What .224 bullets have you used on whitetail?

[R.W.Dale]

I'm planning ahead for next years deer season using my 22-250 and I would like to hear some stories reguarding terminal preformance of some of the newer medium game .224 bullets. Triple shocks , Partitions ect.

 I don't want to sound rude but if you don't have any firsthand experiance to add to this topic please don't post. And yes it's perfectily legal in Arkansas

[Grumulkin]

I took a deer with factory Remington .22/250 ammo (55 grain soft nose if I remember correctly) a couple of years ago.  It took a couple of shots but only because of substandard shooting on my part (it was at night with a nuisance deer permit).  The second shot hit it a bit far back in the lungs from about 100 yards but was plenty to take it out.

I don't consider the bullets I was using ideal for the game to be taken though.  If I had had the choice, I would have used Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullets in the 53 to 55 grain range.

[Jerry Lester]

I've killed quite a few deer with a 223, but not with the 22-250. I've used mostly 63g Sierra SMP's, 64g Power Points, and 60g Partitions.

I'm not at all a big fan of the partitions. Yes, they definately do penetrate very well, but they also open up way too violently on impact if the velocity(impact) is much over 2600 fps. After shedding the frontal area in the fist few inches, the remaining shank drills a 22 caliber hole for the rest of the way. I know it's hyped as "The .224" Bullet" for larger game, but after trying it in the 223, I'd never trust it in the 22-250.

The 63g SMP's work very well, with awsome performance in the 223 at starting velocities around 2700-2900 fps. I've killed deer cleanly with this combo at ranges from very close to around 175 yards.

The Power Points give similar results as the SMP's, but tend to give a slightly more controled expansion. Although I've loaded the SMP's in 22-250's for a friend who swears by them on deer, if I had to use the 22-250, I'd trust the Power Points a lot more myself.

The problem with the super penetrating .224" bullets(like the Barnes X) is that they often leave very narrow wound channels which can lead to long tracking jobs. It's hard to find a truly good middle ground in performance at 22-250 velocities, but I think you'd have better results consistantly with the Winchester 64g Power Points.

[ButlerFord45]

I don't want to sound rude but if you don't have any firsthand experiance to add to this topic please don't post. And yes it's perfectily legal in Arkansas

And why not?

[R.W.Dale]

I don't want to sound rude but if you don't have any firsthand experiance to add to this topic please don't post. And yes it's perfectily legal in Arkansas

And why not?

 Two dreaded words :shock:    Caliber War  

[ricciardelli]

I use both the 52 grain Sierra HPBT and the 55 grain Sierra SBT on deer and antelope out to 200 yards.

They both work just fine.

[Chuck White]

I've shot a few with a 223, but not the 22-250!

I have always used the 55 grain Hornady Spire Point!  (Not the SX)

Farthest shot I've seen with the 223 is about 185 yards!
Shot through the ribs, the deer went about 35-40 yards and dropped!

[knight0334]

I have a female cousin(really small framed girl) that uses a .222 Rem for deer because she cant handle anything more then that.

Both my uncle and myself use Swift 75gr Scirocco bullets in her loads.  Accuracy is fair with a 1:14"(I think) rate within 100yards at the fastest velocities possible with given cartridge.  The bullets hold together good on midsized whitetail even though they are .224" slugs.

This is with an older Remington rifle.  If it had a faster twist rate,  I'm sure accuracy would be much better.  

But for her, it works well being where she hunts from her shots are typically 25-60 yards.

I'm working on another load for her using Speer's 55gr trophy bonded bullets to give a little more accuracy with her slower twist rate.

[mitchell]

i always used SMK's and just took out the brain pan it don't take much bullet to get through a skull.

[grouper sandwich]

I've been using my 22-250 (Savage 16) for the past couple of years for whitetails and have been very impressed.  This past season I loaded some Barnes 53 grain TSX's over 38 grains of Varget at close to 3700 FPS.  Accuracy was just under 3/8" at 100 yards (shooting off the hood of my truck across a peanut field) and the terminal performance on game was nothing short of spectacular.  I shot one animal with this load this past season, a young buck at about 50 yards.  The bullet entered at the base of the neck between the shoulders (facing me feeding), smashed the spine, entered the chest cavity taking out the lungs and severing several arteries, and then exited just behind the right shoulder leaving a nice (at least quarter sized) exit wound.  Blood and hair were splattered all over.  Even though the animal dropped on the spot, I have no doubt that with the size of the exit wound and the amount of blood at the scene, that any tracking job would have been routine.  I had used the Nosler Partition 60 grain up until trying this load.  No more, I'll shoot nothing but Barnes TSX's in this gun for whitetails from this point on.

[varmit_master]

Hi krochus i too live in Arkansas and i have used my 22 250 on a bunch of deer I live up in the Ozarks . I use the same load that i load for coyotes. Do you rememeber when he had to send in for a doe permits. I used my 22 250 mostly on them. I have a 300 wby but dont use it any more . But NEVER let one get away yet with the 22 250. I am loading 36.5 grs of Varget and a 55gr Nosler BT  and a 50gr  bullet. But most of all it is shot placement. I know a few older guys with bad hearts that cant take the kick to they had to goto a small gun or stop hunting. And they dont reload and they use factory Remington or Win in a 55gr ammo.  What part of the state do you live in. VM

[R.W.Dale]

Hi krochus i too live in Arkansas and i have used my 22 250 on a bunch of deer I live up in the Ozarks . I use the same load that i load for coyotes. Do you rememeber when he had to send in for a doe permits. I used my 22 250 mostly on them. I have a 300 wby but dont use it any more . But NEVER let one get away yet with the 22 250. I am loading 36.5 grs of Varget and a 55gr Nosler BT  and a 50gr  bullet. But most of all it is shot placement. I know a few older guys with bad hearts that cant take the kick to they had to goto a small gun or stop hunting. And they dont reload and they use factory Remington or Win in a 55gr ammo.  What part of the state do you live in. VM

 Thanks for the heads up, I had honestly forgotten about this topic. Your reply comes as a bit of a relief as since my last post I found out that my rifle WILL NOT shoot 60+gr bullets.
 As fer where I live, Alma and I'm a member of The OFGC in fact the alma range is about 1.5 miles from my house.