243 or 22-250

[kevins750]

Remington 700, 26" heavy varmit barrel.

Would be target/bench gun only.
500 yard target/steel mostly
800+ on steel.
.

Any pro's or con's on these calibers
for my stated use..

[Calif Hunter]

.243 would have less wind drift using heavier bullets - 6mm is a popular caliber at Pala for long range silhouettes. If possible, get a faster than standard rifling twist for heavy bullets.

I have both and love my .22-250 for varmints, but the .243 wins out at longer ranges.

[kevins750]

I believe the .243 is 1 in 9 1/4.

[MongooseV8]

243 will certainly get you less drift and longer distance. The trick will be finding a factory barrel with a fast enough twist to stabilize the long heavy bullets.

I have several 243 and it's varients. One of my favorites but the 22-250 ain't no slouch.

[Monster]

A 1 in 9.25 will shoot 100 and 105 just fine.

[ajfam87@gmail.com]

A 1 in 9.25 will shoot 100 and 105 just fine.

Savages are 1/9.25 do okay with some 100gr. Anything over you'll want a faster twist. For best results you'd want to hand load, since there aren't many if any match factory ammo. Also you want 1/8 twist. I'm in the process of building up a 243 Win rifle. I don't think you'll find anything faster than 9.25 from factory. I'm getting mine rebarreled, most likely 1/8 or 1/8.5.

[Monster]

^^ I shoot a heavy barrel Savage with a 1 in 9.25 thats how I know they work. I would not try 107 or 115 though.

[Dutch Henry]

.243 is a better choice than .22-250 for the longer ranges.

[LynnJr]

The problem with either choice is the available twist rate of the factory barrels.
The 22-250 with a 14 twist barrel is accurate and devastating on Varmints and coyotes out to 400+ yards.
If it had a 8 twist barrel it would be able to shoot bullets heavier than 80 grains out to 1000 yards.

The same is true about the 243.
With a 9.25 twist you can shoot some of the heavier bullets but not all of them.
If it had a 8 twist barrel you could shoot all bullets.

The silver lining is both the 22-250 and 243 use the same 0.473 boltface. You could buy a 22-250 then buy a 243 takeoff barrel on E-Bay for less than $100 and own both.
If you don't want to swap out barrels yourself a gunsmith can do it cheaply.

[kevins750]

I went with the .243.

When I do swap barrels it will be a fast twist.

[MongooseV8]

Good choice. May I suggest a 243 AI barrel when it's time. Mine are wicked fast and the brass last forever.

[russ69]

Good choice. May I suggest a 243 AI barrel when it's time. Mine are wicked fast and the brass last forever.

I'd go the other way and suggest a 6BR.

[grovey]

The 243 for long range. The 6br Russ mentioned would last 3 times longer though.