.22 Centerfires on Medium to Large game

[stazmania]

I thought this was for the people with results. Good or bad post them up. Mine are good already posted. It asked for real results not speculation.

 

[bigngreen]

One day 52 gr Berger 4 antelope between 65 and 630 yards with two 22-250s, closest shot through the point of the shoulder hard quartering on buck, only bullet caught on off side. Two mid range through the lungs, short sprint golf ball exits, longest behind the shoulder little smaller exit lungs still messed up.
8 Deer in about half an hour 52 gr vamax out to 600 yards, all clean kills, extreme evidence of broken blood vessels beyond jellow lungs no exit.
Another two deer, heavier mule deer between 300 and 320, 52 gr Berger, blown lungs, buck taken through the shoulder.
Running cow elk at 300 through lungs, piled up inside 100 yards.
5+ elk 223 with partition all inside three hundred, one round through lungs, 3/4 exit, dead elk inside 100 yards, one 320 class bull.
Multiple mule deer bucks with 223 out to 300 through the shoulders, dead inside 30 yards.
Based on experience with slower twist 22 cals, the newer fast twist heavy for cal will be sweet!

 

[nksmfamjp]

Do we really need another thread on the subject? I think people have aired their feelings on the subject pretty well the last couple of days.

I guess so, it is 10 pages and counting.

 

[1pocket]

Trying to determine what percentage of opinions on .22 centerfires on medium and large game are based on actual experience doing so vs conjecture or intuition.

Definitions:

Good shot placement: putting a bullet through heart and/or both lungs.

Good bullet: said bullet will penetrate to reach heart and/or lungs with adequate expansion to disrupt function of said organs.

if you are spot on with your shot placement and distance it does work.

if something does not go to plan the animal can suffer a slow and bad death assuming you hit it.

imo it is a very irresponsible to hunt larger animals with a 22 when so many appropriate calibers are readily available.

 

[Varmiter71]

if you are spot on with your shot placement and distance it does work.

if something does not go to plan the animal can suffer a slow and bad death assuming you hit it.

imo it is a very irresponsible to hunt larger animals with a 22 when so many appropriate calibers are readily available.

Like I said earlier I had a big Nebraska whitetail doe just like the ones pictured with the 22 creedmoor, that I shot with a 338 lapua.
That 338 lapua 285 eldm deer ran over 300 yards.
That is farther than all four of the 22 creedmoor deer combined.
So does that mean that the 338 lapua is too small and unethical for deer size game

 

[Phil Rizzo]

Like I said earlier I had a big Nebraska whitetail doe just like the ones pictured with the 22 creedmoor, that I shot with a 338 lapua.
That 338 lapua 285 eldm deer ran over 300 yards.
That is farther than all four of the 22 creedmoor deer combined.
So does that mean that the 338 lapua is too small and unethical for deer size game

I'm guessing you had erratic, poor bullet performance.
Did it expand?

 

[Varmiter71]

I'm guessing you had erratic, poor bullet performance.
Did it expand?

A little too far forward in the chest.
I was lucky enough to catch the jugular in the neck.
So I agree that shot placement is key, but you can't make up for that with a bigger cartridge.

 

[Capt. D]

I have done some deer predation hunts and have successfully taken Texas Deer out to 300 yards with an 8 twist 22-250 using 80 gr VLD's with a muzzle velocity of 3212 fps. Head and neck shots only.

In theory you can kill an elephant with a pencil if you put it in the right place. Used responsibly, a centerfire 22 cal. is a very affective tool.

 

[willfrye027]

Just being curious I ran some numbers against my 6.5 SS which has killed more than a few elk in the 800-900 yard range rather effectively. The 22 Creed with the 80+ gr bullets look like their nearly identical except the 6.5 having more energy but still landing with more than enough velocity to open the bullet well, wind drift within a 10th moa, altogether actually the 22 Creed seems interesting especially in the form factor you could build one in, ultralite, low recoil for better performance from various improved positions. It's definitely more interesting with these big 22 cal bullets!

Yep, this is why my hunting rifles are trending smaller and smaller.

Turns out an optimized .224 will run neck and neck ballistic wise with most anything, out to a reasonable long range hunting distance.

It also turns out that a big magnum does not truly provide that "margin for error" that guys believe it will. Without belaboring it, encourage guys to take a close look at ballistic gel data. You do not "need" to make a perfect head or neck shot with an 88eldm…they will turn lungs to soup and bust through a cardboard thin shoulder blade just fine.

After you look at the devastation caused by some of these heavy for caliber .224 bullets on game, you realize you've been doing it all wrong for years! At least that's my conclusion..

 

[Nomosendero]

Scary thought but yea!

 

[dogz]

Yep, this is why my hunting rifles are trending smaller and smaller.

Turns out an optimized .224 will run neck and neck ballistic wise with most anything, out to a reasonable long range hunting distance.

It also turns out that a big magnum does not truly provide that "margin for error" that guys believe it will. Without belaboring it, encourage guys to take a close look at ballistic gel data. You do not "need" to make a perfect head or neck shot with an 88eldm…they will turn lungs to soup and bust through a cardboard thin shoulder blade just fine.

After you look at the devastation caused by some of these heavy for caliber .224 bullets on game, you realize you've been doing it all wrong for years! At least that's my conclusion..

I'd add Willfrye that while some are beginning to get it that the heavy for cal .224 bullets will indeed cause a lot of devastation so will the standard 55's to 63 cnc bullets that most people in the Rocky Mtn states use when filling their tags for the fall.

For the kinds of ranges that most people take game at year in and year out (sub 400 yds) the heavies just aren't needed. Sure as heck doesn't hurt to use them, it's just that they're not needed as some people seem to think.

Those with experience in taking big game with the 22/250, Swift etc have sorted out just how effective they are.

 

[willfrye027]

I'd add Willfrye that while some are beginning to get it that the heavy for cal .224 bullets will indeed cause a lot of devastation so will the standard 55's to 63 cnc bullets that most people in the Rocky Mtn states use when filling their tags for the fall.

For the kinds of ranges that most people take game at year in and year out (sub 400 yds) the heavies just aren't needed. Sure as heck doesn't hurt to use them, it's just that they're not needed as some people seem to think.

Those with experience in taking big game with the 22/250, Swift etc have sorted out just how effective they are.

Very true. For me, when I started into .224, it helped me "feel" better actually looking at the numbers for the heavies and how close it is to our more…socially acceptable choices (.243, 6.5 creed, etc).

But absolutely the 220 swift and 22-250 guys have been doing it for ages with the mid weight stuff.

It turns out..when you hit them in the lungs with a bullet they tend to die quickly. When you hit them somewhere else..regardless of the bullet..they tend to die slowly or not at all

 

[Boatninja]

I've shot many South Texas does and spikes, (not Hill Country puppy sized deer) in a game management situation with a .220 swift with 45-55 grain bullets of various brands, but NOT target bullets. All head or neck shots under 200 yds, all dropped straight down and made excellent table fare.

 

[Al Diamond]

Many a family were fed during the Great Depression from shooting deer with a 22. Audie Murphy gives credit to one for making him the shot that he was. He'd head shot rabbits so as not to harm the "eating meat." I know that all of the deer in Lincoln County, Tn. were taken during the Depression and had to be reintroduced because of the 22. Would I use one? Only if there was no other option, but yes, I'd use one and make sure it dropped right there and I wouldn't harm the "eating meat."