This is in regard to my daughter, who is 10 years old and medium framed. We already have a 243 but it's a little too much for her to handle without developing a flinch at this time. Maybe next year for the 243.

I am looking at a Weatherby Vanguard in .223 for my daughter. I like the trigger, though it might be a little TOO light (but I gather they are adjustable) and the fact that the youth stock comes with a spacer to increase it to an adult stock in case daddy wants to use it.

Question is, the price is $400 and that's a little more than I could get a Savage Axis for. But, it SEEMS like the Weatherby is slightly better made. Any info. on these guns? Well made? How do they shoot?

Lastly, I am waffling on the .223 versus .22-250 thing right now. We are in east Texas and I have no doubt that either would take these little deer, and even hogs, but which is best? I lean toward the .223 because I hear it is quieter, "slightly" less recoil, and slightly cheaper for practice purposes. These would be for short range target and deer hunting, no more than 100 yards. I have a hard time imagining that either is better than the other at that range, but then I am no expert.

So, The Savage Axis is $100 cheaper than the Weatherby, but then I would have to buy another stock for the Savage in order for me to use it. The weatherby seems to have a better trigger.

Is there any reason why I should NOT buy the Weatherby over the Savage? And, any practical reason to choose the 22-250 over the 223?

Todd

Buy an aftermarket .22 cal barrel, have a gunsmith take the barrel off the .243, have him chamber the .22 cal barrel for .22-250 and run it.

If you want to swap it back to .243, have the same smith clamp the action back in the barrel vise, unscrew the .22-250 barrel and rescrew the .243 on. He'll check head space with a go-guage then a no-go-guage and you're in the .243 business again.

At least that's what I'd do.

Oh and the .223 is slow compared to the .22-250. I've got a .22-250 and I love it!

get the .22-250

the .223 is very watered down, its marginal for a coyote imo.

i've killed alot of deer with a .22-250, and a few with a .223


there is a big difference in the two.

if you daughter can't handle a .22-250's recoil then she is too young to hunt

250 for sure!

Depends on if you want to buy a new rifle and how funds are. Managed recoil loads for the 243 very well could drop the recoil to a level she can handle it.

Inside 100 yards it really doesn't matter between 223 and 22-250 IMO. If letting her shoot beyond that then go with the 22-250.

I'm a big proponent of the .223 remington. I don't know what some people are smoking, but within 250 yards, the difference don't matter a whole lot. My 5.56 kills deer plenty well. I'm not a varmint hunter, but give it varmint bullets, and it will slay varmints.

Ammo is cheaper, recoil is about as law as it gets. Like any .224" you have to be very conscious of using the right bullet for the job. Plinking bullets for plinking, varmint bullets for varmints, and deer bullets for deer.

Yes, I'm the guy with an AR-15. I'm biased, and I know it. But I know it works.

Good luck. Have fun.

The aftermarket options on the Savage Axis line are pretty limited. Go for the Vanguard.

.223 i have a ar15 and shoot hogs out to 150yds easily shot placement and practice just use the right bullet in any case both rounds are for varmints

Caliber is going to do the same.

I would never buy the Savage

the 5.56 had a hard time killing 120 lb asian guys running around in rice hats.

that does not make it a great deer round.

a 55 grain bullet at 3250 fps and a 55 grain bullet at 3780 fps is a huge difference.

I'd rather have the 223, but in a remmy adl.

Load 60 grain Partitions, 50-55 grain Barnes TSX, or even Winchester 64 gr. Power Points in the .223, practice a lot & keep shots fairly close until she's ready for the .243. Shot placement is the key, always.

The confidence she gains from the light recoil and milder muzzle blast of the .223 will pay dividends as she gets ready for the .243 in a year or three..

The Weatherby would be my choice of the two you mention.

A flinch is tough to break. Best to avoid it, if possible. 22-250 still has a pretty good bark, even though recoil ain't bad.

Just don't get a short barrel, even in the .223, as that makes muzzle blast quite a bit more of an issue for kiddos.

Yup the speed in which the 55gr bullets fragment the faster they are moving at impact the faster they come apart. And unless using superformance or such what 22-250 loas is running 3780?

3680 fps......i stand corrected.

still a huge jump over the .223

I have both calibers and grab the 250 more than the .223 when walking out the door to coyote hunt. My buddy has a savage axis in 22-250 and its a sweet little rifle, very accurate.

22-250 would be hard to find in 1-9 twist 223 all day long and gives you the ability to run 60gr deer boolits.

advantage of the 22-250 is a 100 yds whatever it can do at 300 the 223 will do at 200 thats the whole and only difference

22 hornet at 40 yds

right on, we are not talking about a seasoned hunter.

I'd feel more comfortable with the 22-250, but the .223 should work well also with a heavy bullet.


And anyone who thinks a .223 is "marginal" for coyotes really needs to lay off the meth. I've heard some dumb stuff on the Internet before, but that takes the cake.

Hornady has a 243 Win Managed Recoil load in an 87gr SST bullet.

This is what I would sugest.

Also I have a 223 rem ans shoot 60 grain NP's out of it and have zero reservations of shooting deer with it, but like said above limit your ranges accordingly. The 22-250 would probably work good to, just never shot one.

ask yourself "what would jesus do?"

I'm fairly certain our lord would choose the .22-250

wrong, he's a fan of the 220 Swift

Both are great rounds and more than capable of killing anything in Texas with proper shot placement. And a .223 is perfect for coyotes I can't imagine why someone would even say that. Probably the same guy who thinks it takes a 300 Ultra Mag to kill hogs. First I would try some managed recoil rounds in a low grain for the .243. There is a guy on here by the name of ChadTRG that handloads and should be able to come up with something for her and would be much cheaper than a new gun.

Thanks for the great input guys. I think I am going to try and have her shoot the .243 before I make a final decision. I would much rather her use what she already has and get used to it. She isn't "petite" at almost 5ft, but she's not used to shooting anything with recoil. So far, it has been the .22 and a pellet rifle for her.

I think I will try and chase down some managed recoil loads, and if not, just go for a standard .243 round and have her shoot standing first as the recoil may seem to be less than shooting from a bench rest.

The gun she has is a Marlin XS7 in .243 with a youth synthetic stock (standard for the gun), and I have an after market Boyd's adult stock for it for when I want to shoot it.

If she does not do well with it, I think I am going to go for the Weatherby in .223. For under 100 yard shots it should be just fine.

Todd