22-250 Deer Round?

soonerborn · 12-11-2007, 10:15 AM

I have used my 22-250 to take several deer and know it to be a fully capable deer round. All of mine were taken within 50 yards though so the only first hand experience beyond that range is a buck my brother took this season at about 100yds. You may laugh but they were all taken with cheapo 55gr soft nosed remington rounds. None of those deer moved more than 20 yds from where they were shot. The bullet appears to come apart just after penetration because I have only found 1 real exit wound, most have several small shrapnel exits. The internal damage to lungs and heart are significant which probably has a lot to due with the close range.

The most important thing is to make a good shot, and if you cant put a bullet in a 6 inch circle at 100 yds you should be at the range instead of in the field. It doesnt take a perfect shot, just a good one, which is what every hunter, regardless of caliber, should make.

With that said I would not take a shot beyond 100 yds on a deer with a 22-250, so its uses in some parts of the country are limited for sure, but down in the brush country and woods it does a good job.

The real negative of using a 22-250 for deer comes when you miss your mark, and everyone will at some point miss. There will be little to no blood trail, because based on my experience the entrance wound is tiny and there is no single large exit wound, so there is practically no external bleeding. A larger caliber would give you a better chance for kill on a near miss and would leave a much better blood trail regardless of where it hit.

I have used other calibers (30-06, 270, 8mm, 308) to hunt deer with but I just like the way the ruger 22-250 shoots. The only game in my area I dont use it on is hogs, I have doubts there and I dont like the idea of experimenting while standing at the business end of one of the temperamental beasts.

samuel · 12-11-2007, 10:52 AM

soonerborn:Great post of personal experiences. sam.

Lizard · 12-11-2007, 11:02 AM

If you go with a .22-250, 60 grains is usually the heaviest bullet that will stabilize in the .22-250 barrel because of the slow twist rate. Unless you have a special rifle, most .22-250's are rifled for a short (and therefore, lighter) bullet.

Magnumsrule · 12-21-2007, 08:40 PM

The ammo for 22-250s cost just about as much as a actual big game round. Why not pay the extra five bucks and get a caliber that does some real damage and puts the animals down. The 22-250 still makes a blast when you shoot so the only thing you gain with it is reduced recoil. If you are a hunter you should be concered with killing the animal and if you can do it with the 22-250 sure it will work, but why use it when if your shot is a little off the animal will just run away whereas with a big game caliber the animal will drop.

lefty o · 12-21-2007, 08:59 PM

i dont believe the 22-250 is a great deer cartridge, but if you make a marginal shot with just about any "big game" cartridge, the animal is leaving the area on its own power. marginal hits with any standard deer cartridge pretty much mean the same thing, a long tracking job.

texnmidwest · 12-23-2007, 11:26 AM

Hunted central and south Texas whitetails for years with the 220 swift. 9 out of 10 kills were one shot clean kills. The ones that weren't were my poor shot placement. Deer in Wisconsin where I now hunt are bigger bodied. I would advise stepping up to a 243 at least. If you shoot a 742 in -06 then let her use that. I have one and it kicks like a 243 bolt.

felix cortinas · 12-31-2007, 07:15 PM

Here in Texas it seems that the calibers of choice for poachers are .22 lr or .22 mag. and these guys have been doing it for years, dont know what they get out of it, I couldnt eat that much deer meat as much as I love it.

Magnumsrule · 01-02-2008, 12:17 AM

They use the small calibers because they do not make a loud report?

toolman · 01-02-2008, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnumsrule

They use the small calibers because they do not make a loud report?

Yeah, these guys will ride around all day sometimes, picking off deer out of farmers fields. I've seen huge bucks laying in the field with either the rack or entire head sawed off and the carcass left to rot. I don't have a problem with someone taking a deer to feed their family, but around here, it's not hard to find a farmer who's more than willing to allow someone to harvest a doe or two for free. I hate actual poachers though!

1kdude · 04-26-2008, 06:31 PM

It appears to me or 22-250 is more than adequate for deer/hogs within these limits:
Use a big game bullet like the Barnes TSX, Corbon sells the 53 grs which will stabilize well in even in the slow 1:14 twist that most factory 22-250 barrels seem to have. For some reason 223's can be had with faster twist rates and 70 gr bullets would work for them.
Get within 100-120 yds for the shot, there is more that enough bullet energy available for a humane kill.
smaller animals generally taste better that bigger ones, so medium to small sized would be better for a couple of reasons.
Careful shot placement means knowing the anatomy of the animal well and practicing marksmanship. I'm looking for good websites on detailed anatomical diagrams.
None of this is hard and any ethical hunter would do the same with a 7mm mag except maybe take longer shots if they thought the could make it. There is a reason that some 22 cal bullets are labeled as big game rounds by major cartridge manufacturers and many states allow 22 cal medium game rifles.

tippmann7 · 04-26-2008, 08:06 PM

the ruger mini 14 .223 is 1 of my favorite guns but i wouldnt use it on deer its a little to small, iv never shot a 22-250 but from what iv heard its to small also.

andrew cochran · 04-27-2008, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billy

both of those rounds are too small.
i dont care if others think it's fine or not.
unless you are capable of surgical precision dont use them.

i am a good shot and i wouldnt consider using those calibers for that purpose.

+1!

.280Rem · 04-27-2008, 06:10 PM

I know they are starting to make "game bullets" in .223. If you can move a 75+ grain bullet at over 3000fps, then that would be adequate if the bullet is properly constructed. However, NOT ideal. And you would need to really limit your shot selection to standing, broadside, under 200 yards IMO. You'd have to be sure you didn't have tough angles or bone to go through. That said I wouldn't recommend a .223 of any kind on deer without knowing the shooter's abilities. I wouldn't use one. And, in AL they are not legal anyway. Why choose something so marginal when there's so many choices that are not?

andrew cochran · 04-27-2008, 06:43 PM

Winchester makes one in .223 for em. But I wouldn't even think of shooting one with one unless I was starving. And I would always have another gun so I guess I would never shoot one with a .223.

FISHPOND · 04-27-2008, 09:00 PM

My uncle has killed many deer with a 22-250, but I like something a litttle bigger. If it was up to me I would go with a .243. However it is possible, and as we all know it is about shot placement with a quality bullet...

Magnumsrule · 04-27-2008, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .280Rem

I know they are starting to make "game bullets" in .223. If you can move a 75+ grain bullet at over 3000fps, then that would be adequate if the bullet is properly constructed. However, NOT ideal. And you would need to really limit your shot selection to standing, broadside, under 200 yards IMO. You'd have to be sure you didn't have tough angles or bone to go through. That said I wouldn't recommend a .223 of any kind on deer without knowing the shooter's abilities. I wouldn't use one. And, in AL they are not legal anyway. Why choose something so marginal when there's so many choices that are not?

+1
At 100 yards with a 22-250 60gr Nosler Partition the round has about 1235 footpounds. The bullet is going 3000fps. Will work but marginally as i said above.

Rangersniper175 · 04-29-2008, 08:11 PM

Now you have done it the age old argument of killing deer with a 22-250. When I was working out of Ft. Dixs I use to black tag deer out of a apple orchard with a Savage 110E 22-250 and killed a lot of deer with that caliber probably around 200 in a year like shooting fish in a barrel. I used 55gr HP federal match grade rounds. Dropped them in there tracks. Tried soft point and it was less effective. Right thru the shoulder blade in would penetrate right on thru, sometimes it didn't depends on the size and muscle mass of the deer. Don't worry it will kill them dead even out to 500 yards. I know I have highten the argument even more and it will go on until we are all worm food.

I should of added the ideal ahot would be a quartering shot low behind the front shoulder angling towards the the front of the opsite shoulder this way you take out the vitals and the bullet should exit the other side the amount of meat lost will be large and it will blood shot the entering shoulder if you catch it. Another favorite is a neck shot to the spinal column. The hydro shock to the tissue will destroy the spinal cord. The chest shot will turn all the vitals (heart and lungs) into a mushy state and they will pour out the chest cavity

tamalpias · 04-30-2008, 03:22 AM

I have an Inuit friend who just took 8 caribou on his recent subsistence hunt with a 223. Average shot taken was around 75-150 yards. here is the picture to prove it:

sc928porsche · 05-10-2008, 05:36 AM

I have seen deer taken sucessfully with 22-250 but I have had to help chase down a few because they wern't exactly on target. We even had to chase one almost 2 miles that had been hit through both lungs just above the heart. My friends no longer hunt deer with the 22-250. Now they use them for varmits which is what they were designed for.

irish murphy · 05-10-2008, 06:01 AM

I shot a fallow deer last week with my 22/250.I wouldnt consider this something i would use all the time but its what i had in my hands.The deer was 80m away and i took a well aimed shot and hit exactely where i aimed.Just behind the shoulder.The handloads im loading have a 55gn nosler balistic tip and i was a bit worried what a rib would do to them.Lucky for me the pill passed between the ribs and turned the lungs to mush.It didnt exit the skin but made a mess on the other side of the chest.The deer turned and ran 20metres and fell over.

12-21-2007, 08:40 PM	#24
Magnumsrule Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Northern Alberta, Canada Posts: 602 Blog Entries: 2	The ammo for 22-250s cost just about as much as a actual big game round. Why not pay the extra five bucks and get a caliber that does some real damage and puts the animals down. The 22-250 still makes a blast when you shoot so the only thing you gain with it is reduced recoil. If you are a hunter you should be concered with killing the animal and if you can do it with the 22-250 sure it will work, but why use it when if your shot is a little off the animal will just run away whereas with a big game caliber the animal will drop. __________________ Cartridge Group Like to discuss cartridges? Join HERE!

12-31-2007, 07:15 PM	#27
felix cortinas Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 153	.22-250 for deer Here in Texas it seems that the calibers of choice for poachers are .22 lr or .22 mag. and these guys have been doing it for years, dont know what they get out of it, I couldnt eat that much deer meat as much as I love it.

01-02-2008, 12:17 AM	#28
Magnumsrule Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Northern Alberta, Canada Posts: 602 Blog Entries: 2	They use the small calibers because they do not make a loud report? __________________ Cartridge Group Like to discuss cartridges? Join HERE!

04-26-2008, 08:06 PM	#31
tippmann7 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Attica, Ohio Posts: 932	the ruger mini 14 .223 is 1 of my favorite guns but i wouldnt use it on deer its a little to small, iv never shot a 22-250 but from what iv heard its to small also. __________________ energizer bunny arrested, charged with battery

04-27-2008, 06:43 PM	#34
andrew cochran Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Little town in ARKANSAW! Posts: 2,391	Winchester makes one in .223 for em. But I wouldn't even think of shooting one with one unless I was starving. And I would always have another gun so I guess I would never shoot one with a .223. __________________ I'm sweatin my ass off in Arkansas, Now I'm gonna freeze it off in Alaska!

12-11-2007, 10:15 AM	#21
soonerborn Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 348	I have used my 22-250 to take several deer and know it to be a fully capable deer round. All of mine were taken within 50 yards though so the only first hand experience beyond that range is a buck my brother took this season at about 100yds. You may laugh but they were all taken with cheapo 55gr soft nosed remington rounds. None of those deer moved more than 20 yds from where they were shot. The bullet appears to come apart just after penetration because I have only found 1 real exit wound, most have several small shrapnel exits. The internal damage to lungs and heart are significant which probably has a lot to due with the close range. The most important thing is to make a good shot, and if you cant put a bullet in a 6 inch circle at 100 yds you should be at the range instead of in the field. It doesnt take a perfect shot, just a good one, which is what every hunter, regardless of caliber, should make. With that said I would not take a shot beyond 100 yds on a deer with a 22-250, so its uses in some parts of the country are limited for sure, but down in the brush country and woods it does a good job. The real negative of using a 22-250 for deer comes when you miss your mark, and everyone will at some point miss. There will be little to no blood trail, because based on my experience the entrance wound is tiny and there is no single large exit wound, so there is practically no external bleeding. A larger caliber would give you a better chance for kill on a near miss and would leave a much better blood trail regardless of where it hit. I have used other calibers (30-06, 270, 8mm, 308) to hunt deer with but I just like the way the ruger 22-250 shoots. The only game in my area I dont use it on is hogs, I have doubts there and I dont like the idea of experimenting while standing at the business end of one of the temperamental beasts.

12-11-2007, 10:52 AM	#22
samuel Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 6,081	soonerborn:Great post of personal experiences. sam.

12-11-2007, 11:02 AM	#23
Lizard Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 164	If you go with a .22-250, 60 grains is usually the heaviest bullet that will stabilize in the .22-250 barrel because of the slow twist rate. Unless you have a special rifle, most .22-250's are rifled for a short (and therefore, lighter) bullet.

12-21-2007, 08:59 PM	#25
lefty o Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: mn Posts: 5,358	i dont believe the 22-250 is a great deer cartridge, but if you make a marginal shot with just about any "big game" cartridge, the animal is leaving the area on its own power. marginal hits with any standard deer cartridge pretty much mean the same thing, a long tracking job.

12-23-2007, 11:26 AM	#26
texnmidwest New Sheriff in Town! Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: South east Wisconsin Posts: 4,777	Hunted central and south Texas whitetails for years with the 220 swift. 9 out of 10 kills were one shot clean kills. The ones that weren't were my poor shot placement. Deer in Wisconsin where I now hunt are bigger bodied. I would advise stepping up to a 243 at least. If you shoot a 742 in -06 then let her use that. I have one and it kicks like a 243 bolt.

04-26-2008, 06:31 PM	#30
1kdude Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1	It appears to me or 22-250 is more than adequate for deer/hogs within these limits: Use a big game bullet like the Barnes TSX, Corbon sells the 53 grs which will stabilize well in even in the slow 1:14 twist that most factory 22-250 barrels seem to have. For some reason 223's can be had with faster twist rates and 70 gr bullets would work for them. Get within 100-120 yds for the shot, there is more that enough bullet energy available for a humane kill. smaller animals generally taste better that bigger ones, so medium to small sized would be better for a couple of reasons. Careful shot placement means knowing the anatomy of the animal well and practicing marksmanship. I'm looking for good websites on detailed anatomical diagrams. None of this is hard and any ethical hunter would do the same with a 7mm mag except maybe take longer shots if they thought the could make it. There is a reason that some 22 cal bullets are labeled as big game rounds by major cartridge manufacturers and many states allow 22 cal medium game rifles.

04-27-2008, 06:10 PM	#33
.280Rem Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Alabama Posts: 142	I know they are starting to make "game bullets" in .223. If you can move a 75+ grain bullet at over 3000fps, then that would be adequate if the bullet is properly constructed. However, NOT ideal. And you would need to really limit your shot selection to standing, broadside, under 200 yards IMO. You'd have to be sure you didn't have tough angles or bone to go through. That said I wouldn't recommend a .223 of any kind on deer without knowing the shooter's abilities. I wouldn't use one. And, in AL they are not legal anyway. Why choose something so marginal when there's so many choices that are not?

04-27-2008, 09:00 PM	#35
FISHPOND Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 96	My uncle has killed many deer with a 22-250, but I like something a litttle bigger. If it was up to me I would go with a .243. However it is possible, and as we all know it is about shot placement with a quality bullet...

04-29-2008, 08:11 PM	#37
Rangersniper175 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: TN Posts: 121	Now you have done it the age old argument of killing deer with a 22-250. When I was working out of Ft. Dixs I use to black tag deer out of a apple orchard with a Savage 110E 22-250 and killed a lot of deer with that caliber probably around 200 in a year like shooting fish in a barrel. I used 55gr HP federal match grade rounds. Dropped them in there tracks. Tried soft point and it was less effective. Right thru the shoulder blade in would penetrate right on thru, sometimes it didn't depends on the size and muscle mass of the deer. Don't worry it will kill them dead even out to 500 yards. I know I have highten the argument even more and it will go on until we are all worm food. I should of added the ideal ahot would be a quartering shot low behind the front shoulder angling towards the the front of the opsite shoulder this way you take out the vitals and the bullet should exit the other side the amount of meat lost will be large and it will blood shot the entering shoulder if you catch it. Another favorite is a neck shot to the spinal column. The hydro shock to the tissue will destroy the spinal cord. The chest shot will turn all the vitals (heart and lungs) into a mushy state and they will pour out the chest cavity Last edited by Rangersniper175; 04-29-2008 at 08:27 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

04-30-2008, 03:22 AM	#38
tamalpias Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 41	I have an Inuit friend who just took 8 caribou on his recent subsistence hunt with a 223. Average shot taken was around 75-150 yards. here is the picture to prove it:

05-10-2008, 05:36 AM	#39
sc928porsche Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: living in Alabama now Posts: 341	I have seen deer taken sucessfully with 22-250 but I have had to help chase down a few because they wern't exactly on target. We even had to chase one almost 2 miles that had been hit through both lungs just above the heart. My friends no longer hunt deer with the 22-250. Now they use them for varmits which is what they were designed for.

05-10-2008, 06:01 AM	#40
irish murphy Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canberra,Australia Posts: 1,028 Blog Entries: 5	I shot a fallow deer last week with my 22/250.I wouldnt consider this something i would use all the time but its what i had in my hands.The deer was 80m away and i took a well aimed shot and hit exactely where i aimed.Just behind the shoulder.The handloads im loading have a 55gn nosler balistic tip and i was a bit worried what a rib would do to them.Lucky for me the pill passed between the ribs and turned the lungs to mush.It didnt exit the skin but made a mess on the other side of the chest.The deer turned and ran 20metres and fell over.