.223 vs .22/250 Recoil Compare

We don't have big deer in the Brushies, about 200lb or a bit bigger is considered a large harvest. I am considering changing from a .223 to .22/250 and have the bolt head in the safe. I was hurt several years ago in a farm accident and it gives me a fit shooting, so I moved to a 16" barrel striker to take the pressure off the injury.

The problem is the comparison of those two calibers in recoil, they probably preform about the same on big game. And a .22/250 factory barrel would be easy to be cut to 16".

Yes there’s more recoil but not a huge amount. You could also add a muzzlebrake to tame it down some.

Wish my father would have warned me about this old age condition...conditions, haha. The action was a .243 to start and I couldn't take the recoil, the .223 is extremely loud but burns the powder in 16" barrel. I need to get the recoil manageable

I reload, moving around up and down the shop steps has me hurting. The doctor (sawbones) swears he can fix the hip next month. But he looks too young to be cutting on the elderly!

If you hand load then recoil can be cut considerably by shooting reduced recoil or youth loads.
There are a few powders that can be used but the safest and most versitile I've found is H4895. With H4895 Hodgdon uses a 60% of maximum charge formula giving a very wide range of charge weights, velocitys and recoil reduction available. Maybe not quite as flat shooting, but with a reduced charge of H4895 powder and a lighter rapidly expanding bullet such as a Vmax or Ballistic tip you should be able to load up some effective reduced recoil .243 that ill fit your needs for a fraction of the cost of a rebarrel and new bolt head.

If you computer search for "Hodgdon youth loads" there is a really helpful reduced load data PDF available

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-...18in/p/1790753

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-...22in/p/1653420

Alternative to the 22-250

doing an Ackley on your .223 would be a compromise.
If the .22-250 proved uncomfortable you could add a break later. Hacksaw a bit long and shoot it to test, Then have it cleaned and crowned, maybe threaded if you decide to continue the project.

I'd be encouraged having a younger doc to do a hip. Sis in law just had hers done, by robot. Her recovery went really well but she stuck to all the restrictions. Changing things around the house was the hard part. Elevating chairs/couches, using walkers, canes, grab tongs, etc.

I'd keep using the .223. I liked mine. I would not change to the slower twist in a .22-250. It would limit you to lighter bullets. It also uses more powder for a given vel, which also slightly increases recoil and muzzle blast. Step up to a 69gn bullet.

Or, like stated above, download the .243 and use 70 or 80gn bullets.