# .250 Savage SSK Contender round two



## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Have you ever had a Handgun that a buddy talked you out of that you regretted selling as soon as it was gone?

Well I have also.

Several years ago I purchased a 14" SSK Contender Barrel that I thought would be suited to be used for everything I hunt here around home, Varmints to Whitetail Deer. This barrel was to be Stainless-Steel (I am a stainless fanattic), and in the end decided it would be chambered for the .250 Savage cartridge.

I received the Barrel 3 weeks prior to opening day of Deer Season. This was not a problem since I had a hundred rounds of handloads on hand I had loaded for a buddies (Jerry) SSK .250 Savage Barrel that he had a few years prior to this time, but sold. The load pushed a 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip @ 2550 FPS, and I managed to take a dandy (not huge but nice) 4x4 Whitetail Buck with this Handgun / Load.

Buy now you are probably wondering what this is all about. Well the following fall Jerry talked me out of this barrel while we were on a Prairie Dog Shoot. Jerry promptly had it Mag-na-Ported upon returning home, and has owned it since.

Well now it is my turn again, and I recently talked Jerry into selling me this Barrel. Jerry asked me what he could get out of his Gun-n-Stiff, and I offered him $800.00 for the package. Included with the deal was a SS Contender Frame, 3x12x Matte Black Burris LER Handgun Scope, Weaver Base with 3 Burris Zee Rings, two sets of Dies, 500 + Remington .250 Savage empties, 255 Winchester .250 Savage empties, 179 Remington .22-250 Brass that was necked up to .25 and fireformed, 294 rounds of 75gr. Hornady Hollow Point (loaded by yours truly in necked up Remington .22-250 Brass) 30 rounds of the original 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Ammo, and a box of Remington Factory Ammo.










The 75gr. Hornady Hollow Points are pushed by Winchester 748 to a muzzle velocity of 2961 FPS. Accuracy with this load is quite good (by my standards anyway), and has accounted for many, many Prairie Dogs (by both Jerry and myself) and a few Coyotes.

Last fall Jerry was running out of his original 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip load so I set out to come up with a new load. This time I used H-4895, and while we didn't gain much in terms of accuracy or velocity we did gain a little. This loaded ended up producing 2576 FPS velocity in Remington Brass and 2596 FPS Velocity in Winchester Brass and was producing sub 1" 10 shot groups at 100 yards (with each load Jerry would shoot 5 and I would shoot 5 onto the same target).

I am really looking forward to getting out in search of a Coyote here shortly (been waiting for a frost to get rid of those blasted skeeters), and with a little luck I may get lucky and draw a Deer Tag in the second drawing (I didn't get drawn in the first drawing this year). Otherwise I guess my Wife is going to have to give the .250 Savage SSK Contender a work out on Whitetails this fall.

Yes it really feels good to have my old friend back home once again.

Larry


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

Larry, I also have a SSK barrel in 250 savage. Mine won't shoot 100gr or more bullets at all. The best I could come up with was 3-4 inch groups and only when I keep the speed down to 2100-2200fps. Now the 85gr nosler bt is another storie. .5-.7 inch groups @ 100yds are the norm and broadside shots at deer work quite well with nice exits on deer out to 160-170yds. (this is the farthest I have shot a deer with this combo) Would you be willing to share some loads to try concerning the 100gr bullets. I really think this is the weight that should be used. I thought I had solved the problem with a load useing the 75gr barns x bullet but now they droped that one and only have a 85gr bullet that is short enough to work well in this application and I can't get that one to group as well as I would like. Glad to hear that you got your 250 back, I think you got a winner there.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Actually both the 75's and 100's shoot quite good in this Barrel. No there are no 1/2" groups, but most are between 5/8" and 1". The only 100gr. Bullets I have tried in this barrel are the 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips and the 100gr. Remington Pointed Soft Point in Factory Ammo. Even the Remington Factory Ammo will group into 1" when I do my part.

In my experience Ballistic Tips are LONGER than conventional bullets of the same weight. Maybe you need to try either a 100gr. Hornady, Speer or Sierra or even a Nosler Partition.

The only problem is when I worked up this new load for Jerry last fall I somehow managed to loose my notes. I had the powder charges written on the ammo boxes, and the powder charges and velocities written on the targets, but I can not find the Cartridge Overall Length I had the bullets seated to. If I rememberright I seated them the same as the 100gr. load with H-322, but am not sure. Anyway I think that is where I am going to start.

Next spring I am planning on working up a load with the 75gr. Hornady V-MAX for Varmints. I am also going to switch to a different powder other than W-748 for my Varmint Load, in hopes of finding a powder that is NOT as temperature sensative as W-748.

Larry


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

Larry, for my barrel BL-C(2) is the powder for the varmit bullets. I will take the accuracy over the extra speed any day. I have not tried H-322 in this barrel as of yet, but I may have to. Good luck with deer this year, I hope east river is looking good for you.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Actually our Deer Herd is down in numbers from all the indicators. With the Mud Lake Bottom being flooded for the past two summers (actually last year it was late into the fall) has had an effect on our Deer numbers. I think the Deer have migrated to other areas since the flooding. Another thing the local landowners keep blaming the low deer numbers on is the hgher population of Coyotes.

Other things that had an effect on last years season was the fact that there was still a lot of corn in the field up until Christmas time, so the Deer were not concentrated in their wintering areas earlier in the year.

My wife was fortunate enough to draw an Any Deer Tag for Roberts County, so at least one of us is going to have the opportunity to hunt. Last year I tried Antler Rattling for the first time ever. I guess I'll have to try to rattle in a buck for the wife this year.

Larry


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

When you talk abut flooding, after the '97 flood the area I like to hunt is along the Red River and for several years after the flood, there were little to no deer there. We now have more deer along the river, but we now also have lots more deer out in the middle of nowhere where we did not see deer before. I think it is better to get the heards spread out over a larger area so something like a massive flood or whatever really devistates the population. Well sorry to hear that the numbers are down, but coyotes are fun to shoot also, and one with the contender is really fun. Hope you have a great fall.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Well yesterday was a picture perfect fall day, and no wind. As such I just had to get out and do a little shooting. I started out with the .250 Savage SSK Contender. Since I have it zeroed with the 75gr. Varmint Ammo I was anxious to see how much difference in point of impact there would be between the two loads.

I shot a few 5 shot groups at 100 yards with the 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips loaded with H-4895 (33.0grs. @ 2558 FPS) seated to just touch the lands. The worst group of the day went right at .746" for 5 shots, and the best group of the day came in at .508" center to center for 5 shots. Yep I think this load is a keeper, even though I was hoping for a little more velocity.










Yes there is 5 shots in the above group. The top two holes each have to shots in them believe it or not. I was extremely pleased with this load. As per the point of impact difference, the 100gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips @ 2558 FPS print 4" lower than the 75gr. Hornady Hollow Points @ 2961 FPS. I tested the clicks out on the 3x12x Burris (1/8 minute clicks) and 32 clicks had me printing where I wanted to be with the 100gr. Noslers.

I also shot a few groups with the 75gr. Hornady Hollow Points. This load just baffles me. I will do no better at 100 yards than 1" for 5 shots BUT will shoot 1" t5 shot groups at 200 yards also quite regularly. I think next spring I am going to work up a varmint load with 75gr. Hornady V-MAX.

Once I was done shooting the .250 Savage SSK Contender I broke out my buddies 15" .243 T/C Encore. I have put custom Laminated Wood Grip and Forend on this Handgun for my buddy. For the forend I had him order a Rifle forend and I cut it down and reshaped it so it is better adapted to Bypod use than the original Rubber Forend. The Grips have a thumbrest which is nice but the grips are a little large for my tastes. I may try to fix that this winter by slimming them up a little and adding some finger grooves.










The load of choice for tihs .243 Handgun is an 80gr. Speer Hot Core Spitzer loaded with H-4895/ Average muzzle velocity is 2920 FPS, and 5 shot groups at 100 yards are running 1" or less. This gun is really fun to shoot, but does have considerable muzzle flash. That was quite apparent yesterday as I finished shooting the .243 a few minutes after sunset. All in all I had a fun day shooting a couple Speciality Pistols.

I think I am ready for Coyotes and Deer now.

Larry


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