.223 or 22-250

pm.

Hi lads

Looking for the ultimate fox round. I'm looking for a flat shooting round that will go from 100 to 300 yards without much drop.

The swift seems to be spot on but availability of ammo seems to be an issue not to mention the cost.

I was thinking strongly of a Howa 1500 heavy barrel in.223, until I got talking to someone that has a 22-250 and reckons it's a much harder hitting round and will reach out past 300........

I've been shooting a long time and never shoot beyond 300 tbh.

So I'm looking for the best round and rifle to match. My budget for a rifle is around €1k

Appreciate your thoughts

tikkamark

The 223 will reach out way beyond 300 when you dial in the shot, for a more point and shoot approach the 22-250 is indeed better and Ammo is also not badly priced for what it is.

Cass

pm. wrote: »

I was thinking strongly of a Howa 1500 heavy barrel in.223, until I got talking to someone that has a 22-250 and reckons it's a much harder hitting round and will reach out past 300........

Speak to someone with a 204 and they'll say it's better, speak to someone with a 17 Rem and they'll say it's better. It's about personal choice and a little bias. It's not a personal attack on anyone, just when someone has something they reckon it's the best there is.

The 223 is the most versatile round next only to the 308. Ammo is plentiful, cheap, as are the firearms and the choice of firearm types is endless.

The 22-250 is a flatter round, no doubt. It's also on the "border" of deer caliber. IOW its deer legal and you might find trouble licensing it if you have a deer legal caliber. It's a lottery as to whether this will be an issue or not.

I prefer the 223. For all the reasons above. I can buy a cheap round at €╔5 per box and plink away to my hearts content. They swap up to ammo costing €15-€20 a box and do comps. Then switch up again to V-Max or some other hunting round at €30 a box and drop foxes dead all day long.

It'll shoot out to 300 yards and then some. I've shot a 223 out to 1000 yards. Set up for such shooting but it can be done, easily. Any hunting rig will easily reach out to 600 yards.

When it comes to drop you have to think about what you class as flat shooting. The 22-250 will be flatter than a 223 but it's not without the need to adjust or hold off. Also the difference is not "that" much. Check out the drop chart below comparing the same round, 40gr V-Max bullet, in both calibers.



As you can see the 22-250 is flatter but only by 1 inch at 300 yards and 10 inches at 600 yards. Wind drift is almost the same for both rounds with them being the same out to 300 and only an inch or two after that.

Now with all that being said you have to then work out what you want. Do you want to pick something because someone likes it, or do you pick something that suits your needs. I've spoken to many lads over the years that bought a rifle based solely on the opinion of a friend and they ended up hating it. Considering the application process, time and cost just make sure you know what you're going for and that you're doing it because you have checked it out thoroughly and still want it, whatever it is.

pm.

Some good points Cass, the ammo choice seems endless on the.223

Didn't realize the drop rate was so little between the rounds. When fox shooting I rearly shot out past 300 yards. With such little difference between drop rates the.223 seems to be the round.

Now it's down to the rifle to match it. The howa 1500 hb stainless was my first choice but it's coming in at almost 1200... At that money that would get me a good quality second hand sako or tikka

I'll keep a look out

Cass

pm. wrote: »

The howa 1500 hb stainless was my first choice but it's coming in at almost 1200... At that money that would get me a good quality second hand sako or tikka

Again you have to compare same for same.

The Howa in Stainless, the Varmint supreme, is €1,200. A Tikka, new, is €1,200 but for the same top of the range model in Tikka you're looking at €1,850 or so.

The other thing is you need not look to the top of the range model. A Howa, if that is what you like, can be got in Stainless and sporter for €1,000 or much less second hand.

The other thing is don't overlook other makes/models. You can start out looking for something and you'll end up finding something you never even considered.

tac foley

Now that Howa rifles are available ready-equipped with the GRS stocks, they are even more of a bargain. IMO, of course.

leupold90

I've had both the .223 & 22-250. Currently using a .204.
My favorite of them is the .204. It's just such a pleasant round to shoot with hardly any recoil. Ballistics-wise there's not much between them out to 300 but I just find the .204 a nicer round to shoot.

ejg

I shot a 22-250 1/14 twist for a couple years and even deer dropped really well. But the little light bullets did not behave well after 300m. Since then I have a 223 with 1/8 twist, so much better at longer ranges with 69-75gr.
Ideal would be a tight twist 22-250 but then again someone said that is called "243"....
edi

tikkamark

ejg wrote: »

I shot a 22-250 1/14 twist for a couple years and even deer dropped really well. But the little light bullets did not behave well after 300m. Since then I have a 223 with 1/8 twist, so much better at longer ranges with 69-75gr.
Ideal would be a tight twist 22-250 but then again someone said that is called "243"....
edi

I was thinking that but didn’t say it!The real ultimate foxing caliber to me would be the .243 you won’t get much flatter than a 58gr vmax moving at well over 4000fps!Or on a windy night a 75gr vmax at 3400fps.
A bit more expensive to run hornady through compared to the 22-250 but Winchester 80gr super x can be got for about €26.

Uinseann_16

tikkamark wrote: »

I was thinking that but didn’t say it!The real ultimate foxing caliber to me would be the .243 you won’t get much flatter than a 58gr vmax moving at well over 4000fps!Or on a windy night a 75gr vmax at 3400fps.
A bit more expensive to run hornady through compared to the 22-250 but Winchester 80gr super x can be got for about €26.

+1 the .243 is cheaper to shoot than a .22-250 in most cases ammo is more available in more varieties it will have better resale value and wont have as much throat erosion and will hit harder than a .22-250 and it is a very capable deer caliber too with heavier bullets if thats something your looking for in future