There is a possibility that you bullet hit a small twig on it way to the target and at the speed your pushing the 53gr Barnes, it doesn't take much to change it's flight path. A miss may have had nothing to do with you aim!!!!
Awe...I feel like an idiot now, for all the time I've spent "replaying" the shot in my mind and all the grief I took in while trying to find it I never thought of that.
Like I said waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back at the start of the thread, I've read a lot of the pro-.22 stuff on the web. For some guys it plain works, and they love it. Other's (mostly those who refuse to try it) swear it's no good. We all know that confidence and trust in our equipment is nearly as important as how it actually performs...It'll take some time, and a ton of shooting/testing before I get the nerve up to us my 22-250 again.
Thanks bluegunner.