I am planning on attending a gun auction next week. there are several Tikka T3's. I have a 30'06 rifle already, and an AR. I'm thinking of picking up a rifle in the light and fast category. I have no specific use in mind, other than the range. And I do not reload. If you had a choice between a Tikka in .223 and 22-250, which would you choose and why (other then the ammo being more plentiful and cheaper in the 223).

Thanks for your thoughts.

I love the .22-250, but if you have no real need/use for the extra speed over the .223 there's no point.

I wouldn't want to feed one factory ammo (especially compared to the .223)

Unless you're looking for a dedicate coyote rifle (just as an example) that you won't shoot much and the extra oomf is worth the extra cost and hassle of finding.

I had a Ruger 77 in 22-250 that I purchased in the mid-1980s and I own two Tikkas in 223 Remington now. When I bought the Ruger it was mostly because the gun gurus recommended the cartridge and the 223 didn’t enjoy nearly the popularity it does now. The Ruger worked well for the few years I used it to hunt prairie dogs and I did mostly handload at the time.

Now, however, unless I had a specific reason for wanting the higher velocities possible with the 22-250, and specifically for hunting at longer ranges, I wouldn’t give it a moment’s consideration, especially in a Tikka (more about that in a bit). Even if I were hunting prairie dogs today, the 223 would be fine for the purpose to the 250+ yard ranges I shot at years ago.

The 223 is far more popular today and factory loads are available with a much wider range of bullets, from the light types suitable for small varmints to heavies for better precision at longer ranges. Based on a quick search, the vast majority of 22-250 factory loads go up only to 55 grains, and although that is fine for small to medium game such as coyotes, the many heavier bullet loads for the 223 are better for other purposes. Also, there’s the barrel life thing; larger case and powder capacities and higher velocities wear out barrels faster.

In the Tikka line, it’s important to be aware that again based on a quick check, all their rifles chambered for 22-250 have a 1:14 inch rifling twist rate. That’s fine for light bullets suitable for hunting small animals, but even if we wanted to handload, that wouldn’t be a fast enough rate to stabilize heavier bullets.

And if you might have any interest in shooting heavier bullet loads with a 223 Tikka, be aware that their barrels have different rates. As far as I know the ones being imported these days have 1:8" barrels, but some 223 Tikkas have 1:10 or 1:12 rifling which again are less suitable for heavy bullet loads. When I was first looking for a 223 Tikka some years ago, it was difficult to find one with a 1:8 barrel, so there will be guns with slower rates on the market, especially used guns.

All that being said, I am very happy with the two 223 Tikkas I own. I have an older T3 Tactical model and a T3x Super Varmint, and with good ammunition they both produce sub-MOA groups. I shoot the T3x more commonly to see what precision I can get, and with Berger 77 grain OTM Tactical ammunition, groups that are less than 0.5 MOA at 100 yards are common.

I'll 2nd that.
22-250 is a blast, but I wouldn't want to feed it.

Thanks for your replies, and for your well-reasoned opinions. .223 it is.

How does one determine twist rate of a particular rifle? Is it a serial number look up somewhere?

I would not do .223
.22-50. .243, 6.5, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by 7iron:
How does one determine twist rate of a particular rifle?

In general, manufacturers’ data will have that information. Unfortunately, that’s not always true about a specific rifle because like Tikka they may offer similar rifles with different rifling rates. These days it’s often marked on the barrel, but not always and a marking may be under something like a handguard.

The 223 Tikkas I have are marked 8" on the left side of the barrel just forward of the receiver, and the 308 Win CTR model is marked 10".

We still see advice about how to measure it oneself. In short that’s to run a tight-fitting patch down the bore and see how many inches are required for one complete turn of the cleaning rod.

There may be some lookup places with the information, but I’m not familiar with any.

like sigfreund I have several T3's. they all have it on the barrell. In addition over the years I've looked at a number of them and I've never seen a .223 one that is not 1:8, but of course it could exist.

quote:

Originally posted by 7iron:
I am planning on attending a gun auction next week. there are several Tikka T3's. I have a 30'06 rifle already, and an AR. I'm thinking of picking up a rifle in the light and fast category. I have no specific use in mind, other than the range. And I do not reload. If you had a choice between a Tikka in .223 and 22-250, which would you choose and why (other then the ammo being more plentiful and cheaper in the 223).

Thanks for your thoughts.

22-250 is a fantastic varmint cartridge. Flat, fast, lethal on coyotes.

It also uses more expensive ammo, and erodes barrels faster.


If this is for range use, I would get the 223.

22-250 has more reach, but don't think of it particularly as a long range cartridge. 0-400 it's a lightning bolt. But the cartridge was designed around 40-55 grain bullets going 3900ish FPS. They don't buck the wind very well and they shed velocity much more rapidly than streamlined high ballistic coefficient bullets.

Went thru this a few years ago, so here goes
I don’t hunt anymore,
I have no need for the 22-250.
It’s an interesting cartridge
I reload so I’d need new dies & brass

I do have 223 dies & brass
I have bullets
I have powder
I have another rifle in that caliber

I eventually decided not to get the 22-250 and have a rem700 in 223 now as a practice gun set up exactly like my 243 rem700 in the same chassis

If the occasional coyote slips thru the neighborhood I’d most likely pop him with a suppressed 223

quote:

Originally posted by 7iron:
If you had a choice between a Tikka in .223 and 22-250, which would you choose and why (other then the ammo being more plentiful and cheaper in the 223).

Ammo availability and cost are absolutely a part of the decision process. Good choice on looking for a 223.

Sako's website states that the Tikka 223 has been produced with a 1:12 twist. I do not recommend buying such a rifle, as you will be limited to light bullets -- just like the 22-250. As Sigfreund states above, look for the "8" mark on the barrel.

With heavy match bullets of 69-77 grains, a good 223 rifle is definitely accurate to 600 yards. Even 800 yards if the shooter is up to the task.