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

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.

To be even less useless, here is an antelope I took at 550+ yards this year with the same .223 Rem. He stumbled 5-10 feet with a hole in his lungs before falling.



While I am a it, here's a doe I killed the same day with the same rifle. I think she made it about 50 yards with one shoulder broke and her lungs ventilated.


Here's another doe I took this year with my .223, which ran a good 300 yards with her lungs completely blown to hell. There were chunks of lung all over the sage, and after finishing her off, I realized literally half her vitals were missing. I rarely see this much damage, even when shot with a MUCH bigger round and frangible bullet.


This all just goes to show that 22 CFs are no less effective than other rounds...sometimes they go down instantly, sometimes they make a short death run, regardless if you punch lungs or break shoulders. Very occasionally you'll have one run a ways, regardless of how much damage your bullet/round does.

To the OP: you'll be just fine with whatever choice you go with. Please avoid FMJs though. That 60 partition is a ruthless killer, if you can actually hit something with it.

What bullet/bullets in that 243 and 270?

270....130 grain Sierra Game King, and 60 grains of H4831. Nothing on this planet will kill a deer any quicker, except maybe a lightning bolt, and that would be arguable.
243....I've used 85 grain Sierra HP's, 90 and 95 Nosler BT's, 95 grain Hornady SST's, 100 grain Core-Locts, and 100 grain Winchester Power Points.

Why not the 223AI?

There is no magic in bullets or how they kill. All else being equal with sufficient penetration, the wider the wound channel (the bigger the hole) the faster things die. There are cartridges and bullets out there that do considerably more damage and make considerably bigger holes then the 130gr .270 Game King- it's not even close.


The Hornady 75gr A-MAX and the 77gr Sierra Tipped Matchking are two .224 bullets that have a wider wound channel in deer sized animals than the 130gr SGK.



All these are from the 77gr TMK. All penetrated between 18-20 inches and all went through "shoulders" coming and/or going.

You think the cartridge that created these is "too small"? How far you figure these mule deer and whitetail went?




Right at 2,600fps impact velocity.




2,750fps impact





2,300fps impact.






2,550fps impact.







2,650fps or so





It isn't the 1960's anymore. Once John Nosler came out with the Partition and people started realizing how to engineer projectiles from the targets perspective, the world of "sensible" choices changed. Manufactures can and do create bullets for specific characteristics in tissue and it is no thang to get a 300gr .338 bullet that will come unglued and only penetrate 10in, or a 50gr .224 that will penetrate 30+ inches.

Yes, it's possible to build a 27 caliber bullet that will create much more tissue damage than a 77gr .224 bullet. However I haven't met anyone that wants MORE damage than the above. So if a person can get as much or more damage than they want, more penetration than they need, less recoil, less cost, less blast, and more precision...




Bullets, bullets, bullets.....

Holy crap, that carnage is as bad or worse than a 30-06 with a 150 grain ballistic tip.

So, if I were to post some pictures of a deer that got squashed on the interstate by a semi hauling steel, does that mean that the deer is "deader" than one that get's hit by a Ford F-150. The amount of damage to the deer's carcass would certainly be greater, so I suppose it would be "deader" Right?

That is a great deer and photo!