22-250 for deer?

[Wilderness Blacktail]

I have killed several deer with my 22-250. I hand load and use 50gr VMAX bullets and I have never had any take a step once I pulled the trigger on my 22-250. Bullet placement and type are the key though.

A friend of mine, who's a huntin fool, uses a 22-250 for his timber n mountain hunting. He hunts deer n black bear using the 50gr Vmax. He loves it!
I wouldn't have thot it but he says it penetrates really well and kills fast!

 

[Reloader51]

Hey 22-250 is a fine caliber for deer as long as you have a good bullet 55GR soft point or bigger. and you have a good shot placement.

 

[emp1953]

I have a friend that was a trained army sniper. He used a 22-250 for two seasons taking deer both years, head shots only and out to 100 or so yards. Only a small fraction of shooters can shoot as well as he could and he stopped using it because others in our group started going to tiny calibers and could not shoot like this guy. We spent more time hunting after they shot then before they shot, if you know what I mean.

 

[ThorThor]

Load 60 grain Nosler Partitions and go hunt

 

[del2les]

Yes I have. Head shots only. Bullets expand to quick. Respect for animal please.

Obviously, you haven't used the correct bullets nor had the decades of experiences many of us have.

 

[Pmacc60]

I picked up a Tikka T3 in 22-250 about 6 years ago as a truck rifle for coyotes and foxes etc. Sweet little gun that shot a range of bullets and was very accurate. I got it in my head go hunt the late season for deer and kill a couple does if the predators weren't available. I had a doe at three hundred yards feeding broadside, if it were a yote, fox or groundhog it was dead right there! I decided not to take the shot and I'm happy with that decision till this day. There are better choices ! Just saying

 

[Lahunter76]

I personally have several rifles that I would take over my 22-250, I wish I didn't have a factory barrel on it and could shoot the monos and I wouldn't be concerned at all with it, the 1:14 twist seems too slow to stableize them, but for 200yds and in that may not matter, I would like to keep the shots with in 150 to 100 if possible, but I am setting 200yds because my lane goes that far into the CRP(tree/grass) field and I know a couple very good first time bucks/deer like to travel that edge/end of the lane. But from what I already had in my mind and with yalls experience/opinions I feel confident I can get what I am looking for out of it

 

[del2les]

I picked up a Tikka T3 in 22-250 about 6 years ago as a truck rifle for coyotes and foxes etc. Sweet little gun that shot a range of bullets and was very accurate. I got it in my head go hunt the late season for deer and kill a couple does if the predators weren't available. I had a doe at three hundred yards feeding broadside, if it were a yote, fox or groundhog it was dead right there! I decided not to take the shot and I'm happy with that decision till this day. There are better choices ! Just saying

No argument, but that was not the question. There are "better choices" over bow-n-arrows, crossbows, handguns, muzzle loaders, shotguns, etc, etc. Properly loaded 224's in capable hands and within reason work on deer sized game.

 

[Pmacc60]

No argument, but that was not the question. There are "better choices" over bow-n-arrows, crossbows, handguns, muzzle loaders, shotguns, etc, etc. Properly loaded 224's in capable hands and within reason work on deer sized game.

Ok what you said is true however most handguns are short range deals , bow and arrow is better than the 22-250 on penetration and besides it's a ultra short range weapons ( as is crossbow ) shot guns and muzzleloader are much more powerful and devastating . When it comes to rifles if you have something better use it.

 

[SavageHunter11]

Picked up a 22-250 from a gent on the forums and really enjoy shooting it! So I am thinking about picking up some Barns 50gr ammo and using it for white tails! I believe that a 50gr pill rolling over 3800fps will kill and get the dbl lung in a perfect side shot, my questions is how far would y'all use this rifle for deer, was kinda hoping I would be able to use it to about 200ish yds and allow my nieces and nephews a gun to take and let them pop one. It has a stock barrel with a slow factory twist or I would reload heavier pills

At the time of writing this there are 9 pages of posts so I apologize if this has been said already. I think a lot of it depends where you are located. I had a roommate in college from Texas and he couldn't believe the size of the deer in Wyoming compared to what they have in his area.

He showed me a few pictures of what they call "nice bucks" in there area and they were definitely small enough I wouldn't want to bring it back to my deer camp and face the ridicule. If your in an area where the deer are smaller I think you'd get away with a 22-250 but I really think a 243win would be better.

 

[LongestShot]

A 22-250 will kill deer. That being said you have to limit your shots to broadside and neck/head shots. In short you're stretching the limits of the calibers ability. My personal perspective is that there's too much room for error and there are 101 different cartridges that are far more suited for deer. A 6mm or a 6.5 are far more suited for deer and the recoil is nominal. They allow for less than perfect shots and provide substantially more knock down power.

 

[Jluck]

Gawd…. Why do we keep doing this.... Is a 338 Lapua too small for sage rats?

 

[Gary in MD]

Gawd…. Why do we keep doing this.... Is a 338 Lapua too small for sage rats?

just make sure that your using heavy for caliber bullets!!!

 

[11confederate]

Energy of a .22-250 with Remington 50 grain Accutip at muzzle is 1602 ft-lbs at 3800 ft/sec.

At 50 yards energy is 1408 ft-lbs at 3562 ft/sec.

My rule right or wrong is 1500 ft-lbs for a white tail.

Crippling deer not acceptable. Done it once. Never again if I can prevent it.