I have this little, compact Ruger Mark II in a .223 with a 16 1/2†barrel. The twist is 1:12. What is an ideal bullet for shooting varmints, taking into account accuracy, price and availability?

id try 50 grain nosler balistic tip or hornaday v max. i have had some great loads with nosler 50 grain b.t. and accurate 2230 or 2015 powder. im waiting for good weather to try the v max

You might try some Rem 50 or 55gr PLHP's. I've found them to be very accurate (with the right load), quite devastating, and they are cheap!

quote:

Originally posted by nwwash:
id try 50 grain nosler balistic tip or hornaday v max.

Yup...two good ones.....and the Speer 50 Grain TNT is also a fine effort.....but for the shorter barrel you may wish to try the 40 grain B-Tips from nosler as well.

50 grain TNT with a load of 14.5 grains of Blue Dot, and a small rifle primer...

the accuracy and the velocity should impress you, especially out of a short barrel such as that!

55gr. Varmint Nite Mare from Mid South. In four different rifles it betters the TNTs but not by much but is significantly less expensive. roger

QB

I use a stiff load of W748 and 50gr V-Maxs in my Micro A-Bolt. Deadly accurate.

WN

1/4 bore,

Good specs, accuracy, price & availability.

Good advise from craigster, vapo-D, & seafire on the value for money and accurate bullets as I use these also.

For value (and I'm squeaky cheap) there are two IMO; the Speer 50 gr. TNT's (1K Plastic Box) and the Remington PLHP's (also in quantity). Both of these shoot ittty-bitty groups if you assemble your loads with some attention to details with reasonable components your Ruger ought to be up to the task.

Having said that I haven't tried Roger's recommendation on the Varmint Nite mares from MidsSouth and some other special deals from distributors but if you look around today you'll get some super deals that will make good varmint loads by the thousands.

While the Nosler's & Hornady's are fine, accurate bullets they just don't live up to the value equation when loading bucket-fulls IMO.

Quarterbore: I know the answer to this one!
The answer is: the wonderful Sierra 50 gr. Blitz (not the BlitzKing!) bullet.
The bullet # is 1340.
These are splendid bullets for Varmints in that they are cheap, accurate, reliable, consistent, they are safe (very frangible and never ricochet!), available everywhere and they have a high "red misting" factor!
Try'em - you'll like'em!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

QB, In a 16 1/2" barrel, I'd lean toward lighter bullets (40-50 gr). In my 14" 223 Contender barrels, the TNT shoots just as well as the NBT's, albeit doesn't cost as much. In my 22 BR, I gave up trying to find a bullet that's more accurate than the Sierra 50 gr. Blitz. I've not tried the Rem 50 gr PLHP yet. The only bullets I couldn't get to shoot less than 1 MOA in my 22 Rem BR were the Rem 50 gr PSP and the Hornady 50 gr SX. Iv'e never tried the Barnes Varmin-a-tor (although they shot real good in a friend's 223) or the Varmint Night Mare (55 gr bullet). As far as pure $$, it'll be tough to beat the Speer TNT ($90.83/1000 bullets from Midsouth). Gary T.

quote:

Originally posted by Gary T:
Iv'e never tried the Varmint Night Mare (55 gr bullet). Gary T.

Well try it you'll like it. roger