I don't have much and don't want to go searching for more.

I'm probably 15 years into using the present 1 in 14 Douglas barrel. Still shoots great, but maybe not as well as it once did. I've been tempted to put a faster twist barrel on it so I can use it for pig hunting, but I probably won't. But then again, I might.
 
Barnacle, let me ask you a question. If you had a mulie buck tag in that same terrain/ area, would you use the same rifle or a different one? And if your answer is different one (bigger), is that due to the law, personal preference, or both?
 

Barnacle Brad

New member
I have a tendency to want my '06 as preference when hunting the Mule Deer, although last year I carried the 25-06 as I had done some work on it and wanted to be sure it was reliable. It was!

As far as the game rules, the .22 is allowed for both Prong Horn and Deer.

I will probably carry the 25 again this year for deer season, as it is quite a bit more accurate than my Rem 742 and I have the '06 set up for Elk with 165gr rounds sighted in.

The 25-06 is a sporterized Mauser and shoots a hundred grain bullet (Hornady Interlock SP). Long shot with it last year was out to 250yds. One shot, dropped a doe like a stone...

I have come to like a light fast bullet, rather than a larger slower bullet. It is hard to quantify energy in a bullet, but I think that a faster muzzle velocity driving the bullet is what creates the shock that kills instantly - as Wyosmith terms "cavitation".

I toyed with the 30-06 for a season or two shooting a 120, or 125gr bullet (memory fails me). It was accurate and dropped the deer and goats in their tracks. The problem was that come elk season I wanted a heavier bullet for obvious reasons. This was before I had the 25-06 in my possession. So I had to go back to the range and re-zero for the different ammo. BOO!

After I received the 22-250 and the game laws changed to allow it, I felt compelled to develop a load for hunting medium game. I have concerns that this load is not appropriate for ranges beyond 200yds. I have to doubt that it will still kill out to 300 but not instantly (or near instantly) as I come to expect. However, the evidence shows that at least out to a hundred yards - this load delivers a punch and I will use it when appropriate.
 

Barnacle Brad

New member
There are some monsters alright! I can't speak to weight on one, and have never put any of the smaller bucks or does on the scale. I punched a Roman Nose doe a couple of years ago that must have been pushing two hundy tho. I dragged her down hill on the snow for maybe three hundred yards before two young lads came to help. How they curse me yet for that! Hahahaa...

I have a picture I will try to post of that doe.

This is the goat from last year with the 22-250:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t31.0-8/1097130_10200928350069069_1818658289_o.jpg


Selfie:
https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/t31.0-8/1097139_10200928353309150_56903242_o.jpg
 
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