Best Varmint GUn?

[frank1947]

Thanks, good to know, if i have a barrel made i will consider that, i think like you, if i were to put on brake on something it would be my 308

[Blue Avenger]

Brake on a .22-250 could depend on the shooter sensitivity and the weight of the gun.

.308 dose not bother me, so a .22-250 sure would not and there is NO WAY I want to listen to the extra noise or subject those around me to it.

[frank1947]

I agree to that Blue Ang, guess it does depend on shooter

[A_Gamehog]

I have to add my 2 cents. The .223 with a stainless fluted medium 1-9 twist barrel is the gun for P-dogs or Coyotes.
Manny shoot faster and flatter but for day in and day out $$ the .223 can't be beat. The 204 is a close second.

Reasons:
1). You can see the kill shot thru your scope from trigger pull to hit. The many reasons we shoot is fun, this low kick/recoil
is an all day gun.

2). The Fluted barrel is a must for rapid cooling in warm weather or a large P-dog town.

3). Accuracy, the 1-9 can shoot 34 grain dogtowns to the 75 grainers. Most devastating kill shots on Coyotes of 50 lbs or less
are done with the 60 grain V-Max. It also bucks the wind better in those flat P-Dogs towns that blow 24X7 while retaining the speed.

4). It's the cheapest of the 22 cal to reload.

I have a 22-250 with a 1-12 twist, and a .223 with a 1-9 twist. Both made by Savage, made only for Cabellas, you won't find them on Savage's website.
I shoot the .223 90% of the time. The only reason I don't shoot it all the time is the heat factor, I can get 25-30 rounds straight into a dog-town before it's too hot.

I like to shoot the 22-250 for coyote calling loaded with the 69 Grain Nosler custom Competition bullets.

They are both topped with quality Nikon Optics. Don't go overboard on the optics but expect to spend $300-500 to get a good one with a lifetime warranty.

Varmiter Model only from Cabellas........not available online also....

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/shooting-centerfire-rifles-bolt-action/_/N-1102332/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_105523380

[Yoda]

Where your at you must run into just about as many fox as Yotes I would think, are you hunting fur or just killing ? Calling ? running with Dogs ? sitting over bait Or just riding around ? If your just killing (which I have no problem with these days on the coyote's) any of the calibers listed will do a fine job, pick what you like. If your hunting fur that's another story, Most if not all the .22 centerfires are way to big for the Fox. We call up here, most of our shots are well within 100 yards, a very good DRT bullet for a Yote is a 40gr Vmax in a .223 ( Our Coyote's aren't worth much) as long as you get a frontal shot or miss a bone going in, your good to go to sell the bloody thing, nick a bone of any kind going in and they don't make enough thread to sew the hole up, run that same bullet into a fox OR heaven forbid a Bobcat ( both worth quite a bit more from up here) your 9 times out of 10 carring 2pc's out, I've kinda been leaning to the .17 Remington..

[frank1947]

A_Gamedog, glad you did put your 2 cents in, I shoot my .223 more then any other in 200 yard varmint class heres mine with a Hart stock i got at stock Stocks http://s732.photobucket.com/albums/ww321/fjmcm_1947/Hart%20stocks%20for%20savage/ , talk about low recoil my F Class savage in 6mm br is better then 223 doesnt move a hair as far as optics i will use several i plan to take 3 or 4 guns, leupold 6x18 variable Target.Hunter 1/8 dot--leupold competition 45x i have on two guns one is 1/8 dot other fine cross hair and a T36 weaver and a bushnel 5x15, I really want a Nightforce 15x42 with NP-R1 or NP-R2 most common sence recticle i have ever seen the bars are in 1 moa and 2 moa far better then any mildot with mildot you have to be a mathematical genous to figure in your head,my memory at 63 is not that great i need simple, useing MOA you should know your drop you can go 1000 yards no problem.

one more thing is brass i can get tons of 223 brass , I sell it for a indoor range, and best part most is once fired , but we sell in big volume 55 gallon drums mixed caliber right off the floor all over the country also have a web store for regular 1000 and 500 lot buyers, I have contacted by phone the owner of this site to be a vendor but have not got around to doing it yet plus we had a fire a month ago that was contained to the range destroyed 30% of the rafters so the range is shut down until we get it fixed about Febuary we have 18 bays at this time of year they are normally packed with shooters, but gun sales are good right now we are in arnold missouri since i am not sure if i can put a link to it i wont but you can google it top gun shooting sports.

[phantom]

Yoda . . and the rest of the posters . . I have found that the 17 is a great caliber for just about all of the Fur Keepers, only an entrance wound. My cousins wife has been shooting coyotes with the 17 HMR and doing a fine job with it out to 150+ yards, she says they just "Keel over" !! I put together a 17 Rem. Fire Ball last year and it is getting to be nearly the "go to" gun. I took it to the PD fields last year and had a great time with it out to 300 yards, but it loads up pretty quickly - about 100 rounds and it needs to be "de-coppered", but, to that point . . it's like shooting a laser ! I used the foam copper remover and cleaned it out and I was back to shooting it again. I put some ultra-bore agent in it and it cleans up quickly. That is one neat cartridge, I reload for it exclusively, but got a wild hair and bought some factory to see what it was doing . . wow . . over the chrono it was doing 4020 fps pretty consistently . . I haven't quite got my reloads to go that fast yet, but close and more importantly . . dead on accurate !! It will put a 20 gr. pill into a 1/2" dot at 200 yards. Everything I have pulled the trigger on it with so far has died . . . ;)

The .223 is still the go to gun on PD's, but the 22-250 is the stand by for that, and as far as recoil, hardly noticeable, unless you have had Rotator Cup surgery . . then you may notice it some. I shoot the 55 gr. V-Max in mine and it works well to around the 300 yard line and that is about as good as these ole eyes are going to get these days. I do go further out with the 22-250 but not much, it is not a game of how far out we can get them with the guys I run with, hitting them with the least amount of shots is. Dribbling lead across the desert isn't all the fun it used to be . . . ;) Now we try to hit them with the first or second shot and keep the shots to a minimum . . granted it is still a shooting game, but it is getting more expensive all the time.

I am in the process of putting a 6 BR together, would like to make it to the field with it this year, time will tell !! But I usually take the .223's and the 17's and go have a good time. The 250 is always along though, I just can't seem to go afield without it any more, too good a cartridge to leave home, the picture of it is still on this link above. . .

I am going to try this year, after the deer season to get into the field and do some coyote calling, we have a place down along the Red River that is full and need to be culled out some, going to get to see just what the 17 RFB will really do, the animals I have shot with it so far didn't take a step, and the friends that I have that shoot it say the same thing about the coyotes that are hit with it. I also have a 17 Rem, but have had a hard time getting it to the same level of accuracy as the Fire Ball, don't know why, it just isn't quite there, good caliber, but for some reason it just doesn't want to step up to the plate like the FB did, still working on it though. I got a book on "all" of the 17's and it has a lot of good info in it, trying most of it yet.

Phantom . .

[Yoda]

Thanks phantom, the fireball was another cartridge I will be looking at before the stevens gets a new barrel..

[A_Gamehog]

Yoda:

I call coyotes now but 35 years ago I was a fur trapper 4 months out of the year. "Killed just about everything that walked or crawled" 50+ grey fox in a season was average.

The 17 HMR is highly accurate, fun to shoot, but not right for a coyote, I have one I shoot a lot, a gut shot to a P-Dog leaves them crawling back to the hole but not very humanely.

Some P-Dogs are not even crawling, they are running with virtually no effect seen. All you hear is a "Pop" then they leave.

The 17 Fireball when used is fouled before 50+ shots, If you are a high volume shooter the .223 is the ticket especially if you buy over the counter ammo. If you reload

it's a no brainer, .223 hands down.

If you are only going to get one gun and shoot less than 1,000 rds each year, then the 22BR, 22-250, .243, 6BR, in that order. They all use more

powder than the 204 or the .223. I shot many coyotes in my younger years with a 30-06 because that's all I had, I used 2 lb fishing line to sew

the 147 FMJ hole back up before the fur sale.

[bubbinator]

I am blessed with multiple HB Varmint rifles and a couple not so HV tack-drivers as well. But if it absolutely has to be dead right there- my circa 1970s Savage M10 26" HB .220 Swift w/ 10X glass. Speer #8 Manual yields excellent loads w/ 4064 and a Sierra 55gr. SPBT and a Speer 52gr HPBT load near 4000 fps. Most recent victim was a feral dog harassing on of my female dogs in heat. He stopped to look back on the far side of a 10 acre pasture later laser-ranged @ 375 yds. My Rem M700 .223 HB is a 1-hole grouper w/ handloads as is my glass-bedded Rem 788 in .222.

[Terry Balding]

It's really hard to beat a Savage LRPV in .204 with a Nightforce 12-42 Benchrest scope with their mil dot reticle.

Terry

[Duster]

For small carry rifle...I like my CZ 527 American in.204. But in the winter I carry my snow camo M10 Savage in .223...both rifles have Nitrex 3x15x42 scopes on them. Both these rifles are used for crows and woodchuck.

[macon]

i have a model 12 bctss 204 its deadly on dogs out past 400 yds,ive shot pdogs at 600 with it and i have a remmy 204 with a 1-9 twist bbl. i shoot berger 50 and 55 gr pills through it and it has killed yotes past 500 yds no problems

[bubbinator]

My everyday, out of the gun safe ready to deploy is my Savage .220 Swift 26" HB w/ a Bushnell 10X scope. Load is 55gr. Sierra BTSPs or Speer 52gr HPBTs over IMR 4064 (Speer #8). Last deployment was feral dog bothering my hound dogs that stpped to look back across a 20 acre pasture. Lasered after the shot-355 yds. and I don't even remember holding over! DRT, not a kick.

[savy22br]

I like the 22br model 12bvss same velocity as 22-250 less better accuracy less powder means less heat barrel will last much longer. But thats just what works for me to each his own! :)

[Luckus]

My all around favorite,Ruger 77 ts 220 Swift. 2.5x8 VariX111, 39 grs 4064 50 and 55 gr bullets that are accurate. Mostly Hornady and Noslers. Also kills deer right now.

[efw]

Savage's new walking varminter in 204 Ruger looks like a real winner to me... nice beavertail design in the stock for solid benchrest performance, reasonably light weight taper in the barrel and action so you don't kill yourself carrying over hill and dale.

I'm looking forward to hearing about results w/ these rifles.

My personal favorite varmint rifle is a Remington built 03-A3 w/ a Sako take-off barrel chambered to 6mm-250 and stocked in a beautiful Fajen w/ cheek piece. I topped it w/ a period-correct Weaver K6 microtrak and while it is heavy it is UBBER accurate and a real joy to shoot.