# 22/250 or 223



## coyotekiller3006 (Jan 3, 2006)

i am torn between gettin a 22/250 or a 223. in my area, i can find 223s all over the place for reasonable prices, but cant find a 22/250 hardly anywhere. can you guys please tell me what the difference between the two are, or which one is a better coyote rifle?? any information would be greatly appreciated!!!!


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## nitelite18 (Dec 12, 2005)

well coyote killer, They both shoot a .224 caliber bullet. The 22-250 is a long range gun. It will push bullets at tremendous velocities nearing 4000 fps. Not recomended to do so in a huge quantity but capable. the reason is that the tremendous speed wears out barrels more so than another 22 centerfire. The 223 is a much smaller casing but the maximum velecity is around 3400 fps. Both guns are extremely accurate but the .223 is in my opinion more "practical". for coyotes. If you will be doing long range shooting go with the 22-250. but for more wooded areas a 223 is a better choice. There are also many ohter 22 caliber rifles to look at. 22 hornet,222remington,220 swift. I understand ammo availabity is a problem so you can rule thse out. just trying to help good luck


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## mossy512 (Jan 7, 2006)

nitelite said it all, I shoot a .22-250 in wooded areas, BUT in many parts of it I have open hardwoods. My ranges go from 50yds in my tightest to 200-300 yd in the open bottoms. As I said nitelite tells it right :sniper:


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## StLCardsFan (Dec 7, 2005)

I recently made the same decision last weekend. I went with the 22-250 after reading about the bullet tragectory differences. Since the 22-250 is faster, it drops far less at 300 yards than the 223. So, no matter what area you are in, you get a flatter spot. And really the ammo prices are not that much difference. If you move up into a 243, then you have a big difference.

Don't let the barrel life scare you off. You're talking about 1500 rounds give or take. A 223 will have the same problem if you shoot it constantly. After sighting in your 22-250, you're looking at years before you go through 1500 rounds, and if you take care of the gun, it will last longer.

If you can't find a 22-250 in your area, order one. This place seems pretty good: http://www.galleryofguns.com/

I picked up a Savage package deal wit the scope and case. The scope was bore sighted and dead on out of the box and right into the field.

Good luck in your quest!


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## RWH (Dec 21, 2005)

Great reading and good answers guys.
The 223 might be more fur friendly per the wider avalibility of ammo than say the factory softpoints that are more common with the .22-250

I do use the .22-250 but am reloading using the older Hornady #2267 which is a 55gr fmjbt. This hide bullet works well as far as minimal damage is concerned. Most of my shots are taken at 130 to 150yds.
The .22 Hornet will work well within this range but that .22-250 is great on the occasion that you need to add another 100yds or so.

I dont get too worryed about throat or barrel errosion and think that most of the damage occur's if you let the barrel get HOT, then keep on shooting such as one might when taking out groundhogs or especially PD's


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

You have received some very good advice and suggestions.

In a nut shell, if you are going to be shooting LOTS and LOTS of ammo then the .223 is the better choice (IMHO), ie sitting at a bench shooting targets non stop or shooting Prairie Dogs. The main reason I say this is BARREL HEAT.

Now on the other hand if this is going to be a Coyote Rifle, and only few shots will be fired in a row then the .22-250 may well be the better choice. The talk about Barrels Wearing out is a moot point unless the rifle is going to fired constantly and allowed to become extremely hot. Barrels really do not wear out, but rather the Rifling Throat (lenghtens) wears out due to flame cutting. Again this should not be a problem in a Coyote Rifle.

In regards to the Ballistics of the .223 vs the .22-250. Like has been said the .223 & .22-250 shoot the same bullets. The .22-250 will shoot the same bullets as the .223 roughly 300 to 400 FPS faster than the .223. To gain this increase in muzzle velocity the .22-250 uses roughly 1/3 more powder than the .223, and the more powder burnt the more barrel heat as you are shoving the same bullet down the same size bore.

In a nut shell this 300 to 400 FPS more velocity translates into approximately 100 yards more range. To explain that further the .22-250 will achieve the same retained velocity down range as the .223 does, but only the distance at which the .22-250 falls off to the same impact velociy will normally be 100 yards farther.

If you go by the Maximum Point Blank Range theory in which the given bullet for each cartridge is sighted in so the bullet does not rise nor fall neither 1.5" above or below the line of sight (I use 1.5" for Varmint / Coyote Cartridges) the .22-250 has roughly a 50 yard greater Maximum Point Blank Range (provided the same bullet is used in both cartridges). Now to a person good at Kentucky Windage this may or may not mean anything, but for the person that wants to aim dead on the animal and have the bullet stike + or - 1.5" of where the crosshairs are it may well mean something.

Not sure if I cleared anything up or just confused you more. At any rate, just for the record I use a .223 for Short Range (out to 250 -300 yards), and if longer range shots are expected I use a .243.

Good luck with your quest.

Larry


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