best coyote ammo choice for tikka 22-250

J

jk2paintworx

New member
i have a Tika 22-250 on the way and i am wanting to stock up on some ammo to test and determine what it likes best. What are you tikka guys liking as far as accuracy and knock down power or coyotes? What should I avoid? This is my first centerfire rifle so i am not familiar with the choices. I did learn alot about how important it is to each rifle/ammo combo from my .22 and .17hmr ammo testing. It was very worthwhile but a bit expensive so I am mostly looking for a few good choices as far as a starting point. What should i avoid? Tikka T3 lite Twist rate is 1:14 22.4" barrel length. I am only interested in ammo for the tikka t3.
 
Only interested in ammo for the t3? There are many different factory ammo choices none of which are specifically better in any brand of rifle. Out of 2 savages with 14twist one wouldn't shoot the 55s at all but the other shoots great with them. Point being just because its brand z doesn't mean it will like load x over load y. With a 14 twist 55 gr bts are going to be about the max. If your talking factory ammo I'd reccomend winchester white box 45 gr HP or hornady superformance 50gr BT. I haven't heard of either of these rounds being bad in a 14 twist.
 
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Chances are anything 55 gr or under will stabilize except for the 53 Gr Vmax which is a longer bullet. How they shoot I'm your rifle is anybody geuss. Personally the sweet spot for a 22-250 is 52 gr bullets.
 
I have the same gun tikka t3 lite 22-250 "stainless"... I dont re-load, and after alot of brand name ammo testing the only ammo mine likes is the Remington 45 gr hollow points. The green and white box stuff.
I kinda wished i went with the t3 varmint model..I'm not too impressed with the sporter style barrels but it will shoot under an inch but only with one brand of ammo...
 
tanks guys
maybaysinger i understand that there are good ammo choices for all guns nut i just want to narrow it down to a few top choices and determine my best option based on performance availibility and price...
my 17hmr marlin shoots most choices well but it shoots 20gr cci gamepoint 50% better than my second choice. however. its not ez to find, but everybody i know is aware that i will trade anyother ammo i have for it so i have alot of it. Same with subsonic wolf in my match rifle. I have several dif loads of rimfire ammo that I only use for plinking because i know i have better stuff for accuracy.
 
bauze now you are scaring me. i havent heard to many complaints about the tikkas. There was a guy in another post that didnt like all the tupperware but most were impressed with accuracy.
I am still goin for the t3 lite because its in my pricerange. lightweight is important to me and if i can get max performance from this t3 lite setup i think i will be satisfied. I dont expect a tack driver target rifle but want consistancy in all conditions for hunting. How much better is the heavy barrel? is it worth carrying the extra weight?
 
Originally Posted By: jk2paintworx I am only interested in ammo for the tikka t3.

All I'm saying is this is not a valid way to pick ammunition. There is no magic ammo for any rifle. What shoots in one guys might or might not shoot in yours. Do some research, figure out a few bullets you want to try that work in your spin rate buy a box of ammo in each and try them. If you search 22 250 factory ammo I bet there will be alot of info on opinions of each and will probably narrow it down to 3 or 4 different loadings. Bullet length and weight and rate of twist will be most of your limitations. The rest is what your particular rifle likes.
 
gotcha that makes sense. thanks. Exactly what i am lookin for. thanks
most important is loads to avoid due to barrel twist right? 45-55 grain seems like what you guys suggesting. Any heavier is too much for 1:14?? does cci make good 22-250 loads that tikkas like? I cant explain how much better it is in my .17hmr han anything else, even other cci loads. Maybe its just that perticular rifle that loves it so much?
 
CCI only produces loaded rimfire ammunition and cf primers. Yes look for something less than or equal to 55 gr not including the 53 gr vmax. Ur options that are easy to find will be Remington winchester and hornady. Hsm also makes good stuff.

And not to be an arsh but its not "that a tikka like" I cannot drive that point home enough. Every rifle is different, every barrel is different. It has nothing to do with tikka, remington, savage, etc.
 
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Mine and my Sakos do well with 45 gr winchester white box. They shoot a bit higher than the others after sight in. The White box has been very popular and harder to find. they shoot dirtier than the others so I clean the bore more often.
#2 is Remington Accu-Tip 50 gr( rumored to be a Vmax bullet) but these loads seem to do better for me. They were up for free shipping at Bass Pro and $5 per box by Remington.
#3 is Winchester Supreme Ballistic tip 50 gr., These have Lubalox coating on the bullets. They are a nosler combined tech bullet. This is not moly Which is a mess.
#4 is a 55gr psp which is great for close stuff very little damage.
The Rem and Win are also available in 55 gr which work fine. I have chosen the 50 gr for less damage and flat shooting.
It has taken all of my Tikkas several boxes of ammo before the sighting settles in.
 
My Tikkas have all shot great right out of the box. The 22-250 Blued T3 is my most accurate. In fact it proved to me a sporter barrel can be as accurate as a heavy barrel. Buy you an inexpesive press and roll your own. Reloader 15, H380 and Varget with 50 grain Blitz Kings or V-maxs or 55 Nosler Ballistic Tips should work for you.

I don't know if your cleaning between brands of ammo but it might be a good idea and then allow for a couple of fouler shots to make sure it settle in before judging the groups.
 
maybaysinger. i hear what you are saying. i know others that have the same .17 rifle i have but they shoot hornady better. i am certain that this will take some experimenting. thats kinda fun but i just dont wanna waste more money than needed.
tripod thanks for the suggestions. i will start hunting ammo.
bowlseye how much of a investment does it take to get set up for reloading.? Would prob take alot of shooting to pay for the investment?
 
It takes a TON of shooting to pay for the investment BUT you get to hand tailor specific loads to rifles. It's easily the best investment I've ever made as far as my hunting and shooting goes anyways. You really don't want to just jump into it though, it's not something you just start doing over night.
 
jk2paintworx, you can by the basics pretty cheap. My first press was a Lee Kit I found at a local gun show for $50. Midway has a Lee kit on sale for $110. It looks like it has every thing but the dies, shell holder and trimmer. Lee makes a hand trimmer that works fine, I still use them when I am doing a few rounds and don't want to adjust my bench mounted trimmer. The Lee RGB dies are $20, shell holder $5 I think the trimer is $10 or so. Look at some videos and see if you think you want to do it.

You can usually find powder around $25 - $30 a pound, primers probably $3.50 one hundred. You should have enough brass already. Bullets are about $15 - $25 per 100.
 
My 1 in 14 twist will not stabilize a 55 grain V Max but it will shoot a 55 grain Gameking rather well. (Remington 22 inch barrel)
 
I have handloaded for over 15 years now and Im finding its just not worth it anymore. Factory ammo is very good now a days and finding reasonably priced powder is very hard thanks to the hoarders. It very time consuming and my time is limited. To each his own though.
 
saskcoyote I started looking into it and it seems like it would only pay off if a person shoots ALOT. I will only be hunting coyotes so dont think i will go through too much.
 
The nice thing about hand loading is that you can tinker with your rounds as well. If you're wanting to download that 22-250 to 223 velocities you can. You also may be able to make a bullet you like work by changing powder or quantity of powder. I started because I was shooting about 200-300 rds of pistol a week casting my own as well. Like stated volume pays off. Once you get your basic gear the investment to change caliber is very little. You can start reloading a new caliber for the price of a box or two of ammo. I like to tinker with the ammo and get the performance I want out of it. If you're just starting out then at the very least save your brass. You may change your mind in the future.
 
Yeah, it sucks to buy a new rifle and have to go through 4-5 boxes of factory ammo at say 30-40 dollars a box to find a load that will shoot up to par and still may not find it. I'm confident enough as a handloader that I can make almost any good rifle produce good groups. If a man only has factory fodder to choose from, he might end up letting go of a perfectly good shooter because he couldn't find that load that was the sweet spot. I personally will never go back to factory ammo. The bullet choices are so much better also for the handloader.
 
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