# 22-250



## Chaser21 (Jun 2, 2008)

I deer hunt with a 22-250. When people ask me what i hunt with and i tell them they think i am crazy. I try to shoot the deer right behind the jaw bone. Do you think i am crazy for using this gun?


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## bwnelson (Oct 29, 2002)

Crazy because of cartridge selection. NO.

Poor shot selection. Yes. Head shots work spectacularly when they work. However there is NO room for error. Heads are constantly moving ... just a little. There are few things uglier than an a living deer with the lower jaw shot off slowly dying of starvation.

If you are going to drive a Hot 22 it is all good if you stick to a good bullet (TSX/Partition/ even Winchester 64 gr Power Points) and shoot them in the heart/lung area.

The other issue with a Hot 22 is wind drift. IMHO the range to take a shot with a 22-250 REALLY depends more on limitations from precise accuracy due to wind than a quality bullets ability to penetrate the vitals.


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## jmillercustoms (Dec 11, 2007)

i have killed many deer with a 22-250 i do not use one now for that thanks to my 7mm wsm :lol: but when i did it worked pretty damn good for it, its not a run n gun caliber, more of a finesse thing, i will second nelson with the shot placement I'd shoot a good bullet and put it where it counts! although nothin beats shootin em with the short mag and they dont hardly take a step after the shot :sniper:


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## Chaser21 (Jun 2, 2008)

yall thanks for the reply.


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## mrb (Aug 22, 2007)

I don't know where you hunt, but a 22.250 is illigal in a lot of places too, so check your regs.'
i also think that using a 22.250 is rather short on caliber for a deer gun, sure it will kill when in the right spot, but with a living creature and conditions always changing, there are alot of bad outcomes if things don't go just right!! and a head shot, that only blows off a jaw or other part, is a shot that can very easily be taken for as a miss, when it was not! and a slow death to a deer! , a head shot is fatal only when in the right spot!! and it is very small, a heart lung area is much larger leaving room for some error, but not so on a head shot!! , but I would still use a larger caliber!!


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

Not crazy. With the right bullet, the .22-250 is a viable deer cartridge. I won't question the head shots, because, you may indeed be a superior marksman. Stay away from frangible bullets. Pick your shots carefully. Practice from field positions. Many, many deer are taken cleanly with the fast .22's on a regular basis. 
Burl


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## mrb (Aug 22, 2007)

sure and some people learn to swim by being thrown in a lake, but there are better out there! that's all i was saying, i believe a .22 has kill almost every critter that walks the earth, but that doesn't mean i recomened them for deer or other game!


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

It's all about the right bullet, practice, confidence, ability and perfect shot placement. No one asked anyone for a recommendation, just an opinion. So here is mine. 
The .22-250 isn't my first choice of a deer cartridge, but I have confidence in my ability to use one effectively (and I certainly have) if I choose to do so. A head shot won't be my only choice either, but in the right situation, it works great and I have used it to great effect a number of times. 
Last deer season, a landowner friend related the story of an old acquaintence that was a head shot "specialist". That was his ultimate goal with every deer he took (he was a meat hunter only). It went on for years, until he was forced to chase a deer for three days, after having shot most of an ear off of it's head, and having it run off. He eventually recovered the deer, but was cured of his obsession, and began to take heart/lung shots. He still uses the head shot, but only when things are dead sure for a clean kill. 
Things can and do go awry in the field. If I thought it was fair, I would raise the caliber limit in my state, to exclude anything smaller than a .250. But that would put out many who are both confident and experienced with their rifle of choice, and accomplish nothing with the "spray and pray" crowd. Better, I think, to get out the knowledge of how to make these fast .22's (and .24's as well) into reliable game getters. The right bullet, practice, confidence, ability and perfect shot placement. If you are unable to do so, then don't. But many have, successfully, and not just by chance, but through acquired skills.
Burl


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## People (Jan 17, 2005)

I do like the 22-250 for deer hunting. I used my Grandpa's 22-250 one year. It was a very light rifle. We were shooting a 55gr soft point. I did shoot the doe in the chest and it dropped like a tone of rocks. Like Burly1 said you do your part it will do its job.

If they would ban 22cal (.224) hopefully they would allow 50cal rifles using smokeless powder.


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## mrb (Aug 22, 2007)

having run a gun store and shooting range, I can tell you that very few hunters spend enough time to be concidered , well experienced with there hunting rifle3, to be good enough to make them head dhots on living game, that is why I strongly don't recommend a head shot, or small caliber rifles for deer, ( Yes even big caliber bullets need to hit vitals to work) but a bigger, more powerful caliber, will go into an animal farther and through more bone, on a poor shot placement, and can result in still a kill! where as them smaller bullets/caliber's cannot! thusmy opinion, I have had to track a ton of deer due to poor shot placement over the years from fellow hunter, and the ones that shoot .22's and are not well versed with there firearm and shooting skills have resulted in more lost deer!!and i just hate to see an animal suffer!


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## Chaser21 (Jun 2, 2008)

I have killed a deer with a 22 lr. I shot it in the chest broke one rib the deer ran 30 yards and died. I was alot younger when i shot that deer because i didnt know any better. I wouldn't shoot another one today with 22lr. So if the 22 lr will kill one then i know you could shoot deer in the chest all day with a 22-250 and kill them deader than a door nail. Today people go to the extreme with deer rifles. Thinking you have to have a cannon to kill a deer. A really long time ago the only thing people killed deer with was .40 to .50 caliber muzzle loaders. They would have killed to have been able to shoot my 22-250 at deer.


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## People (Jan 17, 2005)

Chaser21 did you not get that memo it takes a belted mag to kill deer


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