hey bamahuntin if you are wanting a good longerange gun you could use for deer also you might try the 243 they are great long range coyote guns with 55 or 58 grain bullets but I dont think you need that kind of range here in the east,if you are not going to deer hunt with it I love my 223,I have a ruger M77 compact rifle with a leupold 4x12 scope on it that I bought just for coyote and groundhogs it is plenty accurate,the ruger triggers aren't great but a rifle basics trigger is a easy cure for that for about $80 mine is set down to just under 2lbs,I have killed a groundhog at a ranged 290 yards off of sandbags the rifle,scope,sling,and shell holder on the stock weighs a little over 7lbs this is a great woods and walking rifle with enough range to make that 300 yard shot.remington model700SPS is a great rifle also you might check these out to.

I have a .223 in a CZ 527 American. It it a finegun for the money. I looked at a 22-250 and a .204 as well. There is some debate on barrel life with the faster rounds. I guess it is a trade off. The hotter the round ,the more heat damage to the barrel. The 22-250 and the .204 are fast ,hot rounds. The way I understand it, the .223 will last about half again as long as the 22-250. I may be misinformed but it was enough to sway me to the .223.


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Good to hear people saying positive things about the 223 because I bought one today.The 223 is a Stevens.I know Stevens is a lower end gun but pretty much the price range I was looking for.I have a Savage 30-06 and have been really happy with it so hopefully I'll get similar results out of this Stevens.Was'nt really lookin to spend a ton of money on one and thisseemed to bea perfect fit for me.
Thanks for all the help you guys gave.I appreciate it.
JE

good choice for the money a stevens model 200(I think thats the model # my memory ain't as good as it used to be) will serve you well and I love the 223 caliber,this should be a good gun.

Yea its the model 200.Cant wait to go fire it tommorow.
JE

it should shoot pretty good,you might have to try some different loads to find it's favorite.I think they have a 1 to 12 twist or 1 to 9 I cant remember.I would recommend a 45 to 55 grainer to start with a 1 in 12 twist barrel wont like heavier bullets,and all rifles have favorites the same bullet at different velocity's could change accuracy alot.

hey bamahuntin I just googled up the twist rate of your stevens 200 in 223 and it is 1 in 9,so this means you can shoot some of the heavier bullits in this caliber accurately,my ruger compact has a 1 in 12 twist and a 72grn bullet hits the target sideways at 50 yardsif it even hits the target!This will allow you to use a wider selection of ammo.My rifle loves the black hills 55grn soft point,you should be able to shot the 62 or 65 grn bullets extremely well you will lose a little in velocity but should gain a little in energy this should result in harder hits and knock down power.

I've shot my 22-250 around 5,000 times. It's a great caliber, but probably 99% of my kills (gophers and 'yotes) would've also died had I been using a .223.

If the 22-250 were stolen tomorrow, I'd replace it with a .204. Less powder, less recoil, and just as flat.