Does the .22-250 have enough power?

[Okie4570]

good friends in Kansas who have shot a lot of deer for many years, the 22-250 is their caliber of choice, zero it in at 300 yards. Yes, it can get the job done.

.22-250, .220 Swift, and a boat load of .22/243 .22/6mm variants are quite popular in TX as well.

 

[dennishoddy]

Its just a couple thousands of inches difference in any of the afore mentioned calibers. It the velocity that makes a lot of difference, along with a properly constructed bullet for that velocity.

 

[AllOut]

Works great on neck shots too.

I prefer a Femoral shot

 

[turkeyrun]

I prefer a Femoral shot

Ahhhhhhh, the Texas heart shot. Good choice.

 

[Master Carper]

If you reload for the 22-250, SPEER's 70 gr. Semi Spitzer and Hornady's 60 gr. Hollow Point, were designed specifically for shooting deer. I have shot several deer with both bullets, and out to at least 250 yds., they perform about as well as the 243 Winchester, shooting 80-85 gr. bullets....

 

[oxjlange]

This is my thought as well. I have a .243 and a .22-250, and while I guess I could use the .22-250, I have always picked up my .243 to deer hunt with. Every situation is different of course. I typically deer hunt in a more wooded area where shots over 150 yards are rare. My .22-250 is also a heavy barrel setup Savage that does not lend itself well to hikes in the woods.

For what it is worth, I bought my son a Handi Rifle in .357 Mag. Very little kick, relatively inexpensive to start with (in case the son or daughter does not take to deer hunting as well as you might hope) and has great stopping power as long as the shots are 100 yards or so.

He is only 6 right now and will be 7 in December, didnt know if the .243 would give him more kick then he could handle and possibly the .22/250 would give him a little less. Didnt know for sure as i am new to hunting as well and have only shot .30/06, .30/30 and .270 while deer hunting.

 

[oxjlange]

**I've never shot a 22-250, so take this with a grain of salt**

Out of curiosity, why not go with a .243 Winchester? That was my first deer rifle and I was 12 when I got my first one. To this day, the .243 is my favorite round. Stupid fast and wide selection of bullets to tailor to fit your needs. Not much recoil and plenty of commercial ammo available. Enlighten me on why you would use a 22-250? Seems like the 22-250 is very critical for shot placement from what you guys are saying. No offense to the child here, but it would seem like that would be an unfavorable round to a younger shooter who maybe a little less concerned with critical shot placement. A slightly stronger round that is more forgiving with better power for general take down. (Caveat - all shot placement is critical for ethical harvesting). Let's say the child misses a couple inches fore or aft with a 22-250, the deer runs off and bleeds out somewhere farther off where you can't find it. You've wasted that life. If same shot hits with the .243 the deer drops way faster and easily recoverable due to more hydraulic pressure from the speed and power.

**once again, I've never shot or hunted with a 22-250, so this is me pontificating**

He is only 6 right now and will be 7 in December, didnt know if the .243 would give him more kick then he could handle and possibly the .22/250 would give him a little less. Didnt know for sure as i am new to hunting as well and have only shot .30/06, .30/30 and .270 while deer hunting.

 

[CBCollier]

He is only 6 right now and will be 7 in December, didnt know if the .243 would give him more kick then he could handle and possibly the .22/250 would give him a little less. Didnt know for sure as i am new to hunting as well and have only shot .30/06, .30/30 and .270 while deer hunting.

I will tell you that my .243 and my .22-250 seem to kick about the same to me. The very low recoil in the .357 handi rifle is why I chose it for my son's first deer rifle. I think he could handle the .243 now. He's 14 now but he was 11 when we started.

 

[SDarkRage]

My nephew is 9 almost 10 and shoots my 243 with a big smile. But here is a big difference size wise between 6 and 9.

 

[roger33]

It does for a head shot.