22-250 Rem

The .22-250 Remington is a very high-velocity (capable of reaching over 4000 feet per second), short action, .22 caliber rifle cartridge primarily used for varmint hunting and small game hunting, though it finds occasional use on deer. This cartridge is also sometimes known as the .22 Varminter or the .22 Wotkyns Original Swift. Along with the .220 Swift, the .22-250 was one of the high-velocity .22 caliber cartridges that developed a reputation for remote wounding effects known as hydrostatic shock in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Suggested Use

• Predators
• Small Game
• Varmint

Performance

Typical factory-loaded .22-250 Remington can propel a 55 grain (3.56 g) spitzer bullet at 3,680 ft/s (1122 m/s) with 1,654 ft lbf (2,243 J) of energy. Many other loads with lighter bullets are used to achieve velocities of over 4,000 ft/s (1,219 m/s), while still having effective energy for use in hunting small game and medium sized predators.

The .22-250 is currently the fastest production cartridge, surpassing the .204 Ruger. This round is loaded by Hornady under their Superformance line and is a 35 grain, non-toxic, fragmenting varmint bullet at 4450 feet per second (1356 m/s) from a 26" barrel. The .223 WSSM is loaded to 4700 fps (1432 m/s) by Monolithic Munitions, but this is a custom loading by a specialty shop, not by a major manufacturer.

It is particularly popular in the western states of the USA where high winds often hinder the effectiveness of other varmint rounds in prairie dog hunting. Many countries have minimum caliber restrictions on larger game such as deer, although most areas do allow the cartridge to be used for big game