22-250 IS good for deer hunting!

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Treefarmernc,

I wasn't arguing the ability of the 22-250 to take deer in the hands of a competent shooter that knows his/her rifle's limitations.

I'm just saying the .22 caliber bullets aren't the same as bigger bullets, and they'll perform differently on game at times, depending on the shot.

I have a .17 Rem that I've no doubt is perfectly capable of taking deer with a well placed shot. I wouldn't use it on a shoulder shot, or a head shot, but through the neck or behind the shoulder would kill a deer without any trouble.

I know of one fella who's daughter killed a nice sized caribou bull with a .17 Rem, one shot did the trick.

Even so, most would agree that it's light for deer sized game, and I'm not planning on using it for that. It's intended for smaller predators like the coyote and bobcat, and that's what I use it for.

I've never had to track a deer yet that I shot with a rifle (archery hunting is a different story, of course). When I shoot, they generally drop in their tracks. Worste case, they drop within a few feet. I shoot them in the right place with a bullet that I know will do the job, and that from a cartridge that launches that bullet with sufficient speed and accuracy to do the job.

As long as the shooter knows his rifle/cartridge/load/bullet combination's abilities and limitations, can shoot it well, and knows where to place the bullet for a clean kill, then there should be no problem.

Daryl
 
I have suggested the use of 55-70gr. I have 1-1.5” groups at 100yrds. And 2.5”-3” groups at 200 with my 55gr and 60gr soft points.
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Yes but only after the fact, your first post didn’t mention anything about bullet selection until other posters brought it up and you edited your OP later.

I have had an extraordinary amount of experience with using the 22-250 for deer hunting and the simple fact is that the 22-250 is adequate to harvest deer with.
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Most of us who post here with regularity have an "extraordinary amount of experience" in one form or another with various calibers on a wider variety of game than just deer. I again say that what works for you isn’t what most of us consider adequate for deer sized game, will it work yes but it is far from a preferred cartridge.

Plus what kind of accuracy are you getting with 70 grain bullets you mentioned? An unaltered Remington M700 usually has a 1:14 twist rate and again usually will not stabilize a 70 grain bullet. I’m not saying there are not exceptions to the rule but a 70 grain .224 caliber are usually a little on the long side for such a slow twist. Granted I’ve never used a .22-250 rifle other than shooting a friends a few times. I was impressed with the accuracy and explosiveness of the bullet on prairie dogs and coyotes with bullets up to 55 grains which leads me to believe it, is far from a good choice for deer.

And of coarse I have missed, witch brings me to the only disadvantage of deer hunting with the 22-250. It does take less to deflect the bullet, such as twigs and stout weeds accounting for one of my misses ( I believe).
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This is another statement that has me a little worried. Grass, weeds, and twigs all deflect even the heaviest bullets, there is no such thing as a “brush buster” cartridge. The amount of deflection is usually dependent on the distance from target that the deflection starts at. Plus are you 100% sure that your one "deflected bullet" or any other of your "misses" didn’t wound the deer? Little bullets tend to leave little blood to trail. My real problem with cartridges such as the .22-250 is either they work with dramatic results resulting in spectacular kills or they work very poorly sometimes resulting in a lengthy tracking process or lost animal.

Like other posters have said, if it is legal then no problem. However I will throw arguments out there against it. Especially to someone who might be reading this post and considering using the .22-250 for deer hunting, without weighing all the pros and cons.
 
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If a man wants to hunt deer with a 22/250 he doesn't have to justify it to anybody but himself.

But, you are kidding yourself if you think that eventually if you shoot enough of them you won't lose one that you would have gotten with a 270 or 30/06, and you are kidding yourself if you think you won't eventually make a bad shot.
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How many people do you know who use a 22-250 for deer hunting on a regular basis? How many times have you taken deer with this cartridge? How much experience do you have with using this cartridge for deer? If you had read the first post, I admitted that I have made a bad shot. The shot was bad because I made it bad, would not had mattered if it was the 22-250 or 30-06. Are you ignorant enough to believe that larger calibers will keep you from making a bad shot? I hate to tell you but people make bad shots all the time with all calibers. I had to use this cartridge for nearly 20 years. A whole county of hunters had to use this caliber for more than 20 years. Hunters visiting from other counties and states came to hunt on our game lands with this cartridge. I did not support the law, but because of it I have more knowledge of the 22-250 as a deer rifle than most will have. This is my favorite rifle because of its versatility and is the one I choose when hunting open areas and fields. It IS a good deer rifle.
 
Buy saying shoulder region I was referring to the front area or kill zone of the deer. And yes, the chance is there for the bullet to explode when hitting bone resulting in the same out come...dead deer.
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Yes, no question. A bullet that disintegrates and doesn't penetrate into the vital organs will kill the deer-- eventually. Same result. Dead deer, but none of the suffering deers' meat will end up in the freezer.

The "kill zone" of the deer is the heart, lungs, and major vessel area of the deer. It's required that the bullet actually get there--not just hit the mark like it was a paper target. Again, there's a reason why small caliber CF's are outlawed in many states.


Yes, in skilled hands, the .223 or .22-250 can certainly kill deer. A skilled shooter with such a caliber is more effective than an unskilled one with a heavier caliber. But everyone thinks they're capable of "placing the bullet" perfectly to circumnavigate the caliber's lack of penetration and light bullet. It's always the other guys who don't hit the deer right.


If your patience and marksmanship skills are up to the task, then you're likely the exception to those who wound deer that would have been humanely killed with an adequate caliber.
 
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Are you ignorant enough to believe that larger calibers will keep you from making a bad shot?
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Where did that come from?

I have no doubt that you are smarter than the collective intelligence from decades of sportsman whose general consensus is that the 22 caliber centerfires are not the best choice for deer.
 
It IS a good deer rifle.
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is quite different from

The purpose of this thread is to inform you that the 22-250 WILL kill deer the same as most popular deer calibers with has been proven here with normal healthy sized whitetail deer.
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I think you are seriously confusing the ability of the 22-250 to kill deer with it being a good dear gun. You seem to be quite stubborn on pushing the idea on everyone that the 22-250 is as good as other rifles. Anecdotal evidence presented as such really means little. Yes the 22-250 can kill deer. So can a knife, car, and poison dart. Just because something can kill a deer does not make it a good instrument to kill. You may have years and years of experience in making efficient kills with your rifle and bullet combination. However that does not mean a 22-250 is a good deer rifle. I personally have hunted with a .243 for over 12 years as my exclusive deer rifle. I loved it. I never had a deer run more than 35 yards after I hit it and most chest shots made the contents unrecognizable when I opened the deer up. However I spent alot of time practicing with my rifle and knew what shots I could and couldn't take. I hit deer out to 275 yards and even threaded a few needles through brush. Does this make the .243 a good deer rifle, no, but it worked for me. If you want to post and support the idea that the 22-250 is adequate for killing deer, then please do, but be aware that it is not the same as a 30-06 or 270 in terms of efficiency and power. Simple mathematics will tell you that. Also be aware that someone who is new to deer hunting might not be able to differentiate the truth from your idea of how well a 22-250 can kill a deer. A good deer rifle is one that you've practiced with and can efficiently kill a deer with and that might be different for everyone.
 
You don't think a .243 is a good deer rifle, ChiefMuzz?

Odd, it's pretty standard in the southeast. I have several friends who swear by it. For some of the smaller deer in the southeast, a .270 or .30-06 can result in a lot of bloodshot meat.
 
Yes, no question. A bullet that disintegrates and doesn't penetrate into the vital organs will kill the deer-- eventually. Same result. Dead deer, but none of the suffering deers' meat will end up in the freezer.
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When a 22-250 bullet strikes the shoulder bone, the force of the blow (explosion) is driven into the chest cavity, causing sever damage to internal organs. As I have said before I hunted in an area in which everybody hunted with these types of rifles and I have seen first hand what kind of damage is done from these kinds of shots.

I have no doubt that you are smarter than the collective intelligence from decades of sportsman whose general consensus is that the 22 caliber centerfires are not the best choice for deer.
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I am not saying that I am smarter than the collective. I am only defending the experience that I and the others in our unique situation have gained; witch is a situation most others have not experienced. We have used (Successfully) .223, 22-250, and 220 swift for deer hunting, while most others only know them as varmint rounds.

I think you are seriously confusing the ability of the 22-250 to kill deer with it being a good dear gun. You seem to be quite stubborn on pushing the idea on everyone that the 22-250 is as good as other rifles.
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I define a good deer gun as one that efficiently kills deer. The 22-250 is efficient at killing deer; the 30-06 is also efficient at killing deer. In that respect the 22-250 is the same. The 30-06 will make a bigger whole and destroy the organs more but not to the effect of discrediting the 22-250 as an efficient deer killer which is what I have been trying to get across. IF I was to claim the 22-250 was just as good as larger calibers in every way then I would be able to use it for elk or moose hunting which is obviously not correct. I do not claim that the 22-250 is equal to the ballistics of the 30-06 (or other larger calibers) but only can kill deer as reliably,especially the weight range I have mentioned before, up to 220lbs.
 
55 grain hornady ILSP, pushed by a load of varget. Killed a lot of deer with it. If you don't like it, don't try it. Legal here, and legal in Nebraska. 223 is legal here.
 
If I were kicking deer off a cliff I might give some credit to that statement. You are clearly missing the message of this post.
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I illustrated the scalability of force and effect. The higher the fall, the more deleterious the effect. The bigger the bullet, the more deleterious the effect. Apples to apples. That's not to say some people don't die from a 3 foot fall, but the folks who don't grasp this concept are the ones who are doomed to fail at suicide by diving off a foot stool.

If the discussion is only about what is "adequate," I would have to go the next step and argue that you don't need a blustering cannon like the 22-250. They're dangerous because they shoot too far; they retain too much energy. They damage the unprotected ears of the hunter. The rounds are too expensive. Plus, I can use my .22 lr for rabbits and squirrels. It’s the ultimate in versatility. And there’s no getting around the fact that thousands of deer have been killed (poached) with nothing more than a .22 long rifle. Thousands. In the right hands, at the right distance, with the right round, a 22 lr is perfectly adequate.

In the end, the take-away from the discussion shouldn't be about what is adequate, but what is optimal. A 22 lr isn't optimal for deer. Neither is a 22-250.
 
Opinions about what is good vary...

But what works, works.

WDM Bell killed elephants with 6.5 & 7mm rifles. Does that make them good elephant rifles? Only in his hands, and under those conditions he used them.

The .22-250 can be used for deer, where legal, but for most people it would not be a good choice. The .458 Win Mag can be used for deer (and as far as I know, legal everywhere), but for most people it would not be a good choice.

I reload for, and shoot rifles in a couple dozen different calibers, from .22 Hornet to .458 Win Mag, and have owned and used a .22-250 in one rifle or another since before Remington made it a factory round back in the 1970s. I am quite familiar with it, and what it can, and cannot easily do. And I stand by my opinion. Since you are legally restricted to .22s, the .22-250 is one of the best calibers you could use. But if you are not, a larger caliber is a better choice.
 
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Back in the 1930s when gunsmith Jerry Gebby of Nebraska copyrighted "Varminter" for the necked-down 250-3000, about all that were available for bullets were the 40- to 50-grain "blowup" varmint bullets. Remington did a minor amount of tweaking, decades later, and just called it the ".22-250".

The last dozen or so years have seen a bunch of R&D in bullet technology, and not just in the itty-bitty sizes. However, .22 jacketed bullets are now available which don't come all unglued the instant they hit something. They won't necessarily penetrate through a lot of meat, or blow through any heavy bone, but for careful shot placement on deer they're quite adequate.

The .22-250 is like any of the lesser cartridges in that it has more limitations than, say, the 6mm to 30-caliber range. Possibly the 6.5mm to 30-caliber range. (Not worth arguing over, and I've killed 20+ bucks with a .243.)

I don't shoot at a deer's neck. I shoot at one particular place on that neck. I don't shoot somewhere in the heart/lung area; I pick a particular place for the shot. And I darned sure don't shoot "somewhere in the brown".

Common sense and careful shot placement are requisite for any cartridge. Just moreso with the small bullets.
 
I illustrated the scalability of force and effect. The higher the fall, the more deleterious the effect. The bigger the bullet, the more deleterious the effect. Apples to apples. That's not to say some people don't die from a 3 foot fall, but the folks who don't grasp this concept are the ones who are doomed to fail at suicide by diving off a foot stool.
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I have in no way indicated that a 22-250 is as powerful as or more so than any other caliber. I do believe that I am comparing apples to apples only apples of different sizes. I am only showing that to a certain point one can serve the same purpose as the other. A white tail deer could be satisfied with the small apple but for an elk it will take the larger to fulfill its need. Turn the tables and give the white tail the large apple and the elk small you will still fulfill the whitetails hunger but not the elk. This related to this debate by the fact that the 22-250(small apple) will kill a whitetail as affectively as the 30-06(Large apple) but after this point the larger calibers take over. I don’t debate that within the list of effective deer cartridges the 22-250 is at the bottom just that it is and should be on the list.

WDM Bell killed elephants with 6.5 & 7mm rifles. Does that make them good elephant rifles? Only in his hands, and under those conditions he used them.
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This is where I guess that I am differing from the rest of you the most. I do not believe the 22-250 to require extra ordinary effort on behalf of its user to hunt deer. It takes no more expertise to use this caliber for whitetail deer than it does any other caliber for whitetail deer. I am not indicating in any way that the 22-250 is more powerful just that is handled in much the same way. This caliber has been used by the youngest to the oldest, the least experienced to the most experienced. The learning curve is the same as any other caliber for those just starting out. The same aim points on the deer are used by 22-250s as those when using larger calibers.

Since you are legally restricted to .22s, the .22-250 is one of the best calibers you could use. But if you are not, a larger caliber is a better choice.
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We are no longer restricted to .22,that was changed some time around 2000. My aim is not to declare the 22-250 to be the better choice just for it to be considered a good choice.
 
When a 22-250 bullet strikes the shoulder bone, the force of the blow (explosion) is driven into the chest cavity, causing sever damage to internal organs.
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If the "force of the blow" does't include bullet and bone frags, then what does this force consist of, since the temporary cavity doesn't precede the bullet.
 
Odd, it's pretty standard in the southeast. I have several friends who swear by it. For some of the smaller deer in the southeast, a .270 or .30-06 can result in a lot of bloodshot meat.
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I think you may have just misread or misunderstood what I said. The .243 was a very good deer rifle for me, but that doesn't make it a good deer rifle. It the hands of somewhere unfamiliar with it's abilities and limitations it becomes ineffective. Like I said I've shot many deer with that gun and it performed well, but that's just for me. My experiences have no bearing on someone else's ability to use the rifle. Is that a little easier to understand?
 
Most of us can go kill deer with just about anything that will make a hole. The naysayers are making the case that it is a matter of percentages.The exact percentage will never be known so I will throw one out for discussion.
If 100 different shots are made in hunting conditions from a group of average hunters frrom different angles and some wandering away from the best placement let's say 95% of the results between a 22/250 and a 270 Win will be for all practical purposes the same.
But, there will be occassions when the extra energy of the 270 will rupture an artery or penetrate a little further and you will get a deer that you would have lost with a 22 caliber.
The same could be said for moving up to a 300 magnum of some sort vs the 270. But, you get to a point of diminishing returns because they kick so bad a lot of people can't shoot them well.
The meat damage is not much of an issue. If you shoot the deer broadside in the lungs you are not going to have any meat damage unless you were planning on eating the heart or the liver. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one of the shoulders and about any cartridge will ruin it if that's where the shot hits.If you hit the loins or the hams you should have aimed better.

So, my logic is that in the long run you will get more deer if you use a larger cartridge and bullet as long as you can shoot it well even if the difference is very small. It could be the buck of your lifetime.
 
If the "force of the blow" does't include bullet and bone frags, then what does this force consist of, since the temporary cavity doesn't precede the bullet.
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Why does it not contain the bullet and bone fragments? The bullet does not vaporize into thin air. The force of the blow is simply the energy being released by the motion of the bullet. A large part of that energy is still directed in the same direction the bullet is traveling The 22-250 is starting it energy dump earlier upon entering the deer but it still is more than enough to cause the damage it needs to enter the chest cavity. This energy transfer is what makes soft points, hollow points, etc. better than FMJs for hunting. The FMJ is still carrying much energy with it throughout its travel through the mass and possibly with it as it exits. Expanding bullets such as the soft points dumps all or most of the energy into the mass. It’s the energy release that causes the most damage.
 
Water--and blood--are incompressible liquids. A bullet hits and drives liquid ahead of it. And, of course, bone chips and meat, depending on the location of the hit. But it's much like driving a nail except that this nail is not rigid. The destructive pressure has a side-component. The summation of all this happiness is what's pictured in the photos of bullets fired into ballistic gel.

And by the way: Bloodshot meat only means a bad hit, since if you don't shoot 'em in the eating meat, there's no bloodshot meat to worry about. :D

What state allows what diameter bullet has nothing to do with the thread.
 
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