Bobein_tyme
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Is a 22-250 a good cartridge? If so should I choose it over 6.5 Creedmoor?
22-250 or 6.5 Creedmoor?
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burrhead
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First off, welcome to THR. Pretty much all cartridges are good. Just depends on what you're using them for. What do you intend to do with the rifle?
Those are 2 very different cartridges intended for different uses. Both are excellent for what they do. What are you going to do with it?
The 22-250 is a flat shooting round intended for varmint shooting at long range, (300-500 yards.) The 223 shoots the same bullets a little slower, but is more popular and ammo is more accessible and cheaper. 223 is usually better at shooting heavier bullets than 22-250 making it a little more versatile. Most people find the 223 a little more accurate.
The 6.5 CM was invented as a 1000 yard target round. It is very efficient shooting extremely aerodynamic bullets at moderate velocity. While the bullets leave the muzzle slower than many cartridges the better aerodynamics mean they retain speeds better at long ranges. It has proven to be extremely accurate.
While designed as a target round hunters have discovered it is also a very efficient big game cartridge. Maybe the perfect deer round, but still with enough power to be adequate for bigger game like elk.
The 22-250 is a flat shooting round intended for varmint shooting at long range, (300-500 yards.) The 223 shoots the same bullets a little slower, but is more popular and ammo is more accessible and cheaper. 223 is usually better at shooting heavier bullets than 22-250 making it a little more versatile. Most people find the 223 a little more accurate.
The 6.5 CM was invented as a 1000 yard target round. It is very efficient shooting extremely aerodynamic bullets at moderate velocity. While the bullets leave the muzzle slower than many cartridges the better aerodynamics mean they retain speeds better at long ranges. It has proven to be extremely accurate.
While designed as a target round hunters have discovered it is also a very efficient big game cartridge. Maybe the perfect deer round, but still with enough power to be adequate for bigger game like elk.
mljdeckard
Member
It depends on a few things.
22-250 is a varmint cartridge, really hot velocity for .22 caliber bullets. Most of us use it for coyotes out to a few hundred yards. It can reach further, but the light bullets aren't the best choice for distance shooting. I usually tell people that if they want to hunt coyotes, and they like a bolt rifle, use 22-250. If they would prefer an AR, just use a .223/5.56. Same bullet, still plenty fast.
The 6.5 CM is the new cool cartridge for distance shooting. It runs roughly the same range, velocity, and trajectory as a 300 Win Mag, but with far less recoil. It was recently adopted for a lot of military sniping roles, most agree it's a better cartridge for distance shooting than the old .308. A lot of guys use it for hunting big game, and it's probably fine for all North American game, but for elk and moose I would still keep to my 30-06. You can find 6.5 CM rifles in a lot of different rifles these days, and "AR-10" AR platforms.
I recently built a AR-10 in .243 with a tighter twist rifling in the barrel to run heavier bullets, I plan to use it to shoot coyotes, deer, and distance shooting out to 1000 meters. If I learn that pretty well, I might build another upper receiver to shoot a 6.5 or something heavier to learn to shoot further.
22-250 is a varmint cartridge, really hot velocity for .22 caliber bullets. Most of us use it for coyotes out to a few hundred yards. It can reach further, but the light bullets aren't the best choice for distance shooting. I usually tell people that if they want to hunt coyotes, and they like a bolt rifle, use 22-250. If they would prefer an AR, just use a .223/5.56. Same bullet, still plenty fast.
The 6.5 CM is the new cool cartridge for distance shooting. It runs roughly the same range, velocity, and trajectory as a 300 Win Mag, but with far less recoil. It was recently adopted for a lot of military sniping roles, most agree it's a better cartridge for distance shooting than the old .308. A lot of guys use it for hunting big game, and it's probably fine for all North American game, but for elk and moose I would still keep to my 30-06. You can find 6.5 CM rifles in a lot of different rifles these days, and "AR-10" AR platforms.
I recently built a AR-10 in .243 with a tighter twist rifling in the barrel to run heavier bullets, I plan to use it to shoot coyotes, deer, and distance shooting out to 1000 meters. If I learn that pretty well, I might build another upper receiver to shoot a 6.5 or something heavier to learn to shoot further.
Aletheia
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There is very little to add to the already clear attempts to get you to see how different the two cartridges are, and that they are best at very different things. With that in mind, you need to define what you want to do with the gun so advice can be tailored.
horsemen61
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KsSkaEnthusiast
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This guy gets it ^^^^1. Yes it is
2. No buy both
C-grunt
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Is a Mazda Miata a good car or should I buy a Toyota Tundra? Well, that really depends on what you want to do.
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Bobein_tyme
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I go out west every once in a while to visit family and there is a lot of land out there. Figured why not buy a rifle for distance shooting. So I intend to do some distance shooting at their targets.
They use all sorts of calibers from 500-1500+yards
from 22 mag to 12 gauge slug and .50.
I would get the Creedmoor for that. There are many factory loads , and component bullets, for long range shooting. The 22 250 is fine , flat shooting , varmint cartridge. However, never heard of it being a long range wonder. If you custom built one with a fast enough twist for long , high ballistic coefficient, bullets that would be good for long range.
horsemen61
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C-grunt
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For that I'd buy the 6.5 Creedmoor. Ive seen guys make long distance rigs on the 22-250 but you need custom barrels and handloads because I dont think any factory options are set up for long distance target work.
From my experience with the 6.5 Creedmoor, a good target bullet in the 140ish weight range shot at 2700-2750 FPS is good out to 1200 yards no problem. 1200-1500 yards is still okay but requires more attention. 1500-1800 yards you gotta be on your game.
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