How many of you guys/gals deer hunt with a 22.250? Experience or feedback appreciated. Got a great deal on an A-Bolt last week. Thinking of throwing a scope on it and setting it up for my 16yrs old daughter.

Not a great idea. It's better as a varmint bullet.

For someone who's very calm and experienced and willing to wait for the perfect shot they work but then so does a .22lr.
In short I wouldn't and I wouldn't advise it for any 16 year old.

Kills deer like lightning. Stoke it with a Barns and watch them fall.

Or either myself. I have a few friends that hunt with one and like it.

I've used the 22-250 for filling antlerless tags for years. Great deer killer and it will be a nice match for a young hunter with its low recoil. Use a bullet built for the task and clear some space in the freezer.

I feel a .243 is a better choice.

Amen to that. 53 or 55 Gr. TSX for slower twists or 62 Gr. for faster twists will get the job done.

Did so for the first time this year.

70yards in the front right chest and exited in front of the back left ham with a 55gr tsx. Small doe, but with around 3 feet of penetration, I'm thinking size had little to do with it.

Example of one, but it was a lightening example of one.

Seen it work on antelope several times, as well as deer. Never seen one be able to soak up a good hit and tote it far.

Daughter killed her first deer with a .223 I handloaded with 60 grain partitions.

Broke upper leg bone, and clipped the shoulder on opposite side and exited, little bit of an up-hill shot. Very dead after 50 yd dash in tall grass, did not like no blood trail due to small exit hole

Acquaintance drilled a 100 lb doe straight on with same load. breaking couple vertebrae between shoulders continued on to stop in left hip. It dropped on the spot. Have also seen head/neck shots with 55 gr. v-max bullets work with utter reliability also...

Not a big fan of using such calibers for deer... but a 22 cal centerfire gets it done under IDEAL conditions, with CONTROLLED shot placement.

With a Barnes the 22-250 might be too much gun...







That oughta get'em stirred up lol...

With Barnes TSX they will work fine.

Heck the 223 works fine with a TSX, Partition, Fusion, Swift and others, the 22-250 is just more of a good thing. IMHO...

I think it would work just fine. Barnes bullets have changed the game.

I have not used a 22-250 but am in the process of putting one together. I have used a .22 Hi-Power and .223 on deer with good results. I used Barnes years ago in .30 caliber. Maybe they got better, but I won't load with them anymore. I could not get any accuracy out of them. I do agree with a lot of the others. Lighter bullets are for a more experienced hunter.

dawg I have been using a 22-250 on deer for a long long time. There is no great trick to it and by no means a stunt.
What I am going to say holds basicly true for any caliber but more so with the smaller 22 cfs.
Only you can answer and be truthful with yourself. How good a shot is your girl? How excitable is she when shooting at game?
Being 16 has nothing much to do with it. I have seen fifty year old men who went ape schitz when they went to shoot a deer.
Does your girl just shoot at deer or does she shoot at a spot on the deer? What is her effective range? IOW can she consistently hit a four inch circle at 100-200- yards? From field positions mind you not a bench rest unless you are shooting deer from the equivelent of a bench. Is she patient enough to wait for a good shot? Is she mature enough to let a deer walk if no good shot is presented? Can and will she practice with the rifle enough to have it become an extension of her arm?
If the honest answers to these questions are all good then she would be good to go with the 22-250 loaded with game bullets not varment bullets.
Only you and she can give answer.

IME...you're very good to go with the 22/250. I'd not worry one iota.

Take pics for us.

Dober

They flat out work! A .22-250 is more powerful than a .223. I have use the latter ery successfully on deer with nary a problem. Last year a frend of mine decided to try his .22-250 for deer. He was allowed a few doe tags and killed them with Barnes out to 450 with one shot each.

Well, it's not legal in Colorado. That should tell you that not everybody thinks it's a good caliber for big game.

Myself included.

If not too much, it for sure is plenty....

Actually 4 me, it tells me something a tad bit different. To me it shows me that they have lil or non experience in the taking of game with the big .22's.

Tons of people have shot a chuck that was facing them and the chuck came pretty well unwound. Imagine that going off in the lungs of a critter. You wreck the lungs and what are they gonna do..........?

Dober

Exactamundo...

One thing about the pic of the bruin I posted and I've mentioned this b4 but here it goes again.

Short story, the bruin at the time of taking was in the top 30 in the Montana book (or would of been, if I had entered it). I shot the big old boy @ 178 yds as it quartered away after I had called it in. He decided the blonde chica mato was a better deal that I. I used a 63 Sierra, the bullet out of my Fwt M70 22/250 entered about where the bruins love handle would be and exited......his Adams apple. (does a bruin have an adams apple?) The volunteer went about 35 yds and piled up.

Dober

How can that be...?

With a .22-250...?.........

What if you hit the shoulder?

The 250 Is Way Underrated. Worry More About If Your Knifes Sharp. Than If It'll Kill..They'll Do The Job.

What about that shoulder hit? Got any pictures of a muley buck kill hit in the shoulder?

Make me a believer.

Another non believer?.....laffin'

Here you go......but this was a .220 swift, 55gr hornady at 3800fps.

Nice buck. Shoulder shot?

Neck/shoulder junction...he was facing me at an angle. About 100 yards.

Well, I can't say it didn't get the job done. I just hate to recommend a caliber that needs a perfect shot to work. Especially, for a 16 year old. Who can say they never hit a shoulder when they were aiming behind it?

Then again. I use a 30-30 and a .270 for elk. So, who am I to talk?

Carry on.

WOW, that's a freaking stud. Congrats.

We used the 250 a bit on smallish whitetails years ago with cheap factory fodder (55g SPs). It worked ok, but often left little if any blood and you had a bit of a tracking job even with well placed shots. I feel certain newer bullets have totally changed that game and personally wouldnt hesitate to use the cart again with newer and tougher pills.

Been thinking of letting my nephew use my 250 to whack some deer. He's a little fart and a bit recoil shy. Being that it's heavy, it's the lowest recoiling rifle I own. Box blind with bags should do the trick.

2 black bears with 22 250 and 64 gr powerpoints. One up close and one out a ways. Broke both shoulders on the one bear. Killed a buck this year with 223 64 gr powerpoint at 40 yards. Broke the off shoulder and exited. 22 centerfires are very effective.

And I more than likely would set it up for myself.

Hell aim behind the shoulder I aim right for it
.22-250AI 62gr TSX...some one forgot to tell these 2 deer that they were not supposed to drop in their tracks at 200yds cause they only got smacked in the shoulder with a .22-250

It's legal in Idaho. In fact, Idaho allows any centerfire on any big game. You can use your 22 Hornet handgun on bear if that's what grabs you...and he might.

Mauser_Hunter,

"Well, it's not legal in Colorado. That should tell you that not everybody thinks it's a good caliber for big game.

Myself included."

Because you can find some in government who agree with you does not mean others are not keeping up with technology. The Barnes bullets and the Nosler partition 60 grainer are wonderful deer bullets.

I got a question for you 22-250 guys.

I'm considering 1-8" twist barrel for the heavier bullets. The smith said that a CM barrel would have a life of 8,000-10,000 rounds, and that SS would add another 1,500-2,000. This is using the rifle as a deer rifle I.E. not shooting the barrel real hot.

What do you think???

We know the .243 will kill an elk. Do you consider it a good elk caliber? Would you recommend it to your best friend?

That tears it.... Im buy'n me a .220 swift for muleys!!

I never knew there was anyplace to shoot a critter besides the shoulder. Granted I haven't killed with the 22/250, I'm a 223/223AI stunt shooter.

More people voted for Obama than not, your point is?

Why would you want to shoot meat you can eat? I shoot for the lungs.

Yeah, but how does it do on the big one's???

Nothing but shoulder, going in and out, albeit a 223AI so not really germane...



Oops, more shoulder

If you say so, but what about the meat around the ribs, or ain't that meat?

I always drill the shoulders, but then again I'm not a [bleep] idiot like you.

Scott you've let the horse to water....gonna die of thirst any ways

That will be good eating. That's the problem with small fast bullets.

No, you're idiot like you. You compare shoulder meat to rib meat. Funny.

So, show me the deer you've shot with a fast/slow 22 caliber or shut the [bleep] up.

I'm not overly interested in what you can't do, as I haven't enough years left to read that list.

It's all eatable meat dickcheese.




But I'm guessing your deer don't look like this. Regardless of where you shoot them, they die. You asked about a [bleep] shoulder shot because apparently you weren't happy that they killed with a lung shot, now you're crying about wasting a pound of meat with a shoulder shot.

You are a [bleep] chick for Christ's sake.

Every forum has one, and you're it.

Tell me your experience with them? Every forum has a whole bunch that guess, looks like you are a pivot gal for JO. What a [bleep] tool.

Again, show me one.

Of course you can't because you are talking out your cunny, like chicks do.

Another mom that should have swallowed the load.

what's that someone who actually has BT/DT for stuff they post about instead of guessing?

How can I show you something that not legal in my state?

Nice little spike you shot. Did you do it from a tree stand?

I have no time for a keyboard tough guy. Go beat up some street bum.

Good grief. Looks like a good thread went south when you got involved. Sorry guys.

"We know the .243 will kill an elk. Do you consider it a good elk caliber? Would you recommend it to your best friend?"

As long as he would let me load Barnes TTSX. BAck in the day I loaded 100 Nosler Partition for my elk huniting buddy. He killed three elk with three shots.

Does that work for you?

Thinking your wife does that every night. What spike would that be? I'll tell you what, tell me about the 200 pound deer in the first pic and we'll discuss.

Not an internet TOUGH guy, just a guy that doesn't [bleep] GUESS on what might or might not work.

I do appreciate how you skirt around the issues though and have acknowledged that you have ZERO experience, in most anything except converting oxygen into carbon monoxide.

Not your fault, and I appreciate you asking, it's the idiots with no experience.

Dickwad asked "What about shoulder shots" and then gets all puzzy hurt about some lost meat. What a [bleep] idiot he is.

Forums are funny. You have the small bullet can do anything group.

Than you have the nothing but big magnums will do group.

Then you have the rest of us in the middle who make sense.

We can't all be right, but i'd say in the middle makes more sense.

All you got are insults. I wouldn't say my 60 years of shooting and hunting is no experience.

He asked for opinions, and I gave him mine. Which was the first answer. It's guys like you that turn threads to crap. I had already conceded that the 22-250 did the job ok, but didn't think it was a good idea for a new 16 year old hunter.

I realize not my fault. Everybody is entitled to there opinion. This went south with all your name calling and immature remarks.

Just a few with the .22-250..

Shoulder shots, behind the shoulder shots etc..

Ive killed LOTS more with a .223...





This one got a 53 TSX as a finisher through both shoulders...

At least you didn't say .223 AI... this time.

*rolling eyes*

Everyone's ways are right in their own eyes. Majority does not make right. Fact do.

That's true, but they will all kill. What make one right over the other? Best percentage of getting a kill? Best knock down power? Best blood trail? The least meat destroyed?

You pick what you want out of a bullet, and use it. That doesn't make any of us right. However, there are some calibers that will work for the majority day in and day out better than others.

Make sure the kid practiced and stays within their limits. Same deal regardless of cartridge.

13 years old(?), 22-250 55 grain soft point(one shot at about 150 yards).

60 years and still sourcing F&S.
Only thing better for a 16 yo than a .22-250 is a .223 AI.

Sourcing F&S?

I guess insults are the norm on this forum.

[quote=LBP]I got a question for you 22-250 guys.

I'm considering 1-8" twist barrel for the heavier bullets. The smith said that a CM barrel would have a life of 8,000-10,000 rounds, and that SS would add another 1,500-2,000. This is using the rifle as a deer rifle I.E. not shooting the barrel real hot.

What do you think???[/quote

Anyone have any thoughts on this???

I've thinking about buying a 1-14"(stainless Hawkeye) and just laser beaming things with little bullets.


8-10K rounds on a 22-250?

At a minimum

Apparently guessing out your ass is the way to roll. You've never used one, apparently the folks of CO are bright enough to legislate so, apparently that isn't an insult, apparently you didn't ask about shoulders, apparently you didn't get puzzy hurt about shoulder shots, apparently you've never hunted out of state, apparently your parents gave birth to a retard.

If you don't wear the barrel out cleaning it.

I've used a 22-250 quite a bit.

On coyotes.

I hardly got hurt about the shoulder shots, but i'm a meat hunter, and try and save as much as possible. Small fast bullets are not my choice. I still hunt in timber, and don't need flat shooting bullets for deer or elk.

Scott, is this an answer to my question about 8,000-10,000 rounds from a CM sporter?

Yep Sam, thats what the man said and hes a knowledgeable fellow. I was thinking of SS but if CM will last this long why bother?

I wouldn't move up to a TSX until you get into mondo-sized cervids.

Couple years back, my son Crushed two Middle TN slickheads at 180 & 200 yards with a Remington 788 loaded w Rem PSP 55 grainers, slipping the rounds through the gap between the onside shoulder and the goozle.

Of course, he can shoot.

If you live in Colorado or some other leftist republik, get your newbie's .375 H&H with which to kill cloven-hoofed infidel Bambi.

I wouldn't have guessed(key word guessed) that many but Scott and 'Griz cleared it up. That's alot of shooting!

Me either but it was Melvin Forbes that told me that today when we were go over options on my NULA rebarrel job...

A couple lifetimes worth on a deer rifle...

I've shot plenty of deer with the Swifto and 22/250 and have absolutely no problemo with hitting shoulders by accident and or on purpose.

Done it with lots of different slugs from 55 Horn's to 55 and 60 NSB's, 60 Horns, 62 Sierra's and a few with the Preme's like the 53 TSX, 60 NPT and the 55 TB.

This stuff is only rocket science if one chooses to make it such.

Dober

dawgdiesel...........Majority rules. Get her the a-bolt.

I already bought it last week. Got a great deal.

4 got to add, the only time I've caught a bullet from a shoulder shot was with a 55 NBT at about 150 yds on a freak of nature monster doe in NE Mt. The doe bounced on the shot and I found the 55 just under the far side about to exit.

Dober

Good deal. How's she like it?

Looking for the right scope to put on it now. She's layed a few down with her .35 Remington so far this year.

Now that's an explosive bullet!!

I hate these small bore threads. How am I to justify 30 different chamberings to the wife when she finds out that all I "need" is a 223??

Has anyone ever used a 204 Ruger on deer?

I haven't, but a few years back there was a write up in the Deer Hunters of Idaho newsletter about a guy getting kids deer using a Tactical 20 with bullets specially made for him by Barnes. They looked dead in the pictures.

I wish i could use a .224 75gn Amax in this state. Would be about perfect for antelope.

Wouldn't hesitate to poke a muley with a .224 tsx too.

Guess I'll have to strech the legs on my 6x45 this year.

Me and Dober are kinda waiting on the Introduction of a 32 gr.TTSX.......

No news on that front yet....

Ingwe's spot on a 32 TTSX would most likely land me in 204 land quickly...

Now how many if you heat the barrel up?
It's always something and patience isn't always one of them when I'm shooting away at stuff.

Dropped a blacktail a couple years ago via 32gr vmax to the chest. Wasn't expecting to be taking deer on that outing, but capitalized on the opportunity. he is now on my wall. Lots of pigs dead to a 45gr sp and 32gr vmax as well.

I've used the .17 Rem a fair bit with Barnes 25's and some R-P's as well. They all died...

Dober

The 60gr Nosler partition works pretty well, in my experience.

Not my first choice, but it was one of those things I had to try, some years ago when that bullet came out. Pretty good set up for kids, or anyone with recoil problems.

38grs of IMR 4350 worked very well, in my situation.

If you can't kill a deer with a 22 cal, you can't kill deer with any caliber.

There ya go. Thats the answer all them non-believers was hopin ta hear.

So if the 22's work in every conceivable situation, I wonder why all those stupid deer hunters carry around the heavy, hard kicking, 270's 280's, 30/06's, etc...

I used a 22-250 years ago for 15-20 (guessing) mule deer and antelope. I never had a problem putting them down. Never lost one. Never had one go far at all, as a matter of fact.Never had the non-penetrating flesh wound that I hear tales about. I did have some bloodshot meat. This was pre-TSX. I wouldn't worry too much about using one again, especially with today's bullet options.

Far More To Do With The Magician, Than The Wand...

For the same reason the guys carry a .22-250.....they want to.

I too think a 243 or possibly the parent 250 would be better but since you already have the rifle load it up with a good bullet intended for larger game and you should be good to go. It's not a bad choice I am just a little more comfortable with a bit more bullet, but that is probably more imagined than real. From my experience using varmint bullets on groundhogs thru a 22-250 I would not advise using those but a barnes or partition should work.

I quoted wrong meant to quote why a lot of hunters still carry the big guns that southtexas asked. Sorry about that! Don't know how to fix it.

280 if you are seriously asking the answer is ignorance. At least it was in my case. Now note please that ignorance IS NOT stupidity. Everyone is ignorant on some subject or other.

We all grew up with the ingraned idea that a "deer gun" was a 30 cal of some kind- 30-30, the Savage the old 06 or the 270 (yeah I know it isn't a 30 but samey same)

We heard whispers and stories about the bitty needle guns killing deer but we didn't believe it or called it a stunt or trick shooting. Did that because it went against everything we had always been told and thought. Some never get beyond that point and so your question is answered. Granted way long range shooting requires a bigger bullet to be reasonably effective but at the range 99.5% of white tail are killed the needle guns do fine. Especially with game bullets that are available today where they were not years ago.

My first was a 223. I bought it for shooting varments. I can't tell you how the doubts went through my head the first time I carried it deer hunting using heavier bullets. 55 grainers I believe. Despite all my doubts and fears and visions of deer running off wounded with half a gallon of meat blown out of their shoulder that little needle gun killed deer grave yard dead with narry a problem. Took several to convince me that it wasn't a fluke. I was hard headed and ignorant but I learned.
I learned that a good shot, which is easier to make if you are not worried about recoil and all the associated whoop-te-do of touching off a scoup full of powder, will put them on the ground every time.
It is just a learning process and some figure they alread know all there is to know about deer guns.

Even if it was legal in Colorado. I still wouldn't use one. I like to use the same gun foe mule deer and elk. Sometimes i'll have a combined tag, and hunt them at the same time.

Plus, i'm not fan of small fast bullets. They work, but I don't like how they work. Good for coyote that i'm not going to eat.

Do as you want, however you also obviously choose to ignore the combined experience of people like BCR and others who have actually done it over and over.

Years ago I had doubts. Then I visited here and realized without ever using one on Deer, that If it didn't work for me, the fault would not lie in the fact that it was a .223cal.

The one thing I find perplexing about this place is the often "have you ever done it" reply. I've never shot an Elephant, but if I was going to do so the choice of an appropriate cartridge and caliber would be down on my list. Others have already answered the question for me.

I don't believe in "guessing" as it's called, but some do take the "only if you did it yourself is it true" thing a bit far.

I hardly ignored anything. Since I agreed that it got the job done way back in the thread.

I simple stated why I wouldn't use it. You guys sure get uptight if someone doesn't agree with your bullet choice.

I do have one question though. Why use it? What advantage does it have over a bigger caliber? Is no recoil that important? What does it do that a .243, 6.5x55, .270 won't do too? Just curious.

Boggy: The question was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but you answered it very well. I think the monometal bullets have, in fact, changed the game to some extent. This year I stepped a little outside my comfort zone and tried some 80gr TTSX's out of my 257R. They worked great. I have no doubt that th TSX-type bullets work well on 99% of the deer hunting we do. But for take-'em-as-they-come trophy hunting, or expensive out of state hunts, I think I'll stick with something a little bigger. Thanks for your thoughtful response to my somewhat silly question.

Given your peramaters I might not use it either. I've never shot an elk and never will.
What will it do that the ones you named do? To some recoil is imortant and so is weight. What will the .243 6.5X55 etc do that a 12 pounder Napoleon won't do.

They will all kill deer and do it well and easy. But if you have no confidence in it then you certainly should not use it.

Like I told Mauser there st. Confidence is the name of the game. As you say your not confident enough to use it "But for take-'em-as-they-come trophy hunting, or expensive out of state hunts, I think I'll stick with something a little bigger."

You sure as heck don't need my blessing to use what ever round you're comfortable with. Man just shoots better if he has confidence in what he is shooting.

Well, I haven't tried it yet myself, other than finding out 53gr TSX's will shoot okay in my .22-250. I was too busy with other projects this past year.

In fairness to the naysayers, lots of experienced writers have previously recommended against them. I think as late as the Nosler 4th manual, John Nosler, Sr. wrote of using a .22 centerfire on deer, didn't like the results, and spoke against the practice. I think it was after he retired that Nosler finally brought out a .22 cal Partition. Some years later Finn Aagard wrote of using TBBC's on deer, and things snowballed after that with the new Partition and the TSX. Enough people have reported good results that clearly, .22 centerfires do work well on deer.

For what it is worth I used a 22-250 for several years on deer. WHY?Because it was the only rifle I owned. Did it work? YUP. I shot that rifle quite well as it was used to shoot around 500 woodchucks every summer. I knew it well. When an oppurtunity came to hunt a rifle zone that is what I took and did so with the utmost confidence. Call it necessity or youthful exuberance or what ever. At that time the only bullet I thought would work for deer was the old 70 gr round nose. As I recall the load manuel had that load running around 3200 fps. All the deer I shot with it, including 5 fairly sizable Pa bucks, dropped in their tracks and I was convinced I had thor's hammer. Call it youthful exuberance again. Since those days I have hunted with a bunch of "BETTER" deer calibers and I don't find the deer to be any deader with them. I have never experenced the loss of meat with the small caliber lite bullets that some folks elude to. Quite the contrary my current favorite deer slammer is very destructive on meat and it is slinging a 350 grain hunk of 41 caliber lead at about 2000 fps via a 405 win case. It sure kills em dead quick though just bout like that ole 22-250 usta do.
I like the thought of those who suggest that one should use what ever he is comfortable with and is legal in their hunting area. That statement is not however said with the confidence that those making those rules know anything about anything because for the most part they don't. That is about like askin Nancy Pelosi how to skin a deer, or any other question about guns and expecting to get a knowledgable response.
If YOU don't want to use a 22 centerfire to hunt deer then don't. If someone else chooses to do so it is not your concern and should not offend you in the least.
It seems to me the big gun users are the ones that more often get their shorts in a knot over these things.
The question was asked WHY use a 22-250? If it works for those that use it my question would be WHY NOT?
For the record I have not shot a deer with the 22-250 in over 35 years cause I like to use other things. And that notion is constantly changing as I progress in my 50 plus years of deer hunting. I quess if I were to hunt deer now at this stage with a 22 centerfire it would likely be a 223AI or perhaps a 226JDJ
Just me. I would not fault a mans choice of guns or calibers. Life is to short for silly arguments like this.
Now where is that Big Stick?

I never said the DOW here was right or wrong. It's obvious to me now that the 22-250 works fine for deer.

I mentioned it to show why I haven't tried it. I used it a lot on coyote, and it's impressive. I just never thought of it as a deer round, because nobody can use it here.

Mauser I am not faulting your thinking at all. If one has no experience with something it is hard to make an argument pro or con on the subject. I report only what I have experienced. I have just had a conversation with someone on another board that says a 7-08 cannot be a good deer caliber. He has never fired one and yet is certain it can't be adequite for the task. Eventually he said he had never even heard of the cartridge before and thought the only 7mm was the Remington Mag.
Of course in the conversation he said the 270WSM was the better round and would in fact lift a deer off its feet and slam it to the ground every time. It is the only gun and caliber he has ever shot and of course this makes him an expert on ALL others. Such is the innernet I reckon.
Anyway best of luck to you and all others with what ever one chooses to hunt and with whatever caliber. Pick one and be happy.
Life should be so easy.

7-08 not a good deer caliber?????

These internet deer must be some tough SOB's.........

This sums it all up. This year I was forced to hunt in a shotgun area due to time limitations. I had hunted with a shotgun before, but never connected with anything. Hearing other hunters talk that live/hunt shotgun areas for years, I was really leery about using a smooth bore to hunt with. They (Other hunters) made it sound as if it was hard to kill a deer with a RIFLED SHOTGUN, let alone a smooth bore. I shot two deer this year with my old, made in the 30's, H&R, single shot, 12 gauge shot gun. I mean, this gun is UGLY and looks like it came over on the Mayflower. One shot a piece, right where I aimed. It sounded like a free fire zone around my house the first day of deer. The smallest string of shots I heard from one guy was 5. The moral of this story is: If you don't think that small caliber bullets are capable of killing deer, then by all means don't use them. Leave them to hunters that can use them. On the side, in my state a .17 center fire is legal for deer. Any body want to start a thread on that?

I was born in Mass. My first years of hunting deer were with a smooth bore shotgun. As you said. Slug gun hunting now is pretty different. They can shoot out to 200+ yds.

Shotgun hunting was my early still hunting training. I enjoyed it.

Not that much different. It sounds like guys still empty their shotguns every time they shoot. Out on the power line I heard a guy shooting at intervals and the shots seemed to gradually get farther away. I believe the idiot was chasing the deer. Some things never change. If they make a shot gun that is accurate out to 400 yards the ammo will be so expensive anybody that would buy one won't practice with it anyway.

Only for an adept and very discriminating shooter. Definitely not for a beginner unless they are well supervised. I have used one for barrel shoot doe hunts, but would not go on a big country trophy buck hunt so equipped.

I saw a rancher hit a possible booner in the ribs broadside at 80 yards with a 50 gr Remington cartridge hollow point. he almost went down but caught himself and left. Hasn't been seen since, that I know of.

I have killed several deer with the 223 and 22-250 using the 60 gr nps. and would not hesitate to do so again, but I would hate to have either in hand with a big deer quartering away at 300-400 yards in scattered mesquite with a 10-12 mph breeze. Flame on VA.

Maybe I was just lucky......50+ times....grin!

Been lucky a few times too...

Been unlucky none yet....

I killed a doe on January 2nd. I was sitting in a swamp with a JP ar-15 loaded with Q3131 she stopped at 80 yards. I put the chevron on her shoulder at the shot she dropped. The trauma was devastating, first deer I had shot with a .223. I have a pic of the offside shoulder, it's amazing what a little bullet can do. I had some barnes vor-tx loaded up in my truck but I grabbed the wrong loads.

Pat, you'd be 55-50 shootin' a 270....grin

It works, my family has killed well over three dozen deer/antelope with 53gr TSX's out of a 22-250.

It works, that is all I can say.

That's pretty well been established, and the OP has already bought the gun for his daughter.

Just put the pill were it should and dust off the fine china.

Just put the pill were it should and dust off the fine china.

Some guns have a harder time getting the pill through the heart or lungs. Some of those pills dissolve before getting there, and the smaller ones do so more than the larger.

He has killed hundreds with his Sako over the years, Rem 55g Core locts. With so little recoil and extreme accuracy, the shooter is able to make very precise shots.


That being said, my brother killed two does at 270 yards with an AR-15 with 53g Barnes tripple shocks.

I helped a friend in Texas with some loads for his 220 Swift with 39g of R#15 with 53g Tripple shocks...he has killed all kinds of deer and hogs with the rifle.

Stuff is not hard to kill, you just have to place your shot.

Scenar, I do value your words and experience and I really do need to know, are you serious about taking big deer with behind the shoulder shots with a 50 gr hollow point? I repeat that I have taken several with a 223 and a 22-250 but with 60 gr bullets.

The lightest bullet I've killed mule deer bucks with is the 52gr Sierra BTHP at 3800fps. Most of them were taken with the 55gr Hornady Spire Point.

But, neck or body, please, with regards to the hp.?

I killed a nice 8 point and a doe back in '91 with a .222 Rem. and handloaded 50 gr. Nosler solid base "expander". Both were behind the shoulder lung shots. The doe took three bounds and folded up. The buck dropped instantly. He dressed 172. The Nosler "expander" was designed for rapid expansion at .222 velocities.

Dayom. I drill whitetail bucks and does behind the shoulder with a 30-30 or 270 wby mag and they run off. If I hit them in the shoulder they often go down right there.

This is the last buck I shot with my swift(2009). Broadside, behind the shoulder with a 52 Sierra.....it went completely through. The buck in my avatar was shot with the same rifle and a 55gr Hornady.

I've had more drop instantly from .22 cal. "varmint" bullets through the lungs {.222, .223 and .22-250} than with .30 cal. bullets through the lungs {.30-30, .308 and .30-06} and I've shot more deer with the .30's.

Wonderful pic, gotta love the Cheesy Rider grin...grins

Only true Booner I was ever around and in on the demise of took it on the chin via my Buds Swifto and a 52 Sierra.

55 Horn w/c is one of my all time favs as well. Could easily use it for all that moves in my 22's.

Side note, my 2 yr old G-son just got up and looked at your post and said "a deer"...then pointed his finger and said bang (gotta love it)

Dober

Mark, may I ask, chest or neck with the 52 gr hp? When the 50 gr hps and 55gr sp don't exit a coyote chest cavity I have to wonder at the penetration capability of each.

Thanks Scenar. I know what a 60 gr npartition will do through the heart or both lungs. I am wondering what a 50 gr hp would do and I am wondering if it hit a rib, what are the chances it got one or two lungs. Thanks. I'm thinking it was a sierra bullet re the big buck shot last year.

If I recall right, 200 yds broadside behind the front left and exited the front right.

Dober

The 60 Horn sp and hp have been very good to us as well.

Of all the game I've been around taken I've only recovered 4 slugs. A 55 NBT that went thru both fronts and was about to exit the muley doe from hell, she was huge. Then I also recovered four 53 TSX's. Two out of the 223 and two out of the 22/250.

Dober

I seem to recover alot more .22 cal. slugs from deer than you. Maybe because of the shorter distances I usually shoot them ? Never had one of the 50 gr. Nos. expanders go through a deer {out of 5 killed} but always found the completely empty jackets just under the hide on the offside. The 55 Horns out of my .223 seem to exit about half the time depending on the size of the deer, angle, range and what get's hit {shoulders, ribs}. I put one of the 55 Horns through both shoulder blades of a big doe from 80 yds. this past season and found a nicely mushroomed slug with core still intact up against the hide on the far side. Shot another behind the shoulders from 30 yards. Hit a rib going in and trashed the lungs but all I found of that bullet was a badly mangled jacket stuck in the meat between ribs on the far side. Not a trace of lead remained with the jacket. Shot a buck between the eyes from 10 yds. a few years back with a 52 Sierra hp {.223}. The whole top of his skull was shattered and his eyes popped out of the sockets but the slug never made it out the back of his head. And so it goes.

PS Scenar- SOB. great deer. Also thanks to you both. BH, I have shot many does in the chest behind the shoulder with a 55 gr sp in 223 or 22-250 or with a 90 gr scirocco,243 to put my GSP on the trail to train her for deer recovery and have never seen these relatively small deer drop at the shot. over the last few years I have probably shot 20 does in the ribs without one having fall at the shot.. I make roasts of the shoulders so I shoot for the ribs tight to the shoulder. With a bow, many fall at the shot due to their quickness letting them drop and catching an arrow in the spine.

Having killed deer with everything from .22 rimfires to .30-06's and 12 gauge slugs, I absolutely don't "expect" them to drop instantly from lung shots with anything. On the other hand, there's not a bit of doubt that I've gotten a higher percentage of instant drops with the faster smallbore's using bullets that tend toward rapid expansion/fragmentation than with the bigger, slower, more stoutly constructed projectiles. What's more "expected" {by me at least} is for a lung shot deer to run 40-60 yards before falling over, regardless of what they've been shot with. Some a bit less, and some more of course, but barring the rare extremes, the 40-60 dash is the norm and I haven't found that to vary to any significant degree regardless of whether they were poked with a 50 gr bullet from a .222, a 180 from a .30-06 or a 500+ gr. 12 gauge slug..

You are making wayyyy too much sense for some of these guys around here....

Sorry Ingwe, I thought I had been informed of 22 cal. DRT lung hits. I guess I'm just slow.

Talk about slow...I must be behind you..I'm missing something....again...

I guess I should actually read some of this stuff before I post....


Nawwwwwww....!

What are you having trouble understanding ?

A mule deer buck I killed 32 years ago with my Sako .220 swift when it still had some varnish on the stock. I shot from the pine ridge in the background. I don't remember what bullet it was, but do remember the buck running about 30 yards before tipping over after a broadside, behind the shoulder shot.

Doesn't look like I was wearing out many razors back then......grin!

Eyeballs trailing dogs wouldn't get much "training" following up the deer I've shot with my .22 centerfires.

You even did it without wearing $800 worth of camo too.

that rig even had the gianormous redfield 6-18 x variable on deck back then...

who got you using them thar worthless little cartridges/pills on deer anyhow?

the last bambi i tried to shoot with my swift was hit right amid ships--and it didn't squeal, squawk, ruck up, or nuthin--but jes wandered off, like it was untouched--but no sir, i hit 'em good--if only i'd had my thutty thutty, things been different fer sure--but i leart my lesson--them little things are even too weak fer chucks.

jes ask any internet pilgrim who knows...

wen you gots a thutty thutty, you don't need lots a riflesz, much less a little teeny swift...

ya better git yerself one a them thar big mangrums--or a thutty thutty...

This one from 21 years ago...same rifle just a few more whiskers on my face.......laffin'. More fancy camo.

i got it figgured out now--that there rifle only says swift on the barrel--but it gots a thutty calibur sized hole in that there muzzle--i jes know it fer sure...!

You still have your old Sako swift?

oh yeah--

my boy back in nyc wants it, as he cut his teeth using it on chucks...i'll let em have soon enough, cuz i now use my savage 340 thutty thutty--for serious purposes...

remember i reshaped the stock, and had nagorski checker it--the fore end on it is now pear shaped, instead of square, as it was originally when i bought it...

now, those kills were plenty dramatic mister--but did ya fix yerself some steaks and eat em in the tall flare of sunset?

Most I have shot with a 223 and 55 gr sp run close to a hundred. The dog is a GSP and great on quail but since I archery hunt I want a dog which could possibly find me a poorly hit deer. I have been bit by Murphys law on more than one occasion. Last year she trailed up the first muley buck by a ranchers grandson and earned me the right to hunting on a ranch money can't buy.

I don't know what to tell ya man.. I've not had one go more than 50 yards after poking it with a .223 yet. In fact, none of the 3 I shot through the lungs with a .22 Magnum and 40 gr. JHP's made it more than 75 yards. You must be shooting them wrong or sumthin'.

If I'm out hunting varmints or wild dogs with my 223TikkaT3 (1 in 8" Twist) or my 22/250s, I carry a few rounds loaded with 60Gn Partitions, I'd hate to miss out on a freezer filler, if one wandered along.

If I was going to hunt deer exclusively, I'd probably carry my 240Wby or my 270W.

The young lady in question has been shooting with a 35Remington, she will probably be lethal with the 22/250.

She shoots everything I have very well.

Wearing an Iowa shirt must be good luck


ddj

I agree, the 243 is a better choice for big game and the minimum here in Wyoming......

Can't add much to what has probably been said here in 17 pages of responses..I had a Sporter Weight 22.250 from Ruger that I traded off.. but I tried it several seasons or opportunities..

loaded with a Barnes 53 grain X Bullet, it was bang/flop each time...

also had success with a 223, and 45 grain X Bullet at 22 Hornet velocities...was experimenting instead of trying a stunt as the heavier bullet and caliber crowd like to accuse us off...

I look at needing to know what a rifle can do if one has to rely on it to survive.. yet with limited resources..

on both sides of the family, granddads back during the depression supplied meat on the table to feed families with game that was taken down with a 22LR.... be it squirrel, possum, raccoon, rabbit, deer or whatever..

have a 25/20 that saw a lot of action to put food on the table from the early 1900s to well into the 1940s...an old Marlin 93 that belonged to a friend of the mine, who had no children to pass it down to..

WOW!

I only see deer like that in pictures, on barroom walls in the middle of nowhere.. or occasionally just wondering off the hwy east of the Cascades here in Oregon, during the summer when it isn't deer season of course...

guy here in town screws with me when he sees me at the range, and he has a Model 54 in 220 Swift, and an old 6 power scope on top of it, that looks like the day it rolled off the factory floor...

belonged to his dad, and was the only rifle his dad ever owned to hunt with ( so he says)... but he used it on deer, elk and whatever here in Oregon from 1940 when he got it new to when he passed away or last hunted in 1972....claims to have shot many a deer and elk with it annually, whether legal or illegal ( his dad)....

I must admit, the word legal hunting wasn't much of a concern where my grandparents in WVa... my grandad shot deer as needed for meat right up thru 1968 when he passed away.. didn't matter what time of year it was... and so did a lot of other relatives down that way... and I assume most of the other locals... wasn't much law enforcement around to worry about enforcing much of anything..

different place, different times..

ever notice how guys, especially in Montana, accomplish all sorts of stuff, that everyone else on the internet claim is impossible??

they just go out and do it... these two pics are an example..

might have something to do with them understanding the concept of shotplacement..

in a pinch, one of the boys I was taking out hunting, wanted to try to call coyotes.. and Oregon here allows that last week end to stay open for kids UNDER 18.. when the season ends on Friday for everyone else..

we didn't have luck calling up a coyote, but a spike buck was passing thru the area...all the kid had was a 204 with a 34 grain HP in it..one shot, the deer went 50 to 60 yds, like it hadn't been hit.. then layed down... wasn't too much brush around...

deer was laying down and panting when we got within 20 yds or him or so.. told Lewis to shoot it in the head.. which he did...and it expired...

still that little 20 cal 34 grain HP did a job on the lung it hit.. post mortem...

don't read this as recommending the 204 as a deer rig... but in a pinch, it worked out just fine.. shot placement in the lung worked out just fine... shot taken by the kid at 100 yds or so... he just pulled up the rifle and shot before I had a chance to tell him not to...

I can't wait until someone shows a picture of a deer killed with a BB gun.

Dat about wraps it up...

Now, where did I leave my Red Ryder...?

How bout a 5 yo toting a 223 and 3, 9yos with the largest caliber being a 22-250.





I beg to differ.

Toby Joe

This one took it with a 222.


They dont work

Toby Joe

Gotta admit...I'm, lovin' this stuff..

good pics TJR...

Next to the last Mastodon you shot with it ?

Now that you mention it, that IS what happened to the last of the Great Herds....

Be careful with that thing - You'll shoot your eye out if you're not careful................

I started out hunting whitetails with a 22-250. I think it is a great rifle to start a young hunter out on. I have killed more whitetails with a 22-250 and a sierra 55 grain bthp than I have with anything else.

[color:#3333FF]Federal 30-30 ammo loaded[/color][/b] up with 170 gr. Nosler Partitions produces [b]1800 ft-lbs..

[color:#3333FF]Winchester 22-250 ammo loaded[/color][/b] up with 55 gr. PSP's produces [b]1654 ft-lbs...

146 ft-lbs difference....

I guess it's good that deer and elk can't do math, otherwise you boys posting pics of dead animals would have never killed em....

I would say that this has been the exact same experience I've had with my .300Sav.

Maybe I need a bigger gun....

Politically, I think you're a loon. As far as an outdoors man though, your experience speaks for itself. Either way, you'd be more than welcome in sharing a campfire with me anyday. This post sums up this whole debate perfectly.

I've killed many elk with that old Winchester 94. How many do you have with your .22?

A lot....

Answer me this, how many big game animals have you seen taken with .22 centerfire rifles?

Lots of coyotes. We can't hunt big game here with .22's.

I probably wouldn't hunt deer with a .22 anyway. I always hunt timber, and don't need a flat shooting small bullet for big game.

I thought I was done with this thread. I ALREADY said more than once the .22-250 will kill deer, but I keep getting quoted over and over for something I said earlier in the thread.

I give up. Quote me all you want. I'm done with this thread. Little bullet shooters seem to have to prove something. Sort of like short guys.

My 9 yo has also killed a few deer with my 338 RUM. Which one should he choose? At 6 and 9, I really dont think they have anything to prove.

Toby Joe

Why thank you sir ! Politcal differences aside, I'm sure sharing a campfire with you would be an enjoyable experience.

I'm 6' 1". Keep guessing. I find it very entertaining. The OP asked for advice from people with EXPEIENCE....it's obvious you have none.

My buddy hunts deer and predators both with his .22-250.
And he shoots it very well.


I butchered his buck last year and cannot see ANY living deer surving the wound created by that little bullet.
I was impressed.

+1

good you had an opportunity to see firsthand the innards of that deer--

i've used .22 centerfire for deer since around about 1973 onward. when i was a teenager, my goal was to get eveybody i knew to use them--yeah, there was some .22 passion there--but today, now that i've wised up some--i figure each guy should do his own research, and subsequently be persuaded in his own mind.

.22 centerfire are top notch on deer, and will shoot length-ways through a deer--if need be...

shot placement behind the shoulder is good meds for deer--but in the event a shoulder is hit--typically, the deer will be stoned right on the spot--thoroughly "ash-canned".

though i've mentioned this before, you can shoot 55 grain pills right through 1/2 thick steel plate at 100, through 3/8 thick boilerplate at 300, nearly cut railroad spikes in two at 100, or, as i demonstrated for a friend last summer; i shot a rock at 150 yards that was about the size of a canteloupe--and it was completely chunked into small pieces--and the fellow who videoed that shot was in disbelief--even though he had seen it. he wasn't opinionated, he just hadn't seen what a small pill at high velocity will do when it strikes something very solid...

back in 1973 i argued countless hours with a very experienced hunter--but he couldn't accept the .22 centerfires for game--he remained non-plussed and continues to this day to whack his deer with a 300 win mag. when i say experienced, he was very skilled and experienced, (he was also the chap who got me started handloading back in 1972), but he has a very closed mind to this topic--and not only a closed mind--but he formulated all of his statements concerning this matter on personal opinion, not actual experience.

a guy has to do his own research/testing, and after that if he convinced, he should go forth and employ same in his hunting--then and only then can he use this personal experience to convey to others those actual results based upon his own, real world field experience.

the .22-250 is a favorite cartridge--but if i were 15 years old and starting all over today--i would buy a 243 or 6mm rem, for with the propellants and projectiles available today--58 gr, 65 gr, 70 gr, etc., they can do all a .22-250 can do, and far more--and you get the added benefit that if you're in a state where .22 centerfire isn't welcome--you're still good to go--a win/win...

And I'm 6'1" as well and I'm pretty sure that Ingwe has a couple on the both of us.

Swing and a miss...

Dober

Back a few years on a Wyo lope hunt I happened into the G Warden a couple times. Asked him what he liked to use, he had a couple rifles. But, preferred the Swift to all as he felt it ended things quicker than the other big rifles...grin

Dober

I didn't miss at all. Read what I said again. I never said anybody was short. I said guys who shoot small bullets have something to prove. Just like short men.

Swing and hit is more like it. You all giving your heights proved me right.

Ok, now i'm done, because I know you guys have nothing for me.

man, i'm sorry you guys are so short... LOL

i'm 6'5" 290... and fully capable of shooting gophers with my LOTT... The 22 cal's work and are just fun to shoot...

Not asking about coyotes....big game animals. How many?

Geez, I'm only 6'0" so I guess I have more to prove. Thats why I use a .223...

One that checked me this year in WY was carrying a 204 Ruger. Said he didn't want exits and that it put them down pronto! We had a good chuckle about him being able to use it and that I couldn't.

Well, I just have one question. Ingwe, how old were you in the photo??

Which photo? The one with the Ray Gun???

Laffin'....I heard you guys got a foot of new snow. Been out shoveling yet?

We got over a foot...and I don't shovel...this time of year its like ironing underwear...you just gotta do it over and over.

God will take care of it....along about March...

BTW: Bozo didn't get any....

My wife and our 10 year old are on their way over to Helena today for a Hockey tourny. The other two boys and I are staying here. I promised them some coyote hunting this weekend..

Too bad you arent coming too...I'd set you up with a little Venison a la Ingwe on the Barbie....


I know you hardly ever get a chance to eat venison off a young, little tender deer...

"correction" tom,

we got a little bit less than 1/16 of an inch, and the city road grader, front-end loader, and snow dump truck have been growling around out in front of my place for 70 minutes now, can't imagine what the're accomplishing--except making a lot of noise (oh, and last winter they drove the front end loader up on my sidewalk, and busted it--so they came last summer and spent the day grinding down the damage, as one side was 2 inches higher after their dastardly deed...)

What is this Snow Removal Equipment you speak of....?

I haven't seen ANY of that going on.....

i hear you for sure--now, if you had just an 1/8 or less, they'd be all over your streets...

btw, the pic you posted of shari with that 22 cf deer was great--she is a super nice gal, and i've really enjoyed visiting with her during the the made in mont registration process...

Cool...thanks...she's a killin' machine, and a psycho fisher gal....

If you have the same result with a 300 as a 12 year old with a 243 shooting his first deer i'd think anyone with half a brain could figure out they need to learn to shoot better. Sorry.

That's a Ray Gun??? I thought it was the 22-250!!!

the perfect match-up !

Yeah...she won't even let me take a nap on our fishing vacations!

And hunting...the only time my wife doesnt let me hang trophies on the walls is when she needs the space for hers!

not only the perfect match-up, but you've truly got it made !

my wife loves shooting, but she told me when we married, "no more cleanin fish--between my dad and my grandpa fishing from dawn to dark, i cleaned enough fish to sink a barge..."

she does still go chuck and yote hunting--and can't get enough of shooting her sako .222, so i can't complain there.

and one time when i found an unusual handgun that i'd been searching for many years, i got cold feet at the last second and was going to pass--wherein she gave me a speech, telling me "go get that one--don't let it go, you'll never find another--and i sure want to see you have that particular gun". so i did, and now i'm really glad she talked me into the final step--mighty fine medicine...

the only downer to that gun--

she shoots it far better than i ever could !

Any round can kill a deer if it is put in the right place. A 22LR will kill an elephant. If you can get close enough and are a very good shot it will work. Would it be my choice beyond varmits? No. There are better rounds. Then again I hunt the Northern deer which tend to be much larger than the typical Southern deer. If it works for you..

Now for a serious question.

I have killed ALOT of deer with the .223 and only once have I had to shoot a second time. All shots have been 150 yards or less typical whitetail hunting. I have not found the .223 lacking but I'm wondering how it compares to the 22-250.

You guys that have taken deer and goats with both, does the 22-250 seem any more effective?

Awww [bleep] here we go again!

No goats unless you count feral Spanish ones Lots of deer.
We all know that light wt bullets, no matter the caliber, start fast but slow down fast too. The 22-250 will up the starting speed because you can burn more powder and so extend range where the bullets slows down too much to be reliable.

All this is a fancy way to say for me , and you quite probably are some different as is most everyone else, a 22-250 VS .223 will give me @ 75-100 yards more range that I am very comfortable shooting deer.

LBP: Ive done a lot with both cartridges, and done well with both. Any limits placed on them are self-imposed. Because of trajectory, retained energy blah blah blah...I feel my "comfort zone" with the .223 is 200 yds....with the .22-250, it is 300 yards. Certainly you can hit them with both at longer ranges,but I want to be sure to serve up a clean, quick and humane kill...
In between of course we have the .223AI

It ups my " comfort zone" to 300 yds and has, as someone here most aptly put it, "better manners" than the .22-250...

Lester,
Great question and one that has been on my mind.

BCR and Ingwie thanks for the replies that come from using them a lot. Some here have commented on the .22-250 being used out past 300, however I thought it could be asking more than it may be able to consistentelly give.

Thats about what I figured another 100 yards or so...

A buck and a doe, both shoot with a 22-250 using 80gr A Max.
Both dead. I guess I should have used 60gr Partitions since one overpenetrated and exited. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I sold the rifle to a fellow Campfire member.......
Of course now I'm working on a new one......

You figger pooty gud

I've killed whitetails with a 22-250 and really light bullets, 40gr. But I have since changed to a 257 Roy because (i had some $ to buy one) of the lack of blood if they don't drop. It'll kill 'em but need a steady hand and good shot placement, as with any shot I suppose

Both of the deer I shot were almost the same shot placement.
Both about the same size; 125 pounds.
Both shot at 75 yards.
The buck stumbled five yards and died. The bullet was found under the skin on the off side. What blood?
The doe ran 100 yards and crossed two creeks. The bullet exited and she pumped enough blood for a blind man to see.
A-Max 80gr........22-250...

battue,



A friend of mine took at least two and maybe three deer beyond 400 yards last season just to check the performace of the Barnes. He was using a .22-250 and either fifty-three or fifty-five grainers.

Toby,

have to admit, seeing an adult taking kids out hunting and having those kid of results, you are a credit to the sport...

a measure of a real man is not what we do in life, but what we pass on to the next generation...

you sir, are an icon...