Would these bullets work on White Tail Deer?

[DalesCarpentry]

I just ordered 500 of these 55 grain Varmint Nightmare bullets that have a soft point.
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000422455VNE500
They shoot very accurate out of my 22-250 and I got to thinking seeing as they are soft pointed bullets they should mushroom instead if fragment. Am I correct in my thinking? If they do mushroom then why would they not be good for deer 200 yards and less? let me know what you think. Thanks and take care Dale

[PowPow]

Thin jacket varmint bullets may not penetrate deep enough.
Call or e-mail Midsouth and add a box of Sierra 55 gr GameKings SBTs to your order.
$15 for a lifetime supply of deer bullets, especially if you have 500 groundhog bullets.

[shot1]

If you can place your bullet precisely on a broad side close up to the back edge of the front shoulder in the vitals shot with your 22-250 most any 55 gr bullet will kill a deer. If you hit the front shoulder blade you may just have a wounded deer run off and die a long suffering horrible death. From what I have read about the Varmint nightmare bullets they are just that, a varmint bullet that explodes on impact. If you have to use a 22-250 to deer hunt with that will not stableize the 60 gr Nosler partition then use either the Barns 53 or 55 TSX or the Sierra 55 SPT Gameking. These bullets will not explode on impact but will get into the vitals and may exit. Best thing is to get a real deer rifle. Something at least 6mm or larger.    

[mcwoodduck]

personaly I would not.
A varmint bullet is made to rapidly expand on contact.  It may not make it through the chest wall.  Especally with a shoulder hit.
If you are going to take only neck shots..... maybe.
With that said I have seen a deer or two taken with 22 Hornet and 222 Rem that a center chest hit was devistating and turned the lungs in to goop tha had older varmint style bullets in them.  Also the 22 Hornet and the 222 Rem do not hit more than 2700 FPS with 45 grain bullets and I think the 3,000 + of your 22-250 will have the bullet flying apart more.  i once was watching a guy shoot a 22-250 with really small bullets at warp speed 3,900+ and every now and then the bullets would not make it to the 100 yard mark, other times it would show up as shrapnell on the target.  Watching the bullet in the spotting scope we realized it was hitting bugs on the range and the bullet was exploding.  perfect for a ground squirrel or Ground hog but may just wound a deer.  Replace it with a soft point of some kind, slow down the load a little, and i think you are in business.
I once read a Capstick article about a guy shooting a hot 378 Weathery mag adn they shot a Zebra at 50 or 75 yards.  the bullet was going so fast it just blew up on impact and a hole about the size of a baseall in the zebra.  When the Zebra ran out to 300 yards the bullet has slowed to 375 H&H point blank speeds and worked perfectly.
Hey Dale,
I was digging through my desk today and I found a Swede and a Mauser 7mm/ Us 30-06 stripper clip in a draw with your name on a post it with "get directions and send".
What was I supose to do?  

[DalesCarpentry]

personaly I would not.
A varmint bullet is made to rapidly expand on contact.  It may not make it through the chest wall.  Especally with a shoulder hit.
If you are going to take only neck shots..... maybe.
With that said I have seen a deer or two taken with 22 Hornet and 222 Rem that a center chest hit was devistating and turned the lungs in to goop tha had older varmint style bullets in them.  Also the 22 Hornet and the 222 Rem do not hit more than 2700 FPS with 45 grain bullets and I think the 3,000 + of your 22-250 will have the bullet flying apart more.  i once was watching a guy shoot a 22-250 with really small bullets at warp speed 3,900+ and every now and then the bullets would not make it to the 100 yard mark, other times it would show up as shrapnell on the target.  Watching the bullet in the spotting scope we realized it was hitting bugs on the range and the bullet was exploding.  perfect for a ground squirrel or Ground hog but may just wound a deer.  Replace it with a soft point of some kind, slow down the load a little, and i think you are in business.
I once read a Capstick article about a guy shooting a hot 378 Weathery mag adn they shot a Zebra at 50 or 75 yards.  the bullet was going so fast it just blew up on impact and a hole about the size of a baseall in the zebra.  When the Zebra ran out to 300 yards the bullet has slowed to 375 H&H point blank speeds and worked perfectly.
Hey Dale,
I was digging through my desk today and I found a Swede and a Mauser 7mm/ Us 30-06 stripper clip in a draw with your name on a post it with "get directions and send".
What was I supose to do?  

Well now I know not to try to use them. You never know until you ask. I have had great luck with the Sierra bullets and will load some of their 55 grain Game Kings for it. On the other hand I just got my 6.5x55 Swede back from a neighbor that lent me some money on it this past winter when times were tough. I just started loading for it and will probably just use it for deer. By the way that is what the stripper clip was supposed to be for but I really don't think I need it. Thanks and take care Dale

[Tom W.]

You might try some 60 gr Nosler Partitions. The will work well if your rifle likes them.

[DalesCarpentry]

My rifle will not stablize a 60 grain bullet. The groups look like shotgun patterns. Dale

[FourBee]

Dale; I've never tried it, but there are a bunch of old timers around here that use a .223 Remington with 55gr bullets for Deer hunting. 

[quickdtoo]

I'd give the 63gr Sierra #1370 or Win 64gr PP a try, they'll shoot well in the 1:12" 223, so they might shoot ok at 22-250 velocities, they're both short for their weight which is the determining factor, not just their weight, and work fine on deer, maybe someone has a few to send you to try so you don't need to buy a box.

Tim

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=609136#productTabReviews

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=1390573203

[DalesCarpentry]

Thanks Tim. I will keep them in mind. Dale

[Grumulkin]

The bullets you mention would probably work just fine on a broadside lung shot as another has mentioned.

My .224 bullet choice, however, is the Speer 70 gr. Semi Spitzer.  It stabilizes well in several 1:12 twist .224 caliber barrels I have and I've heard it will also stabilize in a 1:14 twist barrel.  I've also taken a couple of deer with this bullet (out of a 222 and a 22-250) and it works well (i.e., one shot each).

[DANNY-L]

I have shot 1 buck with my 22-250 55gr sp, appr.50 yd shot  I made a perfect hit. The deer ran about 100yds on a couple inches of snow before dropping,there was no blood to be found on the snow or the deer.It was not a pass through.  That was the first and last for me and the 22-250 for deer. The 223rem is way more effective on the whitetail than the 22-250. But I generally use one of my better choice deer rifles.

[FourBee]

 

Posted by: DANNY-L ~  The 223rem is way more effective on the whitetail than the 22-250.

Thanks DANNY;  I didn't know that. So that partially explains why it is a popular  rifle around here.

[Doug B.]

Why risk it? As stated in an earlier post.........Why not just use a caliber more suited for a larger animal. My favorite is something in the .30 calibers. I would rather be actively hunting than following a blood trail. That is if there is a blood trail using a smaller caliber.

[shot1]

Use that 6.5 Swede with (work up to this) 46 grs Accurate Arms 4350 and a 120 gr Nosler ballistic tip or Sierra SP or for bigger game 44 grs AA 4350 and a 140 gr Sierra or Hornady SP. Load your over all length to 3.050 which is about as long as you can load and have it work through the magazine. I have taken deer with all of these. The 120's really hammer the average 150 to 175 pound deer.

If you can't get Accurate Arms 4350 then start low (42 grs) with one of the other 4350 powders and find your accuracy load with the 120's. I have tried a lot of powders in my Swedes and 4350 gives me the best accuracy and velocity combination.

[DalesCarpentry]

Use that 6.5 Swede with (work up to this) 46 grs Accurate Arms 4350 and a 120 gr Nosler ballistic tip or Sierra SP or for bigger game 44 grs AA 4350 and a 140 gr Sierra or Hornady SP. Load your over all length to 3.050 which is about as long as you can load and have it work through the magazine. I have taken deer with all of these. The 120's really hammer the average 150 to 175 pound deer.

If you can't get Accurate Arms 4350 then start low (42 grs) with one of the other 4350 powders and find your accuracy load with the 120's. I have tried a lot of powders in my Swedes and 4350 gives me the best accuracy and velocity combination.

I bought some IMR 4064 to try with the Swede. I loaded some rounds Saturday and went to the range Sunday. I was using Speer 120 grain Hot Cor soft point bullets. The best group I got was maybe 2". That means I have a lot of testing to do to find out what this rifle likes. I think I am going to go to a 140 grain bullet and give them a try. Thanks Dale

[revbc]

To be honest, I would not hunt nor shoot a whitetail deer with a .22 caliber anything.  Here in the jungles of Louisiana, you are not going to recover some. 

[mjbgalt]

dale, those are made to come apart rapidly. even though they're lead tipped, they are still damn fragile.

i shot targets with those not long ago and the bullet hit a staple behind the target and it blew a big hole in the target due to coming apart.

so no i would not use them for a deer.

not that a .22-250 with a Barnes or similar bullet wouldn't work VERY well, because they do.

but i would use a 120 grain nosler in your swede with varget or h4350 and see where it takes you.

[DalesCarpentry]

I do have Varget on hand and will give it a try for sure. Thanks Dale

[mjbgalt]

if you want, get me your address and i will send you some 100 and 120 grain noslers to try.

[DalesCarpentry]

That would be very nice of you. Thank you very much. PM comming Dale

[jhalcott]

  I HAVE shot several crop raiding deer with the .223 and 22-250 with very satisfying results. Hit them where the head and neck join and and they drop! IF you miss that bone, they may not go down. The shot SHOULD cut the big blood vessel in the neck, be ready for a second shot if the deer moves any at all! I am NOT reccommending this as a casual shot! IF YOU can hit ground hogs at 200 yards, you SHOULD be able to shoot hit a deer in the neck. Also a doe neck is MUCH less musclular than a rutting buck's. This means your bullet placement is more critical.

[DalesCarpentry]

 I HAVE shot several crop raiding deer with the .223 and 22-250 with very satisfying results. Hit them where the head and neck join and and they drop! IF you miss that bone, they may not go down. The shot SHOULD cut the big blood vessel in the neck, be ready for a second shot if the deer moves any at all! I am NOT reccommending this as a casual shot! IF YOU can hit ground hogs at 200 yards, you SHOULD be able to shoot hit a deer in the neck. Also a doe neck is MUCH less musclular than a rutting buck's. This means your bullet placement is more critical.

Heck I have hit a couple Groundhogs at about 500 yards but 300 is almost normal. I do a lot of shooting at the range I go to at 300 yards and I sight my rifle in at 200 yards so at 300 yards I only have to come up 1.3 MOA to be right on. I have a drop chart for every bullet and load I shoot out to 600 yards. Thanks Dale

[OR-E-Gun Bill]

I'd give the 63gr Sierra #1370 or Win 64gr PP a try, they'll shoot well in the 1:12" 223, so they might shoot ok at 22-250 velocities, they're both short for their weight which is the determining factor, not just their weight, and work fine on deer, maybe someone has a few to send you to try so you don't need to buy a box.

Tim

Dale, if you decide to try out either one of the ones mentioned by Tim let me know and I'll send you a few to try out.

Bill

[DalesCarpentry]

I'd give the 63gr Sierra #1370 or Win 64gr PP a try, they'll shoot well in the 1:12" 223, so they might shoot ok at 22-250 velocities, they're both short for their weight which is the determining factor, not just their weight, and work fine on deer, maybe someone has a few to send you to try so you don't need to buy a box.

Tim

Dale, if you decide to try out either one of the ones mentioned by Tim let me know and I'll send you a few to try out.

Bill

Yes I would very interested in trying them out. Thanks you very much. PM comming. Dale

[necchi]

I'd give the 63gr Sierra #1370 or Win 64gr PP a try, they'll shoot well in the 1:12" 223, so they might shoot ok at 22-250 velocities, they're both short for their weight which is the determining factor, not just their weight, and work fine on deer, maybe someone has a few to send you to try so you don't need to buy a box.

Tim

Dale, if you decide to try out either one of the ones mentioned by Tim let me know and I'll send you a few to try out.

Bill

Yes I would very interested in trying them out. Thanks you very much. PM comming. Dale

Just out of curiosity , did you get a another faster twist barrel for your 22-250? You already determined this,,

My rifle will not stablize a 60 grain bullet. The groups look like shotgun patterns. Shocked Dale

 
If you haven't, could you describe the magic wand you have that makes a slow twist barrel shoot heavy bullet's? I have a 1-12 223 that I'd love to shoot heavies in,,

[DalesCarpentry]

I'd give the 63gr Sierra #1370 or Win 64gr PP a try, they'll shoot well in the 1:12" 223, so they might shoot ok at 22-250 velocities, they're both short for their weight which is the determining factor, not just their weight, and work fine on deer, maybe someone has a few to send you to try so you don't need to buy a box.

Tim

Dale, if you decide to try out either one of the ones mentioned by Tim let me know and I'll send you a few to try out.

Bill

Yes I would very interested in trying them out. Thanks you very much. PM comming. Dale

Just out of curiosity , did you get a another faster twist barrel for your 22-250? You already determined this,,

My rifle will not stablize a 60 grain bullet. The groups look like shotgun patterns. Shocked Dale

 
If you haven't, could you describe the magic wand you have that makes a slow twist barrel shoot heavy bullet's? I have a 1-12 223 that I'd love to shoot heavies in,,

Tim has sugested that seeing as these bullets are not as long they may shoot out of my rifle. It can not hurt to try can it? Thanks Dale

[quickdtoo]

Just out of curiosity , did you get a another faster twist barrel for your 22-250? You already determined this,
If you haven't, could you describe the magic wand you have that makes a slow twist barrel shoot heavy bullet's? I have a 1-12 223 that I'd love to shoot heavies in,,

Those bullets shoot well in most 1:12" 223 rifles, the thought is that if they're accurate at 223 velocities in 1:12", they may well shoot good in the slower 1:14" twist at much higher 22-250 velocities, and they both have a good track record in the 22-250 on deer according to reviews at Midway, so what's to loose in trying a few! 

Tim

[necchi]

I guess the Win PP looks interesting, I messed with the Barnes 53grn TSX in my 223, but didn't know about the fouling factor at the time. The bore fouled before I could finish a 20 shot ladder. They did show promise untill the last few shot's blew off the target.
I shelved the 223 deer rounds idea and have spent time this past few months with load development with larger cals,,maybe I'll go back and try again some day..
Not to bring up the old argument again,,but I'm of the school if ya have bigger cals available for deer the leave the 22's at home

[quickdtoo]

I believe the same, at least 6mm, anything smaller isn't legal here even if I wanted to use a .22 cal. Not to say they won't work, but basically, bigger is better if given a choice. 

Tim