008
AH veteran
Deer are not particularly tough animals. A proper bullet in a 22-250 is plenty imo and I’ve seen many shot with it and 223s.
View attachment 169088 This past hunting season my 14 year old son wanted to use his 22-250 for deer. Not wanting to use cup and core I searched the net and found GS Custom.
After reading their website I sent them a email giving the make and model and asked for their opinion on which bullet they recommend.
They got back to me and said that the 224040HV was most compatible with the rifle twist and that was more than capable of taking whitetail deer.
A little hesitant of a 40gr bullet I then called GS Custom told them what I wanted and they recommend the 40gr and said I would not be disappointed. Following their reloading recommendations I seated the bullets just deep enough to function in the mag then worked up to recommend speed adjusted for barrel length which put speed around 4175fps. Then shot for group first group was about 12" higher than factory 50gr so had to adjust after that it was all sub moa so l didn't adjust seating die. The first deer he shot was 172 yards away on an angle at the shot it jumped and took off. We were in open field so I followed the deer in my scope to make sure it went down.
It went less than 50 yards stopped went all shaky legs fell over and did the dead cockroach legs in the air and it was over.
Took it to the skinning shed whole did not field dress I wanted to have a look at the damage and hopefully find the bullet. To my surprise the bullet was a pass through found exit hole when we pulled hide off.
The bullet went in just behind front shoulder and came out in front of hind leg on opposite side.
Inside I found that the bullet had hit 1 lung passed into stomach and intestines making a almost 2" hole in the lung tapering to about 3/4" at rear and about 1/2" hole in the hide.
On the entry it broke 2 ribs one completely the other had a big chip out of it.
The photo shows path of the bullet if you look we have a metal rod run through the bullet path holding a tape measure along path it is almost 22" from entrance to exit without hide that was really impressive to me.
Sorry this was so long but I wanted to give as much information as possible.
If anyone has any experience with this cartridge/bullet let me hear their results. He did take a second deer broadside at about 220 yards shot was a little further back than I like but stayed in chest cavity passed through with a 1 1/2" hole. Went 20 yards and piled up. Two deer is not a complete test. But so far I'm liking the results.
Shawn
Sorry to touch a nerve with you. Let us start with the facts every deer shot buy this rifle had at least one lung hit the so called “gut shot” dear included and traveled less distance than the dear I shot with my 375 Ruger.Pretty Damn Sad...I can kill a deer w a 22 rimfire,but It'll never be a deer round!!! If anyone is unable to handle a reasonable size round for whatever game is involved,then maybe they need to get a little bigger/older JMO
dwboso did you read my post in the first two shots I pointed out that they were not “perfect shots” one was on a angle more than I thought the second was a couple inches back further than I like I did not say any of the shots were perfect what I did say was that the bullet in all six deer preformed well no deer were lost none even went out of sight except one that fell behind a log at the edge of the field.I can shoot as well as anyone on this blog.....but ANYONE who hunts much,and claims EVERY shot they made in their life was perfect,is a damn liar
The boy did loose a deer once shot in the shoulder with a 7mm-08 Hornady 139gr SP Interlock at 20 yards total bullet failure we found it three weeks later in flintlock season only because of critters eating it left tracks in the snow that led us to it .284 hole in no exit no snow to track in and thick brush that you couldn’t see a deer in at 5’ we were in clear timber beside the brush when he shot it ran in and vanished. So I know the hazards of poor bullet selection I can track a deer that has been hit as well as most but I like an exit hole to add that little extra blood to the trail. If the first deer he shot didn’t have an exit hole it probably would have ended the experiment.Sorry if I hurt anyones feelings,but I stand on every word.Using varmint cartridges for big game is an Ego trip,and the hunting community is better served w-out that No one,and I mean NO ONE , has made EVERY shot in their life prefectly,and anyone who shoots much,and is honest, will admit it.Too many variables in the game fields to COUNT on perfection,and that's what you HAVE to have w varmint cartriges on big game. The boy was lucky to have recovered the gut-shot,and if he keeps fooling w his groundhog gun on deer,it's just a matter of time till he loses one that he should have killed.....Like I said.JMO
I am sorry... and I don't want to turn this into an angry argument thread... but well.... here it goes.Maybe a better way to put it would be"just because it CAN be done,doesn't mean it SHOULD be done.That's all there is to it
You know one of the things that has separated this site from some of the others I no longer visit has been the absence of abusive replies. Unfortunately, that seems to be changing. Shawn opened a discussion, thoughtfully provided his opinions and observations, and asked for feed-back. I have enjoyed the dialogue.Sorry if I hurt anyones feelings,but I stand on every word.Using varmint cartridges for big game is an Ego trip,and the hunting community is better served w-out that No one,and I mean NO ONE , has made EVERY shot in their life prefectly,and anyone who shoots much,and is honest, will admit it.Too many variables in the game fields to COUNT on perfection,and that's what you HAVE to have w varmint cartriges on big game. The boy was lucky to have recovered the gut-shot,and if he keeps fooling w his groundhog gun on deer,it's just a matter of time till he loses one that he should have killed.....Like I said.JMO