22-250 for deer?

[Swiftkill]

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

Itll work fine. I slammed a 200# doe at 100 yards with a 40 gr. Ballistic tip and it dropped dead in its tracks. Id use a heavier bullet not for varmint

 

[Krosebil]

In my opinion a 22-250 can be used as a deer gun but within reason. When I was in college in Arizona I hunted with a crew that used long barreled bolt action 22-250's and 220 Swifts respectfully on Coues deer hunts exclusively. Most of the bullets used were 55GR boattails if I recall.I would bet we killed 20 of those things as a group over the years.We shot these little dudes well beyond the 200 yd max distance that I have seen others her post. Also killed a couple Wisconsin whitetails with the same rifle and they all dropped right there. The 22-250 is a pleasure to shoot, cost effective and the best part has tons of kinetic energy at 3500 fps...speed kills. I believe a well place do 22-250 shot will do most anything in. Good luck!

 

[Savage 22-243 AI]

We have used the 22-250 on and off for 40+ years for deer hunting in Missouri. Originally using a 64 gr Winchester ammo if I remember right then reloading came along and the 60 gr. Partition bullets from 18 years ago up to date. I have killed a rather large Buck with a 40 gr. V-Max and several does. Later on I went to a 22-250 AI with 1-9 twist and shot 75 gr. A-Max and its a deer killer also. Bullet placement is the answer to a quick kill. My .223 with same bullets works well to 130 yds. But with 22-250 or 22-250 AI I haven't found a max range yet where we shoot. I used a Mossberg, Interarms, Remington, Browning, T/C Encore, H&R and now couple by Savage LRPV and custom built Savage to name a few. Practice once a week if possible. Live fire or dry fire, just practice.

 

[Hirschi1]

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

Do it. I've seen 200-250 mule deer drop where they stand and some just a few steps away after bring hit with the 52 gr Barnes X. I will dare shoot out to 300 yards as long as it's a clear broadside shot. When I was much younger I shot a young buck pushing 500 yds with a 40 gr ballistic tip. He ran about 150 yds. He was difficult to find. I'll never do that again. 300 yds with a good big game bullet and a clean shot, heck yes.

 

[BigNate]

Load 60 grain Nosler Partitions and go hunt

Or whatever shoots well.
Anyone who says a .22-250 won't work, won't penetrate, wounds but won't kill just flat out hasn't used one on deer. I had a 788 early on that took a few with various 55gr bullets. I now have a M77 that will stabilize a Nosler 64gr. BSB quite well. Hornady 55gr sp work well. Shoot where you should and it'll die. As for the energy level being inadequate, I think on game performance means more than arbitrary math.
By the way a .223/5.56 with the right bullet also works, but is even more range limited due to lower velocity.

 

[Batt4Christ]

22-250 is capable of harvesting whitetail deer up to 200yds with a decent bullet and a god shooter.

Both deer I've shot with my 22-250 were clean kills, one fell in place, the other jumped and ran 20 yards. But longest of those two was 100yds.

If your gun has a fast enough twist rate, 60gr. plus bikers are great.

 

[swe123]

22-250 should be as adequate as a Creedmore.

 

[ddman]

That's round is a deer killing machine. Be sure to check your hunting regulations and make sure there isn't any restrictions on bullet size, in Oklahoma it's .22 cal and 55 grains and up on game animals. Varmints there are no restrictions here. Only reason I say this is just last week at my lgs a wardon was talking about a guy that was caught spot lighting and was using 40g hornady ammo. It was another hefty fine for him on top of the others he was going to get. Just a heads up. Most Watson's in my area are pretty versed in different rounds and ammo and would probably just give you a warning and tell you to get other ammo but you never know when you'll run into a d-head.

 

[Wilderness Blacktail]

Before I started reloading for my 22-250 for deer in 2008 I went thru my magazine stack and reread the articles on the subject by Brian Pearce, Layne Simpson and the late Finn Aagard (spelling?).
I wasnt looking for proof that itd work, I knew that as I had already taken a whole bunch of deer with smaller cartridges 22lr (legal for us here) n up. I was looking for bullets that provided solid deer penetration.
The 60gr Hornady was listed one of those listed and was more affordable. It's a great choice and I only went to the 60gr Partition to have a lil extra in case it was needed. Either of those with Imr 4895 and its bughole groups and lotsa dead deer.
I also worked up a rabbit/squirrel load with imr 4227 and a 55gr Hornady at 1400fps

Oh ya, John Barsness wrote about hunting with a culler in Africa who killed some kind of 150lb antelope by the truck load and used Winchester 55gr softpoint ammo exclusively. Shoulder hit or no, they did the job.

 

[blitzfike]

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

My state Oklahoma, requires minimum of 55 grain bullets in 22 centerfire rifles. Most of those older 22-250 twist rates won't stabilize heavier bullets. I've worn out two 22-250 rifles over the years and love it for varmint shooting. White Tail Deer will certainly fall with a well placed shot but you have to put it in the right place.

 

[chuckhunter3]

Many years ago I shot 2 deer with a 22-250 using 55 gr. Sierra bullets. Both required followup shots. Bullet performance was poor as both ran over 200 yds. and were very alive when a close range finishing shot ended it.
A few years ago I took my grandson deer hunting. I was going to let him shoot so I carried my Savage pistol in 22-250 hoping to see a coyote. He decided that he wanted to move to a spot further away from me. We were only there for about 10 minutes when a herd of deer ran towards me. There was an 8 point buck among them. When he stopped about 100 yds. away I shot him in the lungs with a 55 gr. V-Max. He ran about 50 yds. and dropped. The lungs were mush. Later I went to a neighboring state and repeated the shot on a 9 point buck at 60 yds. Again it ran 50 yds. and dropped. Lungs were again mush. I have a friend that shot his Antelope with a 22-250 using 70 gr Speer bullets. If I were to ever hunt deer with a 22-250 again I would use a better bullet.

 

[bobcat19]

Do you guys hear what your saying? Stay within this distance, head shot or broadside only, in the hands of an experienced shooter, if I only hunted deer, I shoot elk with 60 gr. Bullets. Why are you trying to use the bare minimum? How about I shoot a Cape buffalo with my 62 gr. Varmit grenade! That sounds stupid right? But bigngreen is telling me to shoot elk with a 60gr. Berger. Honestly I'm tired of this whole discussion what bullet works best for what situation. I shoot 1 bullet for all situations without fail! And it's overkill but I never question is it enough. I wouldn't shoot a 22-250 at anything bigger than a coyote. I've seen to many people use it to deer hunt and I won't hunt with them anymore. I even ran across a person that wounded a moose with a 22-250 and me and my friend had to track it down and kill it. Now, I know zero about whitetail I live in western Wyoming but I would never use a 60 gr. Bullet to hunt mule deer or elk. Why would you limit yourself to a pre-determined distance or broadside side shot. Why not go that little bit extra and make sure you have enough gun for every situation. I know this will probably end up on page 14 of this thread and not many people will see it, but how many people are continually using bullets for there unintended purposes? but telling me not to deviate from the min and max loads for a given caliber. Match and most hybrid bullets aren't made for hunting but people are still using them. I guess the what I'm trying to say is use ten times what you need and you'll always win. Half *** it and you get what you get and don't throw a fit!!!

 

[wcbrowning]

Do you guys hear what your saying? Stay within this distance, head shot/broadside only, in the hands of an experienced shooter... Why are you trying to use the bare minimum?... Honestly I'm tired of this whole discussion what bullet works best for what situation. I shoot 1 bullet for all situations without fail! And it's overkill but I never question is it enough. I wouldn't shoot a 22-250 at anything bigger than a coyote. I've seen to many people use it to deer hunt and I won't hunt with them anymore. I even ran across a person that wounded a moose with a 22-250 and me and my friend had to track it down and kill it. Now, I know zero about whitetail I live in western Wyoming but I would never use a 60 gr. Bullet to hunt mule deer or elk. Why would you limit yourself to a pre-determined distance or broadside side shot. Why not go that little bit extra and make sure you have enough gun for every situation. I know this will probably end up on page 14 of this thread and not many people will see it, but how many people are continually using bullets for there unintended purposes? but telling me not to deviate from the min and max loads for a given caliber. Match and most hybrid bullets aren't made for hunting but people are still using them. I guess the what I'm trying to say is use ten times what you need and you'll always win. Half *Rule 4 Violation* it and you get what you get and don't throw a fit!!!

One gun for every situation...

20mm Vulcan.

Never have to worry about anything...

Except humping that cannon through the bush!

 

[Nickie.01]

One gun for every situation...

20mm Vulcan.

Never have to worry about anything...

Except humping that cannon through the bush!

Love it! Should we have a basic rule that your weapon weighs as much as the animal being hunted? Happy New Year!