22-250 vs 7mm-08

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snowman748

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How does 22-250 compare to 7mm-08?

I recently picked up a Ruger Gunsite Scout rifle in a trade...I really like it so far but it's chambered in 5.56 (not that big a deal because I reload 5.56)

however magazines are VERY expensive for the 5.56 GSR, like $75 each (the lowest price I've found is ~$64) where as the 308 mags are like ~$28 for polymer or ~$52 for steel...I kind of figure they will develop a polymer 5.56 mag later for a much lower price but if not I'd like to rebarrel the gun to 7mm-08 to take advantage of the cheaper polymer GSR mags. The 5.56 and 308 GSR use the same action, mag well, even mags (the 5.56 have a polymer insert in the 308 mags to accept the small caliber). Switching should be as simple as a rebarrel and maybe bolt face modifications.

however I was thinking maybe it would be cheaper to just ream the chamber to shoot 22-250 but idk much about it.

the ruger has a 16.1" 1:8 twist CHF barrel, if I get a 7mm-08 it will probably have a 16" barrel as well (maybe 18" but I'd like to compare apples to apples here)

so how would a 22-250 shot out of a 1:8 twist 16" barrel compare to a 7mm-08 shot out of a 16" barrel for hunting applications. varmints, to bigger game like hogs, white tail and mule deer?

note I live in Texas so I don't think I'd have to worry about anything really big except VERY big hogs...I do have a 45-70 to take care of REALLY big game though if it's needed...
 
The 22-250 normally operates with a 12-14" twist. The faster 8" twist you have may make commercial loads strip cores or even fly apart after leaving the muzzle. So be prepared that you may have to limit yourself to heavy bullets or to solids.
 
For hunting, no comparison, the 7mm-08. Also the 7-08 loses very little velocity from a standard 22" barrel to a 16". Also you have a wide range of bullet weights to choose from in 7-08. Quite common are 120 gr, at times you can even find 100 and 110 gr. These lighter weights for varmints. All the way up to 170gr or so.
 
I assume you have at least 1 magazine in 5.56. You can buy a whole bunch more magazines for less than converting to either of the other options. The bolt face won't work and it'll have to be dealt with in addition to a new barrel.

I'd keep what I had or sell/trade it for a 308 personally. I actually like 7-08, but it offers no real advantages over 308. It is just different. Pick one or the other and you can duplicate performance of the other with careful load choices.
 
I assume you have at least 1 magazine in 5.56. You can buy a whole bunch more magazines for less than converting to either of the other options. The bolt face won't work and it'll have to be dealt with in addition to a new barrel.

I'd keep what I had or sell/trade it for a 308 personally. I actually like 7-08, but it offers no real advantages over 308. It is just different. Pick one or the other and you can duplicate performance of the other with careful load choices.
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Agree 100%, trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear never works well or inexpensively.
 
22-250 vs 7mm08

Rather than start with my opinion, I'm going to quote Frank Glaser (I.E. Alaska's wolf man)." The salvage .250-3000 (precursor to the 22-250) was my favorite all-round rifle for market hunting." This man shot more huge brownies, moose, caribou, and sheep than everyone combined who has read or posted in this forum. Not trying to start a fight but giving a perspective from someone who's actions speak louder than his words. He goes on to say the 220 swift is the best lung gun he ever shot on all of alaska's game. He does say with the grizzly placement is important. I read this and at the time was shooting a 338. In the village where I lived, when there was a potlatch, the natives would get permits for game and asked me to get it for them, which I was glad to do. I decided to give it a try so I took my young son out and directed him to shoot the sitka blacktail behind the shoulder with the 22-250 (ballistically almost identicle to the 220 swift). He shot 2 nice bucks and they dropped within feet of where they were hit. Since then I have tried this on a couple of large bull moose and caribou. As Frank said, best lung gun I have ever shot. I'm now living in the bush so the bow does not go out nearly as often as the meat is important. I keep a 45-70 around for close grizzlies, but take the 22-250 out when hunting everything up here. I don't even own the 338 any longer. I have trapped 71 wolves so far and have found the 17 hmr to be absolutely deadly when killing wolves (lung shots only). It drops them like they were spine shot. The supper fast bullets are stone cold killers when used on the lungs, no matter the size of game. The best part, no exit wound and the hides are perfect. You guys can keep your cannons, I'm going with the 22-250 for everything up here except coastal brownies. I'm sure it will do the job, but sometimes these brownies have a way of getting in close and that is not what this caliber was designed to do, put down a charging brownie.
 
Generally speaking the only similarity(22/250 vs 7mm08) is the casehead dimension(nominally .473").
I haven't measured a GSR mag but I seriously doubt the feed lips are the same for both .223 and .308---AND NEITHER WOULD BE OPTIMUM FOR 22/250.
 
What Alaska says about the 220 Swift being great for hunting grizzly, moose or caribou is just about the worst advice on hunting I have ever had the misfortune of reading. I've had a 220 Swift for 40 years and have shot game up to the size of whitetail deer and medium sized hogs. It's not a consistent killer, which is why I don't use it on anything larger than a coyote or small pig. And if I was hunting with someone that intended to lung shoot a grizzly with a 220, I would want them to tell me that, so I could run waaaaaay off and watch through binocs.
 
Rather than start with my opinion, I'm going to quote Frank Glaser (I.E. Alaska's wolf man)." The salvage .250-3000 (precursor to the 22-250) was my favorite all-round rifle for market hunting." This man shot more huge brownies, moose, caribou, and sheep than everyone combined who has read or posted in this forum.
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"salvage .250-3000??" :rolleyes:

WDM "Karamojo" Bell killed a lot of elephants with a 6.5mm, 7mm, and a .303.

The .228 Savage High Power gained fame because someone killed a tiger in India with one.

Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do that something.

We hear about the people who take big game with very light rifles. What we don't hear about are the ones who don't come home because they tried to take big game with very light rifles.

I figure the odds of a .22-250 shot deer ripping me limb from limb with big nasty teeth and claws to be pretty slim. I've been shooting the .22-250 (and a lot of other things) for over 40 years and I feel pretty confident about that.

Bears, on the other hand, I consider a much different matter.
 
You can make-do and get away with a lot of successes with less than ideal equipment, all the while thinking it's just fine, with each success reinforcing your beliefs. That is, until the day that you come to the startling realization that it was never a good idea in the first place.
Back to the OP: Either be satisfied with the rifle as it was intended, or trade it off and don't look back. That rifle really only needs one magazine, but it wouldn't hurt to have a spare in case you lose one. That's the thing with detachable magazines; they get separated from where they belong. In my view, a bolt action rifle should have an integral box magazine that does not detach. If I felt a really quick reload was essential, I think I would have to build the rifle around the idea of using stripper clips. I know that the folks that use AR's and AK's and such, need to have gobs of 30 round magazines and probably a couple of drum mags for good measure. After that, it's hard to comprehend that maybe that's not such a great idea for a bolt action rifle. While detachable magazines on a bolt rifle seem really wrong to me, when I think of what they did to the Savage 99 lever-action, by replacing that marvelous rotary magazine with a detachable box,.....Why, it's simply an abomination!
 
, when I think of what they did to the Savage 99 lever-action, by replacing that marvelous rotary magazine with a detachable box,.....Why, it's simply an abomination!
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Absolutely!

What they should have done was make it a detachable rotary magazine. Mannlicher did it earlier, and Ruger has done it since.
:D
 
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