Y’all talk me out of a 22-250

[Fire_9]

224 Valkyrie(not a ton of factory ammo yet), or just stick with a 22-250

This was going to be my recommendation

 

[isu22andy]

Cant beat a 22-250 bucks the wind better than a 204. Lazer on coyotes and pdogs with a 200 yard zero.

 

[Brian in Montana]

.243

I concur. I guess I'm a little partial to short actions and I've taken plenty of deer and varmints at various distances to be a believer.

 

[6mm Remington]

240 Weatherby or 6mm Remington

I like your message! I too love the 6mm Remington. It is a fantastic cartridge for what you describe. I've used it on gophers, coyotes, antelope, deer, and a couple elk. Fast and flat. The 240 Weatherby is certainly no slouch either. Then again another 22-250 would work very well for you.

David

 

[Cerebral Stalker]

I'm not a huge fan of .22 caliber bullets for deer, but for varmints and coyotes, I'd just stick with the 22-250. I don't think there is an alternative with any significant advantages. Don't fix what's not broken unless you are just "bored" with the 22-250 and want to have fun with a different cartridge.

 

[tjones]

Accurate life a .22-250 is around 1500-1800 rounds.

Not even close to accurate. I have a red pad Ruger M77 that has close to 3000 down the tube and a heavy bbl Remington 700 that has at least 3000 and probably more that are still going strong.

I have shot deer, antelope, coyotes, p dogs, gophers, rocks and targets. Works well on all. I just wish they were 1/8 twist,

 

[noharleyyet]

It’s time for a new coyote rig! I’ve been using a Savage 12fv 22-250 suppressed for about 6-7 years for prairie dogs, coyotes, deer and everything in between. I’ve always loved the cartridge but it’s time for a new rifle. That one is falling apart, it needs a new trigger and a new barrel, I think I’d rather just buy or build a new setup.

Is 22-250 the way to go or am I missing a better factory cartridge? I don’t want to reload this one, I just want to find a good factory load.

SIL has a 700 22-250 in a Sendero configuration...topped with a VX3 6.5x20x50 Target Dial. Prints clovers with loads and factory...and you can watch the holes being made. I've tried, unsuccessfully, to trade him out of it....off the chart fun to operate.

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

My take when I was looking for a varmit rifle I could not decide between a .223 Rem and 22-250 Rem.
I emailed Sierra and asked them how many rounds does a .223 Rem and 22-250 Rem last and still maintain peak accuracy. .223 Rem is good for 5000 rounds and 22-250 Rem 3500 rounds before it degrades they said.
Then you have Lake City Brass that you can get for $ 30.00 for 250 pieces in a .223 Rem and then Hornady’s Superformance .223 Rem 53gr V-Max at 3465 FPS and the high BC has it closeing the gap on the 22-250 Rem. No it’s not a 22-250 Rem but a .223 Rem is not bad either.
I am reloading a load close to Hornady’s with there 53gr V Max and V 133 powder and at 200 yards it averages .77 inch five shot groups. Good luck with your Choice.

 

[ImBillT]

224 Valkyrie(not a ton of factory ammo yet), or just stick with a 22-250

.224 Valkyrie has identical case capacity to a .223. It’s only advantage is that it’s SAMMI specified overall length allows longer seating of heavy bullets and due it’s shortter case, that longer seating will still fit in an AR magazine. It requires a boltface that is practically unavailable outside of AR platforms unless you buy a custom bolt, factory ammo is limited, if you’re going to reload and use a bolt action a .223 Rem will exactly match it’s performance in every way. A .224 Nosler actually uses a larger case, and keeps a standard small boltface, but factory ammo is still limited. I don’t know which will win the battle, but the .224 Nosler SHOULD.

Still, if sticking with factory ammo, the .22-250 is going to be the answer if P-dogs/coyotes are your focus. I’d consider the .243 and 6Rem if wanting to handle larger game better. The 6Rem offers a tad more performance and a tad more barrel life. Federal has recently brought out some nice factory options for larger animals for it.

 

[tjones]

I don’t want to reload this one, I just want to find a good factory load.

Devil is in the details.

 

[ImBillT]

Not even close to accurate. I have a red pad Ruger M77 that has close to 3000 down the tube and a heavy bbl Remington 700 that has at least 3000 and probably more that are still going strong.

I have shot deer, antelope, coyotes, p dogs, gophers, rocks and targets. Works well on all. I just wish they were 1/8 twist,

You’re not consistently shooting sub 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups with those rounD counts. For 1-2” five shot groups at 100yds sure. For hitting p-dogs at 400yds you’d missing a lot. Benchrester chasing match aggregates under .25 MOA throw PPC barrels in the trash can after 800-1200 shots. F-classers chasing .5 MOA shooting .243s and 6.5-284s, which are slightly harder on a barrel with a .22-250 throw barrels out between 800-1200 rounds. Using .284s, Dashers, 6XCs, and 6.5x47Lapuas you’ll see 1200-2000 rounds. BRs and .308s hang around for 3000-4000. A .22-250 is right in the range with a 6XC and 284Win. Many a varminter has reported similar results. For coyotes and deer you can shoot it a lot longer than that.

 

[ImBillT]

Cant beat a 22-250 bucks the wind better than a 204. Lazer on coyotes and pdogs with a 200 yard zero.

With a 14” twist barrel the .22-250 has DOUBLE the wind drift of a .204 Ruger. To take advantage of a tighter twist barrel you’d almost be forced to hand load. The .22-250 wins in the explosion department, and for larger animals than p-dogs.

 

[tjones]

N

You’re not consistently shooting sub 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups with those rounD counts. For 1-2” five shot groups at 100yds sure. For hitting p-dogs at 400yds you’d missing a lot. Benchrester chasing match aggregates under .25 MOA throw PPC barrels in the trash can after 800-1200 shots. F-classers chasing .5 MOA shooting .243s and 6.5-284s, which are slightly harder on a barrel with a .22-250 throw barrels out between 800-1200 rounds. Using .284s, Dashers, 6XCs, and 6.5x47Lapuas you’ll see 1200-2000 rounds. BRs and .308s hang around for 3000-4000. A .22-250 is right in the range with a 6XC and 284Win. Many a varminter has reported similar results. For coyotes and deer you can shoot it a lot longer than that.

Well there is real life and interweb life. I will go with the real thing. Not sure how we went from p dogs, coyotes and deer to benchresters and F class shooters, but its the off season and going to be a long winter. Carry on,,,,,

 

[ImBillT]

NView attachment 92714

Well there is real life and interweb life. I will go with the real thing. Not sure how we went from p dogs, coyotes and deer to benchresters and F class shooters, but its the off season and going to be a long winter. Carry on,,,,,

And you shot that today, not 1000+ rounds ago? Sure your round count is correct? We can all get the occasional great group. We can also post pics of our best groups with a gun, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worn out. I’ve had guns throw together the occasional good group, and then make some bad ones when they were on the way out. I’ve had them shoot pretty well on a clean barrel, but they start fouling quickly due to fire cracking. If you’re doing that consistently at 3000 rounds, that is by far the exception. Not nearly the rule. There’s no doubt that it’s excellent cartridge, especially for someone wanting a .224 round and not interested in fire forming or reloading. Every post I’ve made in this thread has acknowledged that the .22-250 is the answer for the OP if wanting factory anmo and a gun that does what his .22-250 does. It’s just hard to beat. It should be more popular than it is.

 

[Fire_9]

.224 Valkyrie has identical case capacity to a .223. It’s only advantage is that it’s SAMMI specified overall length allows longer seating of heavy bullets and due it’s shortter case, that longer seating will still fit in an AR magazine. It requires a boltface that is practically unavailable outside of AR platforms unless you buy a custom bolt, factory ammo is limited, if you’re going to reload and use a bolt action a .223 Rem will exactly match it’s performance in every way. A .224 Nosler actually uses a larger case, and keeps a standard small boltface, but factory ammo is still limited. I don’t know which will win the battle, but the .224 Nosler SHOULD.

Still, if sticking with factory ammo, the .22-250 is going to be the answer if P-dogs/coyotes are your focus. I’d consider the .243 and 6Rem if wanting to handle larger game better. The 6Rem offers a tad more performance and a tad more barrel life. Federal has recently brought out some nice factory options for larger animals for it.

Not quite where you get your info but a 223 does not match a Valkyrie. I agree the bolt face doesn’t make it as appealing, but the performance is not the same. 223 AI maybe but not a staight up .223

 

[std7mag]

Something that will reach out there and is good for varmints and larger game with factory ammo?

Sounds like 257 Weatherby teritory there...

Or you could really challenge yourself and get a 30-30..

If it were me, i'd be on the phone to E.R. Shaw and having another barrel sent to the house..
But that's just me..

 

[Deleted member 16014]

NView attachment 92714

Well there is real life and interweb life. I will go with the real thing. Not sure how we went from p dogs, coyotes and deer to benchresters and F class shooters, but its the off season and going to be a long winter. Carry on,,,,,

BillT is the content MACHINE.

 

[ImBillT]

Not quite where you get your info but a 223 does not match a Valkyrie. I agree the bolt face doesn’t make it as appealing, but the performance is not the same. 223 AI maybe but not a staight up .223

.224 Valkyrie holds 30.8gr if water

.223 Rem holds 30.5gr of water
.223 AI holds 32.4gr of water
.222 mag holds 32.8gr of water
6BR holds 37.8gr of water
.22-250 holds 43gr of water

A .22-250 is a bit over bore capacity which is why a .223AI will come so close to it. A .224 Valkyrie offers very little advantage over a .223 other than its ability to run long bullets in an AR magazine.

 

[ImBillT]

BillT is the content MACHINE.

If that’s the game we’re playing....

The red targets were shot at 100yds using a .223AI with a factory trigger and a 6X Docter scope with a heavy duplex. The black target was shot at 200yds using a 308Win with a Rifle Basix trigger and 24X scope with a target dot.

The OP has some idea of how many rounds he put through his .22-250, and how it shot when he decided to replace it. If he was happy with his barrel life, then he should go back with a .22-250 because it is the easiest route to duplicating that performance. It requires no fireforming and has readily available factory ammunition. A .223AI will give 50%-100% more barrel life depending on how the two are treated, what accuracy level is acceptable, throat length, lead angle, barrel maker, and how lucky he is with his particular barrel.

 

[noharleyyet]

Pissing contest aside, that’s some nice shooting.