There is so much talk about the .223 and 22-250 for deer I was wondering if anyone still uses them for what they were designed? I just got a new Remington SPS Varmint rifle in 22-250. So far I have only shot the Winchester white box varmint loads for barrel break in and rough sight in. 45 grain JHP at an advertized 4000FPS. I am getting 5 shot groups I can cover with a nickle at 100 yards with this ammo. I expect I will start off trying 55 grain bullets as I have quite a few different boxes of them for loading in my .223 rifle.

From what I read the 22-250 don't seem to be fussy about powder. I plan to try IMR 4895, H414,CFE 223 first.

Anything I should know about this cartridge before I start? So far it has been a joy to shoot and I hope it soon replaces my Remington VTR as my go to groundhog rig.

Don, the 22-250 is a great round. The case capacity allows it to handle the heavier bullets, provided the barrel twist has been ordered to accomodate the heavier bullets. I just used Winchester Ballistic Silvertips in mine, as it shot well under 1/2" with them. I suspect if you try several brands, you'll have similar results with one of them.

Yep, While I have used my 22-250 for taking a few TX small W TX does I normally use it for long range pest control. From Dogs to coyotes and all between.

One of these days I'm going to build a fast twist and try some heavy bullets. My twist is just too slow in my current rifle. 52-55 work fantastic.

I've used them extensively, though not recently. Burned a 700V bbl out on chucks in NYS. Also used it for deer with no problem. They are a pleasure to shoot, and will digest about anything off the bench. We had great results with anything from 50 gr to the 70 gr Speer with the 1:14. Case life is excellent, IME. I don't think it is any better or worse than the Swift, which is saying alot.

As a paper target gun? Well, there are other .22 CF options that will give you longer accuracy life. IMO, the Swift and Varminter are field rounds - even though they punch paper with the best of them.

Sam

I haven't shot any deer with mine thousands of p dogs, crows and other varmints.

the 22-250 that my wife lets me shoot(LOL) is a
12 twist. It shoots 60gr V-Max into half minute
out to 300yds regularly. It is primarily her prairie dog rifle. RL15 and IMR4064 have been our best performing powders.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

Pay attention to case length after firing. I only set the shoulder back .002" on sizing, but the cases grow five to six thousandths after sizing. I think this is fairly common with a case with this much taper and probably is a function of how big the chamber is in relation to the sizing die. You just don't want them to grow so much that it pinches the case neck at he mouth, which will cause pressure spikes.

I used a lot of 4350 and H-4831 in mine.. 4064 and H-380 will give you more velocity but no more noticeable increase in field results. roger

Thanks for the tip. I keep a close eye on case length on all my brass and trim as needed so I should be fine. I have readd it is best to neck size or to set the FL die out to just size the neck on the 22-250 so time will tell.

quote:

Originally posted by gzig5:
Pay attention to case length after firing. I only set the shoulder back .002" on sizing, but the cases grow five to six thousandths after sizing. I think this is fairly common with a case with this much taper and probably is a function of how big the chamber is in relation to the sizing die. You just don't want them to grow so much that it pinches the case neck at he mouth, which will cause pressure spikes.

I've found Varget to work very well in the 22-250 with 55 grainers as well.

Donald Nelson--I have used the 22-250 very extensively on jackrabbits. The bulk of this was at night and using cast bullets. (58 grain RCBS mold). Velocity in the 2000-2200 fps range. My experience was it pretty much would shoot about anything I tried with both jacketed or cast bullets. (.222 same same). My .223 would shoot jacketed probably better but not shoot cast bullets. I only shot one deer with it and it didn't do a thing on that deer that the .222 and .223 hadn't been doing. Recoil on the 22-250 was about like a .243 and to me there seemed to be more blast. For this reason and a couple more, I was more apt to carry my .243 on deer hunts.

I've only owned one 22/250 but I've had it since 1976.
It's on its second barrel and both barrels shot the same load very well. 50 grain Sierra and 38 grains of H380.
Currently I'm shooting 38 grains of H380 and a 52 grain Sierra Matchking.
When I lived in the Pacific Northwest I used the rifle for "gray diggers" (columbian ground squirrels)and Deer (yeah it wasn't legal, sorry)
as well as a few crows coyotes and jackrabbits.
Since I moved away from there I have shot Antelope (using Barnes 52 grainers), coyotes, jack rabbits and prairie dogs with it. Performance is always outstanding, explosive on varmints and downright fun, easy to load for.
Rather than have a 22/250 with a different twist to shoot heavy for caliber stuff I'd just bump up to a .243 and twist it appropriately.
Thats just me have fun with yours.

My 700 Varminter likes 55gr Speer SPs and Hornady V-Max bullets in front of 36gr. of IMR4064. It and H380 seem to be the best two powders made for this round.