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MileHighShooter
Senior MemberPosts: 4,852 Senior Member
250 Savage AI - whaddya know?

Some may recall earlier this year i was having a heckuva time with my M70 243. I have tried many loads and nothing is really shooting. I figured if I can't get it to shoot, I may rebore to 358 or rebarrel to something else.
Then I bought the 6mm Creedmoor, and it shoots great. I also aquired a 35 Whelen, and still have a 35 Whelen bbl for a 1903 (which im going to do @20-21" now).
This week I finally put my EABCO 1:8 243 heavy sporter/ light varmint barrel on my Encore, threw a scope on and bought a cheap box of 243 ammo (didn't have time to reload and I hate zeroing with reloads until ive got a load worked up). It shoots great!!
So, now ive got 2 6mm's, and i'll have a long and short 35 cal. I no longer need another 6mm or 35.
Im thinking a 250 AI would be just the ticket in this little M70.
I know someone here has one, and in guessing at least a few have dabbled with the 250 in regular form or AI. What are your results? Loads? Expectations?
This will be a 22" featherweight, 100 grains and up. A nice light little deer gun. Ive got hundreds of 257 bullets, and Ive found sub-moa loads for the 257 AI and 25-06. I need a something else for all these bullets.
May also consider the 22 Creedmoor, which is bound to be a factory option soon. It would still be a deer sized game gun, where legal (MT, WY, KS are all 22 centerfire legal, for example)
Then I bought the 6mm Creedmoor, and it shoots great. I also aquired a 35 Whelen, and still have a 35 Whelen bbl for a 1903 (which im going to do @20-21" now).
This week I finally put my EABCO 1:8 243 heavy sporter/ light varmint barrel on my Encore, threw a scope on and bought a cheap box of 243 ammo (didn't have time to reload and I hate zeroing with reloads until ive got a load worked up). It shoots great!!
So, now ive got 2 6mm's, and i'll have a long and short 35 cal. I no longer need another 6mm or 35.
Im thinking a 250 AI would be just the ticket in this little M70.
I know someone here has one, and in guessing at least a few have dabbled with the 250 in regular form or AI. What are your results? Loads? Expectations?
This will be a 22" featherweight, 100 grains and up. A nice light little deer gun. Ive got hundreds of 257 bullets, and Ive found sub-moa loads for the 257 AI and 25-06. I need a something else for all these bullets.
May also consider the 22 Creedmoor, which is bound to be a factory option soon. It would still be a deer sized game gun, where legal (MT, WY, KS are all 22 centerfire legal, for example)
Wambli Ska wrote: »Once again, please refrain from cutting short any baseless totally emotional arguments with facts. It leads to boring, completely objective conversations well beyond the comprehension ability of many.
Replies
Sierra shows a 257R a max of 40.3gr.of RE-15 - 100gr SBT for 3000fps in a 22" bbl. and for the 257AI 44.1gr RE-15 - 100grSBT for 3200fps with a 26" bbl.
JAY
My dad has a 257 AI, I found a 1/2" load for it finally, I'm done playing around with it. Going to load up all the cases/115gr partitions I have for it and call it good.
I however, need myself another 25, or the fast 22.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Its a tough one, the 250 AI vs a fast 22. Case prep and 2 sets of dies vs a *at the moment* wildcat that's legal in my surrounding states for deer.
The 22CM would be a simple neck down from 6mm Creedmoor, which I have. 250 AI would most likely be a multi stage process of necking up 22-250 brass, fire forming, then resizing just to get to a starting point.
The excerpted content of my previous post cites improved head space and case life.
Maybe not significant differences, but the cost of a reamer and/or rechambering should be the same either way. Seems like there's no down side to the AI.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
above standard chambers and and as little as 150 on some depending on bullet weight. Most loads I've chronied in it are around or just above 200 FPS so it was a valid effort doing the improvement.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
AI'ing the 250 basically turns it into a 257 Roberts, velocity wise, but in a true short action instead of being mauser length (dads 257 is a LA). I MAY have a spare M70 LA to play with after my 270 Wby conversion is done, but then I have this cute lil short action that needs to become something else as well.
I'm still thinking if I go 250 AI, I'm going to neck up 22-250 brass. Much better quality brass available. I want good quality brass that hopefully lasts a good while (like Lapua). Only real option for 250 brass is hornady (haven't had luck forming those, fine for loading just not the extra fireforming work) and Rem. I just formed a bag of 7x57 into 257 into 257 AI, and mostly its pretty good, but ive already had to toss a couple due to loose pockets. If I have to go through multiple steps, I hope better brass lasts longer. Plus Lapua comes annealed, I believe.
A 257 on the Creedmoor case has been done, and would be really easy as well. I believe it would be pretty close to the 250AI, but the dies will be a lot more
I know I like my .25-06 Remington rifle.
I know it has killed everything I’ve shot with it.
I know I will/would never build another .257cal cartridge if given the choice.
In that realm, it would be 6mm or 6.5cal.
End of story.
If I wanted a short action, it would have been a .260 Remington.
And BC.
And im *not* building any 6.5's of any kind.
😁
It keeps me “focused”.
😎
😜
L to R: 6.5 Creedmoor; 6.5 CM after FL sizing "250 AI 40°"; 250-3000 AI 40° case
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Irving Berlin
Chronograph fans probably get more advantage than shooters in the field.