driftrider

You'd be hard pressed to beat the .22-250. I love that little cartridge. However, the .223 is a great little round too. Unless you shoot a lot past 300 yards, the difference in the two will be minimal. Given that choice, I'd say it really depends on your ammo budget and how much you want to shoot it. If you only plan to shoot only a few rounds at a time, you handload, or you have a larger ammo budget, go with the .22-250 for sure. If you want to shoot a lot and don't handload and have a tight budget, you'll get more bang for your ammo buck with the .223 Rem. You'll give up a small amount of range, but ammo is much cheaper, factory loaded bullet selection is somewhat better.

My preference would be toward the .22-250. It's a great little round that is lightning death to any varmint unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the rifle. I've also been able to achieve outstanding accuracy with both factory and hand loads, and the .22-250 isn't too finiky about loads, either.

Mike

jason miller

What are you hunting? If you're sticking to small stuff, a cz 527 varmint in .204 would be my pick. They've got nice little slick actions, are usually outstandingly accurate, and can be very good looking if you luck into some nice wood. They've got a medium heavy barrel of decent length, but it's still a fairly lightweight gun due partially to the small action. A .204 also has better ballistics than a .223 or a 22-250, and ammo is usually closer in price to the .223.

If you want to shoot coyotes, a .204 should work ok, but a .243 would be better. I personally would never buy a 22 caliber centerfire rifle now. I would pick the .204 or shoot 55 grain ballistic tips from a .243, which strangely have a higher ballistic coefficient than the same weight in 22 caliber and start out faster too- that means a 55 grain ballistic tip from a .243 will shoot flatter and deflect less in the wind than a 50 or 55 grain 22 caliber ballistic tip fired from any standard cartridge.

thndrchiken

223 effective range is out to about 300-350 yds maybe even a little further the 22-250 400-500 yds. It really depends on a lot of conditions, your intended target, the bullet your shooting, the weather conditions and how good of a shot you are. Inside of 200 yds it's a wash when you start stretching the legs is when you see that practice really makes a big difference. There is no substitute for actually shooting at ranges of 300 + yds. My dedicated varmint rigs are a Howa 1500 Varminter Supreme topped with a Bushnell Elite 3200 5x15x50 and a Savage M110 that I rebarrelled to 223 AI topped with a Nikon Buckmaster 6x18x40 SF. Both shoot the 50 gr Vmax and Ballistic Tips to the same poi at 200 yds. Right now Probably the best value on the market is a Savage. For windy days I switch to the 257 Roberts, I shoot the Hornady 75 gr hp into 3/4" groups at 100 yds. Very potent medicine for groundhog.

DANTHEHUNTER

I'll takethe220 swift anyday over any .22 round.

Bernie P.

The .22's are fine cals but bear in mind they are also much more affected by wind/drift than the 24 and 25 cals.Their heavier bullets take a lot of the guess work out.Doubling as deer rounds is a plus to.

jason miller

The .204 is also less affected by wind. A 39/40 grain ballistic tip style .204 bullet has a similar or even slightly higher b.c. when compared to a 55 grain .224 caliber polymer tip, and starts out faster. You'd have to handload some more aerodynamic match bullets and/or step up the juice to get a 22-250 or a Swift to match the .204's wind characteristics. Also, the .204 ammo is cheaper(quality ammo is close to .223 prices), it uses less powder if you reload, it kicks less, almost all rifles chambered for it have been pretty accurate, etc. I reeeaaallly don't see the use for a .224 caliber, unless you already have one or just want something to run some cheap .223 ammo through...

DANTHEHUNTER

I like the .204,and by your post it looks like you do to.I would still take my swift anyday over it.I can load it in any range of the .204 and to the top of the .22s.At modest hunting ranges wind drift is negligible,if you are talking long range 400 yard plus there is no comparision.

jason miller

No comparison in which way? In factory loaded form, the .204 is dominant over the .220 at ANY range. However, you said you handload. With some heavier, more aerodynamic match bullets and some hot handloads, you can swing the advantage to the Swift's corner pretty easily...