22-250 vs. 223 for a long range beginner?

[dk17hmr]

I would personally get the 223. Everything about them is cheaper to shoot. I have shot p-dogs with 223s out to 750 yards. For 200-300 yards about any centerfire will get there. My girlfriend has a Savage 223 heavy barrel and this spring when the weather breaks we are going to try to push 1000 with it.

[Dskiper]

Hello KY longshot, I have a .223 &a.22-250.Both are Remington VS(varmint synthetic).The other day I shot both getting .750"or less groups at 100yrds. I don't reload though I should. But you can buy agreat varitity of ammo for both. I shot Hornady Vmax in both calibers. You must buy &test a selection of rounds.Cabela's,MidSouth.midway,cheaper than dirt&many others offer good deals on ammo.I bought .223 55gr. @Cabela's for 7.99 last week.Ok for punching paper and having fun.

[KYlongshot13]

thanks for all the great advice guys, you certainly have given me much to think about. I almost bought a rem. 700 sps varmint in 22-250 or 223 the other day for 499$ at dicks, but ive read alot of good things about the cheap 'ol stevens 200. Ive saved up about 650$ dollars for this project, and i dont want to make the wrong decision. lol With the stevens 200 i would have more to spend on a good scope/bipod, and eventually id like to play around with the stock some. one more question though. I have read many opinions about using the extremely cheap 5.56 nato in a .223 bolt action. some say dont do it, others say its fine, and some say its okay but you wont be able to hit a car a 300 yards. what do you guys say?

Once again, thanks for the great advice. Im impressed by the knowledge that can be gained on these forums by simply posting a question...

Shane...

[roaddog1m]

Shoot some of them and shoot some hand loads next to them. You'll see the difference and most likely become a handloader.

Tom

[eaglesnester]

I have a 22/250 in Weatherby SVM with a 1-14 inch twist heavy barrel. I also reload. The Weatherby shoots very accurate and I have found that I can load and shoot 70gr Speer SPZ with 39gr of Winchester 760 powder and a CCI250 cap and I get .5inch groups at 100 yards. A 1in14 twist is not recommended for any bullet over about 55gr but the Weatherby makes an exception to this rule in that I am able to drive the bullet over 3500FPS (chronyed round) which stabilizes the bullet. The rifle shoots 52 grain Burgers very accurate as well. When loading and shooting 70gr Speer SPZ I am shooting with about the same energy level as a 30/30 at 100 yards.
When shooting I use a military hasty sling that I bought from Brownell's and a set of homemade shooting sticks that cost me about 11 bucks to make. When in a sitting position and strapped into a military sling my position and platform is very, very stable and I have more height than if I was in prone an advantage when shooting in tall grass or brush.
I have not shot the 223 in a long range small game configuration so I can not speak on it.
I think that if I were to do it all over again I might have gone for the 6mm instead for the better long range performance.

[mike33]

+ 1 for 223. I have both and the 223 is very forgiving and fun to shoot. I picked up a rem. 78 sportsman in 223 about 16 years ago when i was shooting on the IBS circuit. I thought while practicing with my 6 ppc i would take it to the range as a second gun just to have fun with. I could not believe how well it performed. I liked the gun so well i would actually take it deer hunting in our doe season under 200 yards the 50 grain hornady sx would drop a whitetail as quick as any caliber mentioned on this site. As far as damage you better get hide off asap for the blood clotting. But they are inexpensive to shoot and very easy on brass.
mike

[rdsii64]

The are many reasons that either caliber will be a good fit for you. There are however, two places that the .223 shines. When it comes to price per shot you can't beat a .223 caliber gun. The .223 is not a picky caliber either. Get the barrel twist right and most any brand of quality ammo will shoot well. If you get into hand loading, I have yet to find a load that a .223 won't shoot well.