Fur Friendly 22-250 Options

Shot placement is of a big concern to me especially on fox and bobcats as they are thin skinned. Of the 22-250's that I have experience with they had slower twist rates, a one in 14 and a one in 10 twist rate they both however did well with the 55 grain Sierra game king boat tail hollow points with velocities running from 2600 to 2800 feet per second muzzle velocities, and barrel lengths of 22 inches. As well as shot placement the distance makes a difference in the performance of the bullets as well as a host of other conditions. As an example, with a 55-grain spire point bullet made by Speer running at 2900 mv at 50 yards it passed through a coyote and didn't expand, but out at 200 yards it did as it was supposed to and made a 22-caliber entrance hole and an inch and a half exit hole with the same loading. Sometimes speed is your friend and sometimes it isn't both in MV and twist rates. The fun part of it is experimenting to see what works for you in your circumstances.
 
I was having pretty good results with my 22-250 on coyotes using the 40 gr berger fb varmint bullet. Most of the time no hide damage and they dropped on the spot. But every once in a while I'd hit a rib, leg/shoulder or spine and it was a mess. I finally decided the 22-250 is just not a fur round. I now shoot a 204 ruger and the 35 gr berger varmint bullet
 
Hi all,

I am putting together a new setup for night hunting and I've settled on the good old 22-250. I grabbed a Tikka T3X that is a 1:8T, and I will be chopping the barrel back to somewhere between 16 and 18 inches to run suppressed.

Any feedback on bullets that are a little more fur friendly than what the 22-250 is generally known for? I was thinking something along the lines of a heavier barnes like the 77 lrx?

I will primarily be hunting Bobcat, fox, and coyote within 300 yards.
I have shot about a thousand coyotes with a 52gr HPBT MATCH bullet from Hornady with pretty good results.
 
I've shot several deer, a couple of coyotes, and a bobcat with Raptor ER bullets and they worked as advertised. They left six petals in the critters, and the main slug left .38 caliber holes on both sides of the animal. Virtually no hide damage.

357 Maximum 150 gr @2450fps. They make .224 bullets that would be ideal for your rifle.

I've shot Cutting Edge Bullets Raptors since 2011 exclusively.....they do a lot less hide damage and drop them on the spot....
If you shoot head on in the chest on a fox and bobcats the bullet doesn't even exit I've shot several that all you could find was a small blood spot on the chest....
There not a cheep bullet but I usually only shoot around 100 bobcats, fox and coyotes a year....

224-40gr-esp-raptor
 
I've shot Cutting Edge Bullets Raptors since 2011 exclusively.....they do a lot less hide damage and drop them on the spot....
If you shoot head on in the chest on a fox and bobcats the bullet doesn't even exit I've shot several that all you could find was a small blood spot on the chest....
There not a cheep bullet but I usually only shoot around 100 bobcats, fox and coyotes a year....

224-40gr-esp-raptor

Do you shoot with tips on or off? What cartridge, twist rate, muzzle velocity?
 
I've killed over 100 coyotes with a .22-250 using Speer 52gr HPs. Pencil hole in and quarter or .50 cent piece hole coming out. Easy holes to sew. Only once did I have a hole bigger. It was on a running coyote that I hit too far back at 75-90yds. Bullet caught the last rib and a fragment went through the paunch and out the bottom of the belly spilling it contents. It was ugly, but still reasonably easy sew sew job.
You'll get some runners, but that's the trade off. I had a few run 200yds or more after a perfect shot, but never lost one.
 
You can't make a 22-250 fur friendly on fox or Bobcat. Try a 22 hornet. For coyotes there are two approaches we have used sucessfully, highly frangible that stay insside, think 50 grain Hornady SPSX at 3500 fps or the 55 SPSX at 3800, out of a 12 twist. 40 grain Vmax are also a decent choice if you shoot most at 350 or less. Other option is the Barnes TSX. Small hole in, small hole out but enough expansion to not have too many runners.
 
Do you shoot with tips on or off? What cartridge, twist rate, muzzle velocity?

Shoot the Raptor 40 gr. at just under 4000 fps in a Winchester 70 22-250 always use the tips.....it's an older CRF rifle twist is 1-14".....
When it gets shot out I'll replace it with a 1-8" and shoot Raptors 50 gr.....great thing about brass bullets you don't get fowling like a lead-copper or copper bullets....a lot less cleaning and it seams like longer barrel life.....
 
What about the 17 WSM? Mine is on a string out to 200 yards. Have not tried it on yotes yet, but can't imagine too big of hole? Is it enough for yotes?
 
Shoot the Raptor 40 gr. at just under 4000 fps in a Winchester 70 22-250 always use the tips.....it's an older CRF rifle twist is 1-14".....
When it gets shot out I'll replace it with a 1-8" and shoot Raptors 50 gr.....great thing about brass bullets you don't get fowling like a lead-copper or copper bullets....a lot less cleaning and it seams like longer barrel life.....
What's your preferred powder in the M70
 

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