.204 vs .22-250 vs .243

[need2huntmor]

I'm thinking of buying a new gun.  It would be mainly for predator hunting.  With a .300 win mag as my next "smallest" caliber, I'm leaning towards the .243, so I can also use it for deer and antelope too.  I do not reload.  Any suggestions/information would be greatly appreciated.  I just bought a Kimber Montana, in a different caliber last year, and love that gun, but they are a little spendy.  Suggestions on what rifle to buy would be appreciated also.

Not to be too needy, but suggestions on what scope to put on it would be appreciated also.  I am leaning towards a 4x12 with a ballistic reticle.  I only own Leupold scopes on my other rifles, but am open to other suggestions.  Thanks. 

[AWS]

A lot depends on what your intentions are, do you want to save the fur or are just satisfied with killing them?  Saving fur, 204 or 22-250 with the right bullet,  Just kill , the 22-250 or 243.  What type of hunting will you be doing and what terrain.  If your calling, shots will be alot closer, sometimes right at you feet, especialy in our high sage or westside forest 204 or 22-250.  If you hunting big open country where the shots will be longer, the 22-250 or 243.  The 204 shoots just as flat as a 22-250 but just doesn't carry the energy for long range stuff.  The 223 fits real nicely between the 204 and 22-250.

As far as scopes go I save fur and call so I use lighter loads and and like to call in closer cover.  My very favorite scope is a 1.5x6x40mm Variable, it has a great FOV and at low powers be very fast handling for the close in stuff, at longer ranges up to 300yrds I have plenty of time to turn up the power ring.  I also use a couple of 1x4x20mm and 2x7x32mm scopes and feel they are more than adequate.  If I were hunting open grass lands or doing alot of spot and stalk hunting, I keep a 243 around with a 4.5x14x40mm scope on it, a 3x9, 4x12 or 4x16 wouldn't be out of the question.  Buy the best glass you can afford, I'm partial to Midpriced Sightrons SS-II, Nikon Monarch and Leupold VX-II

AWS

[carpsniperg2]

if you plan to use it for deer and speed goats go with the 243 if you are going for just yotes and bobs get the 22-250. i have both cals and both are very good cals and both have there place.

[ing]

I too only have Leupold scopes.  I tried their VX-L with the boone and crockett reticle and hated it.  Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice scope, I just couldn't get used to it.  I grew up shooting just plain jane duplex crosshairs in all my scopes and thats what I prefer.  You mite want to try one before you spend the money on one.  Just my opinion.

[carpsniperg2]

also check out natchez shooters supply they have been having some killer scope sales on leupold as well i think its in there closeout catalog i just bought a bunch of crap from them i am a huge leupold fan as well i like the boone retical and the varmit hunter as well

[Gutpile]

Ballistic reticles are cool. I jumped on that bandwagon and have 3 now. Guess how many times I've used it on game? ZERO. In my opinion they are not necessary for fast flat shooting cartridges like the ones in this thread. With any of those you can hold dead on to 300+. I think my 22-250 was dead on to 340 or so. Past 300 so many other variables come into play that the ballistic reticles aren't that usefull anyways. And, 300 yards on a coyote is a very long shot.

Get one if you like but they are better suited for slower cartridges like a .308 and really aren't that necessary.  

If this is going to be a deer/antleope/coyote rig go .243. Coyote only my vote goes for 22-250. 204's are for girly boys and softy's like Big10gauge to play with.   Just kidding. I think the 22-250 is just a bit deadlier if you start pushing the range. I have no experience with the .204 but I see one in my future in the form of an upper for my Bushy.

[huntandjeep]

 i just bought a remington 700 in .22-250  kimbers are nice but a little spendy i had a ruger in .22-250 and .220 swift also nice shooters. my buddy likes his winchester model 70 and his savage.as for optics i like burris

[jaredpost]

Can't really speak for the rifle but I really like the Nikon scopes. I just bought a nikon monarch 3 x 12 with the BDC and love it. It is by far the best scope I have owned. I've also heard good things about the nikon preditor scopes but I don't have any experience with them.

[demontang]

I just went though the same thought. I was bouncing around between a 22-250, 243, and 25-06. I think if your not worried about fur and want to hunt larger game the 25-06 is hands down the winner now. the 243 is a good round but not as flat or have the energy of the 25-06 for the long shots. I would go 22-250 over a 204 Ive shot both and the 22-250 is the winner in my eyes. The 204 has less recoil but with a good rifle in 22-250 you can see where you hit, you can hunt big cats with the 22cal and not the 204. If you dont reload and for get your shells the 22-250 an 243 are easier to find then the 204.

Scopes I really like the bushnell legends the clear and not to spendy. The pentex I just got is a really good scope too and it has the ballistic plex which I like with my .338win.

[Bofire]

Very similar trajectories. difference is How big of bullet you want to shoot? One thing is the 204 is not legal for cougar, that matters to me, I do not know if it does to you. I do not care for any gadgets in my scopes.
Carl

[need2huntmor]

Thanks for all the info.  I am leaning towards the .22-250 or .243 because of the cougar hunting also.  I don't do much cougar hunting, but it gives me that option.  I guess I need to determine how important it is for me to use it for deer and/or antelope.  I can always use my .300 if I need.

Interesting info on the ballistic reticles.  I guess the are flat enough shooting out to 300-350 yards.  Any other opinions on ballistic reticles?

Any other suggestions on rifles.

[Bulldozer]

I have have the 22-250 and 243 and I have used a friends 204. I also have 308, 260 rem, and 257 Wby plus other overkill for varmint calibers. I shoot the 22-250 more than the others. It is a toss up between the 243 and 257 for second. The 243 is cheaper to shoot than the 257 weatherby but doesn't have the explosive results. My friend with the 204 is actually selling his to buy a 22-250.

As far as scopes everthing I have bought for the last 5+ years has a Sightron on it. I just bought my wife a 25-06 with a Sightron 3x9 HHR. HHR is their new hunter hold over reticle similar to a mil-dot. It has the center crosshair with 2 lines under it. With the 25-06 you zero for 200yds, 2nd line is 300yd, 3rd is 400yd.

As far as rifles most of mine are Ruger but I have a TC Encore with 22-250, 243 and 260Rem barrels.

[matt345]

I am interested in selling my Remington .22-250, are we allowed to post that info on this site??

[KillBilly]

You may post your .22-250 on the classifieds. You may not post it in a thread like this.

[Big10gauge]

If you're only going to have 1 gun for a wide range of different predators you might want to consider the .243 especially since you don't reload. That being said
 
High BC bullets and velocity with good KE is what kills predators with authority.

I'm not going to get into another .204 vs 22-250 debate because some guys would rather not take the time to actually run a ballistics program and pick the optimal bullet for the caliber, then go to the range and see what the chronograph actually reads out of their gun. Big difference between reloading manual data vs actually testing your own gun at the range, but since you don't reload most of the above is moot except for optimal bullet, also advertised velocity from factory loads usually are on the high side but not always.

So instead of listening to these guys BS   download a free ballistics program and crunch the numbers yourself like Pointblank.  You really need to consider different barrel lengths also, for instance if you buy a 20 or 22 inch 22-250 your not getting the full potential out of the cartridge, what you thought was going to be a flat shooter just turned into a dud compared to a 26 inch barrel. Might as well bought a slow mo .223 which I see that you're not considering   . Just depends on what you're wanting out of a predator gun.

 http://www.huntingnut.com/index.php?name=news&file=article&sid=3

Gutpile now for the girly boy thing, Here's some pixie dust that going to make you miss you're next coyote.  get you a 45 lb coyote next time you're out.

[Gutpile]

I couldn't believe it took you this long to see that.    Actually i'm dying to try a .204. Seriously thinking about an upper for the bushy.

BTW I would never wish a miss on a fellow coyote killer. 

[Intruder]

All 3 of those will get the job done.  IMO just shoot your 300 for all big game and buy yourself a varmit only gun.  Since you don't reload, the 223 is going to be the most economical to shoot  and generally have ammo that's easiest to find. 

Mueller makes a pretty decent tactical scope for about 200 bucks.  Not Leu but OK value.  You may want to consider a higher power than 12x... maybe 16 or more.  Way more dough though  if you're staying with the better glass like Leu... hence my mention of the Mueller.  If you're wanting to stay in the 10x or 12x range then there are a gob of good ones out there for the money... Sightron, Elite 3200, Leupold xI or II, etc.   

[Big10gauge]

I couldn't believe it took you this long to see that.    Actually i'm dying to try a .204. Seriously thinking about an upper for the bushy.

BTW I would never wish a miss on a fellow coyote killer.  

Yep my bad,that was a crappy wish on someone and a waste of pixie dust, you probably miss enough of them anyway if you're like the rest of us  :chuckle:I take it back and instead sprinkled it for a 45 lb coyote next time you're out. ( I can do that you know)