22-250 Why is it a love or hate caliber?

For me I love the caliber for coyotes and varmint. It flat lays out coyotes and is rather impressive on crows and groundhogs. I how ever don't like the damage that it does to fox and bobcat as I like to save these pelts to sell when possible.

I think the majority of people that don't like this caliber are fur savers.
 
Never had one myself, always had Swifts, but if one came along on the right deal, I'd jump at it. Been around enough of them to know they do the job and are accurate.

Honestly I would say Swifts seem to have more of a love or hate following than 22-250. But that's just me.
 
I have both a 22-250 and a 220swift and i would not be with out at least one of each. both are not a fur friendly cal. the 220 is harder on fur then the 250 but not by much. hey both shoot supper flat and hit hard. The 220 is a tad harder on brass well quit a bit harder on brass then the 250 is. You hear stories on barrel burners if a guy dont take care of his stuff and just raps rounds off with out letting the barrel cool yea they are hard on barrels. I have yet to burn a barrel out of a rifle with normal shooting/cleaning/hunting. I would take a normal shot 220swift or 250 over an AR thats had 30 round mags dumped threw it all at once. just my 2cents.
 
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Same goes with any caliber. You either love the 30-07/270/7mm-08/.223 etc or hate it. It's not worth the energy to try and figure out why.
 
Seems to me that when somebody gets something SO right, others just have to try to knock it off the top. I think that it is a great caliber for many situations, not all, but many. Maybe it's because so many people thought that the caliber was an end-all-fix-all, and others felt left out. Seems to go this way for many, many things. Guns, trucks, all kinds of other equipment. I say if it works for you, go with it. If someone asks, tell them why you like it. Maybe they will like it too, maybe not. I don't lose too much sleep over it. I shoot what I shoot, it hangs fur, it works for me.
 
I'm new to the .224 calibers and have a couple of .223 Rem. I shied away from the .22-250 because of the barrel wear issue, right or wrong. I also wanted the same caliber in an AR15 and a bolt rifle and plenty of cheap available ammo.

It all added up against the 22-250. Also, where I hunt and target practice, 300 yards is the max.

All said I don't hate the 22-250 it's just that I like the .223 Rem better.
 
I started out with the .22-250, then went to the .223 only to come back again. Don't want to offend anyone with my opinion of the .223 but the .22-250 just shoots flatter. That translates to more hits.

My dislike of the 250 is it goes against all the things I've learned from reloading. Seat the bullet out closer to the lands and accuracy falls off.

Mine has only liked 2 bullets so far, the 52 gr Sierra match and the 55 gr Sierra SPBT.

Barrel wear? When it's gone I'll just get a new precision barrel, done that already on another rifle.

And to be honest, if I could have gotten my hands on a Swift I'd own that instead.
 
The 22-250 seems to have it's niche. As long as it is used for appropriate tasks it seems to be a fine cartridge. Frequently I hear people talk trash about popular cartridges to build themselves up, or because they were disappointed as a result of having unrealistic expectations of a cartridge. Just my $.02.
 
I have a couple .22-250's and I like them. I've tried .243's, .223's, and others for coyotes and find the .22-250 rates right there with my .243's. It's hands and feet better than a .223 on large predators. Shoots flatter, hits harder, penetrates deeper through shoulders, and kills much better. In my opinion it's the equal of a .243 Winchester on coyotes. What the .243 does with heavier bullets, the .22-250 does with higher velocity. I'll always have a .22-250 or two around.
 
I love my .22-250 only because it's accurate
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Same for my .223's, .243, .308, and the .22LR's!!!

As soon as any of my guns become less than acceptably accurate, I will love them less.
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are you guys that shoot coyotes getting big exit wounds? I would prefer that I only put one small hole in the yote.... is this unrealistic with 4000 feet/sec?
 
A fmj is not designed for killing it is designed for wounding. I would never use one for hunting nor would I recommend them to anyone. You will have a lot of run aways with them. I like a soft point in the 55gr variety shot placement is key. But with the 22-250 you will always have some that get big exit wounds. Try to stay away from the shoulder bone it can get pretty messy
 
Well, in eastern ky I don't get many long shots so it's just a big waste of powder for me, plus the increased muzzle blast and recoil.

At the ranges I shoot I doubt a coyote could tell a difference between my .221, my .223, or my 22-250. Plus I call more cats and fox and it's pretty rough on them.

The 22-250 defintley has its place but I have zero use for one. I still have one around but it hasn't been shot in about 2years.
 
Originally Posted By: jlutcher51A fmj is not designed for killing it is designed for wounding.

That is flat out wrong. A FMJ was designed to penetrate body armor and heavy field gear and still enter soft tissue.

Plus, after Geneva, the FMJ was adopted as rule to give a soldier a fighting chance with a non-center mass hit. Have you seen what a 223 Varmint Express does to a humans face? I have, not pretty.


As far as the 22-250. Hmm. For one, they use a lot of powder. Great, you get a ton of speed, sure. But they are hard on barrels. Back east, with short shots being the norm, the 22-250 is not needed. It certainly is not a common fur hunters round.

I guess it boils down to different strokes for different folks.
 
I must have been miss informed. I was always told they were used in the military to fatally wound not instantly kill an enemy so their buddies would come out and try to help exposing themselves to be shot. As said this is just what I've been told in the past. What you say makes good sense though

Referring back to what you said about the Geneva convention about giving a solder a fighting chance if shot somewhere other than center mass. This is why I would not use it for hunting. I would rather have a dead coyote with a big hole in its side than one run away with a small hole.

Sorry to the OP for getting off topic
 
Originally Posted By: mtwood24It seems people either love or hate this caliber. Why is that, and what's your opinion about it?


Your previous post asked about shot placement ,not if anyone liked it or not. Most all choices will work most of the time, but none will be perfect all the time.

For example; I've had the best red fox hide you could ever get with a 17 HMR. Have also had the worst hole(splash) you could ever imagine.

I've never had a 22-250 ,proly never will. Got a bud that has one and it works well,however if he could do it over he said he'd go .223 .

It has less area to hit,but a face on yote is the best shot for saving fur .

 
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