.22-250 For Deer

[gatorjames85]

My first hand experience with .22 caliber centerfires is as follows: I have shot one buck with a .22-250 at 250 yds, spine shot, dropped it. Same trip, my brother shot two bucks with the same gun and easily recovered both, including one he shot in the ham. This year, my brother shot and easily recovered a buck with a .223. We never lost any deer we shot with .22 centerfire rifles.

OTOH my dad lost a deer he shot multiple times with a .270. There were several good sized puddles of blood, but the trail ran out and we never found it. He also had to use a dog to track a buck he shot with his .300 wsm, and that ended being a boiler room shot.

If you put a .22-250 with an appropriate bullet into a deer's vitals, it will drop it as quick as anything else. Deer have very thin skin and fast bullets create nasty wound channels.

they do MUCH more soft tissue damage then ANY 50-60gr .22 cal could ever hope to do

This hasn't been my experience and FWIW, my current deer rifle is a .243.

 

[pwrstrkd]

22-250 with 60 grain nosler partitions should do the trick. As long as you do your part the bullet will take care of the rest.

 

[BoilerUP]

Largest deer ever taken on my family's KY farm was a beautiful 14-pointer that dressed north of 200lbs and scored higher than 140...that was taken at ~50yd by a 14 year old boy shooting a .223 Handi-Rifle with factory Hornady 55gr V-Max ammo.

Wouldn't have been my choice of loading but hey, the deer never took a step (high shoulder/neck shot, IIRC) and the mount looks beautiful.

Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement.

 

[kyle1974]

I know a guy who shot a HUGE whitetail in North Dakota. I was there when it happened. He hit the deer square in the rib cage as we could see blood on the side of the animal. This was about a 100 yard shot. THE DEER WAS NEVER RECOVERED.

OH MY GOD!

I know people that shoot deer with a .300 win, and they're never recovered. I watch guys come from all over the place shooting .30 caliber (or larger) rifles, and can't make a 100 ayrd shot...

put the bullet in it's place, and the deer is dead. I have killed numerous deer with a 22-250, as well as a 223. Neck shots, and head shots, they are goners.

 

[Kachok]

Neck shots and head shots are totaly differnet from boiler room shots, a 22LR can drop a deer with a head or spine shot, If you are accurate enough to sever the spine at 200 yards 100% of the time by all means use a 22-250 you are the man, but if you are using 55gr V-max on double lung shots you need to find another sport IMHO.
Some could make a case for the SGK and TSX but even those don't compare to any decent .24-.28 caliber rifle for soft tissue damage. I just don't see why anyone would want to use a .22 cal when they have a perfectly capable 243, 6mmRem, 260,7-08, 25-06 or 6.5x55 in the gun safe. Zilch for recoil, inexpensive to shoot, flat shooting, longer ranged, all proven deer slayers with a varity of differnt loads. Could anyone explain that too me? Is it just to prove you can do it? Or is it because they don't have a real deer rifle?
.22 cal bullets on avarage have a much lower BC which means they will drift alot more and loose energy MUCH faster going downrange. Some of you may remember my Head to Head comparison of deer hunting "sissy kickers" in which the 22-250 did very poorly. Worst in the contest in fact. Still a great varmint round though. You don't need alot of KE, mass. or momentum to lay the smackdown on a prairie dog.

 

[Kachok]

BTW I am not picking on the small caliber crowd here, I say the same thing to the people wanting to hunt deer with a 45ACP and the sort. Having a little too much gun is much better then not having enough when taking a living thing. I am a good enough shot to sever the spine or pop the skull and I still bring a light kicking powerful rifle with me. My 6.5x55 carries more then the recomended energy/speed/momentum well past 500 yards and any 6 year old can shoot it.

 

[suzukisam]

Nope. I refuse to use anything less then a well constructed 80gr+ .243 cal bullet on deer (boiler room shots). If anyone is concerned with recoil just use a 243 or a 6.5x55 any 6 year old can handle that level of kick, and they do MUCH more soft tissue damage then ANY 50-60gr .22 cal could ever hope to do. I do not like this recent trend of trying to use the smallest round you could hope to get a kill with. Can a .22 kill a deer......sure. Can a Ranger pull a 32' Proline.... sure but neither is a good idea IMHO.

okay... your half right.. 243, and 6.5 swede do a better job all things being equal.. those are two of my favorite calibers, I am a 6mm nut.. where your very wrong is assuming a .22 caliber bullet is a "bad idea".. a 70gr txs is a very effective tool, and not one to be taken lightly.. they work very well, and every time.. a "standard" kill shot from a 70gr tsx will do the job without a follow up... now I do not know much about 22-250, but from what I understand they are usually a monotonously slow twist... much slower than I would want in a .22, I'm not a varminter... I run a 1:7 in a 223/556 and though I typically hunt with a 6mm(.243) my 8 year old nephew typically bags one or two every year with one of our ARs loaded with a 70gr tsx, and he is not crack shot... well for 8 he is a marksman, but he does well to shoot 3 inches @100... but he always drops 'em.. his uncle makes a mean 223 cartridge though

 

[Kachok]

The standard 22-250 twist is 1:12 which won't stabalize a 70gr copper bullet. 52gr is pushing it. I never said it would not be effective, just a second rate choice if shooting longer ranges especaly if you have any kind of crosswind. No doubt a 22cal bullet can drop a deer with an exceptional shot I would never argue that point, poachers do it all the time around here. But I stand by my statement that the puney 243 is a MUCH better choice even if neck shots are you prefrence. 80gr BTs at 3400fps+ should knock a softball sized crater going through the neck of a whitetail. A 115gr 25-06 or a 140gr 6.5 is better still, and almost any expernced hunter will agree that those are absolutly lethal on any deer at any realisitc range, on any aimpoint. I have hunted for over 20 years and have yet to track anything that I have shot, no doubt that had I been using a 22 I would have lost a couple at leased. One in particular was a hard angle shot from a tree stand and the bullet struck the shoulder socket directly, any 22 would have broken up or at leased lost most of it's momentum, but my 6.5 shatterd the socket, pulvarized the heart and lungs and left a huge exit wound out the other side, the deer staggerd for a second and fell over dead right there. Clean kill that would have been a lost/wounded deer with a lesser caliber.

 

[ghostwriter]

The deer out here in the valley are kinda on the small side so unless you don't mind wasting a lot of good eatin meat, go for a varmint accuracy shot in the neck. I use a .220 swift (Same ballastics as the .22-250) and I love it. Flat shootin, deer killing accuracy. I use a 52 gr JHP and push it around 3850-3870'/sec. I also have a 6.5 - 20 Nikon for optics and have a bullet drop chart so dialing in for a longer shot is not an issue. Here in California you have to have a 22 "centerfire" rifle not rimfire to use the .22 caliber for deer.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

my Ruger No1 has a 1:14 twist, I shoot 55 grain, yall think a 60 grain partition or even a 64 grain would perform with this twist. I kill hogs and deer with the 55 grain with no problem, heart/lung shots, just would like to go to bigger bullett.

 

[Kachok]

Doubt it, the 65gr SGK is recomended with twists of 10:1 minimum a 14:1 is beyond pushing it. The TSX is all copper and thus a little longer on avrage so those would be even worse. 55gr is probably all you can stabalize, mind you I have little real world expenrence with any .22 other then a 223 and 22LR.
For all these cases in which a high powerd rifle resulted in the loss of a game anamal the usual suspect is lack of expansion, sometimes people use hard comtroled expansion bullets on deer when there is no real reson for that. If your bullet fails to expand you are essentaly punching a small hole clean through them, not really good for quick clean kills. I study all the bullets I use in my rifles, all of them have a solid reputation for reliable rapid expansion at their intended impact speeds. For example I use SGKs in my magnums but they do not expand quickly at lower speeds so I use SSTs or BTs for longer ranges and in my slower calibers.

 

[suzukisam]

any 22 would have broken up or at leased lost most of it's momentum

again I think you are making statements that are way too general to hold water.. a tsx does not break up..ever.. even on the cartilage plate of a large hog.. and from my experience I can tell you they will blow through the shoulder socket or skull even out to 350 yds.... maybe further but I can attest to this distance personally.. I have seen a 70gr tsx blow through both front shoulders and exit... I think you are far too focused on caliber rather than bullet, and twist rate... twist rate would be the killer for a heavy bullet..

 

[Kachok]

I have seen several TSX bullets come apart, good thing about them though, when they blow all their peddles off you still have a nice chunk of copper left, not expansive enough to get a "hydrostatic" shock kill but it has a better chance of a kill rather then a lead core that would be in 1,000,000,000 pieces just under the skin.

 

[HarcyPervin]

seemed to work just fine for me last season. but that was a broadside shot at 60 yards. It'll do in a pinch, but not my first choice for a deer gun, especially around here where most of the hunting is in the woods and the deer are full bodied and tough. Also, really don't want to do all of the work to lose a deer to the wolves

 

[35 Whelen]

I've no experience with a 22-250, but I have the lions share with a 220 Swift. I first owned one in a Ruger #1A, then a 77V. With the 77V I killed 12-15 deer. I chose the rifle because it was extremely accurate and with it I could get close to 3900 with a Sierra 55 gr. SBT which translated to a very flat shooting rig. This load, sight a hair under 2" @ 100 yds. dropped less than 3" at 300 yds. On a broadside shot, the bullet mentioned would penetrate to under the offside skin where I'd typically find the jacketed without the lead core. I bagged one buck with a 50 gr. Speer and penetration was a bit less than with the Sierra.
I had a buddy that was extremely recoil sensitive and missed or bungled almost every shot he took with his .270. I loaned him my 77V and he began killing deer like there was no tomorrow. He even used it to great effect on hogs once he learned that they needed to be shot behind the ear as the little Sierra wouldn't cut it on broadside shots. He borrowed it for so long that he finally bought it from me.
My current Swift is a Remington 700 Classic with a Burris 3-9 scope. It too is crazy, crazy accurate. On my loading bench I have framed a target fired from the Classic that's a 3-shot group fired that measures 1.1" center-to-center. The group was fired at 350 yds. With the 55 gr. Sierra I'm "only" able to get around 3750 fps from the 24" barrel.
I've not shot near as much game with it. I have fired a few of the old Barnes X bullets (pre-TSX). They weren't very accurate. I did dig one out of a dirt backstop and the darn thing looked like a copper ball. Hadn't lost a single petal. I did work up a load for the 60 gr. Nosler Partition. It's not exceptionally accurate, but plenty good enough for deer and stabilizes fine in the 1-14 twist. I might have found a more accurate load with it, but to me these bullets are too expensive to fiddle around trying to find a load that shoots 3/4" instead of 1".
With the Partition my wife hase killed two bucks with onw shots apiece, no problems:



It's been my experince that hunting deer with a .22 centerfire is not much difference than it is with any other "deer" cartridge. I've only lost one deer while using a Swift and it was because I tried a quartering away shot with one of the aforementioned 50 gr. Speer SP's. But, I'm certain I'd have lost the deer had I been using my 6mm or 257 with a cup and core bullet.

I think that most people who badmouth .22's for deer haven't used them enough to know. Kinetic energy has NOTHING to do with killing.
35W

35W

 

[Kachok]

It all comes down to margin of error, heavier bullets with higher kenetic energy and sectional density will almost always penatrate much deeper and create a more consistant wound tract. My 6.5mms with 140gr bullets have given me good expansion, massive damage to the vitals, and complete penatration 100% of the time no matter what the range or angle of the shot. There have been many shots I would have had to pass up on because of the lower penatration of the lower SD .22cal bullets, now I will say that the heavier TSXs almost always penatrate completly they really are in another class vs conventional cup and core bullets.

 

[auburnhunter]

I live in south Alabama and have hunted with a Ruger 77 in 22-250 for about 20 years. I wanted one because when I was growing up one of my father's friends always hunted with a Remington 788 that was a 22-250 and he killed a lot of deer. Over the last 20yrs, I have killed a lot of deer, many over 200lbs, and several 10 pointers. I have NEVER lost one, and I only once have I had one run more than say 40yds. There are not many places in Alabama where you typically get a lot of long shots, but I have some family land in Bullock county and it is very open. Most of the shots there are in the 150yd range and I once shot one at over 300yds. I haven't bought cartridges for it in years, but I think the ones I settled on were Remington 65gr soft point core-lok. As someone said before, the shot angle is critical, and I have let a few walk when I couldn't get the shot I wanted. I need a better scope though, it has always carried an old weaver K-8. I carried a 25-06 Varmit Special 700 for a while, but it was too heavy, can't remember if I ever shot anything with it.

 

[45Fan]

With propper shot placement, Im sure a .22 CF would do the job. White tails arent always the 200lbs + dress weight monsters that we see in hunting magazines. A heavier caliber might open more options for shot placement, but eviently isnt required, as many here have already stated.
I have been in some parts of this country where anything larger would just be over kill.

 

[suzukisam]

I'm in northern mo...well kansas city area.. and we may not have the biggest deer in the country, but pretty close...kansas, iowa, and mo are no slouches for beautiful bucks.. my problem is that of coarse a nice 170 class would be fun to shoot and mount, but the meat isn't the best...I've smoked a couple yearlings in the last couple years and they are really my favorite eating... I have a 300 wby mag and a 7mm RM, but my 243 with a tsx will kill anything quickly and effectively... if a big trophy comes along I have no problem dropping it dead with a shoulder shot with a 300 mag, but what do you do when a yearling walks out and you have a friggin RPG for a deer rifle..I pesonally think a 223, 243(6mm), or my 6.5x55 is all the rifle I NEED in MO even for the big bruisers... and my old man shot a nice 14 point last year, so I know what we are hunting....

 

[Kachok]

OK I have it from a good source that the TSXs do penatrate deep enough for boiler room shots on deer with the 22-250, through and throughs are not very common on the larger deer. Still not my first choice of a deer rifle since my normal shot is over 150 yards (22 TSXs are not very aerodyanmic) but enough for hunting in the woods. I still like 160gr 7mms 140gr 6.5s and 180gr .30 cals because they all drive very very deep on hard angle shots. Sure it "wastes" some energy out the other side on perfect broadside shots, but any one of those would darn near go through a deer lengthwise! I guess I just like exit wounds. More blood to follow if I ever do have to track one.

 

[suzukisam]

OK I have it from a good source that the TSXs do penatrate deep enough for boiler room shots on deer with the 22-250, through and throughs are not very common on the larger deer. Still not my first choice of a deer rifle since my normal shot is over 150 yards (22 TSXs are not very aerodyanmic) but enough for hunting in the woods. I still like 160gr 7mms 140gr 6.5s and 180gr .30 cals because they all drive very very deep on hard angle shots. Sure it "wastes" some energy out the other side on perfect broadside shots, but any one of those would darn near go through a deer lengthwise! I guess I just like exit wounds. More blood to follow if I ever do have to track one.
Kachok is online now Report Post Quick reply to this message

yeah... okay look a tsx will blow through and through no problem.. if you don't have any experience using them, you shouldn't typing so much

 

[Kachok]

Nope no experence with them, not on deer anyway, I have larger calibers for them, but it does not take a ballistics expert to tell you that a .22 cal 55gr bullet with 826 lbs of KE (@200 yd) has much less wounding potential then a 140gr 6.5mm bullet with 1866 lbs (@200 yd). That is just common sence I would think.
Is the 22-250s wounding potential enough for deer hunting? The genral consensus is "yes" for most situations with exceptional shot placement. Will it rival the 6.5x55, 243, 270, 30-06 for big game hunting versatility...... Not in a million years. If someone was shopping for their first hunting rifle I would not recomend the 22-250 but if someone wanted to deer hunt and did not have anything else I would not caution against it either, assuming they were a good shot and had propper bullets.
I am not picking on anybody I just like my reasonable level of overkill, it has served me well over the last 24 years.

 

[gatorjames85]

with exceptional shot placement

Once again, this does not jive with my first hand experience. I would like to know if anybody has experiences where they have lost deer they shot with .22 caliber centerfires. I think that would be the most relevant information.

 

[newfalguy101]

I would like to know if anybody has experiences where they have lost deer they shot with .22 caliber centerfires. I think that would be the most relevant information.

Gator, I would callenge you to name ANY cartridge that is a 100% guarantee kill regardless of where the critter is hit.

My point is, no matter the cartridge, there have been deer lost using it, and I would suggest that the majority of time its due to poor placement, with poor bullet selection a far distant second place.

 

[ZeroJunk]

Well, there have certainly been a lot of deer killed with this or that 22 centerfire. And, if you can't get a good shot you just pass and shortly another deer will come along. But, you may stumble across a 250 pound buck of a lifetime quartering away from you with his head down following a doe trail. A 7 Mag ( oh no, magnum), 270 Win with good bullets, or similar can go in right in front of the hip bone and bust the deer's vitals right there. I'm not so sure about a 22 cenerfire