i am considering the purchase of a varmint rifle. i would appreciate comments on caliber, and rifle make. i have looked at the new model 70, the ruger, and the kimber classic. i live in wyoming so range and wind would be a factor. i also am a reloader.

What varmints are you after? If you are going to shoot p-dogs all day I'd go with a 223 in Rugers MarkII varmint, Remington 700VLS or Rock Rivers varminter. Ammo is cheap to load, barrels stay cooler longer, triggers are decent, accuracy is excellent, can be shot all day in a t-shirt with no sore shoulder, and all are not overly expensive. For an every day coyotes to crows to p-dogs here and there gun I'd go with the 243Win in the gun you like best. Great range and punch for any undesirable, and a deer/speed goat gun for the kids, grandkids, or yourself. Cheap to load, good bullet selection and still not too bad to shoot all day. Varmint guns are alot like boobs. They're all good, some are just better than others, and it all depends on what you like best.

rem varmint special in .223 or 22-250. good clear 4x16x40 scope and just give it hell!
The .223 will be cheaper to reload but the 22-250 will give you a bit more reach but you'll pay for that with shorter barrel life.
If you get into the esotheric twists in the .223 that's all the rage now, all bets are off.

You don;'t tell us how much dough you are looking to spend, so I'll tell you about my favorite rifle. It is a white stocked thumbhole varmint 204 ruger made by HS Precision. It shoots most every thing I have loaded for it well under an inch and closer to 1/2 an inch at 100 yards. Comes with a fantastic trigger from the factory that I've never felt the need to monkey with. I had another 204 in a CZ varmint also a very good shooter, but now it belongs to another. I do not have the wind issues in Cenreal Alberta that you folks in the south have to deal with, thankfully. FS

Since you live in Wyoming and have the range to shoot long distances, look at the Big 6's. I have just finished a 6MM Ackley Improved and so far I think I am going to like it for shooting out past the 220 swift. I shot a pig last saturday evening with it that was over 300 lbs. he went about 40 yds. The hundred grain spitzer did an excellant job. I have a friend who shoots a 240 PSP it is on its 4th barrel after 45 yrs.

The Savage Model 12 Long Range Precision Varminter is about as sweet as varmint rifles get without spending very large amounts of money. Very accurate, excellent trigger (mine was 1/2 pound out of the box), good stout barrel and well laid out stock.

I too recommend a big 6 - unless you're after p-dogs. The amount of shooting you get with these can wash out the throat of the larger capacity cases in an afternoon - don't ask me how I know.

Unlike some, I prefer the 55-grain Noslers in my .243 and 6mm Remingtons. They shoot very flat and fast with little recoil so you can see many of your hits and misses (more important). Their wind drift is within an inch of 70 and 95-grain BTip bullets at 500 yards (in a 10 mph wind)...but the 55s shoot 4" to 12" flatter at that range. Without a spotter you'll hit more animals at long range with the lighter bullets.



.

quote:

Originally posted by dr.475:
i am considering the purchase of a varmint rifle. i would appreciate comments on caliber, and rifle make. i have looked at the new model 70, the ruger, and the kimber classic. i live in wyoming so range and wind would be a factor. i also am a reloader.

Since you didn't mention what type varmints you plan on shooting hard to speculate. I seen from one of your other post that you already have a 243 which may not be set as a varmint rifle.

sorry for the lack of info. i mostly plan on shooting prarie dogs and rock chucks. i do not own any thing smaller than an .06 and would like to try something in the .22 to 6mm range. what is washing the throat out of a case?

quote:

Originally posted by dr.475:
sorry for the lack of info. i mostly plan on shooting prarie dogs and rock chucks. i do not own any thing smaller than an .06 and would like to try something in the .22 to 6mm range. what is washing the throat out of a case?

A Savage 12bv-ss in .223 will stabilize 40 to 75 grain bullets and reach out to 400 yds; no problem. It'll be easier on barrels than bigger 22s or the big sixes and will cost less per shot. roger

Dear dr475:

I've shot ground hogs, etc. here in Pennsylvania on and off since 1976 with a 243 Winchester, 22-250 and 220 Swift.

The 243 Winchester with 55 grain Nosler BT is absolutely the deadliest medicine on ground hogs, I've ever seen. I turned one inside out. It was just as brutal as my buddy's 300 Win. Mag. experiment.

On the other hand, if you load those 55 grainers to 4000 fps, you had better have ear protection on. That crack makes a 220 Swift sound like a 22 rimfire.

I'm going the 250/3000 AI route now, just for something different, since I've used a 243 Winchester for so many years.

That 204 Ruger is supposed to be a nice hot ticket, too.

As to actions, I found the older factory Sako's and old Model 700 Remingtons to be exceptionally accurate. I had that Ruger 77 target rifle in 22-250, and it was a tank to carry around with a 6.5-24 B&L on it. I dumped it after one summer. It was pretty accurate, but not like the Sako's or Remingtons.

I have no experience with the Savages, or Kimbers.

On the other hand, I stupidly sold a factory varmint barreled 220 Swift in a pre-1964 Winchester. That puppy shot great.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

223 is hard to beat next step is 22-250 then the 6mms

Savage is hard to beat for being out of the box accurate.

Not much cost differants if you reload your own huge cost differants if your buying over 223.

For P-dogs primarily, I would get a 22-250 but order one with a faster twist to accomodate bullets heavier than 55gr.

Since you handload, invest in the brass and why settle for 223 velocities!

If you really want to rip em get a 243 AI.

Barstooler

I had alot of fun and gooood shots with the old .22-250.
Its devastating on Jackrabbits and Prarie dogs.

Cant go wrong with it, just dont overheat the barrel and you will be good.

I have never shot ground hogs or Rock chucks so the gents here may be correct about the .243.


Cal30

I have shot ground hogs and Pdogs. Ground hog shooting, in a good day, you may get off 10 shots; Pdog shooting you may have 100 of the little things calling shoot me next. So it can be easy to burn out a barrel if you're not careful.
As far as getting a different twist to try and make the 22-250 something it's not, just get a .243. The 22-250 with 55gr bullets and 1/14 twist has been reliably killing Pdogs for around 75-80 years now so why fix what ain't broke?

pick your poison..

I shoot both the 223 and 22.250..

for volume shooting, definitely the 223, even if you handload, which I do...

for longer range, the 22.250...

I love the 22.250, but the 223 gives me better 'gas mileage'....so I shoot it much more...

If you are shooting a large prairie dog town IMHO you need more than one rifle. With volume shooting the rifle(s) need to rest(cool) from time to time. Without a back-up rifle you will have more waiting time than I'm willing to tolerate. 223, 22-250, 220Swift, 243, 250/3000AI
take your choice.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

My favorite varmint rifle is a 25-06. Easy to reload and a nice selection of bullets is available. Makes a fine deer rifle as well.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR RESPONSES AND HELP. I SETTLED ON A RUGER HAWKEYE PREDATOR IN 22.250. ALSO A LEUPOLD 4.5-14X40 WITH VARMINT RETICLES. CANT WAIT TO SEE HOW IT WORKS. AM I LIMITED TO 55 GRAIN OR LIGHTER BULLETS BECAUSE OF THE 1 IN 14 TWIST? ALSO IS SUPERFORMANCE POWDER USED IN HORNADY FACTORY AMMO FOR THE 22-250?

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
pick your poison..

I shoot both the 223 and 22.250..

for volume shooting, definitely the 223, even if you handload, which I do...

for longer range, the 22.250...

I love the 22.250, but the 223 gives me better 'gas mileage'....so I shoot it much more...

I typically take three rifles with me. Two .223's and a CZ452 in .17 HMR. The CZ gets used more than anything. Until I got the CZ teh Ruger .223 got used most as it shhots better than 1/2 moa using the Winchester bulk whitebox ammo. I have a Stevens 200 that hates the Winchester ammo but shoots the bulk Federal ammo into 5/8" groups. I'd switch between these two depending on how quickly the shots were coming.

I think it's hard to go wrong with a good .223.

I kinda have the itch to get a .204 Ruger.

quote:

Originally posted by dr.475:
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR RESPONSES AND HELP. I SETTLED ON A RUGER HAWKEYE PREDATOR IN 22.250. ALSO A LEUPOLD 4.5-14X40 WITH VARMINT RETICLES. CANT WAIT TO SEE HOW IT WORKS. AM I LIMITED TO 55 GRAIN OR LIGHTER BULLETS BECAUSE OF THE 1 IN 14 TWIST? ALSO IS SUPERFORMANCE POWDER USED IN HORNADY FACTORY AMMO FOR THE 22-250?

Sounds like a good rig. You are pretty much restricted to 55gr bullets and below. I have never found that to be a negative since for Pdog shooting, I buy the cheapest, bulk bullets I can find (no fmjs) Horns, Rems, etc. I've heard so good reports about the Dog Town bullets but I've never tried them.
I use H380 in my 22-250 since it meters very precisely. If you're running up a K of cartridges, you don't want to be weighing every charge.
Watch the heat in your rifle. Never let it get so hot that you can't pick the rifle up by the barrel.

Winchester Model 70 in 22-250.

quote:

Originally posted by Biggs300:
My favorite varmint rifle is a 25-06. Easy to reload and a nice selection of bullets is available. Makes a fine deer rifle as well.

+1 It's also good at bucking the wind.....a LOT better
than even the .22-250.

quote:

Originally posted by Quintus:
What varmints are you after? If you are going to shoot p-dogs all day I'd go with a 223 in Rugers MarkII varmint, Remington 700VLS or Rock Rivers varminter. Ammo is cheap to load, barrels stay cooler longer, triggers are decent, accuracy is excellent, can be shot all day in a t-shirt with no sore shoulder, and all are not overly expensive. For an every day coyotes to crows to p-dogs here and there gun I'd go with the 243Win in the gun you like best. Great range and punch for any undesirable, and a deer/speed goat gun for the kids, grandkids, or yourself. Cheap to load, good bullet selection and still not too bad to shoot all day. Varmint guns are alot like boobs. They're all good, some are just better than others, and it all depends on what you like best.

Great advice here ^^^^^^^

If you were only wanting to purchase one varmint rig and that's all period, I would recommend the 22-250 in a Rem 700 VSSF model. However that hardly ever happens in that we all buy more and more once the bug hits.

A practical battery, besides a tricked out 10/22, would be a .223 and a .243 for the reason Quintus pointed out. The .243 in 55g or 70g is deadly on the bigger varmints and funner on the small ones.

I have all three, a.223, 22-250, and .243 and it seems like the .223 and the .243 get shot a lot more as they are tailored more to specific uses. The .223 is set up with 40g bullets and the .243 with 70g.

Just throw down the plastic and get a couple.

The last time I went varmint hunting (in Montana), I took three rifles....a .257 Roberts (Custom Remington), a .22-250 (Browning Medallion), and a .223 Remington (Browning Micro-Medallion)...all obviously bolt guns.

We were hunting prairie dogs exclusively. Over the one week trip, I fired less than 30 rounds from the .257, maybe 50-60 rounds from the .22-250, and about 1,000 rounds from the .223 rifle. Almost all the shots were at least 300 yards, and numerous were 500-to-600 yards.

The .223 was easier to kill with than either of the bigger cartridges, and I made a pretty fair number of kills at 500 yards or more with it. Most of the really long kills took more than one shot as I "walked" the shots onto the dog, but it almost never took more than 3 shots to do that...and they were required only because of the brisk winds we encountered.

After a day or so out there on the sand hills and in the prairie dog towns, Hold-off, hold-over, etc. becomes pretty much auto-pilot when you are shooting 200 or more rounds at animals per day.

My companion used heavier calibers, and I found I could kill 10 or more prairie dogs while he was letting his barrel(s) cool in the warm August ambient temperatures.

So, I would say "start with a .223; get something bigger when you decide you actually need it at least a little bit." As your skill with the .223 and your familiarity with its trajectory increases, it will serve you better and better. And you will need something else less and less.

I have over 20 varmint rifles, and most of them never leave the vault anymore except for special "larger varmint" hunts. Otherwise the .223 will do almost anything I have had to ask it for.

For coyotes, that sort of thing, I take one of my Swifts, .244 Rem, .243 Win., .257 Roberts, even a .25-06 or .257 Weatherby, but you are getting well into combo "varmint/deer cartridges at that point. My others, the .17s, .225 Winchester, .222 Remington, .219 Don Wasp, etc., just stay home.

quote:

Originally posted by dr.475:
AM I LIMITED TO 55 GRAIN OR LIGHTER BULLETS BECAUSE OF THE 1 IN 14 TWIST?

Not necessarily. Individual rifles vary in how they handle heavier/longer bullets. You may find, as I have, that your standard twist barrel will stabilized longer bullets like the 60 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip; however the "specialty" bullets of 65 grains and up with long noses, hollow points, and long boattails are unlikely to adequately stabilize in your gun.

However, I find no need of anything heavier than 55 grains in my .22-250 for prairie dogs; the ballistic coefficient advantage of the heavier bullets is largely offset by the velocity advantage of lighter bullets. Centerfire .224" bullets ranging from 40 grains to 60 grains don't provide much difference in either ability to hit nor in lethality on prairie dogs.

But if you're serious about prairie dogs, you'll need to buy yourself at least one other rifle (I strongly suggest .223) since you'll melt the barrel down on a single rifle if attempting to take all of the shots offered in an active town.

quote:

Originally posted by dr.475:
i am considering the purchase of a varmint rifle. i would appreciate comments on caliber, and rifle make. i have looked at the new model 70, the ruger, and the kimber classic. i live in wyoming so range and wind would be a factor. i also am a reloader.

There was a time when my standard travel armory consisted of eight varmint rifles......223 (4), 22-250, 220 swift, .243, anda .25-06

I normally left Minnesota with 3500 rounds of ammo....overwhelmingly the .223 was the work horse and for good reason....it worked!

Today I still regard the .223 as the king of varmint cartridges.....and by a long ways.....I have a Dillon 650 with case feeder dedicated to the .223 and all of my .223 rifles fired the same load.....BL-C(2) and a 50 grain TNT bullet.

If I was to own one varmint rifle today it'd be a toss up between the .257 Roberts and the .243 Winchester.....I don't shoot large numbers of rounds anymore.....(100 is a big day for me now) but one can't go wrong with a fine bolt action .223.....the Remington M-7 or M-700 or even a M-70 Winchester I had work quite well....

Don't let the smallish cartridge fool you.....the .223 is a fantastic round as a varmint round.

You guys need to come over to the 204's. I am shooting a 20VT with 32grVMax @ 4000fps from a 7lb rifle and can see my hits and the barrel life is twice as much as your 250's. This 21gr powder charge is better than the 223 even. Adam

I dont doubt the .204 is a good enough cartridge, but I won't be going there any time soon.

There are already many, many, many boxes of .224" bullets stacked up around here as it is, and I don't want to start buying stocks of yet another size.

And those .224" slugs work in many of my other rifles,which the .204s wouldn't.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
I dont doubt the .204 is a good enough cartridge, but I won't be going there any time soon.

There are already many, many, many boxes of .224" bullets stacked up around here as it is, and I don't want to start buying stocks of yet another size.

And those .224" slugs work in many of my other rifles,which the .204s wouldn't.

Got a lot of .224 bullets to get rid of down some barrel or other and don't know how much time is left to do it. The .250s. 6.5s, 7mms, 30 cals, 8mms, .358s, .375s and .44s yet complicate the situation even further.
.204?? I doubt it ! roger

Howdy Dr.,

I think you did just fine for your first varmint round. The Leupold 4.5x14x40 is my favorite scope.

Odds are you won't be shooting hundreds of rounds every day, now that you are in the game. Buy a quality .22lr as well and you can have tons of fun shooting out to a couple hundred yds for a lot less money, while your barrel cools.

Personally, I've got a plethora of varmint guns. Several .223's, a few .243's, a couple .17 Rem's, .22 mags, they're all good and have their place. You will find out soon enough. Btw, I sold my M77V in .22-250 to my nephew. It was on it's second factory bbl and still shooting 1/2" groups. I'll own another .22-250 before I check out. Hint- if you wait until mid-May, the pups will have hatched and you'll have 10x the shooting.