Another .223 vs. .22-250 thread

I had to laugh when someone mentioned "big" coyotes in the east and tried to justify the 22-250 based on that. The 223 has more than enough punch to kill a coyote. Even those big tough ones in the east. LOL

Ask yourself what you want to do with the gun. If it is mainly a coyote gun that you might put 20 rounds downrange with your buddies once a year, get a 22-250. But why stop there? The .243 is ballistically superior to the 22-250.

If you plan on punching paper and whacking some song dogs, the .223 is a great all around gun. Get a faster twist barrel and stretch out to 1000 yards.

Here it is in a nutshell! Both guns have more than enough ooomph to kill coyotes. the 22-250 will shoot flatter by a couple of inches at 300 yards. A faster twist .223 offers more options for the paper puncher. It is cheaper to reload. the barrels last much much longer.

So really, you need to decide are you buying a gun that is strictly for coyotes, or a sort of do all at a good price kinda gun?
 
I'm thinking most people would prefer a .223 with a heavier bullet for Wolf as opposed to a 22.250, but that's just a guess on my part.
 
Dsrt rats right on

Most guys with slow twist .223's are switching over to the quick twist guns(I'm guessing). It will give you the advantage of a bullet with a higher coeficient, which in the end will make a bigger difference when considering wind drift; which is a huge factor with any centerfire .22. The .308 is a great example of a slower velocity 30 cal. round, but shoots bullets with a high coeficient, and can group 3-4 inches at 1000 yards. Your Weatherby 300 may not. Faster is not always better.

As far as shooting coyotes goes, I bagged one at 355 yards last year, measured with my Leica CRF, double shouldered and exited it with a psp winchester bullet, about the cheapest bullet you can shoot, and the hide is hanging quite nicely in my son's bedroom.

Know your bullet drop, and the Coyote is yours. I recommend the .223

However, if you want to have your jaw drop, and whitness the gruesome spectacle of hydrostic shock...get the .22.250 and take out some gophers!
 
From the Nosler #4 manual (the #5 is in my reloading room) a 55 gr. Ballistic tip from a .223 starts at about 3200 fps and from a 200 yard zero will be -7" at 300 yards with 580 ft/lbs of energy left. From a .22-250 it starts at about 3700 fps, will be -5' at 300 yards with 806 ft/lbs of energy. That IS a difference a coyote will notice.

At 400 yards the same bullet from a .223 will have dropped 21.4 inches and have 436 ft/lbs of energy. From a .22-250 it will drop 15.3 inches and still have 618 ft/lbs of energy.

Anyone who thinks there is no difference in the two rounds as a coyote round is blind. The .22-250 is a superior coyote round at all ranges.
 
To the OP:

You mentioned no handloading yet.... get the .223 (lots of bulk paks available). Inside 300m, the I would stick with the .223, a tighter twist like the Tikka (8" twist) will allow the heavier bullets if you shoot longer ranges of 300m or farther. Hey, maybe the heavier 20" barrel of the Rem M700 SPS Tactical. Might be heavy for walking around.

Buy both! I've got both .223 (SPS M700 18.5" barrel) for walking around and a .22-250 SPS M700 20" with 9" twist barrel to shoot the longer bullets at 800m.

I found that the .22-250 is dramatic and FUN! :D My ONLY complaint of my .22-250 is that the recoil bounce with a skinny sporter barrel MAY disallow you to enjoy the splatter of your hit. So I removed the sporter barrel and swapped it for a heavier varmint (cut down of course) so that I can enjoy the dramatic effect on varmints.

DSCN1456.jpg


Do this... get both. See which one works best for you and then sell the other one that does not get the mileage / exposure/ range time/hunting time it deserves. :)

I find that my .223 M700 SPS gets out all the times I'm walking around on snowshoes for coyotes. When I sit and wait for the coyotes with friends, I bring the .22-250 varmint gun. So I guess, things also boil down to your hunting styles. :cool:

Get out and see what works for you. Lots and lots of great advice from this discussion!

:cheers:

Barney
 
I don't think there is a huge difference.

Practically , the differences only appear at distances where most people aren't shooting (or at least aren't hitting anything)
 
rral22 said:
From the Nosler #4 manual (the #5 is in my reloading room) a 55 gr. Ballistic tip from a .223 starts at about 3200 fps and from a 200 yard zero will be -7" at 300 yards with 580 ft/lbs of energy left. From a .22-250 it starts at about 3700 fps, will be -5' at 300 yards with 806 ft/lbs of energy. That IS a difference a coyote will notice.

At 400 yards the same bullet from a .223 will have dropped 21.4 inches and have 436 ft/lbs of energy. From a .22-250 it will drop 15.3 inches and still have 618 ft/lbs of energy.

Anyone who thinks there is no difference in the two rounds as a coyote round is blind. The .22-250 is a superior coyote round at all ranges.
Click to expand...

You apparently skipped over post number 23.

Here it is again
Most guys with slow twist .223's are switching over to the quick twist guns(I'm guessing). It will give you the advantage of a bullet with a higher coeficient, which in the end will make a bigger difference when considering wind drift; which is a huge factor with any centerfire .22. The .308 is a great example of a slower velocity 30 cal. round, but shoots bullets with a high coeficient, and can group 3-4 inches at 1000 yards. Your Weatherby 300 may not. Faster is not always better.

The answer to original question is simple.
If you shoot a lot 223 is way to go.
If you shoot a little, 22-250 will almost do anything a 223 will at an extra powder-noise expense :D
 
I like both but one thing I have noticed being in the market for another 223 is the used 223 calipers seem to sell within hours but I can show you probally 6 nice 22-250 sitting not sold and they for the most part are priced accordingly.
 
KDX said:
I'm thinking most people would prefer a .223 with a heavier bullet for Wolf as opposed to a 22.250, but that's just a guess on my part.
Click to expand...

Actually no, for the same reason I would pick a 22-250 over 223 for Deer. Just need to use the right bullet - 50 gr. Barnes x/tsx at 3800+ fps hits pretty hard for a 22 . No need to get into the old debate of Weigh versus speed but as far as 22 cf's speed and bullets that hold together seem to work....even bullets that dont' exit and turn the insides to soup :D

If the said predator is armor plated then Im not even going to bother with 22 CF's .:eek:
 
senior said:
You apparently skipped over post number 23.

The answer to original question is simple.
If you shoot a lot 223 is way to go.
If you shoot a little, 22-250 will almost do anything a 223 will at an extra powder-noise expense :D
Click to expand...

No, you apparently skipped "as a coyote round" which is bold faced in my last post. I already said, as a pure coyote round I would actually pick a .243. I believe coyotes are very tough animals - pound for pound one of the toughest I hunt. If they were the size of black bears, people would be using very large rifles to deal with them.

After many years of hunting coyotes, I have come to believe the "extra powder-noise expense" is worth tolerating in order to take coyotes cleanly and humanely out to 300 yards and beyond. Even if you say you will not shoot that far, anyone who hunts them a lot knows you will end up "stretching" things at times.

If you are going to use a .22 center fire as your coyote gun I believe you will be better served by the .22-250. So I would modify your summation a bit.

If you shoot mostly smaller things and paper, and only occasionally use it for coyotes, and WILL keep the range under 300 yards, the .223 is the way to go. If you really want a gun for primarily coyotes, then the .22-250 is the better of the two in ways that will actually matter at times.
 
Coyote calibres

Both are great, and both get alot of use for coyotes from myself. In southern AB 300 plus yard shots are very common. Some people start the calling season (fur hunters) with a .223 and then graduate to a 22-250 or faster as the dogs get wiser.

I agree with the comment of going to a tight twist .223. I bought the Tikka in a 1in8 twist. Here are is my handload data. It will give you a good indication why this setup is so versatile.

Gophers - 40gr Vmax @ 3685fps - no bullet upset! Use on coyotes as well within 300yrds.

Coyotes- 50gr Vmax - HOT! - longest shot with these is 410yrds.

Long Range Target - 80gr Bergers @ 2850fps. Would also make great coyote load, just havent shot one with them.

The .223 seems to becoming my year round go to gun, where as the .22-250 is designated strictly for coyotes!

Worst case scenario, you get out, shoot LOTS! and decide for yourself which is best. Enjoy!
 
Owning 2 - 223's and 1 22-250 I would say that the 22-250 is a more powerful rifle and makes that difference with a kill.

The argument can go either way as far as I am concerned because I am positive that a .223 will do a good job on a coyote a .22-250 will just do it better. I found .22-250 to be more accurate but that is more than likely the guns I am using however if given the choice I would choose .22-250 for coyote but I would choose .223 for paper punching as it is much much cheaper. For the increase in performance the price does not justify the .22-250 but if this is not a factor and just performance base there is a noticeable difference when shooting them side by side in my personal opinion I liken it to shooting a 38 and 357. Both on the outside look like similar sized and caliber bullets but one is faster and more powerful.
 
Why not go for the .220 swift, all the umph of the .243 with poper loads and way less recoil. It will do anything all the above listed calibers will do.

Thanks
Foxhollow
 
I have used all of the above for coyotes but find my fav round is .308. Light bullets are fast and there is never a doubt when the target is hit. Hides are worthless anyways so making a mess isn't an issue. More than effective inside 300yrds and for the occasional long shot opportunity its up to the challenge. .223 and 22-250 are for gophers and skunks IMO.
 
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