Does the .22-250 have enough power?

[oxjlange]

My son will soon be 7 and he can shoot a .22 like no one's business, I know the .22-250 has a lot more kick then .22 LR but was wondering if he could take down a deer at 50-75 yards? I have heard of people killing deer with it before but didn't know if they were shooting at the head or standard kill spots like heart? Any feed back would be appreciated.

 

[30BulletHoles]

My grandfather has a friend that has used a 22-250 for whitetails for years. Bullet selection is very important but yes it has enough power.

 

[aviator41]

22-250 with an organ shot an it's down at those ranges.

Keep in mind that to be legal, it needs to have a 55gr pill or better.

Shot placement counts with this cartridge, but if he's a crack shot, he'll have no problems.

 

[Toney]

my sil took this at over 209yds with my 22-250.

 

[dennishoddy]

I've killed a couple with a 22-250. Took a lung shot on both. When I was field dressing them, the carnage was impressive. That 55 grain Hornady soft point running at 3700 fps performed well.

 

[Cedar Creek]

.22-250 is effective on deer, but also unforgiving if the shot hits shoulder bone, etc. Big wound that is not immediately fatal. My bullet recommendation is 60 grain Hornady if you handload.
The .22-250 usually comes with a 1-12 or maybe 1-14 twist while the current crop of .223 rifles come with 1-9 or faster twist rate allowing for heavier bullets. Based on my experience you don't give up much at the distances you're talking about if you go from .22-250 to .223, and I say that although I'm a huge .22-250 fan. I know a lot of guys in my home country of SE Oklahoma who hunt deer with .223 all the time, mostly Mini-14s. Another downside to any .22 centerfire is that you might make a perfect organ shot that is almost immediately fatal, but the deer will run 100 yards or so before going down with no exit wound or blood trail.

Good Luck!

Cedar Creek

 

[CHenry]

Works great on neck shots too.

 

[osupoke]

I hunt a place where the shots on does are often pretty easy, so I shot a couple last year with .22 centerfires just for something new.

One doe I shot broadside about 75 yards with a .223. The bullet was the 60 grain Sierra Varminter HP, loaded pretty slow (I think it chrono'd about 2750-2800). I don't remember exactly how far she ran, but I remember it was less than 100 yards. The bullet exited and made a decent hole for a .22, but there wasn't much blood.

The next weekend, I shot another one with the same bulllet in a .220 Swift, which was moving the bullet about 3450 fps. This shot was a bit forward into the shoulder, and between the bone/velocity/bullet construction, it didn't hold up at all. The deer again went down inside 100 yards, but there was no blood trail at all. I think I basically got lucky and some bullet/bone fragments penetrated the vitals.

As has been said, it's very doable but shot placement is key, and good bullet construction would certainly help.

 

[Cedar Creek]

My theory about the .223 on deer vs .22-250 is that the lower velocity might be a better match for the jacket construction of most .22 centerfire bullets. But then - I'm not a physicist or other kind of science/math guy. Just my theory based on 40+ years with centerfire .22 rifles.

Cedar Creek

 

[Okie4570]

60gr Nosler partition is what I load for a guy and his son to deer hunt with. Load 50 rounds every other year for him.