For those of you who regularly hunt woodchucks with a 22 centerfire:
Do you prefer a plastic-tipped 40 or 50 grain bullet -- speed vs. weight?

No real difference. I would shoot the bullet that shoots best in your rifle. In my 223 50's and 55's shoot the best. In the 220 Swift the 40 grain ballistic tip shoots the best.

The little pill going 4200 fps is very flat, fights the wind a whole bunch better than you would think and hits a chuck real hard!

Mike.

All depends on the twist you have .

For the 40's a 1-12 or 14 work great .
The 50 gr Ballist Tips realy shoot great out of my 1-10 twist 223.

Johnch

I ran a couple of polls on the small caliber forum inquiring about bullet preferences for the .22-250. The 55 grain bullet at this time is first choice and the 50 grain is second choice. When I start load development for my new rifle I will start with bullets in those weights.

I have a 223 which shoots both weights very well so accuracy is not really the question, nor is wind drift, trajectory etc as they even out pretty close.

My question is specifically related to terminal performance. I use Ballistic Tips in both weights. I have used 50 grains for a number of years and tried the 40 grainers last year. So far I seem to see a significant terminal effect advantage with the 50s ... or is my experience too limited yet to draw this conclusion?

Thunderstick, I think you are exactly right..I've used both in a .223 AI for many years and have finally decided that while I really love the little 40gr/ BT, the 50 gr does give better terminal performance....Stick with it and you won't be sorry......

It's strange. I have 4 .224centerfires, 2 .222Rems. a .222Rem.Mag., and a .22-250Rem. yet I've never fired a 40gr. bullet. I always use 50, 52 or 55gr. There's no reason for it. It just never dawned on me to use the lighter bullets. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

No discernable difference if shooting groundhogs in the head or neck where they should be shot at distances up to 400 yards!!! DEAD IS DEAD!!! 4200fps or 3200fps.....DEAD IS DEAD!!!
Now to my preferences......Ray Speer quit making "52 grain SPEER GOLD MATCH" bullets sometime around 1977!!!.....a better .224 bullet for the .222,223,222MAG,22-250 or the Swift is not available today!!! So we have to use what's available!!!
The 40 grain Nosler BT's,Sierra BlitzKings and 40VMAX's give some added velocity to the .224's!! No doubt!! Head and neck shots....."DRT"....dead right there!!! The 50's in the various flavors just give a little more wind bucking ability at the ranges mentioned.
Neither choice is a "1000 yard varmint bullet" but they suffice quite well in the 400 and under catagory. And I'm sure somebody is going to chime in with a post that "they killed a prairie dog at 1109 yards" with a 40 BT!!! Good for them!! GHD

Two bits worth on the idea of bullet weight selection. First off, you need to shoot what your gun likes. Seems obvious but some folks lose sight of that while chasing the velocity bug. Next you need to take stock of the target and ranges typical for the bullet/gun combo for whatever application you have in mind. Couple of things can't be overcome by velocity, one is drift and another is terminal performance. As as example, the 40 grain BT may be dandy for prairie dogs and a .223 inside of 400 yards or so(I know many reach out farther with them), but a Swift and 50-55 grains will be a better killer on bigger targets at longer ranges. If there is any advantage to the 40 grain pills IMO it is found in upping the velocity of smaller case capacity cartridges like the .22 Hornet or .223 for varmint or other precision work. 3000 fps or more is a lot better with a BT than 2700 fps with a 45 gr flat base out of a Hornet. It would not reasonably be used much past 300 yards in any case. Last herd of western ground squirrel I saw impressed me with both numbers and diminutive size, not their ability to carry a lot of lead. In any case all of the plastic tipped varmint bullets are very frangible, give good terminal performance for their intended purpose, and generally the heavier ones have a better BC.

Well, if all else fails use common sense and have fun.

The sentiment here is obviously (and correctly) that you should use whatever shoots best for you. I agree. I was fortunate enough, however, to get a .22-250 that shoots 40-55 grains equally well. Because of this, I chose the 55 grain bullets for a couple of reasons. Primarily, I wanted to keep velocities down a little bit in order to keep my rifle in good working order. 55 grains at 3600 fps is not top velocity, but it is dead groundhogs, squirrels, foxes and coyotes easily out to 400 yds. Plus, the combination of bullet weight and velocity makes it about as good in the wind as one can expect from a .22. Just my .02...

I repeat myself:
My question has nothing to do with accuracy as my rifle shoots the 50s and 40s both very well.

In regards to head and neck shots only: if that is the sole criteria for bullet selection then a match bullet is preferable.

Specifically what was in mind was experiences based on the terminal performance of two equally constructed plastic-tipped bullets on groundhogs (which are larger than some other varmints) -- which includes body shots.

I appreciate everyone's comments in the interest of being helpful, but not all the responses address the question I asked.

One poster indicated experience similar to mine -- that the 50s do show a terminal superiority. Does anyone else concur or disagree?

Thunderstick,
My .222 Rem. Mag. shoots 40gr Nosler B-Tips and 50gr Speer TNT's equally well.
In terms of terminal velocity, I have to say the 50gr TNT turns larger vermin into "groundhog bracelets," i.e. they leave big big holes. They turn smaller vermin like squirrels and prairie dogs completely inside out. Birds and ground squirrels just about disappear. My vote is for the fragile 50 grainers!

Oops, I should have said terminal performance, not velocity.
Oops again, you asked about plastic tip 50s. Then the 40s are better, at least in the .222 Mag.

Slancey,
I have never tried the TNTs in 22 caliber, do you think they equal the B-tip at 300 yards in explosiveness on hogs?

I think they equal the plastic tips in explosiveness at any range, if you can regularly hit that far. I've fired thousands of them at varmints from 15 feet to 325 yards. They really open up. I've also noticed that it depends on where you hit them, and at what angle. If there's more solid flesh and bone to work through, the carnage seems to be more dramatic.
Why the search for explosiveness? I've always gone for accuracy first.

Why explosiveness?
1. To make positive kills
2. To ensure that they will expand reliably at 400 yards -- about the maximum I will go with a 223 -- beyond this I go for a bigger round.

* However I never go for explosiveness at the expense of accuracy. I demand a consistant .5 MOA or less for a varmint rifle.

Good idea.

The reason I ask is because I find that the 40gr Ballistic Tips, and Combined Technology Ballistic Silvertips in that weight, are typically more accurate than Speer 50gr TNTs.

My gun shot groups in the .4"-.6" range this weekend with 40gr Noslers. The 50 TNT shot goups in the .6"-.9" range. I'm going to Wyoming next weekend for dogs, and I will try to report on the results.

I realize that it's splitting hairs, but a half inch larger group at 100 yards translates into the difference between a hit or a miss at 300. It may mean the difference between a humane kill and a wounding, if that's your priority.

A connection at any reasonable range with any of the bullets we're talking about in the .223 will result in violent expansion.

An unlucky dog walked in front of a 50gr Ballistic Tip at 470 yards last year. No explosion, but an instant kill with complete penetration and exit.

This is why you hear most people recommend accuracy over expansion. A hit is much better than a miss. Wind doping is your biggest challenge at long range, and an accurate, predictable load is better than an explosive load in that case.

I hear my shooting buddies cursing and frustrated when they're sitting next to me shooting an inaccurate load.

I chose the 40 gr. V-Max or Nosler Ballistic Tip pill for a couple of reasons. I use a 223 Rem. cartridge for my walking and stalking gun. I take off hand shots out to 200 + yds, so I am taking body shots on groundhogs. I am getting very close to 3600 fps with my loading.

The bottom line: If I hit them, they expire without farther movement. Another nice aspect of the 40 gr. bullet; I rarely see exit wounds on groundhogs shot between 100 and 200 yds. Yesterday I shot 4 hogs from 135 yds to 225 yds, all instant kills.

Reducing the probability of ricochette is also very important for the area that I live in. I subscribe to the belief that the 40 gr. is preferred.

I just tried a new load this past week with the 40 grain B-Tip and Benchmark, which gets close to 3700 fps. Out to 300 it has been doing quite well. The 50 grain I have stretched to 400 with no problems. Will see how the 40 performs on the longer shots.