Gave up the 22-250...

L

ligonierbill

New member
...or "Why do I have all these calibers anyway?" For the first time in many years, I dropped a caliber. It got me thinking. The specifics of this action are that I wanted a .22 LR match rifle, and I needed to make room in the budget and, more importantly, the safe. I had a nice Remington 22-250 that, it had become apparent, I was never going to shoot game with. Found a fellow with the opposite situation, so we traded. Strict dollars and cents, he came out on top I think. But we both got what we wanted, and now two idle rifles will be put to work.

So I'm down to loading 30 calibers (not bragging - others on this forum load far more than I). But why? Three reasons: 1) Obsolete or oddball rounds that are just fun, 2) Keep the old girl shootin' and 3) No, really, I'm gonna shoot stuff with this.

An example of 1) is .41 Long Colt or, since this is a rifle forum, 25-20. If you think they're not obsolete, just price ammo or brass. For 2), I have the Mauser 98 that was my deer rifle in my teens, and my Dad's before that. Also, I inherited an old Mosin-Nagant from my brother. Not only keeping these shooting, but shooting well. So 3) was where the 22-250 fell. I don't want anyone to think I'm gar mouthing the round. Great choice if you want to hit small targets a quarter mile out. But for me, I'll be closer, and I have a .22 K-Hornet to wack the odd groundhog, coyote or (in some PA game units) turkeys. If I were to try the quarter mile, I, like a whole bunch of shooters, have "discovered" the .243 Win. It's a deerslayer, and knocking off a few varmints sounds like good practice.

So, that's my penance for sending my rifle away. Good for me, I have my match rifle. Good for my trading partner, he has his varminter. Bad, very, very bad for Ohio groundhogs. They're going down by the dozen when that bad boy hits the field.
 
I understand. I simplified years ago (kept the 22-250 though), and wound up with 7 I loaded for, but I am back up to 13 cartridges I load for (32ACP, 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 45ACP, 218 Bee, 22 Hornet (yes, again), 223, 22-250, 22 Hi-Power, 25-35, 7X57, 30-30, 444 Marlin. I think that's all . . .). Sounds like a lot, but compared to before, it is fewer. Sure, simplify and drop what doesn't fit your shooting needs, there's always more cartridges.
 
Remington 540XR. Haven't shot it yet. Trigger is right at 2# and feels pretty good. The trigger is the main complaint on these, but I don't see an issue with this one.
 
Ah, yes, the infamous Remington rimfire trigger. Same trigger they put on the 580 series and the 540 series rifles. Biggest problem with them is you can't buy them anymore, and there is no aftermarket source for triggers for those rifles. There are several fixes for making them feel better (you can google that), but if you screw it up you are out of luck. I have a 541T, plus several 581s, and they shoot great, butI hope I never screw up the trigger because I don't want to have to design and manufacture one.
 
I think what guns we have depend on where we live and the hunting we do. I doubt I could survive without a .22-250 where I live. We can only use rifles for varmint or hog hunting so I have my share of rifles geared towards that.

Would you believe I have a Remington 700 Classic in .300 H&H mag that I haven't shot in 15 years. It's useless where I live.
 
dusty 22-250

I've got a 22-250 setting in the safe, which, until last summer, probably had not fired a shot in near 20 years. Ruger 77V, with a Weaver (USA) 12x. Purchased the rifle, no scope, used, about 1982. Bought the scope, used, about 6 mo later. Lived in a locale at the time that had many groundhogs, and that rifle was an eye opener, as I could nail chucks farther out than ever before, and the rifle stacked 52 gr Matchkings into tidy little clusters.

When I moved,..... no groundhogs....and the rifle went into the back of the safe, where it pretty much remained, except for a wipe down and pullthrough now and again. I had dreamed and saved for the combo so long, that I could not part with it.

Now, here, coyotes are a real problem, and I just about lost a good Lab to the varmints. Also, the crows are giving the corn and bean fields of my neighbor a really good going over....and the 22-250 came out again.

Loaded some ammo, re-zeroed. Cut feathers on the first crow, likely shot over it. Next 3 shots yielded 3 dead crows.....including a pair, piled up side by side, from the same limb, at a lazered 285. It was almost a step back in time.

I should move some rifles, ....and understand the OP got what he wanted. But I'm glad I kept mine.
 
I have 22-250 reamer, some rifles, the dies, but will never shoot it again, probably.

The 223 case head is much stronger and can take more pressure. So if on handloads and ignores SAAMI registered max average pressures, with light bullets, there is no real difference between the 223 and 22-250 at their full potenial.

Comparing with factory ammo or with heavy bullets there is a big difference.
But the factory 22-250 rifles are slow twist and can only shoot light bullets.

If you have a custom 22-250 with fast twist barrel or can't reload without a published recipe, never mind.
 
Just 30? Ha ha, nice.

And here I thought my life was too complicated with 7 rifle rounds and 3 handgun rounds, most of which are reloaded (but not all).

I feel that if you could get a 9 twist .22-250 with a 20" bbl in ultra-light mountain-style turnbolt configuration, that would be the ultimate lightweight, low-recoil whitetail deer gun for the way I hunt (i.e. I always go for neck shots if under 75 yards, and they're almost always under 75 yards in the woods here). But I'd use a 62-64 gr bullet so that I'm ready for a longer vitals shot, too.
 
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