.17 HMR, .22 Mag, or 22-250

Z

Zen Archery

New member
I need "plinker price amo" that will down a coyote at 300 yds. and under.

My Marlin 60 .22 is a little under kill and my Savage .30-06 is a little overkill. My main objective is keeping the "cost of ballistics down" but also be able to reach out and touch someone effectively at 300 yds. I like to practice at the range with my .22 and am looking for something else where I am not going to be spending 15.00 for 20 bullets.

I've heard that if a cow farts at the right time a .17 hmr will drift.
I've also heard that you'd have better luck aiming a rock then you would a .22 mag.
The 22-250 seems to be a good darn tooten rifle. But I can't seem to find ammo for them anywhere. Once I do they are about the same cost as my 30.06?

Lil suggestion would be great!
 
C

Crosshair

New member
The only way you will hit anything at 300 yrds effectivly is with a centerfire rifle. If you want plinking ammo prices, and you don't reload, use the .223 round. It's good enough for the 300 yard shots, while being very cheap. (Especialy if you can get Wolf Ammo in your area.) The cheap ammo may not be the best in the world, but the term "good enough" comes into play. You can feed it match ammo when you NEED that extra range.
 
J

Jseime

New member
.243 Win

i think that if you want a good gun that wont run you much more than a .22-250 ammowise buy yourself a .243 winchester. they can reach waaaaaaaaaaay out yonder on yotes when loaded with the right bullets and you can still use your .22 for plinking. i dont like multi-purpose rifles (even though thats all i have because im broke) so id say get yourself a dedicated coyote gun with a dedicated coyote scope capable of long range work and find a load it likes.
 
B

bill k

New member
just havin some fun

I'm a 22-250 fan, but the 243 will shoot circles around my rifle, literally, I'll print a pattern of a quarter inch, the 243 group will usually circle it, not by choice mind you. But in defense of the 243 it is more universal, it's a pretty good deer rifle the 22-250 is too small.
But you do have a 30-06, drop down in bullet weight maybe. Use the money you saved on a new scope and rifle combo and buy reloading equipment. Now you can shoot the 30-06 more efficiantly and cheeper.
 
J

Jim Watson

New member
Agree with BillK,
Reloading press and some 125 grain Sierra or 130 grain Speer .30s.

There is nothing cheap that will do the job you state. Econo-ball .223 is not likely accurate enough for a coyote at 300 yards, you need the good stuff.
 
B

bikenjam

New member
Winchester USA line of ammo makes a 45 JHP for the 223 thats about 15 bucks per 50 and shoots very well. I really like the 223 because of the cost, and for 300 yard shooting, it does a fine job
 
W

WmD

New member
223

You can get the winchester 223 in 40rd boxes for just over $10 at walmart (3600ft/sec hollow points....need i say more)

The rimfires (17hmr/22mag) just loose too much past 200m to be that effective. They are a blast and effective to 150m.

22-250 is a very nice round - very very fast, deadly accurate and relatively flat trajectory. Only drawback is ammo availability followed by price. Reloading would be the way to go w/ this round.

243 will provide more versatility with the ability to go with heavier bullets to extend and take down larger targets. Ammo price is the drawback, so reloading to keep shooting costs down is a must.

220 swift - similar to 22-250, about 50-100ft/sec faster, price of ammo reflects this, availability issue as well.

Bottom line best route for a plinker which meets your needs with low ammo cost w/o reloading and 300m capability is the 223. Surplus for plinking targets, cheap hollow points for taking out real targets/varmits and coyotes.
 
R

RRA Man223

New member
between those 3 i would go with the 22-250 for what ur using it for but the best choice would be what ghettopettingzoo said the old .223
 
P

Purdue_Teke

New member
ALL 3, but if i had to get one, i'd go for the 17, cus i dn't have one yet, and it would be better for that varmit, than the 22...but cheaper than the 250. HOWEVER, the 250 is an AWESOME calliber.
 
B

bill k

New member
I went varmit hunting yesterday with my 7 mm mag using custom loaded 162g Hornady BTSP bullets. It dropped a jackrabbit at 250 yards in one shot. My hunting partner dropped another jack at 200 yards using 180g nosler accubonds in his 300 weatherby, his only took one shot also.
Don't sell your 30-06 short it will get a coyote.
However I'm a firm believer that you use any excuse to get a new hunting rifle.
So, if you're planning on shooting at 2 to 3 hundred yards, I don't believe you'll get the results you want using cheap ammo. Midway USA has remington umc for $9.19 for 20 and 200 for $81.99. Chances are it will group like $9.00 ammo. If you go with the 223 or 22-250 you still need to spend $15.00 or so on ammo that will perform to your expectations.
 
B

bikenjam

New member
I have used winchester usa ammo in my 223 and keep finding myself buying more of it. Their varmint ammo with that 45 JHP always shoots under an inch in my AR, and i most people i have heard talk about it say they get at least 1/2 groups with it. thats one of the beuties of the 223, it is so popular that manufactures can afford to sell the ammo for less.
 
L

Lawyer Daggit

New member
IMO the 17 HMR is very susceptable to wind drift and unfortunately does not penetrate well on anything larger than Rabbits.

.22 Magnum is not quite as accurate as the 17 but in an accurate rifle- Anschutz or Winchester 9422 will group acceptably.

I have no experience with the .22-250- it is a totally different type of round to the other two, is heavy on barrels. I would suggest you look at the , 222 or .223 or even the .22 Hornet- the hornet is, about between a .22 Mag and a .222 in terms of performance.
 
J

Jim Watson

New member
I have used winchester usa ammo in my 223 and keep finding myself buying more of it. Their varmint ammo with that 45 JHP always shoots under an inch in my AR
Click to expand...

Fascinating, I did not know they were making anything but imitation army surplus in the WWB. Looks like they are trying to come up with useful ammo in the cheapo lineup. I have some WWB .45 JHP and it seems at least fair. I'd have to shoot a good deal of it before I went to war with it, though.
 
S

Sodbuster

New member
Has anyone used the 55-gr Remington Accelerator? I can't attest to its accuracy, but a couple fellas I know of use these in their 30-06s for coyotes. It wouldn't lessen your ammo costs much, but you wouldn't be buying another rifle, either.
 
F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
medium-ish critters, long range (over 225 yds): I'd say .243 win first, something in .25 2nd choice (.257 robts, .250-3000 savage, or even the .25-06 potentially), the .22-250 third choice (barrel burner); .220 swift 4th (bigtime barrel burner), .223 rem 5th (not a good long range wind-bucker).

Under 225 yds: .223 rem 1st choice, .222 rem 2nd choice, maybe even .221 fireball, .22 hornet, or .17 Remington.

Of those, none are plinker priced, but the .223 comes closest. You'd probably want to use 68-77 gr bullets for shots over 250-300 in .223, so then you're back out of cheap ammo choices. IMO, the 2 magnum rimfires are not enough for coyotes, unless you're close enough to go for a clean head shot. They'll work, but with an unacceptabley high risk of wounding, IMO.

Too bad Winchester doesn't offer white box in .243. Bah.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top