Talking about a 1–8 twist ruger American. The caveat being, here in WY 22 Centerfire s has be have a bullet weight of at least 60 grains.

60 grain Partition or 62 grain Barnes

64 grain power-point has worked well for me on Texas deer in a .223. I don’t know if the additional velocity in a 22-250 would have a negative effect on the bullet at close range.

Anyone have experience with the 70grain accubonds? Should be ticket....

77 grain TMK

My RAR 1:8 twist shoots the Federal 60 grain Partition ammo into .75" at 100 yards.

I'm going to try some of the 75 grain Swift Scirrocos.

I'm thinking .243 diameter miminum as the Law is a Good Idea. IMHO
I know some here will not like this but while I am a hunter I do not want any animal to suffer needlessly.

62 gr. Barnes TTSX

^^^This^^^

In my 220 Swift, the 60 gr Partition was a Deer & Hog killing SOB ! I’ve only used the 62 gr Barnes in a .223 & .556, But the results were the same. DRT 95% of the time. Maybe might run 20 or 30 yards the other 5% of the time.

Bullschitt!!! It’s that kind of thinking that leads to legislation being passed in some States that we can only use Bolt action guns for hunting. No more semiautomatic guns.
Or that you can only hunt with straight walled cartridges.
No need to give the anti-gunners more reasons to take away our 2nd Amendment Rights.

Killing game humanely is not about bullet diameter. It’s all about proper shot placement. Period.

And I’ve killed a truck load of hogs here at the Ranch with a .223 / .556 Heavy Barreled AR-15 that lives in my truck. It’s accounted for several deer and antelope too.
It also serves double duty as predator patrol for the Ranch. Two or four legged.

AGREED X2 that`s what i load 60 gr.Nosler Partitions

I worked up a load with 64 gr power points(these were designed with 223 wsm velocities in mind) for my 22-250 at 3400 fps. Shot 3 antelope 1 shot a piece , all drt. On 1 doe I put the crosshairs on purpose right on the ball and socket joint of the left shoulder to see if I would get full penetration with exit at 175 yds it did. 22 bullets aren't all created equal good luck. Mb

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 do not want to cause a dust up here. In the prosperity after the 1950's no one hunts for true subsistence almost anyone can afford an entry level rifle, so I honestly want to know what is the reasoning or motivation for shooting a .22-250 at middle weight game animals. There have been quantum leaps in bullets, optics, re-thinking twist rates, since the days of the old hunters, but I can imagine the caustic comments of guys like Bob Hagel, Finn Aagard, Ken Howell etc.

They simply work.What more do you need to know?

If Hagel, Aagard, or Howell were caustic toward what obviously works, they'd not have the reputation they do. For them, the 22-250 was a varmint round with a 1:14 twist. If one steps up to a fast-twist and picks the right bullets, it's a death lazer on medium game (and bigger).

And there can be lots of reasons that people subsistence hunt that has nothing to do with "affording".

I like the 60 grain Partition.

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.

Mule Deer,
You just reminded me of a guide / outfitter I hunted with out of Miles City, Montana over 20 years ago for Mulies.
He only used a 220 Swift for Elk and Mule Deer. It was the only Rifle he owned. Said it had never failed him.

That 63 SMP performs way above its pay grade. It is the only bullet from Sierra that I like, in any caliber/weight/construction and does well on deer/antelope sized game at normal velocities.
It is also the only, and I mean ONLY .224 bullet (out of probably 40-50 that I tried) that doesn't keyhole out of my 22 Hi-Power.

I'm a believer.

I know that the Hornady 55 gr. Spire Point w/ Cannelure worked very well out of my 220 Swift on lots of whitetails and a few pigs. We shot them on crop depredation permits back in the 80's into the early 90's and the Swift just turned out their lights.
To meet the 60 grain requirement and the twist of your rifle I'd start with the 75 gr. Hornady BTHP and go from there.


StarchedCover

I think that I remember an article that you wrote years ago about neighbors coming to your house and looking at your extensive collection of rifles and then going home to punch their tags with their everyday use 22-250s and whatever bullet they were shooting at everything.

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.

Dang, that PH had quite the racket going.

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.

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.

You have been pretty mouthy about the topic here before, maybe you shouldn’t comment on what you have no knowledge about

Yep, it's warm. But it hasn't harmed cases in any way I've been able to detect yet. Primer pockets are fine, etc. I'm not recommending it, just saying that I do it. I worked up to it and actually backed off to the 3000-and-change fps load because it shot the best. There was a lower "node" that shot just as well at about 2780. I'm getting 3/4" groups, about as good as this particular rifle has done. I'd back off a ways if swapping powder lots or brands of brass....

I get 2935 with 75 grain ELD-M and Varget in a 1-8 Tikka



P

I forgot to mention that my 70-grain Hornady GMX load gets right around 3400 fps--with the maximum charge of Superformance powder listed by Hodgdon for the 70-grain Speer--though I took the daring steps of rounding it off from 41.8 grains to 42.0.

Hodgdon lists that load at 3499 from a 24" barrel, but the barrel on my Whittaker Guns special is 22".

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 had a pretty good idea on what the usually suspects would be when I asked. But there was a couple surprises. The main ones being the 63 grain Sierra, and the 70 grain GMX. With the current run on components going on currently, the only one I can find in my town is the GMX. Local store has a bunch. So will give them a whirl. But fully intend on coming back around and testing most of the others. Mule deer, in your experience how goes the GMX compare to the Barnes monolithic?

I have been unable to tell any difference in on-game performance between the GMX and TSX--or the Nosler E-Tip for that matter. They expand into 4 petals, and penetrate deeply. Have also gotten excellent accuracy out of all three--and in fact (as mentioned in one of my previous posts on this thread) I picked the 70 GMX for my pronghorn hunt partly because it shot more accurately than the 62 TTSX in my rifle.

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.

I have used the 53gr TSX the most for hunting out of my 22-250, but that was when it was a 1:14 twist. Boys and I have shot dozens and dozens of deer and antelope with it. I know it does not meet the minimum weight requirement.

Have also used the 63 gr Sierra out of my 1:9 twist 222 with success.

My newly rebarreled 1:8 twist 22-250 is now shooting 70gr scenars, but the 70gr NAB has my interest peaked, as does the 70gr GMX.. The 22-250 is going to the range with me this weekend as my soon to be DIL has deer tags and we are trying to figure out what rifle she wants to borrow.

When I posted that link I didn't notice the price. I bought mine about a year ago and if memory serves, I paid about half that. Prices are really jumping on everything ammo-related.

70 gr TSX shoot well in my tikka

will a 60gr Partition stabilize in a 14" twist? thanks

Not enough to make them shoot well for me. Nor in 1:12, even at 4000' ASL. In 1:9 and 1:8, they shoot very well for me.

Not for me, either. The 63 gr Sierra SMP is my "go-to" heavy for 1:14s. Swift or .22-250. A real sleeper bullet.

The 70 Accubonds work very well in my 8 twist 22-250, have taken a few deer and hogs with them, the most recent a 200 lb boar which was a shoulder shot at 200 yds. In the past I have used also used the 62 gr TTSX with good results on several deer and hogs.
While many here rave about the 75 gr ELD, my results with it have been questionable. I've taken a few hogs with it, and most recently a pronghorn in NM last weekend and results have been erratic as far as penetration.

Bill

Same deal for me as HuntnShoot and Sam H, and I am also at 4000 feet in Montana. But also like HuntnShoot, they shot a lot better in faster twists, even 1-12.

In fact, if I recall correctly the 60 Partition was designed for shooting deer with the .223, and at the time the bullet was introduced most commercial .223s had 1-12 twists. It might seem that the extra velocity of the .22-250 or Swift would make up the difference, but in reality even several hundred fps more velocity makes far less difference than an adequate rifling twist. (This is all explained in a chapter in the first Big Book of Gun Gack, as well as other sources, but somehow old myths die hard, including the one that a little more velocity will suddenly make an unstable bullet shoot more accurately.

For one thing, any slight change in environmental conditions can make the same bullet unstable. Another factor is the "original" inaccuracy may have been due to a "starting" powder charge burning erratically, and a larger charge burning more consistently. This is common with today's powders.

You bet T Inman, I ask the old man if he got any exits, he said most of the time, must be a pretty hardy little slug.

Good to hear all the positive results regarding the 63gr Sierra. It's the most accurate bullet I have found for my 225 Win (14" twist). But I have been reluctant to try it on deer. Sierra lists it as a"varmint" bullet, and there are a significant number of folks on the "fire" that don't believe Sierra can make a big game bullet even when they try!

Mark Dobrenski has used the 63 Sierra on a bunch of big game from the .22-250, including a big black bear he killed with what Elmer Keith used to call a "raking shot." The bullet basically went corner to corner on the bear.

For some reasons, there are 2 Partitions that I've struggled to find accurate loads for, the 60 grain .224" and the 125 grain .264". I gave up on the 125 grain .264" since the 130 grain AB has been easy to find an accurate load for, but I kept going on the 60 grain .224" for awhile. The 64 grain PP has been much easier to find an accurate load for, so easy that nearly every load was accurate in nearly every rifle.

IIRC a poster here has used the 60gr Hornady to great affect on lots and lots of critters big and small out of 220 Swift...

Damn good to hear MD, no wonder that old Man is shooting through those deer and pigs, he has two cool old Browning's in 22-250, a Safari grade and BAR, when I found out he had a BAR I told him to buy a couple extra bags of brass ; ]

Thought I would bring this back up with an update. The 62 Grain TTSX ended up being the winner. Half a grain off of Barnes' max load of RL 15 gave me a 3/8" group at 100 yards. Right at 3500 FPS over my chronograph. Will be putting it to use on an antelope hunt in early October. And on a doe whitetail grocery getting trip in November.