22-250 for Lopes

[Bowaddic]

Is a 22-250 suitable for antelope ? I have a Ruger M77 7Mag but I'm having a hard time grouping with it. I'm going to try different amount first. I can drive nails with my 22-250 just not sure if it's got what it takes out to 300 yards for antelope.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

Use a partition bullet or the like and you'll be fine.

and no, you don't have a Remington m77

 

[belly-deep]

Just don't use a varmint bullet and it should work

 

[6speed]

Watched a 1 shot kill at 290 yards with a 22-250 yesterday. Buck went down like it had been struck by lightning. Like was said before find a bullet that isn't a frange varmint round and see how it shoots. Be careful not to go to heavy (long) or there is a good chance the barrel twist won't stabilize the bullet if your hand loading.

 

[pdq_wizzard]

If you are hunting in WY you will need to have a bullet of 60gr or more, and if you have a 1-12 twist it might be hard to get it to stabilize.

 

[MJE2083]

What everyone else said...use a Non-varmint bullet and make sure you shoot it to make sure it's accurate and stabilizing the bullets properly.

 

[MikeMaland]

22-250 worked well for us on antelope. It's an older Sako and we had trouble finding a 60 grain bullet that would shoot accurately. Sierra makes a 63 grain bullet that will stabilize out of older 1 in 14 twist guns. That's what we used and they shot sub 1" at a 100yds. It's a Soft point bullet and they dropped where they stood.

 

[nrpate05]

It'll work with a good bullet, be sure it's legal where you are hunting though

 

[Bowaddic]

Timeontarget you are right it's a Ruger M77. I'm going to try two things. First i want to shoot the Hornady 139gr for the 7mag and see if it will group. Also move to a higer grain bullet for the 22-250 i have been shooting the Winchester 55gr ballistic tip. I killed two whitetails that were 175lbs with them but it was at about 50 yards. 6speed do you know the round used yesterday?

 

[6speed]

I believe it was a 50 gr. GMX but we don't have bullet weight restrictions.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I have a rem 700 varmint. its a 1-14 twist and I can get 60 grain partitions to shoot MOA or a touch better. Make sure the bullet you are using is not a boattail bullet. Find a good flat base bullet and i'll bet you can get MOA or better out of it.

 

[MThuntr]

If you reload then there should be plenty of bullets to choose from. Most 22-250 have a slower twist so I'd assume you'd need to keep the bullet weight closer to 60 grains. If you don't reload then maybe the Barnes Vor-tx Triple Shock is what I'd choose.

That premium stuff in 22-250 is pricey so I'd try some more with the 7mag. Before I was serious about reloading, I shot a lot of animals with the 139 SST in my 7Mag and would definitely use them again in my 7mm-08. At the rifle range a couple weeks ago my buddy's 7Mag shot Federal Blue Box ammo better than Hornady (and it was $10 cheaper per box)

 

[Bowaddic]

All good info. Thanks for the advice. I will definitely try some other brands in both guns. I leave on 10/11 from Tallahassee FL. Probably gonna stay in Buffalo but not positive on that. I'm hunting unit 20 with 2 buck tags and 4 doe tags. This will be my first western hunt hopefully I'll eat more antalop than tags.

 

[Bowaddic]

Went back out to the range today and ran a box of Hornady 139 grain SST through the 7 Mag it grouped much better. Thanks for all the good advice.