Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters The best deer/antelope bullet. 22-250

I'd use that without a thought, btw, the 63gr Sierra SMP's you rec'd for my old man buddys slow twist 22-250 had had him killing deer and pigs now for the last 5 years, still on the same bag of 100 rounds I loaded for him.

He obviously doesn't' waste ammo, says it just 'drops' em!

I have a 1-8 twist Ruger American .22-250, and used it 2-3 years ago to kill the largest pronghorn buck in the area, at 350 yards. The bullet chosen was the 70-grain Hornady GMX, though I tried some others in the rifle, including the 62 TTSX. (The 70-grain AccuBond was not quite available then.). The Hornady shot the best, so got picked. It worked fine, penetrating to the far shoulder on an angling away shot, and retaining all its weight.

I knew it would work, having experience with .22 centerfires on big game going back to the late 1980s when my wife was using a .220 Swift with 60-grain Nosler Solid Bases, the soft-point forerunner of the Ballistic Tip. As far as I could tell, it worked just about identically to the .243 Winchester on antelope and deer, except for shooting flatter at "normal" ranges, due to a muzzle velocity of 3650 fps. And we never recovered one, if that makes any difference. They left an exit hole about like a 100-grain .243 bullet as well.

Also have a local friend, a retired outfitter, who's been using the .22-250 on elk for a number of years now. He only hunts cows anymore, and when he gets up on a herd, he put whatever 55-grain he's handloaded behind the shoulder, and the cow falls over pretty quickly. He much prefers the .22-250 to the 7mm Remington Magnum he used during his outfitting days, because it kicks less--and the bullet never exits, preventing hitting another elk in the herd.

Before anybody gets excited about this possibly being illegal, Montana has no restrictions on what caliber or case length or bullet weight or WHATEVER you choose to use on big game. You can hunt them legally with a .22 Long Rifle, but apparently our game department takes the view that hunters will use something that works, even if in somebody else's imagination it won't.

I had no clue the .22-250 was that effective, in my game deprived area the .22-250 cartridge (garden variety 1:12, 1:14 spin) is just hauled around in the pickup with the hay hooks and fencing tools. Used on ground squirrels, jacks and coyotes. I gotta get out more I guess.

I have also used the .22-250 in South Africa, culling big game for meat--which is legally sold over there in supermarkets and restaurants. Was on a month-long cull hunt (with some trophy hunting thrown in) in 2007, and my PH eventually asked my hunting partner and me if we'd like to try his culling rifle. It was an older Sako .22-250, at that time on its 4th barrel, and had killed around 12,000 springbok, which are about the same size and color as pronghorns, along with considerable larger big game.

My hunting partner and I switched the .22-250 between us all day, and killed several springbok, the longest shot one I made at around 500 yards. But once when it was my partner's turn we ran into a medium-sized kudu bull, and he killed it too. None of them were head shots, but typical heart-lung shots.

The bullet and load was nothing special. The PH also owned a local sporting goods store, so could get stuff wholesale. His favorite culling load was Winchester factory ammo with the 55-grain pointed soft-point. I seem to recall he also sold the once-fired brass in his store.

I just tested some Speer 75 gr Gold Dots in a 1/8 twist Tikka .22-250. With RL-16, they were shooting knots and were coming out b/t 3,125 and 3,242 fps dependent on charge weights. I think they would make excellent deer medicine.

I've gotten the 75 Gold Dots to just over 3000 fps out of a 22" 1:8 223 loaded with 450's and CFE223. I'm sure they will be quite excellent killers, given how well the 62s and 64s of the same design have worked for me on deer at your 75 gr 22-250 velocity in my 223.

I had no clue the .22-250 was that effective, in my game deprived area the .22-250 cartridge (garden variety 1:12, 1:14 spin) is just hauled around in the pickup with the hay hooks and fencing tools. Used on ground squirrels, jacks and coyotes. I gotta get out more I guess.

That's moving in a .223. Ever looked at Quickload for that load? I ran it through GRT and it looks like your pushing in the neighborhood of 67,500 PSI.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1016682940?pid=333863

I've got a couple hundred of these I can't wait to try out of my 1-9 twist 22-250. If you read through the comments you'll find these are actually Hornady 75gr SBR Interlock bullets. I'm betting they will be a mean medium game bullet.

I wonder if these bullets would provide a meaningful advantage over the tried and true Speer 70 grain Semi-Spitzers?

Plus, the Speers are $15 per hundred and these Hornadys are $42 per hundred.

I have shot a few of the Speers in my 1-8" ROT Ruger American, but have never shot any of these Hornadys.