22-250 vrs 223 vrs 204 ruger

[diamond k]

looking for a new toy to hunt coyotes with some ability to reach past 300 yards

Any real word experience as what might be my best option considering accuracy, and cost of ammo as I dont reload.

[Bowie]

As far as I know .223 ammo is the best price. So if your going to shoot a lot it's the best way to go

[waterhaulerhunter]

If you don't reload 223 is the way to go. I've had all 3 and have hunted coyotes with each of them for a season and I prefer the 204. 22-250 has been hard to find factory ammo as of late too in my experience.

[tikka250]

Are you planning on keeping fur? If so your best bet would be 204. The 223 and 22-250 are also quite good on fur just not quite as good as 204.
As far as shooting coyotes at 300+ the 22-250 and 204 are very flat shooters and with the right zero you can have a "on fur" hold on a coyote out to 250 yards.
Just my 2Cents

[Richard B.]

not only does the .223 have the least expensive ammo it has the best selection in factory ammo

[sikwhiskey]

And milsurp ammo too. I've taken yotes at 400m no problem. Brass all over the place, easy to reload the 223.

[sikwhiskey]

If you pic 223, get one with a fast twist for the heavier bullets... If you reload

[coy coyote]

Hands down 204 or 22.250. You can shoot a 22.250 at the same muzzle v as a 40gr 204 round. You want range and less wind drift a 22.250 with a 55 gr Nosler is a killing machine. Your 204 is flat but with a 40gr pass 300 your pushing it. There's no such thing as a perfect kill shot on every coyote but you own it to him to at least stay down. My own experience. Too many runners with a 223 and too much bullet drop. 204 was awesome but pass 350 I had bullet splatter with vmax. 22.250 was nice. But for me hunting dogs from the bush country to the open windy south I love a 243. I am neither wrong or right this is my OPINION!!!!!!!!!! I when thru 9 different rifles of various calibers before I settled on one I was comfortable with. My buddy drops dogs with his 223 and has been for 30 years. I couldn't do it with mine. I had a guy drop a coyote off he had shot with his custom 6 mm with a 105gr berger. Pin holes. My 22.250 on some dogs as close as 80 yards with 55gr Noslers pin holes. What works for one doesn't work for the other
Buy and try. It's an addictive sport.

[smith88]

I have dropped coyotes at 350 with my 223. I have a bullet compensating scope so I can hold "on fur" out passed 450. 22250 can be hard on fur under 200

[Got Juice?]

I live, eat, and sleep .204
It will go down as one of the all time greatest varmint cartridges made IMHO.


But I do have a hard time recommending it for anyone unless they are an experienced reloader.
This one caliber has caused me more sleepless nights, ladder tests, nightmares of barrel harmonics, internal ballistics etc.

When you do find the load for your gun, a Coyote at 500+ M is possible (from a rest/bipod etc)

But this takes time and patience to find this load. Most people do not have that time or patience, and want the immediate gratification of placing the xhairs on a yote, and dropping him.

If you have patience, and reload, .204 and never look back.

If you do not, a 22-250 or .223 are better options. A little less range, not as flat as the .204, but easier to be consistant, and more forgiving to reload.

[fordtruckin]

I'm a voting for the .223. Seen plenty of shots past 300 with great effect. Easy finding ammo, easy to reload, not hard on barrels, cheap to shoot and just a stud when it comes to shooting varmints!

[6.5 shooter]

.204, have two and never found them hard to reload for at all!

I like 40 gr. Hornady V-Max in mine with Tac powder. Seat about 10-15 thou off lands and your good to go.

[Got Juice?]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

.204, have two and never found them hard to reload for at all!

I like 40 gr. Hornady V-Max in mine with Tac powder. Seat about 10-15 thou off lands and your good to go.

Suuure, rub it in.... I wish I had your luck!!!!

I tried what conventional wisdom told me..... that a 40gn would not stabilize in a 1:12 barrel........so I had every weight, from every manufacturer...... and nothing worked until I bought the 'wrong' bullet by mistake.

40gn Vmax with 24.8gn H322, CCI Small Rifle Primers..... and now I am good to go.

[catnthehat]

I've always been a big fan of the .223 as a general all around varmint cartridge
Good for close range and it can also reach out a fair distance.
Most of my killed have been inside 400 yards and the .233 is up to the tack at the same time not. Ripping fur up too much at 100yards or closer .hanfliading aside it's economical and easy to find ammo .
Cat

[Redfrog]

If fur friendly is a real primary concern, then you need to snare them.

I've killed lots and lots of coyotes with my 223. Works well and not hard on fur usually. Most shots are inside 200yds, but have made several around the 300 yd marker and even a few at 400 yds. The longer ones are shots with lots of time to set up, bipod and actual rangefinder.

Anyone can kill coyotes at 500 yards [guessed] all day long, but using a range finder puts a reality check on things.

I had a 204 and sold it. Too much wind where I hunt.

The 22.250 will kill at 400 plus, but I prefer a 220 Swift.

[sikwhiskey]

^^^ 220 swift is still king. Wish I never sold mine. Been thinking of making a wild cat, 230 swift...maybe if I can find the time needed.

[wolf308]

Simple.get all 3

[propliner]

I wish I had never sold my .220 Swift either. It was king.

[Coiloil37]

The 220 swift isn't as good as you two remembered.

I'll give my opinion on a few cartridges I've owned and used before and all if my load data is generated with the help of a chronograph.

.204, mine is easy to reload for and is my most accurate rifle. It uses very little powder, no recoil so you can spot your own shots, does pretty good in the wind, shoots flat and is great for gophers but with 40 grain Vmax it leads to flesh wounds on the dogs butt when they're running away from you. I've written it off for coyotes because I got sick of having the dogs doing circles, biting at their arse and having to shoot them again.

.223 has most of the same attributes as the .204 and is very handy for high volume shooting when you get it out in he p dogs as well. It's always a gopher gun for me because it's got more drop then the rest of my varmint cartridges. I like it for its barrel life, the fact I can spot my shots through the scope and how little powder per case.

22-250, very good rifle for shooting yotes but hard on fur, barrel warms up quick when shooting gophers and it burns a lot more powder then the previous two cartridges. I still use mine for coyotes a lot and have one rebarreled with a 1-7" gain twist barrel that I shoot 70 grain vld's from at 3350 fps that is dynamite in the wind. Can't spot my own shots but has very little recoil.

220 swift, loud, barrel gets hot with 3-4 shots, uses as much powder as my 6mm. It does nothing a 22-250 can't and doesn't perform with a 6mm or .243 on any level.

.243, I've got a couple of them but don't really use them because they're not quite as fast as my 6mm's.

6mm rem, more recoil, you can't spot shots, uses the most amount of powder (same amount as a 220 swift) but spits 65 grain Vmax as fast as my .204 shoots a 40 or my 22-250 shoots a 50 and within 50-100 fps of a 220 swift shooting a 50. Very hard on fur but will go put a dog down on pretty well any hit to the body. Turns about half a gopher into a vapor cloud and pops the other half 20-50 yards in the air. Little easier on barrels then the fast .22's and bucks the wind better then the rest. It's my go to coyote gun and 300+ yard gopher gun.

I mentioned the amount of powder used multiple times because as a reloader powder is the biggest variable. The bullets all cost roughly the same price but a difference of nearly 20 grains per case makes a difference when your burning 10k rounds a year.

For a coyote gun if I wasn't saving fur but wanted to take longer shots without worrying as much about the trajectory I would be taking a .243 (or 6mm if I reloaded and could find one). The cost of ammunition for a yote gun is irrelevant, you'll burn far more gas then ammo. If I thought it was also going to be a gopher gun I would take a .223 before the rest and deal with its range limitations, which really aren't that bad. If you can't kill yotes with a .223 your the one who needs the practice.

I honestly can't imagine life with only one varmint rifle but if it had to be that way and I didn't reload I would buy a .223 or .243

[aulrich]

Another vote for 204 , though I use the 35gr bergers but they are a stubby bullet so you give up trajectory for fur friendly. My general purpose are the 39 Sierra's.

All three are right answers

22-250 longer range punch
223 cheap be careful 5.56 NATO is not 223 Remington. it is not considered a safe swap even though guys do it.
204 longer range with the right bulled and the most fur friendly

[Jims71duster]

Search option, there's pages and pages of the same topic

[CopperJonny]

Hey man,

I've hunted 'yotes for a good 20+ yrs and I started with a beauty .222 rem, and went through a couple of .223, they were great, and can get nice cheap albeit non to accurate ammo fmj. Harday Vmax were my go too for hunting coyote!

When i was set in the head on a 22-250 or a .220 swift (leaning more to the later) I was introduced to the .204 Ruger cartridge. After some research on this "new" to me cartridge, I "bit the bullet" and bought one. I have never been so pleased with a rifle purchase in my life! And I've never kicked myself harder nor forgiving myself for ever parting with it. I WILL be buying the exact same set up again really soon, just too bad the rifle is about $300 more than when i bought it in 2006, lol.. son of a….. D'oh!!!

The .204 is the sh*t..!!!! You'll Love It! I was apprehensive at first.. I can't say what all I've bagged with it..cause I just…. Can't lol.. BUT.. I've taken about 50+ coyotes with it in ranges from 15 - 400 yards 1 shot kills.. go with the heavier bullet I advise, sacrifice a lil speed for stability, and you have a winner!

Bets of luck with your decision and new purchase! Enjoy and get em!
Jonny

[smith88]

Originally Posted by aulrich

Another vote for 204 , though I use the 35gr bergers but they are a stubby bullet so you give up trajectory for fur friendly. My general purpose are the 39 Sierra's.

All three are right answers

22-250 longer range punch
223 cheap be careful 5.56 NATO is not 223 Remington. it is not considered a safe swap even though guys do it.
204 longer range with the right bulled and the most fur friendly

You can shoot 223 in a 5.56 but not 5.56 in a 223. I believe 5.56 have a shorter throat and can produce higher pressures in a 223

[TOG]

I have been shooting yotes for many years now with many different cals. but my main rig is 223. Due to the faster twist rates most factory 223's have these days I prefer to load it with the heavier bullets at max loads. sure it has a bit more drop then the others but the amount of energy it carries really stretches the legs on this cartridge. and way less wind drift then the 204. If you practice, know your gun and specific round, bullet drop is hardly a concern, IMO.

[Jeremy403]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

.204, have two and never found them hard to reload for at all!

X2 very easy to load for,my rem 700 vtr loved the 32vmax over benchmark and my CZ shoots 35bergers and 40gr vmaxs over benchmark like a dream. Even factory 45 grs shoot under a inch. Could'nt get the remington to shoot anything other then the 32gr vmax though.

[waterhaulerhunter]

^^ 35 gr bergers and 39 gr bks over close to max benchmark have produce sub 1/2 Moa in all my rifles.

[wannabe]

Any of those 3 you mentioned will do what you want. Pick the right bullet, that's the key.
The 75gr amax in my 223 work great for me. And with anything shot placement is the key.
This year i will be testing out my 20extreme shooting 40gr vmax at 3700fps.
It's similar to the 20 vartarg in case capacity but uses about 9gr less powder than the .204ruger to achieve the same velocity.

[Salavee]

Anything will work... just kill those suckers ! Seriously, if "fur friendly" is a major consideration I don't think you could go wrong with a .204 at reasonable ranges. It is fairly gentle with fur most of the time, is very accurate, and has a super trajectory. I have a Tac .20 that does a great job out to 300 yds with a 40 gr Berger or V-Max. (if not too much wind is involved). For barrel stretching ranges and a bit of wind that often presents itself I found the .243 to be a much better choice. I have a purpose built Rem 700, custom barrelled with a 1-13.75 twist. The un-fur friendly 68 Burger Varmint does the kill job quite consistently out to 400+ yds. in good conditions - if I get lucky. Should I have to choose just one gun as a dedicated all-round Coyote round it would be a slow twist .243 with most any bullet 55- 75 grains that shoots well.

[Maghunter]

243 kills them dead far and fast.

[gitrdun]

.223 Rem is my favourite.