If I were building a bolt action prairie dog rifle which wasn’t a 223rem, it would be a 22-250, with a 220 swift or 22-243 behind that (maybe a 22 creed now that brass is available).
It is true, we’ve moved out of the era of “fast and light” and into a more educated era of aerodynamic efficiency, so the 22-250 doesn’t fit current trends as well as it did in the past. 20yrs ago when online forums like this were just getting rolling, “ballistic coefficient” was such a foriegn term, we certainly couldn’t make an assumptive abbreviation of “BC” and had to explain what ballistic coefficient meant any time it came up... today, it’s much more widely understood. So the slow twist 22-250 with lightning fast 50grn pills doesn’t make as much sense today as it did before we “knew better.” But 50grn pills out of a slow twist 22-250 will still splatter any prairie dog to 600+ yards you might find in your scope. My first 22-250 was a Rem 700 Sendero, my current a Savage 12 Varminter (not lopro). I’ve had a fast twist 22-250, and it does improve the long range performance with heavier pills.
If we define the current “world”:
• Rifle buyer’s are no longer primarily hunters, so on-game performance isn’t the yardstick by which cartridges are measured.
• Long Range target shooting (at least capability) is all the rage, and aerodynamic efficiency is the best means to get there.
• Ammunition cost importance has become a major deciding factor, even for those guys who claim they want long range capabilities, and some cartridges cost more and eat more powder than others.
• Long range shooters used to be unafraid of building or rebuilding with custom barrels. Despite greater popularity today, the new kids on the block tend to be very averse to gunsmithing costs and custom barrels - or replacing barrels as they burn out. Guys want factory rifles they never have to spend money on again after initial purchase.
• “New Hotness” is the new hotness, and old school isn’t cool any more. Sometimes new hotness is legitimately better, sometimes it’s just new. 6.5 creed is legitimately better than 260, 6 creed better than 243win, but 224 Valk isn’t better than 22-250.
So a 0-600yrds prairie dog and coyote rifle doesn’t appeal to the average gun buyer today, especially one which shoots low BC, lightweight bullets, no matter how fast and flat it shoots. A custom fast twist barreled rifle which eats more powder than a 223rem or 224 valkyrie to only do marginally better at 800yrds+ on their paper targets and has lesser barrel life doesn’t appeal to the guy wishing to shoot 1,000yrds “someday” but who only has access to a 100yrd range he visits 4 times a year...
I wouldn’t buy anything else other than a 22-250 for a prairie dog rifle, and I prefer 22-250 as a coyote rifle in a bolt gun (but I always hunt an AR). I would buy a 223rem for target shooting only inside 700, and a 6.5 creed for a long barrel life cartridge outside of 700. But I don’t think I will ever NOT have a 22-250 in my safe, and doubt I will ever live a year where I don’t take one to the range.