Fur Friendly 22-250 Options

[coyote wacker]

What's your preferred powder in the M70

Past couple years powder has been hard to find and I have a lot of Reloader 15 so its getting used and it has been working OK....

 

[ADKHTR]

After 30 years of hunting coyotes and feeling like it was my job at times, and almost always using my 22-250, the only load I ever found and still use that was consistently fur friendly is the 52 grain Berger, pencil in and zero exit… straight down and dead, no tail wag or runners just drt.. I started carrying a contractor bag on my snowmobile because those Berger hit coyotes make an awful mess of my Skidoo Tundra when their draining out all day riding around in the box I have built on my back rack, I took my sled back to the dealer one cold winter day for some warranty work and the mechanic that worked on it definitely wasn't impressed after that box thawed out in his heated garage. When we hunt cats or fox we usually use a shotgun with turkey loads or 22 WMR.

 

[BigNate]

I can tell you a lot that aren't!
I use a 12 twist and the only bullet that didn't cause big holes was the Speer 52gr Varmint HP #4708.
I didn't try Berger, but the Hornady sx came apart coming out of the barrel. They were great out of a 14" .223 Contender.
I tried all kinds of Ballistic tips at the time. Tried Hornady sp, hp, and others. My .257 Roberts with 75gr Hornady hp did far less damage that the .22-250 with ballistic tips.

 

[Dean2]

I can tell you a lot that aren't!
I use a 12 twist and the only bullet that didn't cause big holes was the Speer 52gr Varmint HP #4708.
I didn't try Berger, but the Hornady sx came apart coming out of the barrel. They were great out of a 14" .223 Contender.
I tried all kinds of Ballistic tips at the time. Tried Hornady sp, hp, and others. My .257 Roberts with 75gr Hornady hp did far less damage that the .22-250 with ballistic tips.

The hornady 50 grain spsx is speed limited to 3500 fps out of a 12 twist. Works great in the 223 or slowed from.max in a 22-250. Velocity limit is less out of a faster twist. The 55 grain spsx is specifically designed for the higher speeds of the 22-250 and won'tdisentegrate even at 3900 fps in a 10 twist. The very thin jackets are why they are so explosively frangible and dont exit. That is actually what the sx stands for, super xplosive.

 

[Bob Wright]

My 22-250 and Sierra 55 JHP and 3600 MV is not what I would use, ever, for fur. It's like a flying stick of dynamite. Of course, it's so much fun I am happy right where it's at.
Maybe slower velocity and a Spitzer, but interesting on what others use.

 

[Radman]

Hi all,

I am putting together a new setup for night hunting and I've settled on the good old 22-250. I grabbed a Tikka T3X that is a 1:8T, and I will be chopping the barrel back to somewhere between 16 and 18 inches to run suppressed.

Any feedback on bullets that are a little more fur friendly than what the 22-250 is generally known for? I was thinking something along the lines of a heavier barnes like the 77 lrx?

I will primarily be hunting Bobcat, fox, and coyote within 300 yards.

A friend swears by head shots & Hornadys. Says their brains turn to jelly & the bullets don't exit. I'm just saying...

 

[VinceMule]

14-15g of Blue dot with a 40g(2900-3000 fps) is easy on foxes and bobcats, with the Sierra 40g HP being the best, if they are ever going to be made anymore.

It is difficult to have one load for fox/cats and another for coyotes in open country.

 

[436]

.22 Caliber .224 Diameter 46 Grain Flat Nose Soft Point With Cannelure, it should be OK for 300 yards or so... I wouldn't go crazy on the speed end with them, just enough to get the job done. Or! Texas heart shots and you're golden across the board... no pelt damage. Good luck, Cheers

 

[B1s BmagX2]

D


22-250 on north eastern coyotes that can hit 60 pounds is pretty fur friendly. On fox and cats I don't know if you can make it fur friendly. It seems to blow everything smaller than a coyote in half. Even 223 with fmj was wicked on fox with body shots. I always figured if it's not in a trap and I wanted to save the hide better use 22mag or hornet. 22creed and 85.8 grain bergers was friendly on coyotes but hit and miss on fox with some serious vaporization going on. I think the bullet rpm's do as much destruction on thin skinned fox as does bullet construction.

Yep. And the fact that you need a faster twist rate to stabilize the longer, heavier bullets ads to the problem.

 

[PApa Black]

Hi all,

I am putting together a new setup for night hunting and I've settled on the good old 22-250. I grabbed a Tikka T3X that is a 1:8T, and I will be chopping the barrel back to somewhere between 16 and 18 inches to run suppressed.

Any feedback on bullets that are a little more fur friendly than what the 22-250 is generally known for? I was thinking something along the lines of a heavier barnes like the 77 lrx?

I will primarily be hunting Bobcat, fox, and coyote within 300 yards.

I use a .223 REM with w52 gr SMK at 3133 FPS. At 20 yards on coyotes a body shot does not exit. It blows up in the body cavity

 

[johngibbs222]

I'm so surprised that no one has mentioned Barnes varmint grenades in 224 cal, I have the 50 grn and the 36 grn bullets and they load and shoot fine in my 22" barrel 223 Ruger #3.
I load the 50 grn to about 3300fps with CFE 223 and the 36 grns with RL7 for around 3700 fps.
Apparently they have a core that is compressed powdered tin or copper that does what it says on the box.

 

[johngibbs222]

Omitted to mention that you can wind them up 500 - 600 fps more in the 22/250 https://www.barnesbullets.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/22-250-Remington.pdf

 

[txaggie1]

Anyone ever use 60 grain partitions on predators. I shoot deer with them here in texas not much out there tougher than a partition in the 22 lineup?

I wanted to load some 62 grain scrirocco's after these are used up, if we can get them to shoot should be a good option as well? Not sure about how they do on varmints - just curious;

 

[VarmintBob]

It's going to be hard to find a 22-250 load that gets at least 98% powder burn in an 18" bbl. You'll find out that an 18" 22-250 is pretty much the same as an 18" good old .223.