22-250 vs 243 for coyotes….with a twist

G

Gsjcky

Member
I know the 22-250 vs 243 has been rehashed time & time again. But what if the comparison is changed a little bit? Say, a fast twist 22-250?
I've been looking over ballistics, and it seems to me that a ‘250 with a high BC 60-70 gr bullet, competes very well with a 70-80 grain 243 bullet.
Less powder, component bullets are cheaper, and I have a ton of ‘250 brass.
Looking for a calling rifle that puts down coyotes with authority out o 350 yards or so. Light weight, 20” barrel for suppressor. 2 or 3 different manufacturers are now making fast twist barrels for the ‘250, so it would be both economical and simple to do.
What do you think?
 
Lots of people do it and have lots of success. It's an old formula. It will work just fine.

Out to 350, I never had any trouble dumping coyotes with a 55gr Sierra 1365 out of 14 twist barrels though. And out to 350, that's a flatter shooting recipe than 70's are. Only advantage to the 70's are wind. For me personally, I rarely call in many coyote in the kind of wind where that really matters. I've always much preferred a flatter mid range over wind drift in a calling rifle. Much, much, much preferred. That's just me though.

Economy? For a calling rifle? Has never been of any consideration to me. Very few people call in enough coyotes to make that even a small consideration. But, looking at it from that lens, a fast twist .22-250 barrel is going to wear out a lot faster than a slow twist .243. Really though, so few people will wear out a barrel on a calling rifle to even give it any thought. I never have.

- DAA
 
Thx for the reply. As far as the economy goes, I was referring to range time. It’s a cheaper to feed a 22-250 than a 243.
 
Ahh, well... My ways are just my ways. I don't mean to imply that they should apply to anyone else.

For me, there is almost no such thing as "range time" for a calling rifle. I work up a load, I get it zeroed. Done. After that, once every two or three years shoot a couple of groups at the range to verify zero is still good and see how accuracy is holding up. And make adjustments for accuracy as needed. But my calling rifles have never seen any range time to speak of. They're calling rifles. Not target rifles.

So, from that lens. Very few guys are going to shoot even 100 rounds a year through a calling rifle. The cost of feeding it is of zero importance. It's just ants in the afterbirth.

But again, my ways are just mine. I don't criticize other ways.

Still, the minimal difference in feeding cost vs. the cost of a new barrel is worth considering. For a purely calling rifle, it means nothing. But if going to the range and pumping rounds through it is part of the program, it becomes more of a real consideration. I've had some fast twist .22-250's. I'm not speaking from speculation but from experience. They wear out fast.

- DAA
 
Taking the dedicated coyote rifle out for pigs is “range time” for me. I’m lazy and just find a factory ammo that works and buy several boxes when they do.
 
It isn't till 400 that BC really comes into play.

If it's blowing hard enough to miss a coyote at 350 due to the wind, I'm probably not going to be out there anyway.;)

While I haven't killed anything besides prairie dogs with the Hornady 62 ELD-VT, it's almost worth building a gun around.

Decent BC and velocity potential is kinda like having your cake & eating it too. Takes an 8 twist to spin them.

Then again, hard to argue over a 14" twist shooting 52 Bergers or 53 Vmax at 3800 to 350, point & shoot.....
 
I have been shooting and reloading for the 220 Swift since the late 1970's. IMHO, the Swift, 22-250 etc. were designed to shoot 50-55 gr bullets fast. If you are going to shoot one with a 60-70+ grain bullet, you might was well just get a 243 Win and load it with that weight of bullet. That is what I did. I have a Tikka T3X Super Lite in 243 Win that I developed a great load for using the Barnes 80 gr TTSX bullet. I love it but at the end of the day I am going to keep my Swift the fast race car it was intended to be.
 
Several years ago i put together a 26" 9 twist 22-250 and it shoots 80gr bergers @ 3250fps very good.
Also have a 22" 243 that shoots 87gr bergers pretty good.

22-250 drops 9.4" at 350 yards with the 80gr bergers and 7" with 53gr Noslers.

I dont have the 243 drop chart handy but it does well.
 
.224 bullets for saving pelts, .243 bullets for killing coyotes, if all you want is them dead. It is pretty easy to find a .224 bullet that will kill coyotes and keep the pelt in useable condition. With the .243 it is always a crapshoot if your going to get a big exit.

Personally I'd never build a fast twist 22-250 with the availability of 22 Creedmoor or 243 just for the brass point of view.
 
I've killed more with the 243, than the 22-250, but I've never lost a coyote to either caliber. I've had them run after being hit with the 22-250, but they died within 70 yards. Never had a single runner with the 243 and that's the deciding point for which rifle I'm taking. :cool:
* 22-250 with a 55 gr. Hornady V-Max at 3850 fps.
* 243 with a 75 gr. Hornady V-Max at 3400 fps.

A 22 ARC might be a consideration with a 70 gr. bullet....if you don't already have one of the above mentioned calibers. :unsure: Factory ammo shows a 70 gr. bullet at 3050 fps.
However, I'm always hunting with a bolt-action rifle anyway, so I always lean towards a 243. (y)
 
I have a couple of 243s and also a 22-250. I have read a lot of the debate threads and to be honest I like using both. However, I do have a question: My 22-250 has a 1/10 twist and I live and hunt at 7200 ft elevation. Would the longer high BC 65-68 grain projectiles likely fit in the magazine of my Ruger Amer. or would I likely have to single feed them in?
 
CalCoyote said:
However, I do have a question: My 22-250 has a 1/10 twist and I live and hunt at 7200 ft elevation. Would the longer high BC 65-68 grain projectiles likely fit in the magazine of my Ruger Amer. or would I likely have to single feed them in?
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If you reload your own ammo, just seat the bullet to fit your rifle's chamber. (y)
When I reload any rifle ammo, I use the Reloading Manual's OAL measurement as a standard, but check it against the lands and grooves of my rifle's chamber. I prefer the rifling to just touch the bullet enough to leave marks, but not so much as to make the bolt hard to close.
 
bowhunter57 said:
If you reload your own ammo, just seat the bullet to fit your rifle's chamber. (y)
When I reload any rifle ammo, I use the Reloading Manual's OAL measurement as a standard, but check it against the lands and grooves of my rifle's chamber. I prefer the rifling to just touch the bullet enough to leave marks, but not so much as to make the bolt hard to close.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I usually run around 30/1000 off the lands. Some loads a little closer and some a little farther depending on where I find the best accuracy. I was afraid that by seating them deeper I might limit my case capacity, but had not tried it yet. Seating a longer projectile deeper might now an issue. Right now all I have is the some 64g SGKs. I have not tried them yet. Up until know the only projectile I have loaded in the 22-250 is a 55g Nosler BT with 39g of H380. It worked good so I never tried anything else.
 
Hey Cal, what 22-250 do you have with a 1/10 twist? Is it a custom? I have a couple of 22-250s in Weatherby, and a Sako project but they are all 1/14. I tried to load 60 grain Partitions for my daughter to deer hunt with years ago, but they key holed at 100 yards. Never tried to anything bigger heavier than 55 grain after that. Thought if I ever needed to re-barrel I'd try a 1/12 or 1/10.
 
the recipe is simple, fill up a 243 case with h380 and a 55 grain nosler btip. This is my first choice coyote medicine with a factory rifle chambering. or course 6-284 is even better. I greatly greatly prefer something 6mm for shooting coyotes. heck I generally prefer something 6mm for even something like a rock chuck. but I also like 17's too. the common theme seems to be the right bullet for the task at hand running at least 4000 fps. I think velocity and shock kills are highly underrated. velocity IS THE shock kill. pump that up and you get lightning bolt effect

I want a coyote to go down like a bolt of lightning hit it. most reasonable cartridges will do this at times. something 6mm does it more often. I generally prefer a 243 as a do it all rifle. its got you covered clear on up to deer, it makes a spectacular varmint rifle. It does most things varmint really well unless you wanna shoot high volume. its the first centerfire I buy for all my boys. as time goes on my prejudice toward it grows even more. 6 mike mike for the win!
 
KeithS said:
Hey Cal, what 22-250 do you have with a 1/10 twist? Is it a custom? I have a couple of 22-250s in Weatherby, and a Sako project but they are all 1/14. I tried to load 60 grain Partitions for my daughter to deer hunt with years ago, but they key holed at 100 yards. Never tried to anything bigger heavier than 55 grain after that. Thought if I ever needed to re-barrel I'd try a 1/12 or 1/10.
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It is a first general Ruger American. Also, Tikka used to make a 1/9 twist 22-250 a few years ago as an alternative to their slower twist model. Not sure if they still offer it.
 
Bergara makes 22-250’s in 9 twist. Mine shoot 69 grain Sierra’s into tiny little groups roughly running around 3400 fps. One of them shot 60 grain Sierra hp’s and 60 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips very well also.
 
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