Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 223 vs 22-250 for "big game hunting"

Oh [bleep] fight fight fight ....

Just because a certain cartridge will kill an animal doesn't mean that it's the "right" thing to do in using it. I once killed a deer with a 22LR, and yes, it was illegal. An old farmer I knew lived off deer meat, and all he used was a 22. But, a 22LR is a very poor choice as a deer rifle. I am old school, and remember when the 243 was smallest centerfire cartridge you could use for deer hunting here in Kentucky. I think it should still be that way. By the way, I've killed a few deer with the 223, but I still think it's too small.

Why, pray tell, is the 22LR a "very poor choice as a deer rifle," other than legal restrictions?

A .22 LR stinger tight behind the shoulder will straight up drop an average sized whitetail.

It'll blow some minds how effective it is.

It's been proven the old bullets worked well. That said it's so funny old people who still think all 223/22-250's are shooting 50gr spitzers or some chit.

They just don't know what they don't know. I'm not going to argue about it anymore. They're not going to be buying up the bullets I like.

Hell, I killed a young (but not a yearling) red deer hind with a silenced 22LR last year shooting some random cheap round. One shot tight behind the shoulder.

She ran about 50-60 yards before tipping over. I've seen plenty of whitetail/mule deer/antelope run that far after taking a .30 cal round through the shoulders. She didn't leave much of a blood trail though. I gotta disclaim that.

T ,,
Swallowing loads was mentioned and not a word about the ladies in our lives what gives.

PS killing [bleep] is all in the operator I can kill elk with an air rifle. But retards be warned it takes a 378 ratherby.

LMAO.




XOXOXXO,
Clark

[bleep] man file a PTSD claim LOL. I knew a girl in highschool that could.

Have far more experience with the .22-250 and .220 Swift than the .223. My wife and I used the Swift a lot on antelope and deer back in the 1980's with the 60-grain Nosler Solid Base loaded to around 3650. It worked fine, about like a .243 or any other cartridge in that class, and the same load also worked on rockchucks and prairie dogs.

Mostly used the .22-250 cull shooting when I spent a month in South Africa in 2007, using the 55-grain Winchester soft-point factory load, which was the choice of my PH. We were using his old Sako .22-250, which was on its 4th barrel after taking over 12,000 springbok (about the size of pronghorn), as well as a bunch of other animals. My hunting partner and I took mostly springbok and similar smaller antelope, but my partner took a kudu bull, shooting it running in the heart at about 100 yards. He also took one springbok at 350 and I took one at just about 500, with a spine shot. It worked fine. We used the factory load, by the way, not just because it worked, but because the PH owned a big local sporting goods store and could get it wholesale.

Have also taken a few animals with smaller .22 centerfires, down to the .22 Hornet with the 60-grain Partition. My first Hornet was a T/C Contender carbine with a 1-12 twist barrel, and it shot the Partition into about an inch at 100, muzzle velocity 2400 fps. It worked fine on one doe whitetail.

There's no reason any of the .22 centerfires won't work on big game, even with "non-premium" bullets, but I kind of like the extra zip of the .22-250 and .220 Swift. Was talking it over with the Campfire's old friend Mark Dobrenski a few years ago, and our experience with both rounds was that if a bullet survived the trip out the muzzle, it would usually penetrate OK on medium game.

At the other extreme, however, have seen SOME bullets not survive even from 1-14 twists during prairie dog shoots on warm days, after the barrels can get pretty hot. The first time it happened was a number of years ago when several writers were invited to field-test a new .22-250 on a prairie dog deal along the Kansas/Nebraska border. We were also testing some new factory ammo loaded with very thin-jacketed, relatively light bullets, and once the barrels got warm they started doing very strange things.

Only a few actually came apart in the air, but many took off in odd directions, so we finally shot some paper, and found not only larger groups than when the barrels were cool, but many bullet holes with swirls of what appeared to be melted lead around them, like a pinwheel. After the barrels cooled down again the ammo went back to shooting very well, but once the barrels started getting hot things went downhill again. Interestingly, we also had a couple of .223's along, and they didn't do the same thing with ammo loaded with the same bullet, even when the barrels got very hot.

That ammo, by the way, is still on the market, and may be one reason some companies are reluctant to put faster-twist barrels on .22-250's. Many shooters still use (or even specifically choose) .22-250's for prairie dog shooting, apparently because they believe the "extra range" over the .223 is often needed. That was somewhat true 30 years ago, back before we had bullets with higher BC's and turret-scopes, but not anymore. Personally, I only use hotter .22 centerfires for longer-range dogs, and then sparingly, with high-BC bullets in faster twists. For general PD shooting out to 300-350 yards much smaller cartridges works fine.

Have also known several people who use the .22-250 and .220 Swift on elk here in Montana, and actually prefer them over larger cartridges, especially for certain uses. One was an old game warden who whacked a lot of elk off haystacks in winter, when "depradation" shoots were still commonly done by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department. He used 55-grain handloads and killed hundreds. He said a Swift bullet through the ribs killed them quicker than anything else he tried.

I know a kid who shot a cow elk with a 223 last year.



Asked him how many shots?


He replied, "One good one".

I bought a Ruger American Rifle in 22-250 specifically because it has a 1-10" twist but I haven't taken the time to wring it out with some longer, heavier bullets.

What would you recommend as possibles?

What cartridge and bullet do you prefer to shoot deer with, and out to what ranges?

50 bmg might kill deer.


In all seriousness I really like the 6.5's in all flavors on deer and deer like creatures. But I like .277" as well.

Do you really believe that the 22LR is a good choice for a deer rifle?

Why so many?

I have killed deer with the following cartridges....22LR, 223, 243, 6.5X55, 6.8SPC, 270, 270WSM, 7X57, 7-08, 308, 303 British, 35 Rem, 20 guage slug, and 50 caliber muzzleloader, along with a few I have probably forgotten. Probably half of those deer, and I have hunted for over 50 years and quit counting a long time ago, were killed with the 270 and a 130 grain bullet. I have shot them at 15 yards, all the way out to 450. Of all the cartridges I've used, I consider the 270 to the best.....period. I have had shoulder problems for several years now, and shoot a 243 more than anything else these days.

Having said all that, I could care less what someone shoots, although I do believe one should use some common sense about it. just because a certain cartridge will kill a deer, or an elk, or a bear, or whatever, doesn't necessarily mean it's the best choice for the job. Jack O'Connor told the story of an Indian who killed a grizzly with a 22LR, and an account of an elephant being killed with one. Does that qualify the 22LR as a good choice for a grizzly, or an elephant? Of course not. Which brings us back to the OP about the 223 and 22-250 for big game hunting. If that's all I had to use, then I'd do it and do the best I could. But....that does not mean they are "good" choices, because there are far better cartridges available, and those are the ones I would use. What you would use, is your choice and your right.

I've switched back and forth between a .243, .30-30 and .223 for my deer hunting for quite a few years now. I honestly can't say I've seen much difference in effect between them. If anything the ones shot with the .223 have probably gone down a little quicker than the ones shot with the .30-30 and about the same as the ones shot with the .243. The .30-30 with 170's has penetrated better, exited more often and leaves better blood trails on a consistent basis. I just got a new .22-250 primarily for use as a woodchuck and coyote duster but have no doubt it will find it's way into the deer season rifle rotation and that it will be plenty effective when it does.

Have had exactly the same experience with those cartridges.

The .223 is a fine deer killer, and the difference in blood trail between it and .243 is nil. The .30 calls will make them leak better, but the farthest I ever had one go after a .223 hit ( Out if 60+ critters with the little gun now..) was 50 yards.