.223 vs 22-250

Hey, not trying to get into the debate of whether these two are big enough for deer hunting, but for those of you with real world experiences with both calibers, is there enough of a difference between the two to pick one over the other? I have a tikka .223 that shoots like most tikka rifles-just wondering if it’s worth the effort to sell after the season and replace it with a 22-250? Shots will mostly be 200 yards or less on hogs and deer. Our West Texas near rarely break 150 pounds

There’s a big difference

I’ve been using the 22-250 almost exclusively for deer and pigs for years.

22-250 if you just have to choose one. I have killed deer and hogs with both though.

If you can get a 1:8 twist .22-250, it will smoke the .223 for any given bullet, it's a simple matter of physics. Load up an Fed Fusion 90gr, Speer 75gr Gold Dot, or similar and go to work.

A 243 will do everything a 22-250 can do - and actually do it better. This was pointed out to me by Chuck at Ray's Hardware in Dallas - he pulled out the Hornady ammo catalog and showed me the numbers. I would not have believed it before, but the ballistics numbers backed up his claim.

IMO - If you are going to go small, you've got to go fast. 22-250 will push a 55 gr bullet to around 3800 fps. .223 is only 3200. Use a tough bullet.

22-250 from my experience. As others pointed out, get a fast twist barrel to load some heavier bullets if at all possible. The factory Remington 700s are typically a 1:14 twist, which is pretty slow, but it will stabilize the Sierra 63gr SP and does pretty good work on deer and pigs. Anything heavier or with a BT, that slow of twist will not like it. So my vote goes to a fast twist 22-250.

For hunting?

I’ll be alone and say no difference. For I want to go fast the 22-250 wins handily. I’m not a speed kills person though. Put a heavy for cal hunting designed bullet in either and you will do fine.

If I decided to use either a 223 or 22-250 (or my 220 Swift) for deer hunting, I’d probably go with the 223. You can shoot heavier bullets in the 223, unless you get a fast twist 22-250. Using any of those calibers, I wouldn’t be trying long shots anyway.

Over the years, however, I have shot a few pigs with the 220 and the 63 gr Sierra SMP.

I’ve killed deer and hogs with a 223 and just hogs with a 22-250. I’ll be using the 22-250 some for deer this year. If these are the only 2 options I’d go with the 22-250

This is on the mark. I would add that the bullet used is more important than the extra fps you would get with a 22-250.

I went with 22-250 years ago because during that ammo shortage 223 was harder to get. That hasn't been so during the shortage that is passing now. Both were hard to get.

I am not a fan of the 223. I am even trying to get away from it in my AR’s. I love the 22-250. I can’t say the 223 has failed me or I have evidence it is inadequate I just don’t feel nearly as confident with it as I do with the 22-250.

For that distance, get some Barnes TSX in that 223 and go to work.

If you’re just itching to get a new rifle and want to stay with the lighter calibers, have you looked at the 243? Marginal recoil increase for better performance, bullet selection, and availability than 22-250.

Not even debatable 22-250

My experience with TSX and ttsx in a 223 is dismal at best. Now 22-250 a 3800+ FPS magic

I just want to see the “dead-er” accounted for. Yes the 22-250 is faster but at those ranges not a concern to me. If you want to get the 22-250 great go for it new guns are fun, but don’t think you are going to go from gunner in the light side to the hammer of Thor, assuming appropriate twist you are throwing the same bullet.

apples vs oranges jeez


Rays is still open?

Maybe, but on the wrong deer at the wrong angle and distance, that missing 600fps might be a pretty big deal breaker. A 62gr Fed Fusion at 2900 out of a .223 is making 646 ft/lbs at 200 yards. The same bullet at 3500 out of a .22-250 is making 979, 50% more. Which would you bet on to get through the shoulder of a good buck and kill him?

Both equally the same. I wouldn’t doubt the 223 gains penetration because the 22-250 expands more. I’m not concerned about either. I’ve trailed and recovered poorly shot deer with a 223 and a good bullet shoulders do not stop partitions.

Yes, there is a big difference but where do you stop? Then you say 220 swift then the 22 gaymoor and next thing you know you're at a 6br then a 6 gaymoor to the 243...I mean more is always better to a point, you have to figure out where that point is

I can't explain why but I've owned 3 .223's in my life...eventually sold them all, just never got the excitement. I still have a 220 swift I need to let Thumper have and I have all the parts to a build a 22 gaymoor, I just haven't had the time to twist it up yet.

My preference, as stated above, was for the 223. That was based on the ability of my 223’s to stabilize the bullets I’d prefer to use on deer and pigs. But, if I had the faster twist in the 220 Swift to shoot the bullets I’d want, then I’d go for using the 220 Swift (or its anemic little brother, the 22-250).

Having shot deer with the 220, back in the 1980’s, and using the wrong bullets, it became obvious very quickly that better bullets were needed. I would not have used the 220 for deer, but when coyote hunting and getting the radio call from the ranch manager to shoot a deer to feed customers. I had to shoot a few deer.

As for which bullets, with the 220 if I could stabilize them, I’d use the 60 gr Partition, the 64 gr Nosler BSB, or the 65 gr Sierra GK. A 14 twist will not stabilize the 65 gr bullet, nor the 64 gr bullet, but might barely stabilize the 60 gr Partition if you pushed it fast from a 26” barrel. I can’t push it fast enough from my 20” barrel.

I’m not saying the 223 is better. If I was buying a gun for hunting neither would be on my list, if it had to be a 22 cal center fire for hunting I’d probably buy a fast twist 22-250, but do I think there is merit in selling the 223 deer rifle to buy a 22-250? Not really unless the person wants something new/different.

I’m interested to hear more on your thoughts on this Bobo. The extra speed really only matters for effective distance to open up the tsx and you could argue more energy transferred. At those distances, the 223 should open the TSX as much as the 22-250, and I would think it would create a similar wound channel. Curious what you’ve seen in the field versus thinking through it conceptually.

I shot a few hogs with some 53 grain TSX out of a 223. Recovered a beautiful mushroom as pretty as the Barnes advertisement photos. I was surprised to recover the one I did. I do prefer the partitions though.

Yup. If you can find an 8 twist 22-250 it would best a .223 for shooting deer. Standard twist in a 22-250 is 14 and limited what I could get to shoot to a flat base short ogive 60 grain. In that scenario give me a .223 with a 65-75 grain bullet for deer. The 70 grain Accubond is the best I’ve used. Now a fast twist 22-250 with that same 70 grain Accubond would outperform it. Finding an 8 twist 22-250 is rarer than finding the 70 grain Accubond which I haven’t seen in over a year.

My experience in both calibers using same monolithic bullet shows exponentially better results (wound cavity and penetration) with the much higher velocity 22-250.

With monolithics the more revolutions(rpm’s) the greater the wound channel. You are going to have essentially same weight retention but the higher velocity will reach max expansion quicker and have higher KE. It’s simple physics of KE mass x Velocity^2. So I feel like my observations are that the 223 expands slower and doesn’t have same penetration as the much higher KE numbers of the 22-250

I think monolithics are great in hot calibers. But calibers like 223, 257Roberts, 30-30, 6.5 CM/260, I would pass. I would use them and have in the 22-250, 257wby, 243 etc. Down side to monolithic is impact velocity minimums needed are higher then cup and core, so the longer the range more dismal the results.

Monolithic as a rule, you need to go down in weight to get more speed to gain performance.
257 wby 80 or 100gr
7-08 120 gr
243 80gr
22-250 50/55


Now cup and core it’s a whole different model, you have to change barrel twist in 22-250 to shoot bigger higher bc cup and core bullets to find where the extra powder shines. 224tth/22CM are great examples of heavier 70/80gr high BC cup and core bullets really being equalizers.


Biggest take away for either cup and core or monolithic is every bullet is built for an impact velocity node. 223 just has a much lower impact velocity so bullet needs are much different

Bergara makes a 1:9 twist 22-250. Certainly would stabilize 77 grains and under.

I am taking my dad's old custom Sako actioned 22-250 built in the mid 60s out hunting this afternoon for a few days (MLD)
It has been 10 years since his passing and I haven't had the heart to take it out of the safe until now.

He was an avid handloader and killed a LOT of south Texas deer and hogs with the 63g sierra SP.
He didn't rush his shots and was could still shoot clover leaf groups at 200 yards with it in his 70s.

I have a few boxes of varying ammo for it and the recipe for the 63g with Varget that I might load up later.

If the choice was between the two, and only those two, I'd go with a faster twist 223 over a slow twist 22-250 any day so i could run heavier projectiles. Lots of variables, even in the scenario I put forth. All others being equal the 22-250 wins any day, but there are factors that, if present, would have me choosing the 223 over the 22-250. If I were buying a rifle to hunt deer and hogs, neither cartridge would be on the list of possibles though.

The average Texas deer probably isn’t over 150 lbs. A 22-250 even with a lighter bullet is plenty for something that size. If you are going after 250 lb mulies yeah maybe rethink it but I wouldn’t hesitate to pop a typically lightweight whitetail with a 50 grain bullet going 3500 fps.

yep, and where you hit em matters.