22-250.....223.....308??

S

SwwPlayboy

New member
Not sure if this was the right Forum to post this in, if its not I do apologize.

First off, I KNOW. This question has a VERY broad answer range to it. Just please do your best to help out. Thank you.

Recently, my buddies and I have bought some land where we can do target practice up to 800 yards. This is purely for fun, there wont be any hunting involved at 800 yards, we are just wanting to kick up our benches and see what we can do and make a game out of it. Something about hitting a plate at 800 yards is just awesome.

Now, I have a 22-250 ive used many time for prairie dog hunting, love that round. Very flat and can really reach out and touch something. I have a 223 mini 14 that ive never really stretched out past 200 yards but with all the different way to reload a 223, I'm sure we can make something to match the 22-250. 308....I don't own one, and from what I see it is no where near as flat as the 22-250 or 223, but the heavier bullet does better in the wind. Every where I go, people swear by the 308 over any other round for long distance shots, but I have yet to be convinced that a 308 can do what a 22-250 or 223 can't. They all end up just saying, well its a heavier bullet so there is less wind drift. At 800 yards, I know that is gonna be a big variable.

Again, this is strictly for shooting bench target plinking, not hunting. Should I look into a 308, maybe a bolt action 223, or stick with my 22-250. Which is best suited for this situation?
 
You might find that the trajectory is flatter with a 308 Winchester and a 175 grain match boat tail than what you can load in a 22-250, in addition to bucking the wind better at 800 yards
 
I'd buy a new bolt gun in 223 with a 1 in 8 twist, put a good scope on it and get to shooting. It'll be a bit more fun than the 308. Less recoil and a good bit cheaper to shoot. Zillions of bullet types and powders. And, of course, I'd reload for it.

Now somebody, or a multitude of same, will correctly state that the 308 is better for long distance. I'd still go with the 223 for what the OP wants to do. I love my 223. Friends and grandkids love my 223. A lot of ammo goes through that rifle.
 
with all the different way to reload a 223, I'm sure we can make something to match the 22-250.
Click to expand...

Not in an identical rifle, you can't.

The only way you can get the .223 to match the .22-250 (in terms of trajectory) is to use the 70,80,90gr bullets in a .223 fast twist barrel and compare them to the 55gr in a .22-250 with a "standard" (varmint) twist rate of 1-12 or 1-14.

Put a 1-7 twist barrel on that .22-250 and the fps increase from the larger case capacity will walk all over the .223 with the heavy bullets as well.
 
Any heavy barreled rifle will do. For either .22 a fast twist will be required. Remington's are too slow. 1 in 12 or 14. Doesn't stabilize heavy bullets well.
I suspect any .22-250 will require a custom barrel. It's a varmint cartridge first and foremost. And commercial hunting rifle twist reflect that. Not so much with .223. Savage makes their Varmint series with a 1 in 9 twist. And their Target series with 1 in 7. Heavy bullets.
For get the standard Mini anything altogether. They're just not accurate enough. A bullet fired out of one will get there, but not where you want it.
"...a .308 can do what a .22-250 or .223 can't..." You'd best read some ballistics tables. And some physics.
 
The 308 is a great choice for Target shooting out to 1000 yards. Best of the 3 you have listed. It is the number one caliber in FTR class shooting also. Course your limited to 223 and 308, so its a no brainer. The 22-250 IMHO has always been what I call a wasted caliber that really searves no purpose other than to have one. I would take a 223 over a 22-250 any day. But thats just me.
We have a few people in our Matches that also use the 223 out to 600 yards with very good luck. With the 308 and 1000 yards though I would have to say go with the 155 palma Match bullets. Can sometime be a issue to keep a 175 SS out to 1000 yards.
 
I have no ordinary mini-14. Its a target rifle with a 1:9 twist. Add the harmonic dampener, its one of my most accurate guns. Either way I wasnt planning on using that for that distance.

So from what I can tell, 308 will make hitting 800 yards easier, a 223 will get there but basically more of a challenge.

Does that pretty much break it down?
 
At known ranges, you might as well shoot a .308. Less affected by the wind and all that sort of stuff. If just the occasional few shots, your 22/250 will be OK but keep the shot cadence slow.
Any 22 is "iffy" beyond 400-500 yards so the .308 is a better choice in my opinion.
 
At longish ranges you need bullet weight and good ballistic coefficients. For targets flat trajectory is a non-issue. Since the ranges are predetermined you can always adjust the sights for the range you're shooting.

At 800 yards the 308 is by far the better option. The 223 with heavy bullets would be the 2nd choice, but not from a Mini-14. The 22-250 a poor choice since most are designed only for lighter bullets.

While the 22-250 starts out faster, and shoots flatter it's bullets will also slow down the fastest at long range. Most any good bullet and rifle will be accurate until bullet speed drops below about 1000 fps. When that happens accuracy is gone. The 308, with good bullets will maintain that speed at the longest ranges followed by the 223 and the 22-250 the shortest ranges.

If you're limiting yourself to 400-500 yards then it matters less. But the heavier 308 bullets will still be less effected by wind and would still be my preference between the 3
 
The 22-250 IMHO has always been what I call a wasted caliber that really searves no purpose other than to have one. I would take a 223 over a 22-250 any day. But thats just me.
Click to expand...

For you, no doubt that's true. For me, I have no use for a .223, other than in a high capacity semi auto, and in that regard, anything with similar capacity and recoil would serve me just as well.

The .22-250 started out as a wildcat in the late 1930s, and not only survived, but was popular enough to become a factory standard caliber after 30 years! I think there is something worthwhile there.

It is only fairly recently that match shooters "discovered" the long range potential of super heavy (for caliber) .22 bullets, turning the .223 into an efficient long(er) range round.

One doesn't ever hear how the .223 is better than the .22-250 in literature before that happened. All ones finds is how the .223 is more economical.
 
44Amp-Sorry what I meant to say or mean was- To me it is a waste. I can shoot a heavier bullet, load cheaper, shoot more accurate and not lose much for speed over the 22-250. Aslo the 22-250 is much harder on brass. I am sure it will be here forever being it is very popular.
 
"I would take a 223 over a 22-250 any day. But thats just me."


The .223 isn't even in the same category as the 22/250 when used for shooting varmints or predators at unknown ranges.
 
Mobuck- Explain- 223 is affective a farther ranges than the 22-250 and with better accuracy. Unknown ranges are not unknown with a mil dot scope.
I fail to see what you mean. With maybe 300 to 400 fps difference in speed there is not to much difference in impact. Drop will be ore with a 223 but that is a null point as it is just an adjustment in the scope to compansate for it.
I take nothing away from the 22-250. At closer ranges it will splatter a dog like nothing else, but being so limited with bullet weight (except with custom barrels) it is very limited at distances with any form of wind to buck. Getting there 2 seconds faster but 5 inches to the left or right is no good.
 
Last edited:
For the first few decades of its existence, the .223 fired the 55gr bullet out of 1-12 or 1-14 twist barrels, exactly the same as the .22-250.

And while the .223 ran at about 3200fps the .22-250 runs at 36-3800fps range with the same 50-55gr bullets. So its not
maybe 300 to 400 fps difference in speed
Click to expand...
, its more like 4-600fps, and that is a significant amount to me.

The fast twist .223 barrels available today were custom barrels back then.

Because it is a military round, the .223 gets to enter competitions which exclude the .22-250, and the development of the fast twist barrels and heavy bullets is a result of that.

A demand was created, and the custom barrels turned into factory offerings. There was never such a demand with the .22-250. It wasn't even a factory round until about 67, and while it did have a brief success in benchrest shooting, as a wildcat, the introduction of the .222 Rem in the 1950s ended that. For shooting holes in paper at a known distance the .222 is more efficient.

The .22-250 is not a military cartridge, its not a benchrest cartridge, it is what it was designed to be, a varmint cartridge. As far as I'm concerned, its king of the heap for that use.

I have guns in .22 Hornet, .221 Fireball, .222 Rem, .223 Rem, and .22-250. Each one does something better than the others. None of them does everything better than all the others.
 
Mobuck- Explain- 223 is affective a farther ranges than the 22-250 and with better accuracy. Unknown ranges are not unknown with a mil dot scope.
I fail to see what you mean. With maybe 300 to 400 fps difference in speed there is not to much difference in impact. Drop will be ore with a 223 but that is a null point as it is just an adjustment in the scope to compansate for it.

The .223 is NOT magic and there's no replacement for powder capacity and velocity. The only way to get a .223 to shoot as flat as a 22/250 at 400 yards is to use lighter bullets(which are affected by the wind more)
What I'm talking about is the ability to send a VARMINT WEIGHT BULLET(not a long, heavy target bullet) at an unknown range and score a hit. Sure, you can range a target, twiddle with your knobs, estimate the wind, and shoot. The critters I shoot don't wait for all those things to happen. I'm old, I shot hundreds of coyotes before I ever knew what a range finder was. Coyotes in front of hounds don't stand around waiting for you to use all those widgets and adjust your scope. A 22/250 will put a bullet "on the brown" further and with more energy than a .223-simple fact, no questions.
 
.223; .22-250; .308

SWW:

The military uses the .308 for long-range target threat acquisition and neutralization: Not the .22-250, and, in SOME special instances...the .223, or the .50 Barrett or the .416. But not always. Their first pick is the .308.

That should give you a clue.

WILL.
 
44Amp-Again I mean to take nothing away from the 22-250,but in looking at loads records for both.

22-250-35 gn bullet -4600 fps-41 gns N135-1686 ft-lbs energy
223-35gn bullet - 4300fps-27.5 gns H4198- 1455 ft-lbs energy

22-250-55gn bullet- 3880fps- 36.3 gn IMR 4064- 1839 ft-lbs energy
223-55gn bullet- 3460fps- 26 gn 2230c Accurate- 1409 ft-lbs energy

Thats a lot of extra powder and wear and tear on rifle and brass to gain 300 to 400 fps in my book. Now ft-lbs energy is much better, not that a yote or dog will notice i bet.

So with that trend I can see the heavier the bullet, the more the 22-250 starts to shine. It's just to bad with standard 22-250 barrel you are almost at the max with a 55 gn bullet. Where with the standard 223 barrel I can run up to 75 to 85 gn bullets with a much better BC too.

I was not aware of the other points you made about the 22-250 which are very valid for sure. I learn something new every time I come on this forum. I have one and I very much enjoy it, But for long range shooting it is no match for my 223 by far.
I put that with- I have never found a max load that shoots as good as a mid range load anyhow for accuracy.

Mobuck- I know well what you mean and maybe I should just let this go, but with a mil dot scope-There is no fiddeling around. You bring scope up on target and use the right mil dot and pull trigger, every bit as fast as flat shooting in the long run. Distances are already known as you have set up and ranged the area you will be shooting in any how-right?.

All in all-To the OP- I would go with the 308 for sure of the 3 you have. While all 3 are able to do a 600 to 800 yard shot the 308 would do it the best.
 
Last edited:
Distances are already known as you have set up and ranged the area you will be shooting in any how-right?.


You've obviously not hunted coyotes with hounds. There's no set and range-the yote is there and then he's gone and seldom standing still.
 
Got me ther Mobuck. I never have hunted with dogs. Im old:D. I go sit by a tree line and call them in. They can walk better then me. For dog's-I sit on a hill, range the town out and sit and wait while I drink 5 gallons of Mnt Dew
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top