22-250 suggestions

[jrebel]

The 22-250 is a fantastic round!!  You won't be dissapointed, it is one of my favorite varmit rounds / rifles. 

I shoot a heavy barreled Savage and it will absolutely outshoot me and my abilities.  It is a little heavier than what you discribe you want, but savage makes amazing rifles.  I would personally stay away from the axis series, though many guys like them.  I would look look at the model 12 first, but any other model chambered in the 22-250 would work.  It would all depend on how you want it set up, weight, etc. 

Good Luck

[JDHasty]

I never have, and probably never will have a need for anything beyond 400, maybe 450. Even for fun.

When all I had was a Remington 788 in 22-250 and my buddy had a Ruger M77 V in 22-250 (the early 1980's) we would go over to Montana for a week or two and were hitting prairie dogs at north of five hundred yards fairly consistently and I was shooting a Sierra 1390 that is about as aerodynamic as a brick.  He was shooting the Sierra 1365 and those were in the days before laser range finders. 

[CAMPMEAT]

I have a 700 in 22-250 w/bull barrel. I'm putting it on an Orias Chassis just because. That round is a smoker and you don't need anything else..

[theleo]

It's just a matter of what you're definition of long range is and what you're goals are. My 22-250 has done me well on coyotes out to 400 yards with 55gr V-Max bullets and they are still small/soft enough to produce a lot of "splat" on squirrels and chucks. The faster twist barrels allow the longer bullets to be stabilized but will also take away some options on the lighter weight bullets (skinny jackets getting spun fast do strange things). Since we are talking factory rifles you should mainly consider 55-60gr as max for the bullets weight. The easy way to go is buy a 22-250, shoot it till the throat wears out, take it to a smith, have it cut and set back to be a 22-250ai, then rebarrel it once accuracy goes down hill from there.

For really long stuff (600+ yards) the 75gr and heavier bullets are the way to go. If you want to turn squirrels into a red mist, light bullets are spectacular. 

[JimmyHoffa]

You guys that are in the know, why are 22-250's barreled with 1:14 or 1:10 twist, while the lighter/slower .223 has the faster rate? Doesn't make sense to me but I'm not as knowledgeable either.

You can get a bullet going faster if you have a slower twist.  It limits you to lighter bullets, but that gives you a higher velocity.  Some of the old cartridges would sell better with increased velocity, but only so much could be done with case capacity and powder of the time.  Spend less energy spinning the bullet and more pushing it.

[slm9s]

There are Tikka T3 223 Superlites out there with a factory 1-8 twist.  Check Sportsmans warehouse.  I'd go this route if I were you.

[b23]

There are Tikka T3 Superlites out there with a factory 1-8 twist.  Check Sportsmans warehouse.  I'd go this route if I were you.

Didn't know Tikka ever put anything but a 1-14tw barrel on their 22-250's.  Which models ever had a 1-8tw barrel???

[brew]

if you are going to be reloading and the cost of the powder isn't an issue then the 22-250 wins hands down...but there are some "ifs"involved.  round for round the 22-250 will be shooting at a velocity of upwards of 500 fps more than the 223---obviously that comes with a price of more powder burned per round.  second thing is how far are you able to shoot at your range ?  if you are only thinking of shooting 400-450 yards (as you stated) does your range/place you are going to be shooting allow for that far of a shot ?  its a lot different shooting "X" distance high at 100 yards then you will hit center at 400 yards then actually shooting at 400 yards and seeing where the POI is.  Another problem i am running into since the AARP has started sending me literature is the thickness of the scope's crosshairs.  Normally for deer/elk/bear hunting my crosshairs are a little thicker so i can actually see them and with thicker crosshairs shooting at 100 yards i can be pretty confident that the POI at 200-300 yards will be within a couple inches of actual zero.  i recently bought a 6 1/2X 20 scope for my longer range "coyote" type rifle but have a hard time seeing the much thinner crosshairs clearly with my advanced staged vision--shooting at those distances you need a scope with crosshairs a little smaller to shoot accurately because if you have thicker crosshairs they will cover up the target and not give you anactual  Point Of Aim.  I guess what i'm saying is that is sucks getting old, if you have a range that you can shoot out to 400 yards my advice would be to shoot a 223 so you know where it hits at various distances-if you can only practice out to 200 yards then i would shoot the 22-250 if buying powder isn't an issue because it will shoot flatter at longer distances so if you mis-judge the target by 50 yards you still may be able to hit it...last but not least look at the scope's crosshairs because at some point they will cover the target so you will need to be confident that where you aim is where you will hit.

[slm9s]

Sorry, forgot the "223" in my reply.

[JDHasty]

I suspect the trajectory of your 7mm big game loads are about the same as those that I shoot out of my 300 Wby and that matches up very nicely with the trajectory of the 22-250. I have always liked that. 

FWIW I also shoot 223 in my ARs and in a 788 and like that round just fine too.  You won't go wrong with a 22-250 or a 223.

If I were making the choice I would go with a quality off the rack 22-250 and not think twice about it.   

[Jrzbullelk]

I have a Savage Axis 22-250 that shoots like a dream and yes I know its a cheap gun but it's definatly one of my favorites and its light. I love the caliber and I think you'll have a blast no matter what gun you chose to shot it out of. 

[RadSav]

When I was active in competitive varmint hunting we started off with a Sako 222 and Remington 22-250 as team guns.  Wasn't long before we realized our long range gun was lacking in windy conditions.  What we thought was a gun that would give us another 200-300 yard gain really wasn't getting us much more than 100.  We made the switch to 6mm and our world changed in a big way!  I would not be so quick to discard the .243.  Don't think of it as another deer rifle - Think of it as a kick arse big dog rifle that loves dang near every single bullet you put in the tube!

[Reidus]

When I was active in competitive varmint hunting we started off with a Sako 222 and Remington 22-250 as team guns.  Wasn't long before we realized our long range gun was lacking in windy conditions.  What we thought was a gun that would give us another 200-300 yard gain really wasn't getting us much more than 100.  We made the switch to 6mm and our world changed in a big way!  I would not be so quick to discard the .243.  Don't think of it as another deer rifle - Think of it as a kick arse big dog rifle that loves dang near every single bullet you put in the tube!

 

[7mmfan]

I suspect the trajectory of your 7mm big game loads are about the same as those that I shoot out of my 300 Wby and that matches up very nicely with the trajectory of the 22-250. I have always liked that. 

FWIW I also shoot 223 in my ARs and in a 788 and like that round just fine too.  You won't go wrong with a 22-250 or a 223.

If I were making the choice I would go with a quality off the rack 22-250 and not think twice about it.   

This is a big part of it. The practice practice practice part. I missed a couple of shots this year that I had no business missing, and I realized I really need to up my game. I've gotten a much better feel for the limitations of this round now though, thanks to you guys, and I'll keep it in mind.

When I was active in competitive varmint hunting we started off with a Sako 222 and Remington 22-250 as team guns.  Wasn't long before we realized our long range gun was lacking in windy conditions.  What we thought was a gun that would give us another 200-300 yard gain really wasn't getting us much more than 100.  We made the switch to 6mm and our world changed in a big way!  I would not be so quick to discard the .243.  Don't think of it as another deer rifle - Think of it as a kick arse big dog rifle that loves dang near every single bullet you put in the tube!

I've considered this as well, I just haven't convinced myself its what I'm looking for since my primary use isn't hunting, just shooting with an opportunistic kill every once in a while. No reason that I can't buy one of these later on too   

[b23]

It's taken me a long time to warm up to it but for shooting light bullets the 204 does a number on the 223 and isn't far off the 22-250 which shoots a lot more powder.  I think you mentioned something about this being a gun for your kid/s to shoot some day, if so, IMO the 204 would be a better choice with next to zero recoil where as a 22-250 will have some.  The little CZ 527's in 204 Ruger are a sweet shooting little gun that is of very high quality for the money and I think it would serve you well for what you're looking to do.