22-250 hunting ammo

What do y’all use ? Good penetration , expansion , etc.

With your probable twist rate (1:14), a hand load with 55 gr Sierra Game King Spire Point Boattail.

MV 3780 fps

For varmints or deer?

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

the fusions have given us good performance on deer sized game

Knew this old school hispanic rancher in south Texas did all his hunting with a 55gr soft point, i think just the plain silver box of Winchester. He mostly shot cull bucks and game for meat but he basically head/base of neck shot them all. It was brutally efficient and totally awesome.

45gr. TSX

I've killed more than a few deer with a 55 grain sierra gameking and a neck shot. That gameking is also a good bullet.

If you can restrict yourself to neck shots with the .22-250 it will serve you.

my dad's old Sako 22-250 killed a lot of south Texas deer with a 63g Sierra soft point
he was a wicked good shot and hated tracking, I bet 99% were straight down with a neck shot

I have the bug for one, his is in the safe and I don't want to thread the barrel so I am considering options.. a suppressed 22-250 would be fun!

I'm loading some 50 grain GMX bullets in 22-250 right now. The 50 grain will stabilize in the 1:14" twist barrels well, and even better in the 1:12" twist. The solid bullets offer really good penetration, even for shoulder shots. The varmint style bullets do not work as well for shoulder shots.

Back in the 80’s, I had less than ideal performance from Varmint bullets on deer. Much better performance from the 63 gr Sierra SMP bullets. This was in my 220, and I was shooting them in the lungs. I was guiding customers back then and was going to let them do all the deer hunting while I stayed in the Jeep and Varmint hunted. But it never failed that I’d get a radio call to get us a doe to feed the customers. I quit using the Varmint bullets and went to the Sierra 63 gr. There weren’t a lot of options back then. And the 63 gr bullet was very accurate (over IMR 4064, if memory serves).

Wow! Neck shots! Brings back horrible nightmares. First time in Colorado when I was very young and very inexperienced I stumbled on a nice Muley standing at 10 yds. For some STUPID reason I thought I would get cute and shoot him in the neck with my 3006. He dropped. Second STUPID mistake I set down my rifle and went to take a pic from where I shot. He jumped up and ran off. I trailed very few small drops of blood the rest of the day until my very patient but very bored wife suggested I give up which I did. Yall shoot em where you want but I will never neck shoot a deer again. If you are undergunned and/or have improper bullet and/or can shoot and hit a target that small then more power to you but that's too many ifs ands or buts for me.
As for the OP- I think about anything with decent shot placement will kill a coyote. Same thing on a head shot hog but most everyone would likely agree that a hog shot elsewhere with a 22250 is trouble so go with whatever will penetrate and ill let the experts tell you what that is based on twist etc. As far as a 22250 for deer I would never use one unless it was a recoil conscious novice in which case very carefully placed behind shoulder with something stout that will penetrate. My 2 cents.

^^^^

if you can't cleanly kill ANY deer in Texas with a 22-250 or 243 you need to spend a LOT of time at the range...

True

I have used several different bullets over the years in a 22-250 for deer and the 60gr Nosler Partition when it came out is what I switched to . Had good results with other partitions and this one has never let me down either. Before that bullet I had settled on the Game kings or Nosler 60gr solid base which also worked well. I just have more confidence in taking a shoulder shot with the partition. Head or neck shots doesn't really matter as about any bullet will work, though I did have a 60gr Hornady soft point flatten out against the neck bone on a doe and a half mile plus tracking job to find her.

Yup.

And I think the term "neck shot" is way too broad, that is a large area of a deer.

However, if the rifle, ammo, and shooter can hit very small, then just about any bullet in the BRAINSTEM will have a deer dead before it hits the ground. It is how I shoot whitetail does, but not with a .22-250. I'm sure there are plenty of online images showing how to locate the brainstem from any angle.

Broadside, down from the ear noch, back from the jaw line.

Facing toward, go right under the chin.

Facing away, just below a level line connecting the bases of the ears.

You guys always have great insights - thanks

I used Barnes Vortex 50 grain .22-250 last year to kill a turkey, javelina,hog,and a whitetail doe.
All 1 shot kills, dropped in their tracks.

The Sierra 63 Grain SMP is a good choice for the slow twist barrels common in the .22-250.

My Uncle, a .220 Swift fanatic, has killed a supertanker full of deer using 55 Grain Sierra flat base soft points over enough IMR-4064 to get them to 3900! fps. I would still recommend a heavier bullet if it will stabilize in your barrel.

My beloved Nosler 64 Grain BSB takes a 1 in 11.5 twist to stabilize in a .22-250 per the Berger Twist Rate Stability Calculator.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I've killed dozens of deer with a neck shot.


most of the time, people aim too high, clip the back of the neck. This results in them hitting the deck but getting up and running off, most of the time while a surprised hunter is over them.


I don't use them much anymore, but nothing wrong with a properly executed neck shot

Ive been hunting over 25 years and have read countless books on hunting, shot placement, etc.


I've never heard or read about a person advocating a "brainstem" shot.

Well, you have now.

I've stuffed coolers many times with brainstem shots on whitetail does between 70 and 250 yards, and one cow elk at 510 yards.

Savage!

If you hand load, Sierra 63gr Semi-point works excellent. I've probably killed more deer with this bullet than any of my other calibers combined. The Sierra 55gr Spitzer also works well.

If looking for factory rounds, the Winchester Pointed-Soft Point in either 55gr or 64gr works well also. The 64gr is pretty difficult to find, but it does great work on pigs and deer. It stabilized out of my 1:14 twist Remington and my dad's gun just fine.

yeah the 63g shot one ragged hole groups out of my dad's old Sako (1/14)
I tried some 65g Sierras and they were key holing at 100 yards

ordered some 63g Spitzers from Sierra an back to one hole with a stout load of Varget

I just look at his old Sierra manual from the 80s and his handwritten notes were almost a grain over max with H380

Based on my trying this and that bullet in my 14 twist 220, here’s what I found, in order of best to worst stabilization:

63 gr Sierra - stabilized and accurate
60 gr Nosler Partition - will stabilize barely in some situations
64 gr Nosler BSB - nope, but I got them on paper
65 gr Sierra GK - Big nope and still have no idea where they went. Never hit paper at 100 yds.

My rifle has a 20” barrel, so I don’t reach max velocity with any of the mentioned bullets. I’m thinking, but don’t know for sure, that if I had a 24” barrel and pushed the Partition to the max velocity, it probably would stabilize, though barely, in some rifles. That’s how close I was to getting that bullet to work.

I find it odd the BSB doesn't stabilize as it is shorter than the partition.

55 grain Fusions. Works well for me.

I feel like I started something.

I definitely, loosely used the term head/neck shot to mean brain stem of spine shot. I have not hunted as much as others but the one deer that ran on me without tracking down was a classic behind the shoulder shot with a 30-06 at just shy of 200 yards. I'm having a hard time seeing how severing the spinal column above the shoulders is NOT the most efficient killing shot. The biggest and only fair criticisim I've heard is that it's a small target, ie higher chances of missing. Even then, I think of "aim small, miss small." Every deer I hit in the neck has just dropped. I've shot at more than that though and just flat out missed it because I'm specifically going for the spine. Never regretted any of those shots taken.

Almost seems more sporting to me; either get hit a die instantly or miss the small target and don't even wound the animal.

ive had several hunters try for a neck shot and end up clipping the top of the back and knock the deer out then they get up and run off.

the neck is a lethal shot, but deer move their head/neck area much quicker and more often than any other part of their body save for maybe their tails. I've missed several deer trying a neckshot that moved right as I squeezed the trigger. Missed a few headshots this way as well.


a Mature Bucks neck is substantially bigger than a skinny doe neck, so the target increases quite a bit but the spinal colum remains about the same. If you hit a deer in the lower neck however you typically get major arteries and can sever the windpipe.


I'm not anti or pro neck shot, I've used them quite a bit back in the day but now I don't really see the need to any longer, as I don't do near the amount of doe killing I used to and a neck shot on a trophy buck isn't my first, second or even third choice, although I've had to take it in the past.

I've always been a fan of the high shoulder shot. Dumps them just like a neck shot, meat lost is minimal, and its a larger target that doesent move much

This thread didn't start out as a shot placement discussion but any bullet type discussion should take placement into account. The OP never even said what animal he was hunting but he did mention PENETRATION and EXPANSION. If anyone is shooting a deer in the neck I don't think penetration/expansion would be an issue(correct me if wrong.) Koreans comment about shoot at neck and kill or clean miss is a good one. I emphasize that everyones goals are different but I personally rarely shoot at anything where I don't care if I hit or miss and on those occasions where I didn't care then I wouldn't care how the bullet performed either.
For me I spend tens of thousands of dollars over several years in between trigger pulls on a big mature Trophy buck so I wont be shooting a 22250 and I wont be shooting at the neck/head/brainstem. Im well aware how different we are all and I feel if you are a good enough shot to hit the brain stem then I commend you. If you don't care if you miss or not then im ok with that. So I hope yall understand why I say I have no plans to spend the time at the range required for me to hit the nervous system of a mature Trophy buck. Big bullet, big target, dead.

ok went from bullet thread to a D___ measuring contest as usual

i find the spinal cord between the C4 and C5 TO BE THE only place to kill cleanly. if you cant hit it at 400 yards, you suc and should quit hunting

I have a 22-250 1-9 w/threaded barrel coming

Thank you Buzz. I cant hit that C4/C5 every time and don't think the OP planned to since he asked about penetration and expansion. Im not the OP but I have a 22250 that I may let a youth that's recoil conscious to shoot a doe behind the shoulder and would love this thread to stay on its intended course and maybe help me and OP out. Im gonna try to shoot hogs in the head with it but if I hit one somewhere in its body im curious what bullet yall think would have the best chance. I don't know about the OP but mine wont stabilize the 60gr Partition or that's likely what ide shoot.

Back to topic.

I've been using a .22-250 on deer for the last 22 years. In that time I have used several bullets and will rank them according to my findings in the field:

55 Grain Remington Soft Point- Very accurate. Not too explosive, did see some exit wounds with body shot deer ( mainly does )

55 Grain Sierra Gamekings - Accurate, used to be easy to find. Also did get some exits on lung shot deer ( again, does/ yearling bucks ). shot a doe at around 100 yards and the exit was the size of a quarter.

55 Grain Hornady V-Max- Extremely Accurate, Very Explosive. Never got an exit with a body shot deer. Several did hit the ground with lung shots, insides were jellied. If they ran, no blood trail. Shot a doe low in the neck and it looked like she was killed with a hatchet. Killed many pigs with this round as well.

55 Grain Federal Fusion - Not accurate in my rifle at all. Pretty much a 100 yard and under gun with this load due to accuracy. Tough bullet, took several body shot bucks in the hill country, as well as a smattering of hogs. For a .22 caliber deer bullet in commercial weights, its probably the best if you can't find the partition.

Collectively I would say the above testing constituted somewhere around 45-50 deer.

a lot of the guys I grew up with (older hunters who all owned their own places ) all shot a .22-250 for the majority of their hunting. These guys were pretty laid back, weren't after trophy bucks and were interested in the Beer just as much as the Deer. In those days, they shot whatever they could get there hands on, mainly the sierra gamekings and the remmy soft points, and I can't remember any of them ever losing a deer, although we did have a tough time finding a few in the south texas brush.

Also of notable mention, a lot of the above guys and myself included, sort of drifted back the .270 or the .25-06 for general whitetail hunting, even for does and culls. Not sure why, but I just feel more confident in that round despite ( or perhaps because of ) my experience with the .22-250.

i didnt even ask if you reload, if you do, maybe the nolser 64gr bonded would work for ya. i load it in my .223 bolt , 9 twist. its no benchrest bullet but shoot good enough bout 1" groups

Shocked you would shoot such a poor BC bullet. I always thought of you as a BC snob.

only to keel stuff