I have many fond memories of my dad and this rifle, as it and my dad are nearly synonymous as it was his constant companion. He would effortlessly pull off running shots on Coyotes after hastily pulling off the side of the road. This rifle would bounce around in his truck, as we drove places a 76 Chevy Pickup should NOT be driving. The first rattlesnake I killed was with this rifle. We were driving alongside the railroad tracks and there was a rattlesnake coiled up in the middle of the road. My dad dispatches rattlesnakes with extreme prejudice, but for this one he gave me the honor. He told me to hold about two inches low, and with a single shot I managed to send its head flying into the air. Unfortunately he did not let me retrieve the buttons off of its tail.
It wasn't until I really started getting involved in guns that I realized what a mix of parts that it was.
As we all know, the 22-250 is a short action cartridge, but the "250" is built off an FN Mauser Long Action. Needless to say, you can definitely load the projectiles to whatever length you want, without interfering with magazine function.
But how does it shoot?
After the trip, I had some time to do load development on the rifle. Before anything I asked my dad when the last time he cleaned the rifle was. He looked at me for a few seconds and said he had no clue, which meant it probably had not been cleaned since I cleaned it while I was in highschool, over 10 years ago.
Once the barrel was cleaned, I took a look down the barrel. It was still bright and shiny, but something was definitely amiss. Something was off.......there was hardly any trace of rifling for the first foot past the chamber. When it is dirty you can see that there is a slight hint of rifling left in it, but when clean it is definitely a cause for concern. My dad estimates this rifle has seen 20,000-25,000 rounds.....on the original barrel to boot! By all contemporary standards, this barrel is beyond smoked, but it still groups 2 MOA using the 55 grain FMJ reloads.
Once the rifle received its first cleaning of the 21st Century, I did some load development using Hodgdon H380 and Hornady 50 grain VMAX projectiles. I was not expecting much, but once again the magical rifle did not disappoint.
It was pretty hard for me to do any good groups for the rest of the day, as I was still laughing my ass off since this rifle still manages good groups, since by all means it should not be doing so. My dad just laughs it off and says that us "kids" need to just get a real rifle, and that there is nothing wrong with the "250".
Of all the rifles I have ever shot, the "250" ranks up there as one of my favorites. It has character to it. It is like that beat to shit car you had in highschool. The doors only open if you jiggle the handle that certain way, the windows only roll down so much, it has a funky smell, but by god you love it.
Whenever I think of my dad, I think of him and his "250". Shooting squirrels from the drivers seat of his truck, rolling down the window to give him proper elevation, starting his truck up, and backing it up six inches to get the perfect firing position. His favorite bullet is still the Hornady 55 grain Soft Point, even though I have shown him how well that the 50 grain VMAX shoots. He still doesn't trust "Ballistic tips" (any bullet that has a polymer tip to him), and thinks his 55 grain SP's do just fine. Hell, he dropped an Elk with that same bullet at 300 yards.
My friends and I have arrived upon a hypothesis for this rifle, it is the only one that makes sense. It must be magical .
EZ