22-250

[AKBman]

In order to try and save a little money, I have decided to start shooting my older remington M700 Varmint in 22-250 a good bit more. I am going to give coyote hunting a try. I have tried several bullets and ammunition in it, it shoots almost anything 1/2-3/4 MOA. Right now I have been shooting 50gr NBT over Varget. I am curious how many here shoot this round? I know it isn't a long range round per se, but it is much more economical than my 300 Win Mag, and it is good trigger time. The bull barrel makes recoil almost non-existent, and the crisp 2.5# trigger makes putting them close together easy. The only thing I would change is the glass, when I traded for this rifle, I didn't have a lot of money, and so it wears a Burris Fullfield II 3-9X40, it has worked very well out to 300 meters, not sure how it will do at distances beyond that. Anyhow, I am pretty stoked about getting some less expensive trigger time, and hopefully I will find an area with a few song dogs.

 

[Browninglover1]

For an even cheaper bullet you should look at the 50 grain hornady z max. They shoot lights out in my 700 22-250. That's 10 shots at 100 yards.

 

[AKBman]

I will give them a try. What kind of brass are you using?

 

[Browninglover1]

I've always used Win brass but I'm currently using Federal brass from factory ammo. They're on their 6th loading and going strong!

 

[AKBman]

Federal is the only non-custom brand I haven't tried. I have some Hornaday cases that have held up really well, they are from factory fodder. Thanks for the suggestion, **** good shooting.

 

[orkan]

Stay away from the zmax if you want to shoot coyotes. The v-max/z-max bullets have too light of a jacket and will result in splash wounds. TRUST ME on this. I kill close to a hundred coyotes some years and use a 22-250 exclusively. I ran 50gr vmax for a long time, trying to make them work. They tear HUGE holes, but often result in dogs running away after being hit right in the chest. Sure, they die, but it isn't a solid anchor.

Noslers are a great choice. Much thicker jacket. The 52gr Amax or 52gr match hollow point from hornady are also a good choice.

I run winchester brass. Lapua is nice, but I hate leaving it in the field and I'm usually too excited after dropping a dog to remember to pick it up.

 

[Browninglover1]

The flyer in that group was on my 4th shot so I shot a group of 10 to see if it was me or the load, looks like it was probably me. I'm headed out again this weekend to shoot a few more groups.

 

[Browninglover1]

Stay away from the zmax if you want to shoot coyotes. The v-max/z-max bullets have too light of a jacket and will result in splash wounds. TRUST ME on this. I kill close to a hundred coyotes some years and use a 22-250 exclusively. I ran 50gr vmax for a long time, trying to make them work. They tear HUGE holes, but often result in dogs running away after being hit right in the chest. Sure, they die, but it isn't a solid anchor.

Noslers are a great choice. Much thicker jacket. The 52gr Amax or 52gr match hollow point from hornady are also a good choice.

I run winchester brass. Lapua is nice, but I hate leaving it in the field and I'm usually too excited after dropping a dog to remember to pick it up.

I shot quite a few coyotes with the 55 grain ballistic tip and they always worked, but its hard to argue with the price of the zmax. I've never seen a Vmax not anchor a dog right where it stood, but I have seen them make some big exit wounds

 

[orkan]

I've never seen a Vmax not anchor a dog right where it stood, but I have seen them make some big exit wounds

Then you must not have shot many coyotes with a 22-250 and 50gr Vmax. I've shot around 300, give or take. I've had more splash wounds with a 50gr vmax than any other bullet. Ever.

 

[AKBman]

Thanks for the replies! I'm wondering if the V-Max and Z-Max will work fine down here, we have some pretty small coyotes, and they don't get the thick fur like they do up North. I am happy with the Noslers, and have had good success with numerous others, but only on paper. The price on the Z-Max is very attractive, Midway has them for $64/500, compared to $44/250 for the 50gr NBT. I do know that I want a clean humane kill, and as such will likely stick with the NBTs until I can do some sort of ballistics testing on the Z-Max.

 

[orkan]

It's just a coyote. Don't get wrapped up in that ethics bullcrap.

Do testing on live coyotes. It's almost like REAL COYOTES! hahaha

Like I said though... I really really wanted vmax bullets to work out in the 22-250. They just don't. Look around on some predator forums and you'll see that I'm not alone in this view. The amax however, they are great!

 

[Browninglover1]

You could try the new nosler varmageddon bullets too, they're way cheaper than the ballistic tips. I won't argue with orkans experiences, but every dog I've ever seen shot with a Vmax was dead within seconds. If I have bad experiences with the z max this winter I'll go to a varmageddon bullet for dogs and try them out.

 

[AKBman]

I have read nothing but good about the Noslers, and my Rem seems to like them over Varget.

 

[dig]

The VMax have been super accurate for me. Several javelina and 50 plus yotes and even one Mule deer (not the optimal choice but what was availibe at the time). Not sure about wounds but I am not a dedicated varmint hunter. Very happy with this projectile in .22 and .243 calibers.