22-250 Remington

Originally, this was a wildcat cartridge made by necking down the 250-3000 Savage to 22-caliber. It is unknown exactly who first created this wildcat or when they did so. Most sources give the US gunmaker J. E. Gebby first credit. In 1937, he copyrighted his design as the 22 Varminter. However, since the parent case had been around since 1915, likely, one or more anonymous wildcatter had long-since done the same thing. In 1965, Remington commercialized this well-balanced, high-velocity chambering. With a relatively flat trajectory, it is effective to about 400 yards.

In Europe, the 22-250 is used mainly on roe deer and smaller species, such as fox and beaver. This cartridge is a very good choice for this sort of hunting, provided one is careful with bullet placement and impact angle – as is always necessary when using a small-caliber gun for hunting any given species. For roe deer, we strongly recommend using a heavy bullet, to obtain controlled expansion and sufficient penetration.

Due to high velocity, many 22-250 rifles with the standard 1 turn in 14 inch twist will stabilize bullets as heavy as 70 grains. However, most rifles will produce best accuracy with bullets weighing between 55 and 62 grains.

Due to relatively large case capacity, the 22-250 can sometimes be difficult to reload effectively and somewhat reduced loads often give superior accuracy. Small variations in charge and bullet seating depth can result in significant accuracy differences. Hence, finding the best load can take a bit of work. However, this chambering has a reputation for outstanding accuracy potential and, for the serious hunter, it is still one of the best varminting choices.