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Calling all gun nuts and hunters on SRP,
My dad is in the market for a Varmint Rifle. A 12 gauge shotgun isn't cutting it. He wants something that will pack a serious punch at a distance on the muskrats that are destroying his pond! I think a .270 may be overkill, but could use some advice. Thanks, Jim
I agree with Kelly, and advise the 223 Remington. Great round for the job, and since it's a very popular, it shouldn't be hard to find grain variants.
The .223 is a great round but one question is range, How far is he shooting? How much is he willing to spend? Does he want an Auto loader or a bolt action? Lastly does he want scope only or will he want iron sights too? For a great bolt action look at the Remington 700's but it's harder to find one with iron sights. If he wants the irons look at the CZ 527's they're great guns. Best of luck.
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Devilpup
Yeah, the .223 is a proven performern, and there's plenty of ammo variety for it. He could even use the notorious (but instantly lethal) varmint grenade:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSe8N0jBXhs
First quick apologies to Kelly I hit the wrong button trying to edit my post and erased his by mistake... The new system is a bit different for Mods too
I would go with the .223 also from the choices as a dedicated Varminter if however there was a chance at a dual purpose rifle then either the .243 or the even newer .260 rem...
My goto centerfire .22's are the .233 for smaller stuff and a 22-250 as a Coyote killing machine...
I have a Remington 700 in .270, it is extremely accurate. But if you are just shooting little things, it's a lot more fire power, and recoil, than you need, unless long-range accuracy is your main concern. 223 might be better, and like was stated above, since it's such a common round it will be cheaper, more widely available, and offer more choices than some of the specialty varmint calibers.
I feel I should also mention a .257. That is a great round, and is very accurate at long distance. Very flat trajectory. Low recoil. Con: not so easy to just stumble upon. But IMO one damn fine round, and I even hunt deer with it.
For those of you who miss my wit and wisdom, here is a repost of what I said earlier
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1uCqrdJfzA
I believe the .223 is probably the best varmint round there is, but if you do not wish to invest in another gun please check out the video from the Missouri Dept of Conservation.
Glen.... Hands off buddy! ;)
For 100 yards or less I would suggest a .223 or 22mag cheap ammo and good accuracy. I have a 22 mag BSA martini action that holds 1inch groups at 100 yards all day long.
Hey Guys,
Just like other things (cars, watches, knives, brushes, razors, etc), there are several options in the gun world that can be considered THE BEST for certain applications. Here are my thoughts... If the range isn't crazy, a good .22 Mag or .17 HMR would be a fantastic choice. A good gun can be picked-up at a low cost and the ammo is relatively cheap to shoot. If the range is further than 100 yards, or the gun might be used for other varmit-weight critters, then I would suggest the .204 or venerable .22/250. Either of these calibers are the shiz on long-range varmits, and offer low recoil with blistering speed!
Whatever he chooses, tell him we wish him good luck on his hunt(s)!
JMO, but going after a critter the size of a large rat with any centerfire is kind of like shooting rabbits with a .460 weatherby mag.
As a kid I trapped muskrats for a living (35 cents ea.)are very easy to trap,not the fun factor of a hunt but very effective.
Thanks for all the info guys. This is awesome!! I will tell the old man that "the guys on the forum" suggest a .223!
We ended up going with the Savage Axis/Edge Scope Combo in 223. I'm not to keen on the camo pattern on the gun.... but that was the only option for the attractive price of the rifle package.
+1 on the 223. Beyond 2-300 yds, they'll do the job, but a bit more punch would be nice like a 6BR or 6PPC. The Roberts (257) and 22-250 are both wonderful, but like all hot rods, a bit hard on barrels. Then there's the cost to shoot. Does he reload? 223 is cheap and easy. 'Frugal on powder, and components are everywhere. If its in the 2-500 rnds/yr range - enjoy the hot rods. Bang for the buck, the HB savages are hard to beat. I'm partial to the Rem 700. A used PSS in 223 is very nice. An added bonus is that they like one of the cheap bulk pack rem. projectiles (50g sp) Not 52, not 55. The cheap 50g prints very very close to the custom JLK and Berger pills. 'Only down side to the varmint 223s is that they can't lob the heavier pills for the longer distance.
I have to recommend 223 for this instance, because of the price of the ammo. its going to be cheaper and easier to obtain then any other caliber in the semi-long range range. its not like hes going to be hunting game, he's killing pests. you dont want to spend a lot on pests. 22lr will also work very well within 100 yards and the ammo is soooo cheap.
No, neither of us reload. He wanted something to pack more of a punch than a .22, and we figured that a 223 would be the way to go.
I have a Marlin Model 60 .22 that was my wife's grandpas, and I purchased it from his wife when he died. It's a nice gun... but it tends to jam up after you fire about 6 rounds. It also has one of those $15 Tasco Scopes on it, which was fine until the dial decided to not turn past 4x. The gun needs some work.
I also have a Remington 700 in 30.06 which was a used gun that I purchased from Gander Mountain. It was a full package with a Bushnell Banner Scope and a leather sling. The gun is great, but I managed to drop the BDC dial in the field when I was sighting it in last year. The scope is on it's way back from Bushnell because it's a discontinued scope, and they aren't able to find the correct BDC Dial.
My first gun was a Mossberg 500 12 GA. I have the field/deer combo. The only one that I purchased new. Love this gun!!! Price was right, and it gives me no trouble. Needless to say...both of my rifles need some attention and $$$.
I digress....
- Jim
Hi Jim,
Given that neither of you reload, I'd say that's a strong argument for the 223. Ammo of all varieties and qualities are available, many are serious quality. The Black Hills offerings have been well regarded (both new and factory reload) amongst the competitors since at least the early 90s. I've not kept up w/ the latest toys, but all else being equal, if there was a 9-twist barrel offered, I'd prefer the versatility over the pure varmint twists (12-ish)
My personal favorite varmint rifle is a Ruger #1B chambered in 270 Winchester. I use 90 gr hollow points hand loaded to 3300 ft per sec. Absolutely devastating.
You could make it entertaining and use a .40 cal flintlock, any number of very fine quality long rifles available !!
good hunting !!
Cheers
Heelerau!!
My absolute fav at around 100 yards is 22 mag. But I'd go 223 for the cost effectiveness.
JDCAL29,
+1 on the 0.223 Remington; if you would like to use projectiles appreciably heavier than 55 gr, go for a 1 in 9 twist barrel.
Have fun !
Best regards
Russ
Here's a subject I can talk about all day long!Quote:
Originally Posted by JDCAL29
You guys made a nice choice! I have a older savage (pre-accutrigger) that is awesome! I did replace the trigger, but that's another story.
Just so you know, Savages are well known for accuracy out of the box. I would recommend purchasing several different boxes of ammo in different weights (40-62gr) and see which ammo the rifle likes the best. More than likely if it's like most Savages I've owned and worked on, you will find that it likes the heavier stuff, say 55-62 gr. Once you have found that, play around with different mfg's of that weight and you will be golden.
Now, go and take care of those pesky varmints!
Scott
If you guys ever get into reloading, I have several recipe's that I would share with you that would make a good starting point.
I LOVE my Savage 22-250. Fun, powerful round.
21 grains IMR 4198, Winchester primer, Winchester trimmed fire formed brass, hornady V-max molly ballistic tip 55 grain seated to match my chamber headspace, gets me one 30 calibre hole at 100 yards out of my Savage 12-vss varmet (223 calibre). I have the trigger pull set way down at 2 pounds. Sub MOA at 200 yards. You could always go to a 338 Win mag. Then if you are even close, you will still kill the buggers from the concussion. That is a devastating round. Shot an old coffee can at 100 yards with a 250 grain soft point. It was an old metal can, filled it with water and no top. Blew the bottom out, split the can in half down the front and blew the entire thing into the bank so deep you could see the contours of the rocks in the bank behind the metal, and blew water straight up a good 20 feet. One of those holy @$#$% moments. Then again, it is a few dollars per round to shoot but what an elk gun.
My .223 WSSM shoots like that...took me forever to get the load just right though...
Me to. I have at least 15 different recipes in my loading log, settled on that one. One of the big keys is fire formed brass so you get a perfect chamber fit. You just neck size them, not full length resize. Down side, if you have a couple in that caliber you have to keep the ammo separate. I have two different loads, one is just for this rifle, the other is full length resized to work in any 223.