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

Cant reallyanswer for MD but I suspect its the same as me...he uses a variety I'll bet


However, in my case if I had to choose one, period, it would be the 55 grain Barnes TTSX.

HA!

I use a lot of different rifles and cartridges, maybe even more than Ingwe. :-)

For decades now I've used whatever needed testing, whether rifles, cartridges, bullets and even powders--and my wife Eileen has often helped. This has sometimes resulted in sometimes using cartridges and bullets not considered exactly "correct" for the game at hand, whether a .22-250 for pronghorns, using a 40-grain Cutting Edge Raptor at 4300 fps, a 7x57 on trophy moose, or a .338 Winchester Magnum on Texas whitetails.

Sometimes this has happened because a certain rifle was handiest for the purpose. A good example would be the custom .300 Winchester Magnum used on a Sonora mule deer in 2002, when a sudden opportunity came up. Before that I'd killed what most people would consider "big" mule deer with cartridges from the .257 Roberts to .30-06, but the .300 happened to have a U.S. Customs form, so was easy to bring into Mexico, and a bunch of ammo was already loaded. I didn't consider the .300 necessary, but the rifle was ready to go. And it worked, and in the process I learned a few things.

Usually on at least one hunt each year I get to use whatever rifle/cartridge/load I want, rather than what needs to be tested. This fall I used my grandmother's old 722 Remington in .257 Roberts to take a pronghorn, and will be doing more of that sort of thing in the future as well. But I also took another pronghorn with a Tikka T3 from Whittaker Guns that "needed testing." Hoped to take a big mule deer buck with it too, but never found one quite big enough to pull the trigger.

Basically I consider the rifle far more important than the cartridge, or even to a certain extent the bullet, but use different cartridges and bullets in order to be able to answer questions from readers. But I don't get hung up on using any cartridge or bullet over and over again, because within certain broad parameters they all work, if we do our job.

The biggest body weight deer that anyone in my family has ever killed was by my daughter with her 223 last year. Over 220 pounds field-dressed.

At 125 yards, the Nosler 64BSB worked perfectly. The deer died as quickly as any we've ever shot through the lungs.

Thanks guys. I spotted him opening morning from 1000-1200 yards away, and it took me two more days to find him again. Here he is (bottom deer) with a buddy.


I was actually in there looking for this guy, but never saw him again after I snapped this scouting picture a month earlier. Hopefully he survived the season and will survive the winter.



Apologies to the OP for veering off course

Can I go mule deer hunting with you?....grin

Every now and then I see a Browning BLR in 22-250, a combination I just dont understand..

I'm not anti 223 or 22-250. I own 8 rifles chambered for the 223/5.56, and love hunting with them. As I've stated, I've killed a few deer with the 223. I'm also definitely not the Elmer Keith type, who think anything less than a 300 Magnum is strictly for varmints. I happen to have a fondness for cartridges that don't have a lot of recoil, because I just shoot better with them. Also, I pretty much believe in minding my own business, and if a guy wants to go bear hunting with a switch, then more power to him.....even if he is a fool.

It's a fact that here on this forum, along with all internet hunting forums that we are all crack shots. We all regularly practice by shooting the pecker off a gnat at 500 yards, and we all have rifles that shoot 1/2 inch groups at that distance, in a 30 MPH crosswind, to boot. But, in the real world, most shooters aren't that good. I live out in the country, and the afternoon before deer season opens, one often hears more shooting than on opening morning....not from hunters jumping the gun, but from then waiting till then to sight a rifle in. I have known a lot of them who set up a 5 gallon bucket at 50 yards, and if they hit it a time or two, think they're ready to go hunting. Then they wonder why they missed a deer, or even worse, wounded on and lost it.

People like that are why I feel the 22 centerfires are just not big enough. The expert, who picks his shot, uses the right ammo, and knows exactly what he is doing, will have no trouble using a 223, or for that matter, a 22 LR. There are a lot of bullet choices for the 22 centerfires, some that will work fine for deer, and some that don't. Knowledgeable hunters will pick what works, the lazy ones won't. I have read everything I could find on Karamojo Bell, the famous elephant hunter who used a 7X57 quite a bit. Bell was an excellent shot, who knew what he was doing, and he had plenty of targets to perfect his shooting on. However, by some accounts, he also wounded and lost a lot of elephants. I think that's what happens when one chooses to use a cartridge that's somewhat marginal for the job.

Now, I was brought up to kill an animal as humanely as possible, and not let it suffer. To me, that means using the proper tool for the job. I said in an earlier post that I found the 270 Winchester, with a good 130 grain bullet to be the quickest killer of deer sized animals that I've ever used. Another poster likes to show gruesome photos of stuff he's shot, showing all the big holes his bullets make. But, that actually proves nothing. I've seen deer drop in their tracks without the bullet ever exiting, and the damage to the deer was hard to find. Cartridge and bullet combinations that make huge holes only serve one purpose, and that is to help someone get their jollies for overkill.

I've said all that to say this....if you want to use the 22 centerfires for deer sized stuff, and you know what you're doing, by all means do so. Rest assured, I will as well. I know full well that nothing I say is going change anyone's mind one way or another, just as they wouldn't change mine. But, I do know that when I go deer hunting with a 223, that I'm doing so with a rifle will not do what a bigger one would. That's just me and my way of thinking.

Do you see the contradiction?

I'm going to stand in & defend my 1-14 220 Swift. I'm a velocity freak & like Weatherby believe that speed & hydro static shock kills. I've taken over 300 animals with my Swift ranging up to 450 pounds, most of the with a 52 grain Sierra match king & good shot placement. I've been fortunate to have been invited on lots of cull whitetail & exotic hunts here in Texas. The 52 will enter & penetrate then just explode inside, rarely exiting, & leave the vitals like Jell-O. 99% of my animals traveled NO more than 10 yards & most fall dead in their tracks. I don't think you need a fast twist or big bullet with the Swift, just one that will penetrate & cause massive damage inside. Don't laugh at the 52 SMK's in your 1-14 Swift until you try them. My other bullet is the old 55 Nosler Ballistic Tips made in the beginning of BT's before they changed to a lighter varmint jacket.
Jim D

MD, i have killed many w.t. does with a 223 and federal np's in order to put a young gsp on to train.

This year i did entertain the thought of using the same Olympic Arms in the event i tracked a big muley into mesquite, bedding country where i would have a chance to jump a very big buck in thick cover, with the idea of having the semi-auto advantage.

Id be interested in what you and ingwe think of that idea.

Ingwe, if you were travelling through timbered or brushy country on foot only to shoot a big deer or big hog and would be needing to make a kill if you got a chance and where i doubt a chance at a sure kill ear shot would exist, would you be comfortable using an AR style 223?

Really?

The 223 is about my favorite 'brush' rifle for deer. I aim for and bust bone. I'd take it over a 30/06.

Don't need no fugking ear shots.

.223. Double lung.

In fairness, I don't actually know this girl. I just did a photo bomb when her husband when to take the pic.







Dave

Lungs. 22-250. 55gr. TTSX

Lungs. 22-250. 75gr. A-Max.

Everything Is Big In Texas - except the bodies of deer. Not talking about the deer behind game fences. I would like to have a fast twist 22-250 and try it on deer and hogs.

Lungs. .223. 53gr TSX. 300yds.


Luns/jugular/spine 55gr. TTSX/75gr. A-Max.

It's not a FUPA. It's NOTA a FUPA.
(Arnold font)

You'll never use anything else.




Dave

Ive only used but one 22 CF on a deer but those bucks look pretty sick to me.

Who make a fast twist 22-250?

Savage makes some in a 9" twist.

So, nobody.




Dave

LOL! OK got it.

Thanks. Laffin'!