22-250 rifle

[44 AMP]

The .243 is better suited to an AR 10 than the .22-250, less case body taper.

Also the .243 is a legal deer round in every state, the .22-250 isn't.

The 6mm Creedmore is a slightly shorter case than the .243, from what I've heard its so that the long "low drag" bullets can be seated without being too deep in the case. Published data I've sees shows approximately the same velocity as the .243.

 

[tangolima]

Yeah that's what I have read too.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Rimfire5]

44AMP
Sorry for the odd format. Dyslexia

The 52 Bergers average 0.501 with 3 different powders in the Rem 700.
The 55 grain Bergers average 0.758 at 100 yards with the best powder of the 3.

52 and 53 grain bullets occupy the top 8 places out of 30 combinations when I compare Powder-Bullet combinations.
50 and 40 grain bullets follow in places 9 to 13.
Berger 55s occupy the 14th slot.
Other 55 gr bullets like the Sierra #1335 and #1360s occupy places 15, 18,19, 23, and 27.
60 grain bullets are at the bottom.

 

[Picher]

I had one of the first .22-250 Rem 700s around my part of Maine. I used it for woodchuck and crow hunting and it was quite effective. My favorite handloaded rounds involved the 52 grain varmint bullets made by several companies, but mostly Sierra and. I was a student, so didn't have much money to invest in a powerful scope and used a 6X Weaver, which was quite effective.

The rifle was accurate enough to win several turkey shoots in the Waterville/Sidney range I belonged to. The rifle would group under 1/2" at 100 yards and won many turkeys.

 

[44 AMP]

.22-250s generally shoot really well, but most of them are not purpose built match guns, they are varmint guns, where the difference of 1/4" in group size isn't a huge concern.

My first one was in the early 70s and was made on a Mauser action by our local gunsmith. Mauser 98 action, Douglas 26" tube (medium contour not a bull or a feastherweight barrel), Bishop stock and topped with an old Weaver K8 with fine crosswires. And that's where the smith stopped. I added a scope safety and a Timney target trigger.

Shooing off a rolled up field jacket, on the hood of a pickup, using Rem factory 55gr SPs that gun would put 3 in a group you could cover with a dime at 100yds.

EVERY SINGLE TIME....if the shooter did their part right.

This was outstanding for crows and woodchucks to 300yds, a bit more when the stars lined up just right. Other cartridges always ruled the "all bullets in one hole" game, where the .22-250 shined was hunting accuracy and high speed.

 

[tangolima]

High speed with flat base bullets make sense for 300-500yd. Boat tail could even be counter productive unless it is for range beyond that. That's what I have learned after monkeying with handloading for more than 5 years.

Still contemplating and dithering between 22-250 and .243 Winchester. Maybe I should get both uppers? What would you guys choose if you get to have only one? I sorta lean towards .243. 6mm bullets cost more though.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[44 AMP]

Personally, I wouldn't chose either, but that is because I have a .22-250 varmint rifle and I have a .243 Win carbine for deer/light game. Both are bolt actions and meet my needs just fine.

Also, I sold my last AR during the original "assault weapon" panic when the $450 gun brought me $900, so I have nothing to put an AR upper on, anymore.

From a practical point of view, for an AR 10, I'd think the .243 would be better suited, being essentially a necked down .308 Win, plus being legal for deer anywhere semis are still allowed for hunting.

I think the .22-250 is the superior round in its class, both in terms of performance AND using a common case size. The Swift beats it a little bit, at barrel eating speeds, but I'm not a fan of the case they used.

If you've got the $, there an alternative wildcat, versions going by different names (.22 Cheetah is one I remember) where one essentially takes a .243 case and necks it to .22 cal. That might give you a "super .22-250" AND be better suited to an AR 10 action (including magazines!).

Might be worth looking into....

 

[Drm50]

I had a rack full of Groundhog guns, all 224 cal except for a 243. I shoot all 55gr bullets from 222 thru 220. The 22-250 was my least favorite cartridge in this class. I sold 2 Rem 700s and one Ruger 77, all heavy barrel models. Now had the misfortune of winning another 22-250 Ruger American at a gun bash. Never took it out of box yet. It’s going straight into trade pile. I’ve always opted for the heavier bullet for accuracy, even if velocity is sacrificed.

 

[44 AMP]

I have an eclectic varmint battery, acquired in part for the calibers and in part for the guns which happened to be in those calibers.

I currently have .22 Hornets (a Ruger No.3 and a T/C barrel), .221 Fireball (Rem XP-100) .222Rems (a Rem 600 and a T/C barrel), .223 Rem (Mini 14) and a .22-250 (Win M70 Varmint).

For me, each one has a niche where it is not only useful, but superior in some way.

 

[Scorch]

I had a rack full of Groundhog gun

Now that's funny! I have 4 varmint rifles, a 22-250, a 223, a 218 Bee, and a 22 Hornet. I started out with the 22-250, the others were left to me by friends when they died. If you had just started out with a 22-250, you would have room for whole bunch more guns! Not razzing you, just that I feel the 22-250 is the best varmint caliber anyone could want.

 

[taylorce1]

Not razzing you, just that I feel the 22-250 is the best varmint caliber anyone could want.

I'm the opposite my varmint guns are .22 Mag, .204 X2, .223 X4, 6X45, 6X47, .243, 6mm CM X2, and .300 BLK X2. I know most are going .300 BLK? I like it for night work with a suppressor on hen house raiders.

I'm not against the .22-250 just never used one. I just loaded 55-70 grain varmint bullets in my .243. Kind of a faux .22-250 after that, and it vaporized prairie dogs with aplomb.

 

[Skans]

I had a Remington 700 22-250. The cartridges were expensive and I'd reload for it. But, the problem is resizing the case is quite difficult because it is necked-down so much. I could never seem to get them sized-reshaped correctly. They were a bitch to try and chamber - required a pretty good smack from the palm of my hand on the bolt handle.

 

[tangolima]

Resizing after each firing? It shouldn't be difficult, should it? Conversion from .308 or .30-06 is different story.

Feeding shouldn't be a problem either, considering the tapering. Most likely it is because the brass isn't sized down enough. It doesn't quite fit the chamber.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[44 AMP]

But, the problem is resizing the case is quite difficult because it is necked-down so much. I could never seem to get them sized-reshaped correctly. They were a bitch to try and chamber - required a pretty good smack from the palm of my hand on the bolt handle.

If you have to smack the bolt handle to get your reloads to chamber, something is WRONG!

IT has nothing to do with the taper design or how much a case necks down.

Either your loading process is incorrect (or something is out of adjustment) or your rifle or sizer is out of spec. Also possible is your rifle chamber is on minimum end of spec range and sizer die on the max end.

I've had a couple .22-250s, load for them exactly the same way I load for the other dozen plus bottle neck rifle rounds I reload. Dies are set exactly the same way. Reloads feed butter smooth, no extra force needed.

If your equipment is in proper spec, your brass prep is done right, then there's something you're not doing right when it comes to sizing or seating.

It may just be a simple adjustment not quite set right, but I can't do more than generalize without more information.

One thing I can say with certainty, is that your difficulties chambering reloaded .22-250 is not due to anything in the case design, it is something caused by your rifle and your reloads.

 

[Picher]

I started using .22-250 before I was married, back in 1970+/-. I was taken by it when hunting woodchucks, then and shot a couple of whitetails with it. It never failed to impress me!!! One shot, around 1965 or so, perhaps a bit scary, but I was younger back then when, on a lark, I called some flying crows toward the woods road I was on. One coasted across my view, straight vertical above me, at least a couple of hundred feet high. It was a safe direction, downriver, so I took the shot, just before it disappeared above the pine trees surrounding the road.

I stood there in foot-deep snow, thinking that I probably shouldn't have shot in the air, but the shot had surely made it safely to a large wooded area near the fields just across the road a bit.

Suddenly, I heard twigs snapping and things happening in the pine trees, about a hundred yards away. I quickly moved to a clearing and looked, as some small branches fell out of the higher pine branches, at a tree across field, about 100 or so yards away.

I made my way through about a foot of snow as I trudged toward the tree at the edge of the field, but couldn't see anything until getting to small branches laying on the snow. You can't imagine how shocked I was to find a freshly-killed crow without a head!!!

I almost wondered how that happened. Oh yeah, I'll bet someone shot it with a .22-250. He only regretted that he didn't have any witnesses.

 

[tangolima]

Yeah shooting in air is not a good idea. Sounds like the bullet was stopped by the tree.

I now lean more towards .243 win. It sounds more utility than .22-250, except that the bullets cost more than double. I still have time to dither while saving up for it and waiting for a discount code.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Scorch]

He only regretted that he didn't have any witnesses

Yeah, I have a couple of stories that I can't brag about because there were no witnesses!

 

[44 AMP]

I now lean more towards .243 win. It sounds more utility than .22-250, except that the bullets cost more than double.

The .22-250 is legal for deer in some states. In some states it is not. Even if legal in your state, I, personally, would choose a larger caliber rifle for deer and anything larger than varmints.

Yes, the .243 costs more. It's BIGGER. There is more material in every bullet, cases are larger, more powder is burned. These factors alone increase the cost of the rounds, separate from other market factors.

Yeah, I have a couple of stories that I can't brag about because there were no witnesses!

Ya got it backwards! Stories with no witnesses are the only ones you can brag about....if there's a witness, its not brag, its just simple recounting of the truth!

 

[bamaranger]

a double!

I made my best shot(s) with the aforementioned 77V in 22-250. Seems like I've posted this before, but it seems worth retelling.

I was sniping crows when one lit in a tree at a on the longest part of the hay field. Lined up the shot, held on the top edge of the crow and shot, lost it in recoil, but saw the crow light on a different limb nearby.

Figured I'd not allowed for a slight wind and set up again. Used same elevation, but held off a wee bit for wind and squeezed off another one, and the crow dropped from the tree. I was pretty tickled with the shot. I paced it at , 286 long strides. Quite surprised when I got to the spot, to locate two dead crows,..... I'd hit the first one as well.

 

[Picher]

Very nice! We all make sh-t shots and wish we'd had witnesses.

The best shot I never took gave me the shakes. One day my buddy and I were hunting varmints on a warm June Saturday, when we spied a woodchuck lying down on top of a hill in a hayfield. We never shot at the top of a hill, for fear of having the bullet hit something far beyond.

Walking to the left, crossing a rock wall and going uphill to the left of the quarry, we rose carefully, and saw a lovely young woman lying down at the top of a rise, getting some sun!!! WHEW! If I'd fired at what I thought was a woodchuck, I'd have killed her!!!

We walked down to talk with her and explained the danger she was in. She was there with her boyfriend who went off to hunt varmints by himself...in a couple of fields down back. I can't imagine how shooting at that perceived "woodchuck" would have changed my life, forever!

We explained the danger she was in, should other hunters come along. She moved to a more secure location and we went back to the car.