.22-250 probs

Acm

Well-Known Member
Hi all
Been hearing a lot about general problems with .22-250 round , barrel life , over burn etc etc etc
I love mine and swear by it for foxes and the like and am just intrigued as to why people often steer from it to either a .222 /.223 .
 
I'm interested in this too ACM. I have a slot for a 22-250 and am wondering whether I should go for .223 instead. However, I know several very experienced lads who, like you, swear by it.
 
I owned a new one a briefly a long time ago and shot my first roe buck with it. People seem very suspicious of second hand .22-250s as it's difficult without bore scoping them to form an opinion on their usage. I just stick to calibres that are red deer legal nowadays, however the .223 does have the attraction of being allowed for F/TR.

I can see the attractions of a fast twist .223, shooting 70 - 80 gr bullets, but I doubt it's an option I will ever explore. I can also see the benefits of a fast twist .243 and although the .22-250 kind of sits in between, I don't really see the benefit of going there. To me, BC is much more important than muzzle velocity.

I have a .22-243 case in my collection, and a fast twist .22-243 is an interesting option and brass is readily available.

Regards JCS
 
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had the same 22.250 for ten yrs no problems at all but then it is a remy:stir: i dont shoot alot of paper with it except to check zero and it has shot a fair share of foxs and it has only ever shot moly coated ammo .see no prob in the 22.250 at all did try and sell a mint sako on here some time ago with NO takers at all .with todays bore scopes see no reason not to try a second hand one in good condition .will hold on to my remy for at least another ten yrs
 
Mines a Ruger and I bought it second hand with a wrecked stock . After a full refurb it's perfect , I don't punch paper , frankly I can't afford too but it's taken a lot of foxes and I really like it . It's not silenced though , what a belter !
 
I really like the 22/250 but then it was my 1st cf so I have a soft spot for the calibre. mine is a 12 twist so can fire bullets from 40 grain up to 63 grain.
I think all factory 22/250's should be a 12 twist.

or offer them with 1 in 9 twist to shoot heavier bullets if you want. you ask sir slots alot on here about his 22/250 with a 1 in 9 twist shooting 75 amax bullets. the thing was unreal for accuracy. and devastating on longrange vermin.

i did read some where a guys friend has had one 22/250 for years. it has seen off lots of foxes. and use to return 1/2 and under at 100 yards with homeloads.

it is now on 2000+ rounds and well the throat has a good amount of firecrackling in it. accuracy has dropped off but still holds 1 inch.

so not as accurate as before. but still doing the biz on the foxes like it was before.
 
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I previously owned a 22-250 & now a .223

I never felt that the 22-250 offered me that much more than the .223 to be honest, if anything the 22-250 caused a little more meat damage.
The .223 is inherantly accurate & can throw 60gr pills with the 1:9 twist out of my 19" tactical barrel.

There isnt that much between the 2 in my opinion, it comes down to person choice & how much barrel life you need out the gun.
 
I have both a 222 and a 22/250. To be fair, the 22/250 is a fox killing machine. I have shot a lot of foxes with a 222, and a fair few with the 22/250, there is no question in my mind that the 22/250 hits a lot harder and a lot further than the 222.

That said, 90% of my foxes shots are under 150 yards in smallish fields at night. I have gone back to the 222 recently and will use it a lot more.

The 22/250 just got a new stock, and it will get a fast twist barrel this summer so I can shoot the heavy 224 cal bullets. I bought the current 22/250 as a donor action, turns out is is really accurate - once it was recrowned, but you do risk a shot out barrel buying a s/h 22/250.
 
I love the 22.250 and shot literally hundreds of fox using one - But in reality , it wont put any more foxes in the bag than a 223 - nor will it kill them any deader.

Fox shooting IME is usually done at ranges under 250 yrds.

Zero'd 1" high at 100 yrds - the 223 bullet will only drop about 2.5 inches - The 22.250 bullet drops about 1.8 inches.

I dont think the 223 is a better cal - but it does the same job using alot less powder

ATB
Alan
 
I shoot a swift and a 223 and the rifle thats picked up the most is the 223.
Simply because its lighter, shorter and less recoil for foxing when walking and carrying.
The swift comes out if im heading to bigger fields and when im shooting off a more stable platform, I wouldnt sell either, both have their merits.
If you are just shooting foxes you wont be shooting prolonged strings therefore a 22-250 or swift will last you a long time. I wouldnt worry!
Both will work just fine but as Alan says, most foxing is done witin sensible ranges at night so 223 is more than capable.
If I had to do with one rifle out of the 2 id keep the 223.

Garry
 
I agree with Alan. Some people don't need a 22-250. I have owned them but use .223 and .222 these days for my big .22 cal CF. The .223 is more economical. Here at least, the brass is almost free. I like 50 grain bullets and between the two there is 400 fps difference at top end: 3500 versus 3900 fps. I don't think any game I shoot will notice the lack. What I notice is using 23 -25 grains of powder instead of 35-40 grains of powder at top speeds.~Muir
 
This post set me to thinking on the real virtues of the .22-250.

I've got a .222 - a .223 - and a .22-250 - and a .243. None of these are moderated or braked.

The small-case .22 Centrefires are housed in micro-actions, which is a hangup of mine. I use them for different purposes, but choose them whenever I'm going walkabout. They're quicker to handle in a snap situation, and so much lighter to carry. That's a conscious choice due to a spinal injury where they reduce backache and fatigue. They are also IMO inherently more accurate, and easier to work up a good load for than the .22-250 - certainly the one I've got. They're cheaper to run, but that's only in the amount of reloads out of 1lb of powder of course. The .222 is the more accurate of the two. That's reputed to be the case in most .222/.223 shootoffs. I use the 40gr - 55gr weight in each as that's what they're designed for, and the optimum velocity obtainable from the small rounds.

The .22-250 needs a full-size action, and the Tikka sporter I've got is noticeably heavier with a 6x42 S&B aboard. I'll just walk with that only to the nearest ambush site, or a spot where a 150-200 yard shot is likely - such as across a fair-sized open field. My .22-250 works best with 60gr -63gr bullets, and shoots flatter than the others even with these. I worked a lot with a dozen-plus of the lighter weights, and was about to give up on it until the heavier jobs made it perk. It is still not as accurate as the smaller .22CF's, and has needed a lot more work. I think this is down to the larger case capacity, which is probably optimum in the smaller .22CF's.

To be honest, I can think of only a few instances when the greater range of the .22-250 might have made a difference to an outcome. Whenever a shot comes up I've got more confidence in it's trajectory than it's accuracy. I use it only for fox, and muntjac. If there was a choice of Roe in Scotland I would use a .243 rather than a .22CF, although I did use a .222 in Scotland for a couple of years.
 
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This thread has got me thinking. I was begining to like the sound of a light, short actioned rifle in .223.

However, I was thinking of trying a Sako A7 when they come out some time this summer. Unfortunately they only do these in short and medium actions. The short action seems to be for anything derived from a .308 plus some short magnums. The .22 - 250 is the "smallest" calibre they make it in. The medium is the "06" derivatives plus 7mm Rem Mag and .300 Win Mag.

It seems like I can't have an A7 in .223.

The A7 in .22 - 250 comes with either a 22" or 24" barrel with a twist rate of 1 in 14. Is the 22" barrel (which seems to be the only one that comes threaded from the factory) sufficient to get the best out of the .22 - 250 cartridge.

Cheers,

Bob
 
The A7 in .22 - 250 comes with either a 22" or 24" barrel with a twist rate of 1 in 14. Is the 22" barrel (which seems to be the only one that comes threaded from the factory) sufficient to get the best out of the .22 - 250 cartridge.

Cheers,

Bob

Yes it will. The Tikka has the same (SAKO) barrel, same length, same standard 1:14" twist, and achieves the 'book' MV's.

That barrel works with 60gr -63gr SP's, but probably not with 69gr Match upwards.

ATB
 
as most of the post on here first centre fire i owned is a 22250 tikka t 3 lite and i still love it i home load a 55 grain bt varmint round and i dont let any foxes get away i can shoot rabbits out to 200 yrds all day long its light its flat its fast and it does the job the problem with shooting at night you dont really judge distance so i shoot my 22250 its simple i can see it i can shoot it 20 yrds to 300 they dont get up atb stu
 
I have a T3 in 22.250 for foxes and love it,flat shooting out to around 250yards zero'd at inch high at 100yds,can't comment on other calibres but seems like a lot of people like the 223's,cheers
 
Before shooters had ready access to RFs and had to guess ranges trajectory and PBR was of more importance to the varmit shooter than it is now to eliminate hold over misses. It was not uncommon for many shooter here to have a quiver of .22 CFs to cover a range of situations. Using a 2" PBR a .222 rem gives you a range of about 230 yards, a .223 rem gives you an extra 50 yards and a 22/250 another 40 yards. When the warren is at 300 the guy with the 250 has a fair advantage over his mate with a .222. The .222 makes a nice quite and light walk around rifle for use on the smaller farms and the L461 action has got to be the pick to house it in.
 
Yep, the availability of cheap, reliable range finders really starts to bring into question the virtues of the "big varmint" cartridges like the swift and 22-250 - unless you are looking at faster twist barrels and long, high BC bullets. If you know your range, then there is not as much reason to go to the really large capacity cartridges. You have to burn an awful lot more powder to reduce drop just an inch or two. Folks are now readily making hits pushing out well beyond 300 yards with the .223 (and some folks are shooting much, much further). In a varmint rifle, i side with a .223 with a 1:12 twist and 55 grain bullets. It's ballistic capability exceed the limits of my marksmanship.
 
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