Author Topic: which caliber .204 Ruger 22-250 or .223 (Read 1432 times)

hoghunter2 · « **on:** January 12, 2005, 02:35:49 PM »

I have decided to get a knew rifle for coyote and other varmints because the .270 and 30-30 are not quite getting it. For blowing big holes in them fine but I want to save the pelts. I was hoping y'all could help me out in picking out a new caliber rifle for predator/varmint hunting. I am going to be able to hunt out in West alot because of all the relatives. And shots could be from a few yards to 350 yards. I was leaning toward the 22-250 or maybe the 204 ruger because they are a little flatter shooting then the .223. But being a new to predator hunting I want y'alls input on what caliber rifle to get. Any help would be much abliged.

trotterlg · « **Reply #1 on:** January 12, 2005, 03:09:37 PM »

I will get my opinion in first. It is hard to beat a 22-250, lots of bullet choices and they are accurate and flat shooting. I use 40gr barnes VLC's, (they have now dropped them, but I have 500 left) and have tried some 30gr Berger's which will do a little over 4500fps with the 40's doing 4200. You may want to consider just re-barreling one of your rifles, you could get a high quality barrel and have it set up and have an even better shooting rifle than a factory job. Larry

frozentoes · « **Reply #2 on:** January 12, 2005, 04:36:39 PM »

My suggestion is going to be the .22-250 :-) That rifle will reach out and touch them when needed. My longest shot with one was 454 paces. I will be the first to say it was pure luck, but the coyote dropped like a rock

. I don't know much about the .204 as they are pretty new yet. They do not have a great selection as far as shells yet. The .223 is also very popular for predators, but I would still go with the .22-250.

Lawdog · « **Reply #3 on:** January 12, 2005, 04:41:20 PM »

hoghunter2,

Quote

which caliber .204 Ruger 22-250 or .223

I have no experience with the .204 Ruger but I do have with the .22-250 and the .223 Remington. Neither of these are what is know as "pelt friendly". Many a pelt hunter has spent a goodly amount of time trying to find the right load in both of these cartridges that will not ruin hides. If the coyotes you are going after are called in then get something like a .221 Fireball or .22 Hornet. I have heard some great things about the .17 Remington on coyotes but havent seen it for myself. Good luck with your choice. Lawdog

varmit_master · « **Reply #4 on:** January 13, 2005, 03:47:32 AM »

Hi i would look at the 22 250 VM

DWARREN123 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 13, 2005, 06:36:09 AM »

Depends on the ranges you will be shooting at. The 204 Ruger is suppose to be a fine rifle if you want the pelt but not sure of the max effective range.
The 223 Rem is good but the ability to shoot the bullets you need depend on the rifling twist rate, lots of surplus ammo.
The 22-250 has a good reputation with most rifles set up for predators/varmints.
Another option in 223 is the AI (Ackley Improved) rounds.
I do believe that all can have good barrel life if not loaded to the max and less than max loads quite often give very good accuracy.
Just my thoughts.

Don Warren

hoghunter2 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 13, 2005, 11:11:24 AM »

thank y'all for all of the replies and great information. I have heard that the 22-250 is a barrel burner or causes throat erosion from being such a hot load. My question is how many shots do you think you can get out of it before you burn out the barrel. I have also heard that the .204 ruger has a longer barrel life. Does anyone here have any expeirence with it. Again thanks for all the info.

naedlaen · « **Reply #7 on:** January 13, 2005, 12:27:29 PM »

The 223 should be good to 250 yards on the coyote.

You can find remanufactured ammuntion for as little as $170/1000. This is 55 grain pointed soft point. I found it at gunbroker from ammotogo (ammo to go)

$100 invested in reloading equipment requires 3300 rounds to break even if it costs $0.14 per round. This reman. ammo is more accurate than I can shoot it.

The 22-250 only eats barrels in a hurry if you shoot near max loads. Someone on graybeard said their 22-250 had excessive throat erosion in about 1000 rounds. I do not know his shooting style, nor do I remember exactly which forum it was in. The search feature isn't cooperating at this time, so I can't find it.

Neal

trotterlg · « **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2005, 01:20:05 PM »

Throat erosion depends on the type of powder, load, bullet and about a dozen other things. Mine has over 2,000 through it and it still looks great, and the accuracy is as good as when I got it. Larry

Lawdog · « **Reply #9 on:** January 13, 2005, 02:24:35 PM »

Quote from: hoghunter2

thank y'all for all of the replies and great information. I have heard that the 22-250 is a barrel burner or causes throat erosion from being such a hot load. My question is how many shots do you think you can get out of it before you burn out the barrel. I have also heard that the .204 ruger has a longer barrel life. Does anyone here have any expeirence with it. Again thanks for all the info.

You'll be surprised at the number of rounds a barrel will last if youdon't burn them out by using hot handloads all the time. My .22-250 has well ove 1,500 rounds thru it and the throat is still in good shape. Lawdog

223Shooter · « **Reply #10 on:** January 13, 2005, 02:29:57 PM »

The obvious choice is the .223. For many reasons........its tough to beat.

trotterlg · « **Reply #11 on:** January 13, 2005, 03:10:20 PM »

It is easy to load a 22-250 down to shoot as slow as the .223 does, but you can't load up a .223 to shoot as fast as a 22-250. If you are wanting to put massive numbers of rounds down the barrel of a rifle, then the .223 is what you want, cheap surplus ammo is all around. Larry

Catfish · « **Reply #12 on:** January 14, 2005, 05:33:22 AM »

If your pelt hunting the .17 Rem. is the most fur frindly with the .204 running a close second. You will get just alittle more range from the .204 though. I just picked up a new .204 barrel for an Encore and haven`t killed any game with it yet, but doubt that it will blow a hole in a coyote. I have been useing a .17 Rem. and it does a good job with no holes.

naedlaen · « **Reply #13 on:** January 14, 2005, 08:21:15 AM »

I found the thread about the 22-250 throat erosion in Round the pot belly stove forum.

Bkienut got 4000 rounds out of his barrel.

Sometimes CRS causes only half a memory.

Neal

TennSquire · « **Reply #14 on:** January 14, 2005, 12:35:40 PM »

I read an article in a Predator Extreme magazine that you might be interested in. If you want to keep the pelts from your varmints, Environ-Metal, Inc. (Hevi-Shot) has developed a new bullet. It's a Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote Varmint Bullet. The .224 bullet weighs 70 grains, but because its density is heavier than lead, it is shorter than most 60 grain bullets. That means it can be shot in slower twist barrels like 1:12. The bullets are hollow point designs with jackets optimized to burst upon penetration. The factory claims another special point about these bullets. They have zero retained weight. That will give you a small entry wound, destruction of vitals, and no exit wound. I don't believe they make finished ammo, only the .224 bullets, with .308 bullets on the design board. Both the .223 Remington and the 22-250 could be loaded with these.

I shoot a .223 Remington with either Hornady V-Max 40 grain moly, or Black Hills 40 grain hollow point moly rounds. Out to about 200 yards, either round passed through the coyotes I've shot broadside. On a front-quartering shot, there was no exit wound. 200 yards is about my maximum range with these lighter bullets. I just received boxes of both above named rounds in 55 grains. I'll now see how they compare.

TennSquire

SD Handgunner · « **Reply #15 on:** January 15, 2005, 11:00:19 AM »

A buddy and I have had quite good results with 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips out of the .223 Remington at around 3600 FPS. Most of the Coyotes shot with this bullet have resulted in no exit wound. However there have been a couple Coyotes lost with this load. Since they were not recovered I can only speculate, but assume a Shoulder was hit that caused Bullet Blow up.

Pushing the 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip to 3600 FPS is not real difficult in a .223, and because the 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip has a Ballistic Coefficient of .220 it retains velocity and energy quite well, and shoots quite flat. I also like the .223 cause it is ecconomical to shoot. This can be important if you shoot a lot.

There are a lot of really good cartridges out there that work well for a variety of Varmints. However if pelt preservation is a requirement that narrows the field a little.

Larry

Lawdog · « **Reply #16 on:** January 15, 2005, 12:48:20 PM »

TennSquire,

What issue of Predator Extreme magazine did you see that article in? Got a web site address for them? I hadn't heard of the Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote Varmint Bullet and would like to read more on it. Might be the answer to the speed burner .22 centerfires out there. Lawdog

trotterlg · « **Reply #17 on:** January 15, 2005, 01:07:09 PM »

I looked for it last night, nothing on the heavyshot web site. I found mention of some for hand gun bullets, they are sinthered bullets, nothing new, but they are heavier than other frangable bullets. Some sites say they have them in development for the 22, but from what I know it is hard to get a frangable bullet to hold together at any velocity, so I would not look for them to be usable in the high speed loads. I would also like to read about it however. Larry