I am looking at getting a varmint/hog gun.
I know the merits of the .22-250, but like the .243 as it has a little more pop with the heavier bullets. I have seen the lighter .243 rounds are smoking near 4000 fps.
How is the recoil difference?
Muzzle blast?
Is shooting prairie dogs all day a chore with the .243?
Sorry for the questions, just want to be sure what I'm going to buy.

both burn barrels.
if you want to shoot a lot, get a 223
if you want to hunt bigger game get the 243
if you just want a smokin screamer and 1500 round life get the 22-250

. . . and make sure that the barrel is cold hammer forged.

for mostly PD's I think you'd be better off with a 22-250 (or 223). For larger varmints (yotes?), hogs, deer, I'd lean toward the 243. Recoil with varmint-weight bullets is pretty close.

So a 22-250 only lasts 1500 shots? I have never heard that. Not disagreeing, just never heard it.

maybe in screamer like a swift and running hot loads but 22/250 life is nit that short.

I have both and I love having both. Can't comment on the recoil because my 243 is a hunter's type rifle and my 22-250 is a bull barrel 26" rifle.

If I had to have only one, I think I would go with the 22-250. Once again, mine are 2 different rifles. Still, my 22-250 is much more accurate. I do mostly use it for varmints, but the ranch manager at my company's ranch uses a 22-250 for doess, javalena, and hog. I'll add that he is an insanely good shooter so he's the kind of guy that can kill a small hog with a 22lr. Besides, they make some great heavier 22-250 rounds for larger game.

I hate to contradict people I don't know, but I never understood the whole "burning your barrel" concept. My 243 is a very old 788 I got used. Me and brother alone have put about 700 through it and it still has the same performance. I don't abuse barrels and maintain them very well.

in a heavy 250 you can stay in the scope and see where if you hit what you were shooting at.

I have used both, a bunch
I own an old Sako 243 and my dad one in 22-250
His was built in 66 and has killed a TON of deer, hogs, coyotes, etc..

I gurantee that it has WAY over 1500 hundred rounds through it and it still shoots one ragged hole at 100 yards.


They are both great calibers, the 243 will shoot heavier 100g bullets if that's your thing where as the 22-250 usually stops around 63 (Dad uses a 63g Sierra SP)

The 243 will also shoot lighter bullets for varmints

Both will do what you want

I sure like the .243, but then again I'm a glutton for carnage.

There is hardly any recoil from my rifle, but it also weighs in right at 16lbs.

Wrong

I prefer the 22.250 over the .243... Just my 2 cents....

its no secret, faster cartridges always wear faster than slower cartridges.
Lot of other things contribute, heat is the enemy. P-dog shooters who shoot a bunch without letting it cool down can burn a 22-250 in as little as 800 rounds, but the consenses is a 22-250 is usually between 1000 rounds and 2500.
Plus what is acceptable accuracy, it might shoot 1/2" groups and open up to 1 1/2 " groups at the 2000 mark, if thats ok with you youll prolly see 3000 round count in it.
But theres no denying a 22-250 is a barrel burner, a .223 can see 10,000 rounds or roughly 4 times the life of a 22-250.
.243 will last half as long as a .308 even though they both share the same case.

Over bore is a relation of case capacity and bore diameter.
Over bore cartridges always wear faster. heres a chart.

I guess it is a secret since you are the only one who thinks it. Like I said, I have never heard that a 22-250 is done in 1500 rounds.

its not my opinon, its what I have read

Personaly I think you need to determine if you are going to use it more as a varmit or deer/hog hunting rifle. Is it going to be deer hunting once a year and varmits every weekend or deer hunting every day of the season and varmits once a month?

In my opinion the 22-250 and 243 are about the same in the noise department. I have never been much of a 22-250 fan, it just doesnt do anything that i need or want it to do that a 223 doesnt do alot cheaper. If i was going to be mostly deer/hog hunting definatley the 243, and if I was going to be mostly varmit hunting a 223. JMO I know ill pizz of the 22-250 club, just my thoughts tho.

matt

Thanks guys.
Lots of great information, on both sides.

Get both. If you are prairie dog hunting it might be wise to rotate guns. I like my .243win a lot. If you want to save the pelts on the yotes and bobcats dont get .243. They leave huge exit wounds in the varmit rounds I have used

X2 on that one! My 22-250 with 62gr. tsx's seem to do more damage traveling faster than my buddies 243 with the same type of bullet on deer and hogs.

I think it is more realistic that the 243 shooting the shorter lighter varmit bullets will shoot out in 1,500 rounds rather than than the 22-250.

I thought that I had shot a 22-250 out in 1,500 rounds and started talking to one of the most knowledgable P-dog shooters at my gun club. He said he shoots 22-250 so hot that he wraps wet towels around the barrel to cool it down and he said he has never shot a 22-250 out in less that 5,000 rounds even with abuse like I mentioned. He said the problem is usually copper fouling.

Copper was my problem. Mine was key holing at 100 yds. Sweets and JB and mine was shot fine again.

243 you have a wider variety of bullet weights 55-105 gr.
22-250 52-68 gr. This is off the top of my head but it should be within a couple of grains.

Good luck!

I wrestled with a desire to buy a 22-250 for a while. I am a fan of the 243, very versatile gun with a wide range of bullet options (58 to 100 grain are my choices). I compared the 22-250 to it and could not come up with a reason to use it over the 243. Not much difference in the powder used and a smaller range of projectiles. It is also not legal in many places for deer if I wanted to use it for that. I ended up with a 223 heavy barrel varmint rifle and a 243 in a lighter weight. The 243 will serve as backup on prairie dog shoots and is great as a carry around rifle for larger varmints and deer size animals if I choose. The 223 is comfortable to shoot a large number of rounds through, and it is less expensive to shoot. Good combo for me.

copied from lilja web site.


As a very rough rule of thumb I would say that with cartridges of .222 Remington size you could expect an accurate barrel life of 3-4000 rounds. And varmint type accuracy should be quite a bit longer than this.

For medium size cartridges, such as the .308 Winchester, 7x57 and even the 25-06, 2-3000 rounds of accurate life is reasonable.

Hot .224 caliber type cartridges will not do as well and 1000-2500 rounds is to be expected.

Bigger magnum hunting type rounds will shoot from 1500-3000 accurate rounds. But the bigger 30-378 Weatherby types won't do as well, being closer to the 1500 round figure.

These numbers are based on the use of stainless steel barrels. For chrome-moly barrels I would reduce these by roughly 20%.

The .17 and .50 calibers are rules unto themselves and I'm pressed to predict a figure.

The best life can be expected from the 22 long rifle barrels with 5000-10,000 accurate rounds to be expected. We have in our shop one our drop-in Anschutz barrels that has 200,000 rounds through it and the shooter, a competitive small-bore shooter reported that it had just quit shooting.

Remember that predicting barrel life is a complicated, highly variable subject. You are the best judge of this with your particular barrel. Signs of accurate barrel life on the wane are increased copper fouling, lengthened throat depth, and decreased accuracy.

Thanks for all the help guys.

I've owned and hunted with every caliber mentioned above and I still end up shooting the 243 when it comes to coyote size varmints.

.243 barrel life is similar to the .22-250 if used in a heavy target string or heated Pdog shooting sitting. Both are throat demolishers if not taken care of.