 |
| This is all the Varmint shooter needs |
 |
| The butt stock is designed to be comfortable for lots of cheek time |
Today those
arguments are a moot point since we can just fire ten rounds thru a chronograph
and lay to rest those nagging questions about cartridge velocities once and for
all. In this writer’s humble opinion it already been resolved by the numerous sportsmen
who use the 22-250 Remington in the field every day. You have only to go to
your local gun shop or sporting goods store and examine the shelves to see what
caliber dominates the varmint arena. Sure there are new varmint calibers
flooding the market every year, but the 22-250 Remington still holds its own. That’s
simply because of the many choices of manufactured ammo and its re-loading flexibility
with the many types of bullets and powders on the market.
 |
| The forend is checkered for grip and holes aid in cooling |
The 22-250 Remington
has an interesting past that dates back to 1915 and its parent cartridge the
250-3000 Savage. Unfortunately, there has also developed a blur in history
about the date of origin of the first 22-250 cartridge. Harvey Donaldson,
Grosvenor Wotkyns, J.E. Gebby, J.B. Smith and John Sweany all worked on
versions of the 22-250. J.B. Gebby and J.B. Smith are commonly credited with present
configuration in 1937. What made it confusing was the different versions of the
22-250 that existed then, Gebby’s version was named the .22 Varminter and he
held a copyright on that name. The Wotkyns cartridge was the forerunner to the
220 Swift and Winchester used the 6mm Lee Navy case rather than the 250 Savage
for their version. So we may never know who is wholly responsible for the
22-250 Remington cartridge, but it’s made it this far and has a huge following.
 |
| The 4X4 is cocked when the firing pin is not exposed |
Firearms
manufacturers know the 22-250 Remington cartridge sells rifles. In fact it’s so
popular that all American, English and European firearms manufacturers have at
least one model chambered in the 22-250 Remington in their inventory. Of course
the cartridge is nothing without a delivery system to send it on its way and
Mossberg’s 4x4 does this job quite well. Now I have always been a fan of
beautiful wood and gun metal, so it was only natural that the laminate stock
and marinecoat configuration of the Mossberg 4x4 caught my eye. Polymer and stainless
have their place, especially in rough and wet environments, but these two esthetic
features combined with the Hawke Optics matt black Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32x56 SR
Pro makes for a work of art you can hunt with. But not to worry, if you are a
fan of the conventional walnut or black synthetic stocks and matt blue finish,
Mossberg hasn’t forgot you.
 |
| The bolt handle is recessed and the safety is close to the thumb |
My sample 4x4
starts with a 24” brushed nickel fluted barrel which free floats in the laminate
stock. This barrel has a 1:14 inch twist rate for stabilizing bullets from 50 grains
and up and Mossberg also offers you the choice of a 1:10 and 1:9.5 twist. The
purpose of the fluting is to lighten the barrel’s weight slightly and to aid in
cooling during extended firing sessions. The crown is recessed to give your
rifle the most protection possible in the field, so if dropped on the muzzle it
will help protect your accuracy. The stocks forend has five vent holes
strategically placed on both sides to aid in barrel cooling as well as
checkering for a positive grip with or without gloves. The stock is
ergonomically cut to feel good in your hands and the rear of the stock has a
cheek rest built in to raise your head for use with optics. It is completed
with a well fitted recoil pad and two black sling studs.
 |
| With the Hawke high scope mounts, ejection is not an issue |
The 4x4’s action
is right handed and controls are simple and easy to reach with the shooting
hand. We start with Mossberg’s LBA (Lighting Bolt Action) trigger system which
allows the shooter to adjust the trigger pull from 2 to 7 pounds. This is a
great feature for long distance shooting and allows you to focus on the target
not the trigger pull. The trigger is factory set to two pounds and is crisp and
short and greatly enhances the shooter’s experience in the field or range. The
trigger guard is generous enough for a gloved hand to operate the trigger. At
the rear of the bolt on the right side is the safety lever, a small red dot is
exposed when the lever is forward indicating FIRE and to the rear it is covered
indicating SAFE. The left side is where the
bolt release lever is located and is protected from accidental release by a
shield that extends off the rear of the bolt.
 |
| The five round magazine is flush and easy to access with the finger release |
To release
the bolt, drop the magazine and clear the rifle of any live ammunition and
while retracting the bolt press the bolt release lever and remove the bolt, and
to replace it just reverse the operation. Also, on the rear of the bolt is a
cocking indicator, when the round flat end of the striker is flush with the end
of the bolt it’s cocked and when it is recessed it’s un-cocked. The top of the
receiver is drilled and tapped to accept weaver style mounts and rings and does
not come with any factory sights. At the bottom of the rifle in front of the
detachable 5 round magazine is the magazine release lever, simply pull forward
and the magazine will drop free. With one round in the chamber the total
capacity is 5+1 rounds where allowed by law.
 |
| Optics like this Hawke Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32x56 SR Pro is great for distance |
.JPG) |
| The whole package is impressive and esthetics are great |
There are so
many great features built into Hawkes Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32x56 SR Pro I could
do an article on it. Mounting it on the Mossberg 4x4 for varmint hunting,
magnification was my first concern to address. 8x to 32x Magnification gives
you all the power you will ever need at whatever range you feel comfortable
engaging your target. And with their clear 30mm body and high quality optical
system with Fully Multi-Coated glass, you get a sharp, bright and high
resolution viewing in all light conditions. The lens configurations offers optimum
performance in low light conditions and gives excellent range finding
properties. The illuminated reticle offers five red and five green settings
that provide you with dawn or dusk illumination to help place that bullet on
target without searching for your cross hairs.
 |
| The five round magazine is made from a light and tough polymer |
The
Sidewinder features a large side focusing wheel designed to parallax from 10 yards
to infinity and is very easy to adjust in the field. The easy to read large turrets
allow for fast windage and elevation adjustments on the range or in the field.
After you zero the scope to your favorite load you can set the turrets to zero
by simply loosening the hex screw and pulling up on the turrets, turning to
zero and push down and re-tighten the hex screw with the provided Allen wrench.
An added feature Hawke provides free to their customers is the BRC or Ballistic
Reticle Calculator. Simple download to your laptop, tablet or smartphone and
enter your variables and apply them to your targets in the field. The BRC
accommodates 18 different Hawke reticles, the Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32x56 SR Pro
reticles being one of them. The scope retails for $549.99 and you can purchase
optional accessories such as flip up covers and honey comb sunshades from their
website.
 |
| The crown is recessed deep to protect the rifling |
Shooting the
Mossberg 4x4 was very pleasant as the 22-250 Remington is not a hard recoiling
cartridge. The rifles combined weight with the Hawke Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32x56
SR Pro and five rounds of ammunition comes in at 10.5 lbs. Since most varmint
hunting is done from a stationary position the weight absorbs the recoil for
better long distance shots. While shooting at the range I often found someone
was watching me shoot my groups. The first thing they usually said was how
beautiful a setup it was and jumped at the chance to shoot it when I offered. I
never experienced a single ammunition related stoppage or rifle malfunction during
the testing and I fired over 100 rounds thru the Mossberg 4x4 without cleaning
it. Hawke’s optics also performed as expected and made hitting steel varmint
targets out to 200 yards a breeze.
ACCURACY RESULTS |
FACTORY LOADS | 22-250 REMINGTON
MANUFACTURER: WEIGHT/ BULLET TYPE: VELOCITY: SD GROUP
@ 100 Yds.
American Eagle 50 Gr. JHP 3756 18 1.25”
Barnes VOR-TX 50 Gr. FB 3845 20 1.10”
DoubleTap 55
Gr. Nosler BT 3874 32 2.11”
Hornady 55
Gr. V-MAX 3143 32 1.13”
Notes: Accuracy results are from three – three shot
groups at 100 yds. from a Caldwell Matrix rest. Velocities figures are from 10
shots fired through a CED M2 chronograph placed 15 feet from the muzzle.
Abbreviations: JHP: Jacketed Hollow Point, BT: Ballistic Tip, FB: Flat Base
Overall I
was very pleased with fit and finish. Mossberg spiral cut the bolt, also known
as bolt flutes, this feature offers a very nice esthetic touch to the rifle. As
time rolled on the bolt became more fluid and smoothed out nicely, something I
can imagine will get better with age and use. As I said earlier I appreciate a
great trigger pull and at two pounds it makes each shot better than the last.
This is a rifle that you can not only be proud to own, but with proper care
will serve your shooting and hunting needs for many years. And you need not
worry about the humble 22-250 Remington going the way of the dodo. It very true
what they say about, “you get what you pay for,” and the Mossberg 4x4 is a
well-built rifle in whatever caliber or configuration you choose. Pairing it
with any of Hawkes great scopes will make your range or field experience what
it should be, a memorable one.
 |
| The bolt is easy to remove and clean and the spiral cut dissipates heat |
RCBS 22-250 Remington X-Dies: More
time shooting, less time re-loading.
This
information if for all you re-loaders who spend more time trimming brass than
shooting or hunting. If you shoot a lot of rifles cartridges and hate trimming them
because it slows down the re-loading process, this may be of interest to you,
read on. This following information is taken from the RCBS website and helps
describe how the X-Dies work: Trim a bottleneck case once—and never trim again
with the X Die Full Length Die Set, which includes an X Die Sizer and Standard
Seater Die. The sizer features a specially designed mandrel with an expander
ball and decapping pin attached. The patented design eliminates the need for
repeated trimming after an initial trim of .020 inch off the maximum length to
standardize the case.
The X Die
doesn’t shorten the length of the case: The mandrel reduces the growth caused
by the case mouth contacting the mandrel during sizing. Because of an extremely
close tolerance between the mandrel and die neck wall, the neck wall of the
case does not thicken as the case length is pushed back. Cases repeatedly sized
in the X-Die will initially grow a few thousandths of an inch, and then
stabilize below the maximum case length with no discernible loss of accuracy or
case life. Note: Reloaders who already own a regular set of dies for the chosen
caliber need only order the X Die Full Length Sizer. I hope this information
helped make your range or hunting time more enjoyable.
MOSSBERG 4X4:
22-250 REMINGTON
TYPE: Bolt
Action
CALIBER: 22-250
Remington (Tested) Six Long-Action Calibers from
.25-06 Rem. to .338 Win. Mag.; Four Short-Action Calibers from .22-250 Rem. to
.308 Win.; and Three Short Magnum Calibers: .270 WSM, 7mm WSM and .300 WSM.
CAPACITY: Five
round magazine
BARREL: 24”
fluted
TWIST: 1:14
OVERALL LENGTH: 46”
WEIGHT: 7.5
lbs.
FINISH: Marinecote
SIGHTS: None
provided, accepts Weaver style base
and rings
SCOPE: None
TRIGGER: LBA Lightning Bolt Action Adjustable Trigger
TRIGGER PULL: 3 lbs.
SAFETY: Manuel
STOCK: Laminate
classic style
LENGTH OF PULL:
13.25
PRICE: $693.00
MANUFACTURER: O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. 7 Grasso Ave. North Haven,
CT 06473 Telephone: (203) 230-5300 (8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. E.S.T.) Fax: (203)
230-5420 For Service Inquiries: 800-363-3555
SOURCES:
O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. www.mossberg.com
Alliant
Powder www.alliantpowder.com
American Eagle www.federalpremium.com
Barnes Bullets www.barnesbullets.com
DoubleTap
Ammunition www.doubletapammo.net
Federal
Premium www.federalpremium.com
IMR Powder www.imrpowder.com
Hawke Optics www.hawkeoptics.com
Hornady www.hornady.com
RCBS www.rcbs.com
