22-250 two much?

[edhunter]

I went calling today and took a good friend with me. He shoots a '250 and the case is like double the size of my .223. We were too impatient on our second stand and drove into a coyote coming. Another 5 minutes and he would have been in our lap.

On the 4th stand we had one charge in behind us but didn't see it until it was to late. That really sucks.

By the 7th stand we figured the day was shot. It was getting hot and man what a day but not for calling. We hiked 1/2 mile from the truck to call a little depression that doesn't have any pressure or roads. Semi-open and rabbits thick. I had the woodpecker going for only 30-40 seconds when I saw the dog coming hard straight at me. My buddy was 40 yards to my left and the sucker would peg me if I moved. A quick glance proved that he had seen the incoming varmit and his fowling piece was ready for action.

I started the kiss of death when it was 60 yards out; instead of stopping to check us out and die quietly it picked up the pace. Fifteen steps in front of me she finally looked over and saw my buddy...........Too late. Bang went the gun and down she went but jumped back up and did the dying coyote spin and bite routine for 15 seconds before dying for real.

Here is the wierd thing. She had a sewer pipe sized hole through her. What is up with that? I've been banging them with the .223 with 45 grain hollow points. No hole, not much blood and very dead coyotes. They haven't even been wagging the tail.

So is the 22-250 too much gun? It dang sure mucked up that dog. I'd hate to see what a fox or bobcat would look like after taking a missle from it.

Ed, www.swhounds.com

 

[WayCool]

Ed,

I've always thought 250 was WAY too much for dogs... and just silly for fox or bobcat...

The .17 Rem boys say its the cats meow for yotes on down.. I tend to believe them... that little pill has wicked ballistics for its size...

I have religated my shoots to the 40gr nosler b-tip and 35gr hornandy b-tip in .223 outtta a single shot NEF varmit bbl... my preference for closer shots is the 35gr (crappy ballistics)... but the 40gr will get it done up to 250 IMO.. but you better hit them good is all....

You pretty much have to reload to get those bullets though... something that is fun too.. if your a glutton like me and need another hobby :-(

Blowing big ol holes in the hides aint no good... less your out for nothing but fun.... would really suck to be sitting there with a .243 when a nice bobcat comes trotting in.... that's all I know...

Well done btw... very well done !!!

Steve Lithgow
http://www.waycoolkennels.com

 

[bullwidgeon]

Think long range (100 yarders or more) and think 55 grain bullet. It will probably exit but you shouldn't have a beer can sized hole punched through him, more like quarter sized. That is all my grandfather uses on unit 1 and 2 yotes all spring and fall long and he has no complaints. Kinda like shooting a .270 with 130 grainers at deer at 15-50 yards. You kill the deer but get a bucket sized exit wound in most cases (the good part is the blood trail is easy to follow ;-)). I like the .22 mag for closer than 50 yards and use the .222 or .223 for anything else.
Bret M.

 

[Longun]

Back in the days when I was hide huntin' I used a 223 with a 52 grain Match Grade Hollowpoint and it blew up after entering the body cavity within a 100 yds. But any more since hides ain't worth squat I use a 220 swift with a 52 grain hornady VMax and that is overkill within a 100 yards. But after 200 yds in doesn't even exit. Velocity is the big kicker. More velocity--more hole.

 

[RuttCrazed]

So why not just put a full metal jacket through them while using the 250?

Rut

 

[DJ5]

I've been playing around with some Hornet type loads in the 22-250 for years, I use a 45gr. Speer SP with either 11gr. Unique of 14gr. 4759. Both of these group good out of my rifles. I've never seen anything in print on loads like this but I think they would work pretty well on the close shots. You might have about a quarter sized exit hole on a bobcat or fox. I've never used them on coyotes but they don't tear up a turkey real bad either.
My wife shot a bobcat about 75 yds. with a full bore 60 gr. load a few years back and it basically removed the front sholder. If you can get a reduced load to shoot the same place as a full bore load it's nice, but doesn't always work that way. A friend of mine swears by 45 gr. bullets really smoking in his 22-250 but he may be shooting longer ranges than you are. He claims they don't exit at all. I believe most of his shots are over 100 yd. I've never tried anything in the 223 class reduced load but I'm sure it could be worked out. There just isn't much info in any reloading books on that type load. It's REAL easy to double load the reduced loads so you need to watch that too, that might be why the books don't have much on it.

 

[gdog]

I have a 22-250 and a .17rem that I hunt coyotes with. Hands down I perfer the .17rem. Shooting a 25gr bullet at 4,000fps knocks them dead with NO pelt damage. About a week ago, on one stand, I had 3 coyotes come in at once. Had to stop the first one at about 40 yrds with a "woop". Shot and dropped that one. Number two trotted away and stopped at about 120yrds. Called him back another 10yrds but started to get real jumpy....dropped that one in its tracks. By the time I got a swing on the third one....it was heading for California. That .17rem drops them stone dead...no moving/flipping..nothing. Entry hole is pin-sized, with no exit wounds.

When calling them in....I rarely need to shoot all that far, so the xtra range of the 22-250 is not needed.

My $.02's

Take care!

 

[PETA]

22-250 is a great gun as long as there is no wind at all! if there is wind you will find out that it sucks big time out past 100yrds and yes it blows big holes in animals and will actualy penaetate plate steel better then a 30-06 it's also expensive to buy shells for in my opinion a 223 is much funner to shoot and bullts are cheep but the dog is out there past 400yrds and there is no wind the 22-250 is prety neet try the siera 55gr fmj or pulled api ammo if you don't like the big holes it makes

 

[gdog]

"22-250 is a great gun as long as there is no wind at all! if there is wind you will find out that it sucks big time out past 100yrds "

uh...and why is that? Are you stating the 22-250 is worse then a .223 or any other .224 round comparable?????

Share your logic.....I'd like to hear this one

 

[WayCool]

Uh oh... !

Here's comes the caliber contest

The fact is if the .17rem will kill what you are shooting.. it's pretty hard to beat the ballistics... Ballistic Coefficient on those .17's is amazing... I'd own one if H&R/NEF made one in a handi rifle ;-) so I could add another barrel to my collection


Steve Lithgow
http://www.waycoolkennels.com

 

[RLH]

there is no such thing as too big for a coyote. blow em in half. until the fur prices come back up, which is probably never, $!#%@^# stinkin' liberals, who cares how big of a hole you blow in em. if you're in a contest it's mess, tripping over guts and then there is a big mess in the bed of the truck. i like the 22/250. also have an ol'.223, 788 remington that i really like too. also like a .243, .270, .300 mag, 12 guage, etc, etc. and shoot all of em you can too. they're everywhere.

 

[gdog]

....some times the intelligence on these boards is over whelming

 

[RLH]

hey, it's stinkin' coyotes. they're a plague. and, no caliber is good in the wind. if you get a good reloading book that has wind drift calculations, it will astound you how far off course even a mild breeze can take you. that's why you never sight in a rifle when there is even a trace of wind. the .22/250 shouldn't be any different that any other .22 cal. in fact it should be better. the only thing that overcomes wind is fps, and bullet weight to a lesser extent. the faster it shoots, the less drift.

 

[edhunter]

This thread was to tell a story about a successful coyote hunt. Sorry for the question and all the junk it has started. Point is the 22-250 blows holes in coyotes big enough for Kevin's Mule to stick his head through. I don't save coyote hides but I do take pictures, usually tasteful ones, and this coyote wasn't very photogenic. So, I don't care if you shoot coyotes with a .50 caliber or a scud missle but if cats or foxes are on the menu and you like their hides as much as I do........GUN DOWN AMIGOS.

Ed, www.swhounds.com

 

[gdog]

Ed,

Always great to hear of succesful hunts..way to go and keep posting them up. I keep my coyote hides whenever possible. Some times as you experienced, a shot ends up tearing them up pretty good...that just happens...but as you state...we can control that to the effect of what we shoot. To each is own...but I try to use all that I can out of the animals I shoot. The last few coyotes I have taken, had great looking hides and it doesnt take a whole lot to skin them out. Most places you can get $20+ for a hide, which can add up...and go toward gas, guns or ammo.

Good luck and good hunting!

 

[huntm2]

LM - NRA, NAHC, RMEF
Some times it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're stupid than to open it and remove all doubt! Think before you post things like that as the @$%#^&!@ is always looking for ammunition like your statements to use against hunters -- but them I guess you proved you are not a true 'HUNTER'.

 

[RLH]

too stupid to what? dang it's just coyotes. if the bloody part of the sport offends you maybe you oughta take up something else. Ed, here is a little trick that will help you with your .22/.250 blowing things up. if you are a handloader. try 55 grain hornady boat tail hollowpoint "Match" bullets. they're a target bullet. heavier jacket, smaller hollowpoint than a normal varmint bullet or SX. makes a much smaller exit hole than even a softpoint most of the time. i still like a .22/.250 because it's a lot faster than a .223 and really helps on running dogs. and don't crank it up to 3700 or 3800. stay at 3600 fps or below. that's still about 400 fps faster than a .223. i tried the 40 gr ballistic tips and the SX bullets and ones with a hollowpoint that were so big they had an echo and never liked any of them. seemed to wound animals to death. and be carefull with FMJ's. they're illegal for hunting in most states, and i've never seen much difference between them and HP's. but i've never shot much with them either and it could have been the angle that they were hit. i started using the Match bullets in a .243 and they worked really well and finally wised up and use them exclusively for all vermin. my kid just got one of the new .17 hornady's. you seen them? it's a .22 mag necked down to .17 cal.. a rimfire. shoots an .18 gr. balistic tip about 2600 fps. works real well on coyotes. seldom even goes through. just a pinhole in one side. remember, shoot more coyotes.