I'm gonna buy a Tikka T3 laminated Stainless or their Varmint model but can't decide what calibre to get.

I like the .223 because its cheaper, less recoil, quieter in some repsect, slightly shorter action and more accurate do to less recoil. Also the barrel doesn't get near as hot as fast when operating under the fast repetitive shooting of varmint hunting.

I like the .22-250 because it has MORE POWER, flatter trajectory, is able to reach out farther and most people suggest it.

I would use this rifle for everything from gophers to coyotes. Mainly gophers though (hence the fast repetitive shooting). Any suggestions or comments are welcome.


thats the gun. Tikka Laminated Stainless.

For high volume shooting the 223 is hard to beat. No other centerfire can be fed as cheaply with over the counter ammo. The 22-250 would be next in line as winchester offers 40 round boxes for a very good price. Sounds like you have a hard choice to make, but I would buy the 223 first and save my pennies for the 22-250 as my next treat.

I would go with the 223 .I have several 223 and a 22-250 . The 223 may be a little slower but it dosen't have that much more drop to 300 yds where most shooting will be to.

Truth be told, in most loads, the .223 rem is only about 100-200fps behind the .22-250, and when you're pushing 4000fps, a hundred here and there don't make much difference.

The big difference in the two is that the .22-250 typically handles heavier bullets better because of tighter twist rates, so they fight the wind better out there at longer ranges.

One thing I'll suggest, what you're talking about is a target rifle, so "cheap ammo" availability shouldn't really be a consideration, since it's rare that target grade stuff is really much cheaper from one cartridge to another. There's no sense in putting crappy surplus crap in your nice target rifle.

I'm a .22-250 fan myself, as far as bolt guns go...I'd really rather take my AR-15 out as opposed to my bolt guns, but for LONG ranges the bolt guns win out (not by much), I occasionally take my .308win out for serious long range shooting.

You'll likely NEVER notice the difference, and neither will your game!!

The rate of twist on the gun i'm getting for the .22-250 is 1 in 14" and in the .223 it is 1 in 12". Does that change anyones mind?, i dunno much about this rate of twist deal.

Actually the .223 can come in either 1 in 8" or 1 in 12"

If you want to shoot the 55 gr or less get the 1 - 12 ( most varmit bullets)
The 1 - 8 is for the 68 gr and heaver.
Either twist can shoot any bullet but normaly groups will suffer with the wrong combo.

I've got the 22-250 and often wish I had gone with the .223 because I do a lot of predator hunting with guys that carry .223's and the coyotes they shoot seem to fall over dead just as fast as the ones I shoot, but the ones I shoot almost always have an exit wound no matter what ammo. I use. The .223 does quite well on p-dogs too.

I vote for the .223 You are correct the 22-250 has more power but in the real world you won't notice any diff. IMHO. Once you get beyond 300 yds reading the wind becomes critical and very hard to do. The only advantage the 22-250 has is it's extended range . But it is very difficult to shoot beyond 300 yds consistantly.

Has anyone suggested the .223 yet? If so here's another vote!

Either way, like was said before, you will likely notice very little diffrence between the two cartridges.