squirrelsteve

i was wondering which gun had a longer range for varmint?
is it the 22-250 or the .223?

johnch

The 22-250 is a little faster , but the range thing mute. The only way to teel is the gun /load/shooter ability to hit a target .The fastes bullet is nogood if the shooter can't hit the target . example I varmit hunt with a tricked out AR-15 that is not as accurate at 200 yds as my buddys 243 but at 600 yds his gun/load shoots poorly but my 75gr Hornady A-max bullets just keep hiting chucks

NVMIKE

The 22-250 has a much higher powder capacity, therefore higher velocity and therefore longer range. You can also shot heavier bullets better w/ the 22-250, which is where the real range advantage lies, because the heavier bullets are more stable at longer ranges(a 35 grain bullet will drift and lose velocity faster than a 100grainer will). 223 is DIRT cheap to shoot, and I have one for that reason coupled w/ the fact that w/ a 22-250 you use almost as much powder as the 6mm,243,7mm-08, but really dont have a versitile rifle. With one of these others you can use small bullets for varmits and use heavier bullets for deer, antelope, ect... So take your pick. The 22-250 is nearly the perfect varmit rifle, but not much use for anything else. I own 2 - 223's and several 6mms.

NVMIKE

JOHNCH - have you ever shot any of the AR rifles chambered in the bigger calibers(243, 6mm, 7mm-08, ect...). If so how were they? P.S. -it doesn't sound like your buddies gun has accuracy problems, just the shooter, maybe optics. If the group is tighter at 200 it'll be tighter at 600 unless your talking about huge difference in bullet size where wind drift comes into play.

johnch

NVMIKE no I have only shot 223 AR-15s . I am shooting .224 75 gr Hornady A-Max with a B.C. of .435 and S.D. of .214 he is shooting .243 58gr Hornady V-Max with a B.C. of .250 and a S.D. of .140 . Wind drift is a big factor ,shooter skill is also part but the big thing is the 243 bullet is losing stabilty at the longer ranges IMO.

Nomercy

The only honest reason people claim that the .22-250 has a longer range than a .223 is because of the guns they're typically chambered in...most guys that love the .223 for varmints have AR-15's, or at least are thinking about them, while guy's who claim the .22-250 as the ultimate cartridge are usually thinking about Bolt action heavy bbls.

In that comparison, yes the .22-250 has a longer range, however, pack them both into the same model of rifle and you've got two loads so close in performance (ballistic and field) that you nor your game will ever know the difference.

My loyalty stands with the .22-250, as I've been shooting it for varmints longer, however, I do tend to take my AR out more often than my varmint rifles!!!

USMC PMI

With the proper rifling (at least 1:7.5) the .223 fires 100 gr. bullets very well for distance. Many 1000 meter matches are held with .223 loaded with the heavier 69 to 100 gr bullet. Just remember that the standard 1:9 (typical rate for production .223 rifle) will do an average job stabilizing the longer, heavier bullet. If the rifle is setup to shoot the lighter (30-50gr) bullets at high speed, the rifling is usually toward the 1:11 or 1:12 rate, some even 1:14, this is not enough twist to stabillize the longer heavier bullet. Typically the 22-250's are rifled around the 1:12 - 1:14 rate which is designed to shoot the lighter bullets, most will not shoot the heavier 100 gr. bullets well. I have both and find advantages with both.