I bought an unfired 22-250 from an estate almost a year ago. Thought I would load some MKs to go to our antelope unit to kill any coyotes we find to increase the upcoming antelope birth rate. I've been using one of my .257 Wby's, but want to save a little on components and wear. I received a box of 500 52gr MKs with the rifle and since I have them I'll shoot them. I bought 200 Nosler cases just need info on powder experience for this bullet. Thanks in advance.
22-250 Sierra MK for Varmints
- Thread starter Dosh
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Canhunter35
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I've used h4895 for years with wicked accuracy
Savage 12BVSS
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The group in my avatar was shot with this load along with many other's, please work up to it as its very warm and worked up to slowly. The groups flattened at 36gr IMR4064 and stayed flat to 36.3gr after that it opened up. I use winchester brass fully prepped cut to trim length, primer flashholes deburred, weight sorted, inner and outer hand neck chamfered, and primer pocket's uniformed. I use WLR primers and either 52 SMK's or 50gr Hornady V-Max. Load .020-.025 off lands (most 22-250's work with this) mine likes .025. I keep the runout under .001 and it's fast in a 26" bbl.. Remember work up to this load slowly and Good Shooting Dave
358 WCF
Active Member
Agree on H4895, also RL15 (if you can find any) worked well with a bit more speed than 4895.
I've been shooting 52 grain SMKs in 22-250 for over 30 years. I was at a farm sale in 1988 or 1989 and picked up twelve 100 round boxes for a song. My load is 33.5 g of IMR 4064. I found most every load I tried with 4064 to be very accurate, so I went with a middle of the road load around 3500 fps to get more loads per pound and to extend barrel life. I have over 1500 rounds through my Winchester 70 featherweight with that load and it still shoots 1/2 moa out to 400.
Creedmoor shooter
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36 grains of imr 4064 with a 52 smk. Absolute killer combo! Mine was running at 3825 fps. Both mine and my fathers rifle ran the same exact load
benchracer
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I have had my best results with IMR 8208 XBR and RL-17, using bullets in the same weight range as the 52 SMK. Here are the results of my load workup with the 53 VMAX (obviously not the same bullet, but should be close enough in weight for the results to be relevant):
https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/started-load-dev-22-250-53g-vmax.136445/
https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/started-load-dev-22-250-53g-vmax.136445/
Thank you all for the info. I have H4895 and Varget. Would prefer to use powders which are not temp sensitive, it gets hot here in Az. Apparently the SMK does well on coyotes, they are my No. 1 target. Going this Wednesday to test some loads.
This has not been my experience, I didn't like the way that bullet performed on the half dozen coyotes I shot with it before I switched. Sure it killed them, but on several of them it wasn't a quick kill on anything but a broadside shot.
waspocrew
Well-Known Member
If you find the SMK doesn't give you the best performance on animals, maybe give the Sierra blitzkings a try. They are incredible bullets.
I used to shoot coyotes with .22 cal. MKs. At the time, I thought any jacketed hollow point .22 bullets were suitable for varmints. According to Sierra, the MKs are designed for target use only, not varmint shooting. About half the time when using MKS, I'd have what I knew was a good hit on a coyote and the critter would run off. I switched to the 50 grain Sierra Blitz in everything: .222, .223, .22-250, and .220 Swift. They are as accurate as the MKs but kill far more reliably.
Interesting! I'll be using my 12ga. With 3 1/2" ammo on short shots as well. Perhaps I'll give the Blitzkings a try.
I used RL15 for quite a while. Then I found H380. Its dirtier than other powders, but I can pour 52gr. bullets going 3600 ft/sec into the same hole all day long.
