Wildcatting: Well Balanced

Coined by Mr PO Ackley himself as one of the best balanced and intrinsically accurate cartridges he designed the 250 Savage AK Improved has a lot to prove in this modern world. Truth is its every bit as good now as the day it was introduced and is perfectly suited to British deer species and foxes. Designed in the late 40`s it has the best percentage increase in velocity over the parent case whilst having all the attributes of a sharp shoulder angle. Yes this increases case capacity but also reduces case stretching and improves head spacing.

A standard .250 Savage or .250-3000 as it is also known can push a 100 grain bullet at 2820 fps whilst an AK Improved version can achieve 3100-3200 fps in the right length barrels. A left hooker friend was keen on a 250 AK Savage so Richard Pope from Swift Precision Rifles (former Venom) has a good pedigree when it comes to building, rebarreling rifles in fact all custom work, so was just the man. I sourced a second hand rifle from Gregor at R.Macleods of Tain Scotland , a .243 wood stocked Savage left hander and soon stripped to its component parts to discuss the best course in which to rebuild it.

SPEC

The action was sound and so this would be blueprinted to restore a better than new close tolerance fit between bolt and action body with silky smooth bolt racers and positive bolt lug engagement. But there was a need for a new trigger, better bolt, recoil lug and barrel.

Luckily there are several Savage specialty suppliers, US-based Sharp Shooter Supplies supplied two bolts both made from stainless steel, one a standard sporter design and the other a longer and more Tactical. The original trigger guard was horrible quite frankly, black plastic and fragile, this was replaced with a crafted stainless unit, just the ticket.

Another part that needed immediate attention for the inadequate recoil lug, a blued thin bent piece of metal sheet is no basis for a secure recoil or bedding aid. So a custom stainless steel oversized lug was ordered, which would allow a better barrel shank union and bedding area to the stock. A Timney trigger unit that would replace the pre Accu trigger model that was well past its best.

The scope mounts too were junked and replaced with Weaver-style silver alloy types from Sinclair International and a set of low profile Leupold quick release 30mm rings were supplied by GMK. 

Stock wise a custom Macmillan would have been ideal but a donated, second hand synthetic Savage unit surfaced. This was a little flexible in the forend, Richard fashioned a pair of aluminium bedding blocks for the front and rear securing screws thus forming built-in aluminium pillars. The first third of the forend was also filled with Pro Bed bedding material to increase rigidity and the action fitted into its now perfect bed.

2-TONE

The synthetic stock had a reasonable grey/black finish but lacked that custom look, so Hydrographics were employed to cast a Miracle pattern to the Savage’s exterior. After much discussion John worked a fantastic two-tone graduated grey to gun metal finish with a splintered black pattern applied on top. A final layer of highly textured almost wet rubberised finish was applied that gave the feel of a Hogue stock without the liability for dirt ingress.

The final and perhaps the most crucial part was the barrel choice. Get every thing else right and bodge the tube and all that hard work would be for nothing. Pac-Nor was chosen for the job.  Being .25 calibre (.257) the super efficient .250 AK cartridge would handle 100 grain bullets as its main diet so a twist rate of 1 in 10 was chosen. A slim profile sporter barrel of only 20” was deemed suitable and to further reduce weight but add that custom look five deep flutes were added.

CARTRIDGE

The parent case was the venerable old .250 Savage, which later became more widely recognised as the parent for the excellent 22-250 cartridge. The original case holds nearly 45 grains of water whilst the improved version with its straight walls and 40° shoulder angle holds 51, which is a big improvement!

However we wanted a short barrel for moderated use so it would be interesting to see how this Wildcat performed in a 20” tube. Quickload ballistics program predicted 2924 fps and 1898 ft/lbs from a 100 grain bullet with a payload of 42 grains of Vit N150. As always you need to fire form the brass with a wildcat load. The .250 AK was easy, I used 30 grains of H380 and Speer 100 grain bullet and the case blew into that beautiful sharp shouldered square body look.

Next I tentatively tried a few differing powders and loads to get a feel for the cartridge. 33 grains of Reloder RL15, a favourite, gave 2626 fps/1532 ft/lbs so not deer legal yet, although extremely accurate with 3-shots through the same hole at 100 yards, a good fox load then. Keeping the same load but switching bullets to a Hornady Interlock upped the velocity up to 2711 fps but the bullet was seated deeper due to the differing ogive.

An increase to 35 grains RL15 and the Speer 100 grain yielded 2705 fps and the Interlock 2740 fps; still not quite there on the energy front! I therefore increased to 37 grains giving 2847 fps but 38 grains gave an impressive 2955 fps/1939 ft/lbs with good accuracy from that short 20” tube but was the top in terms of pressure for this rifle. I also tried 38 grains of Vit N140 that pushed a 100 grain Pro Hunter at 2858fps/1814 ft/lbs but was hot so I switched to Vit N150, a bit slower to see if I could improve on things a little.

38 grains of Vit N150 and a Sierra Pro Hunter 100 grain and Federal match primer shot a mild, pressure wise, but good velocity of 2879 fps. I topped out at 40 grains of N150 giving 2976 fps/1967 ft/lbs with good accuracy and pressures. With the load sorted I switched bullets to hone in on better accuracy, Interlock`s gave the same accuracy but 3042 fps. The best however were the Speer 100 grain Boat tails with an COL of 2.5785”, Federal match primer and shot 0.35” three shot groups at 100 yards with 3007 fps/2008 ft/lb.

Light bullet wise I tried a few as the .250 AK is also a very potent fox round. The 70 grain Sierra BlitzKings were stormers, a load of 41.5grains of H4895 achieved a staggering 3347 fps/1865 ft/lbs. Nosler 85 grain Ballistic Tips too were good performers with Vit N135, a dose of 40.0 grains gave 3118 fps/1835 ft/lbs so a great all rounder! The Sierra Gameking 90 grainers would be a good go between bullet for deer or foxes and the best load was with 42.0 grain of H4350 for 2978 fps/1773 ft/lbs and 0.75” groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Out in the field with an MAE muzzle can fitted the .250 AK is a pussy cat to shoot and quiet too. Accuracy is almost contagious and its ability to place bullet on bullet became quite boring! The 100 grain Pro Hunters are great deer bullets and capable of handling all species but if you switch to the lighter bullets it’s a superb varmint cartridge as well, win win! If you want Richard Pope to rebuild, build , rebarrel, stock, bed, thread, finish, custom fabricate any rifles, at good rates then give him a bell.