Varmint caliber?

[Baylian]

Which caliber would be the best centerfire varmint caliber for out west? I have never been varmint hunting with a centerfire rifle so I don't know what conditions are like. Some guys have mentioned shots out to 1000 yards. A friend says he's shot coyotes at 10 yards. So, we are talking about prairie dogs, rabbits, crows, coyotes, bobcats, etc. at various distances. That's a hugh difference in range. Should I get a varmint rig or a carry rig? Which scope and what power?

Thanks in advance, TJ

[skb2706]

You are asking a whole lot. First .........forget about 1000 yd. shots....you could shoot prairie dogs the rest of your natural life and never shoot past 400 yds. Much past 400 yds. requires some very dedicated rifles and equipment.
For a stationary prairie dog rig a heavy varmint is fine...helps to view the hits. Mine are 13 lbs. plus.
If your primary goal is to shoot coyotes and such ...where you may shoot only a couple times in a day I would get a walking varmint rifle ...probably not more than 8.5 lbs. full up.

Calibers - .204, .223 great for pds, minimum for long shots at coyotes

22-250, 220 swift ideal for coyotes but not great for high volume shooting

Scopes - pds not more than 16x .....too much mirage. Coyotes - something that will go down to at least 4x ....2x is better

just my opinion

[Catfish]

Just for referance on those long shots. A 55 gn. SBT .22 cal. bullet fired at 3600 fps. in a 10 mph cross wind will drift .96 in. at 100 yrds. 4.07 at 200 yrds., 9.75 at 300 yrds., 18.6 at 400 yrds. and 31.40 at 500 yrds. A 1,000 yrds shot is like thorughing pennys at a hat at 20 yrds., if you through enough you`ll eventually hit it.
If it`s your first varmint rifle I would recomand a .223. Unless you really try you`ll never burn up a barrel with it, you can buy ammo for it any place that sells ammo, it will do anything that the super fast rifles will do, just not quite as far out. It`s about as good an all around round as you can get for varmints. Right now I do not own one, I have 3 different .17 cal rounds in varmint rifle, 4 other .22 cal`s. and 2 .25 cal`s. in varmint rifles, I not into 1 allround gun, but I also load all of my own ammo, I have to as 5 of these rifles are wildcats.
Put a 3 x 9 Leupold scope on it, and if you ever deside to sell or trade the gun, keep the scope. With a good accurate gun and the Leupold scope you should never miss a pd out to 250 yrds. on a day with no wind. The greater the wind the shorter your max. accurate range.

[SD Handgunner]

You've already received some good info. Not sure if I can add anything to it or not but will try.

First of all if this is to be your first Varmint Caliber Rifle you'll probably be shooting it a lot. In my opinion (like has been stated) nothing quite compares to the .223 Remington. Ammo is everywhere and can be found for some really decent prices also. Bullet selection is simply amazing, provided the proper rifling twist is used bullets from 40grs. through 69grs. and up to 80grs. can be found (not all bullet weights will normally shoot the best through some rifling twist rates though). For Varminting though you'll probably be interested in mainly 40gr. through 55gr. bullets and there is many, many to pick from in this weight range.

The .223 is also quite easy to load for (should you venture into handloading your own ammo) and a variety of powders provide quite good accuracy and performance.

For the Rifle itself, if this is to be a general purpose, do it all Rifle then in my opinion a 22" to 24" Barreled Sporter weight Rifle will provide you what you are after. No this will not be ideal as a specialized Prairie Dog or Bench Rest Rifle, but will suffice. However if you entend to carry this rifle a lot for Calling / Hunting Predators like Fox, Coyotes or Bobcats the sporter weight rifle will not wear you down nearly as quickly as a heavy barrel varmint rig. In my opinion if you take care not to let the barrel get too hot the sporter weight barrel will also provide you with quite good accuracy.

As for the Scope, I think a variable in the 4x12x range will provide a good compromise for a Varmint / Predator Rifle. Yes at times a 2x magnification on the low end might be better for a called in Predator at 10 yards, and a scope with 16x to 18x or more on the upper end would be helpful at times in shooting Prairie Dogs. However it has been my experience that anything above 16x is not able to be used when it is extremely hot in super bright sunshine as the mirage and heat waves in the scope will cause you to crank em down.

My ideal Varmint / Predator Rifle is my Ruger KM77RFP MKII Stainless-Synthetic Sporter in .223 Remington. I have a 4.5x14x40mm AO Nikon Buckmaster Riflescope mounted on it in the supplied Ruger Scope Rings. I have tuned the trigger on this rifle so it is super crisp and breaks at 2 1/2 pounds. I have also Free Floated the Forend of the stock so the stock does not touch the barrel forward of the chamber area of the barrel. In addition prior to ever shooting this Ruger I hand lapped the bore with FLITZ Bore Polish followed by a 50 round shoot-n-clean Barrel Break in procedure. This Rifle prefers 50gr. Nosler Ballsitic Tip Bullets loaded with Hodgdon's Benchmark Powder and or Ultramax Commercial Reloads that are loaded with the 55gr. Winchester Pointed Soft Point Bullets. Both are quite accurate and so far have provided me with all I require of this Rifle.

Just two weeks ago I had the opportunity to test out the 50gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips on a Coyote. I hit the Coyote at 350 yards through the right front shoulder. At the shot the Coyote did about 3 somersaults and skidded to a halt. The bullet blew up inside the Coyote killing it instantly and did not exit. This can be both good and bad, but in this case the pelt was perfect with the only hole in it being the entrance hole.

Good luck with your quest.

Larry

[Baylian]

Thanks for the replies!!! What twist rate would you suggest for a .223? Would you get a T/C Contender G2 or a Tikka lite or a Browning A-bolt Hunter or something else? What ammo is best bang for the buck for the .223? I don't reload.

Waidmannshiel, TJ

[skb2706]

I'm a Contender nut so my answer would be bias. Personally I don't care for either of your other two choices but thats just me.

If I planned on shooting extremely long range with a .224" caliber rifle I would opt for a faster twist 8 or 9 maybe. This would allow me to shoot the VLD type bullets. If my range was inside 500 yds. (which by the way is where I shoot 99% of the time) I like a 1-12.

[Riposte1]

I don’t live out West (have been there and would love to live there), so this is merely discussion not advice.

My experience with varmints is limited to woodchucks, fox, raccoons, 'possums, coyotes and a few feral dogs. Ranges have run from short to "way out there".

Being a hopeless gadgeteer, I tried a lot of guns, scopes and methods. I cannot really imagine doing it all with one gun unless I limited my hunting style.

I guess the two best long range cartridges I hit upon were the .264 Winchester Magnum and the 6.5/06 (my longest first shot hit on a woodchuck was made with the 6.5/06 - I don’t count the ones that took ranging shots).

But probably the best 300-500 yard setup I had was a Ruger #1 in .243 with a Weaver T-10 (had I to do it over it would have been a T-16) and an optical rangefinder (lasers weren’t commercially available then). This particular rifle is odd and uses handloads no other .243 I have found will digest (an 87gr Hornady BTHP clocked at 3450 fps - 26" barrel).

Long range is fine but I would not be without a light stalking rifle. The last few years that I hunted them much seriously I enjoyed taking out others who had not hunted as much and I took an old Winchester 43 in .22 Hornet. That was incredible fun.

At the minimum, I think I would get a "long" gun (.243, 25-06, etc) and a gun that made less noise and was perhaps lighter and handier in .22 Hornet, .218 Bee (which seems to be making a comeback), .222, .223 or .22/250. I am sure the .17 Rem and .204 Rug. would be fine, just don’t have experience with them.

The "long" gun need not be really heavy, light barrels can shoot too, but if you shoot them a lot in a short space of time then heavier barrels are a plus. Normally we only took a shot here once every 30 minutes or so (though I did manage 3 in a few seconds once with the .264 - thought it was the same chuck and was surprised to find 3 dead).

Sorry to go so long, great topic. I am really keen to see what some of the experienced Western residents suggest.

Happy Trails!
Riposte

[Rocky Raab]

Baylian, I do live here, and have 20 years experience at it.

Take what skb, catfish and sd said as gospel. Pick up your favorite sporter-weight .223 bolt gun, top it with the best 3-9 or 4-12 glass you can afford and you will be armed for 98% of all varmint shooting that happens (not only out here but anywhere).

Don't fret about twist rate, either. The .223 is best suited for 50-55 grain bullets and the standard twist rate (usually 1-12) is perfect.

You'll start reloading soon enough if you shoot PDs, believe me. But in the meantime, see if your rifle prefers either Winchester white box (generic) or Black Hills blue box (reloaded) ammo. Likely it will shoot both kinds very well indeed - and either one is all you'll ever really need.

That's it. Welcome to the Red Mist Society!