Your Preferred Varmint Caliber Is?

[Kanewpadle]

Your preferred is? 22-250? 22 Hornet? 22LR? 22 Mag? 17 HMR? 223?

OR?

Just bought a 221 Fireball barrel for a Remington 700.

We'll see how it goes.

[shouldazagged]

I loved .243 Winchester with 85 grain Speer boat-tail hollowpoints, way back when I was hunting varmints. The Remington 700 I shot the load from doubled as a whitetail rifle with 105 grain Speer bullets. Don't remember the powder type or charge--it was a very long time ago.

[6GUNSONLY]

The .223 serves well enough for my use. We coyote hunt with them, on both Remington 700 bolt gun and AR platforms. I guess a .22-250 has a little more effective range but the .223 has not come up short for me and it's cheap to shoot and easy to find components for loading. I have also had a love affair in the past with the old .222 Remington Magnum, but I don't have one anymore. I still have .22-250 ammo, brass, and loading stuff but don't currently own one. I have three .223s at present; a Remington 700 tactical, a Colt 6920 carbine, and a Rock River Arms Predator Pursuit (20" heavy barrel).

[6518John]

.223. Cheap, plentiful, accurate and available from 45 to 75 grain bullets (or ever bigger spread, I don't keep up anymore).

[Big Cholla]

Here in the West we have something called WIND! Combine that with long distance shots possible and a serious Prairie Dog hunt really requires 5 rifle calibers;

0 to 150 yards.............22 Hornet (I prefer my "K" Hornet)
150 to 250 yards.........222Rem or 223Rem HBs
250 to 400 yards.........22-250 (I prefer my 22-250 Ackley Imp.)
400 to 600 yards.........243 Win or 243 Win Ackley Imp. (I prefer my 250 Savage Ackley Imp.)
600 yards on out.........6.5-06 HB

I have been known to take all five rifles on serious PD hunts in Wyoming and Montana.

[tops]

6 m/m Rem., 60 gr. Sierra BTHP, 48 gr. IMR4831. Larry

[Kanewpadle]

I considered a 22 Hornet. But we're already set up to reload 221. And with the right load the 221 can push about 600 FPS more than the Hornet.

[Ranger514]

.223 works for me, but I defer to Big Cholla's level of experience when it comes to the long range work.

[texmex]

500 Smith & Wesson 400 grain Winchester Platinum Tip.
Everything's bigger in Texas.

For Prarie Dogs, everything Big Cholla said is right on the money.

[6518John]

Originally Posted by Big Cholla

Here in the West we have something called WIND! Combine that with long distance shots possible and a serious Prairie Dog hunt really requires 5 rifle calibers;

0 to 150 yards.............22 Hornet (I prefer my "K" Hornet)
150 to 250 yards.........222Rem or 223Rem HBs
250 to 400 yards.........22-250 (I prefer my 22-250 Ackley Imp.)
400 to 600 yards.........243 Win or 243 Win Ackley Imp. (I prefer my 250 Savage Ackley Imp.)
600 yards on out.........6.5-06 HB

I have been known to take all five rifles on serious PD hunts in Wyoming and Montana.

Good Lord! "600 yards on out" to the west from here is Oklahoma and to the east is Tennessee or Mississippi! I am not walking more than a 100 yards to pick up any critter that has less than 8 points on his head, much less a big rat! PS. I do LIKE the excuse to buy multiple rifles!

[alwslate]

.223 is fine for this area. I live in a rural area but I don't actually hunt
varmints all that much, just more of a shoot as needed policy for me.
There are so many advantages to the .223 that there's no good reason
to choose anything else unless you just like to play with the less
common cartridges. I have three .223s, two ARs and a Ruger 77 MKII
standard blue and walnut sporter.

[69camfrk]

.223/.556 bar none.

[Frank46]

Used to hunt woodchucks on my uncles farm in Pennsylvania. All I had was a rem 788 in 222 and that was all I needed. Rem used to make a varmint/target bullet with a tiny hollow point that was extremley accurate. Would by 5-6 boxes of these bullets at a time. They had a primer for the 222 think it was the 7 1/2 that supposedly had a heavier primer cup to withstand higher pressures and was copper colored. Didn't need anything else. Frank

[6518John]

Here is my boy with a Scar 16s. For those that have not shot one it is an auto that shoots like a nice bolt--amazingly accurate (within reason). We shoot with a well benched ACOG 4x and that will put the fear in our area critters and introduce more than a few to their maker if we do our part. You can see it is about 75 to 100 yards to next tree line. We got a nice grey fox and coyote on this day. Passed on a bob-kitty (they remind us too much of our Maine Coons at home, so we just watch bobcats in our field-glasses).

We set facing the wind with our caller about 200 yards up wind and the varmits usually circle in front of us 50 to 75 yards--that's the plan at least!

[Big Cholla]

Originally Posted by 6518John

Good Lord! "600 yards on out" to the west from here is Oklahoma and to the east is Tennessee or Mississippi! I am not walking more than a 100 yards to pick up any critter that has less than 8 points on his head, much less a big rat! PS. I do LIKE the excuse to buy multiple rifles!

John: No thanks. I nor any one that I ever hunted with ever picked up a dead PD. We left them where they fell. Most of the time come afternoon in a PD town that we had been shooting for a while, there would be a waiting group of birds depending on the location of Raven, Hawks, Grackles and on occasion a Golden Eagle or two. I've watched a Golden Eagle swoop in and grab a dead PD while my buddy was still shooting at other PDs. Those predator birds learn real quick where an easy meal was apt to be. The sound of rifle fire actually attracted them. There are some enlightened alfalfa farmers here in Nevada that have fields infested with the Picket Pin Ground Squirrel that have worked with the Univ. of Nev. Reno to build proper nests on top of power poles and populate with Peregrine Falcon mated pairs. I hunted one such field and thought that when I started shooting (22 LR and 22 Hornet) the Peregrines would fly away. I couldn't have been more wrong. The male came in closer and landed on top of the irrigation system boom. He sat there and watched me shoot. Every once in a while he would go pickup a dead Picket Pin and take it back to the nest. A little while later a couple of black Ravens came in. The Peregrine didn't like them much and would make halfhearted passes at them to try to run them off. The Ravens respected him, but knew that he was more interested in the free, low effort meals being provided for his family than he was in seeing them leave his field. I didn't even think about picking up any of those dead Picket Pins. Too many fleas! ................

[k22fan]

Big Cholla,

While visiting your state I hunted prairie dogs with a heavy barrel 6.5-06 and a .223. I'm glad to hear some one still uses 6.5-06.

We only got 1-3 shots before they were all in their holes within 300 yards. Prone on a mat with a Harris bi-pod's legs in the dirt and and a boat cushion for a rear support there was not excuse for missing a prairie dog at 300 yards with a .223 bolt action. We split a large order of Nosler 55 grain Solid Base bullets and used Ball-C 2 or 335.

Prairie Dog steaks? No thank-you.

[Drm50]

I have several varment guns, my favorite is a custom 98 in 243.
I load 85 gr Speer BT soft points over IMR 4895. This cal works
out for long distance better than my 222, 223 and 220. I have
a 25/06 but it is sporter MK-X, my carry around for coyote.

[STCM(SW)]

I used my Ruger M77 220 Swift in PA for 15 years and out here too.
52 gr bullet @ 3900fps can do a number on anything......

[6518John]

Big Cholla--Here is our fox from that day--nice male grey. Knife faciers may recognize a TOPS Bird and Trout knife in foreground--excellent general purpose skinner for all sizes of game. My boy shot him through the neck with Wolf 55 grain--we don't like to use high-dollar ammo on varmits.

Excuse my ignorance on the praire dogs, I thought you might skin them out.

[Big Cholla]

I read a reprint of Buffalo Bill's journal in the era where he was actually out making a living by hunting Buffalo. He and his hunting party were just about out of edible meat when they came upon a PD town. They proceeded to shoot a few PDs for their evening meal. He wrote that the younger ones were just barely edible while the older ones tasted so rank that they quickly learned to not bother shooting them. ... Ugh. I would have made a really poor pioneer. :-) ...........

[Fishinfool]

Here in the PA farm country, I like my HB Remington 700 Varmint with the laminated stock in 22-250. It provides reach for chucks, when needed. A .223 would do 90% or more of what is needed though.

For coyote, I like my CZ in .204 Ruger, using 32 / 34 grain bullets. I call them in, and usually shoot close. The light bullets usually go in and blow up, leaving no exit hole, which I like, as I hunt them in the winter for their hides.

The .204 Ruger makes an excellent chuck gun as well, and is a lot lighter in weight. Makes for a nice rifle for when a lot of walking is involved.

I use my 14 inch .223 Contender a lot for chucks. It will kill them out about as far as I can hold steady over my back pack. It shoots 55 grain Hornadys well.

Larry

[6518John]

Originally Posted by STCM(SW)

I used my Ruger M77 220 Swift in PA for 15 years and out here too.
52 gr bullet @ 3900fps can do a number on anything......

220 Swift and 218 Bee were my grandfather's favorite rounds. No school like the old school.

[6518John]

Originally Posted by Fishinfool

For coyote, I like my CZ in .204 Ruger, using 32 / 34 grain bullets. I call them in, and usually shoot close. The light bullets usually go in and blow up, leaving no exit hole, which I like, as I hunt them in the winter for their hides. The .204 Ruger makes an excellent chuck gun as well, and is a lot lighter in weight. Makes for a nice rifle for when a lot of walking is involved. Larry

Larry--I wanted to pick up one of those 204 Rugers--I have heard so many good things about them. But then I found a NIB Howa Ranchland in .223 for a steal and I could not pass it up. I am embarrassed to admit it is as smooth as any custom rifle I have ever handled and it is deadly accurate with an adjustable trigger.

Amazing little rife and more than adequate for the 200 yard max distances we normally shoot.

[Ivan the Butcher]

Here in central Ohio, much of varmint hunting is close to people without rural background! So when close to town I use an old Savage 340 in 22 Hornet and a Ruger No.1 in 218 Bee. I believe 221 Fireball would be in this same category, A friend had and loved a Cooper 21 in 221 and used it out to 300-350 yards.

AS for the cartridge I like using the best: that is hands down a frankengun; 700 action, re-chambered Winchester 222 barrel in 22 BR. 50 grain Combined Tech. Ballistic Silver Tip over H 322 or Benchmark @ 3900 fps. Shoots 3/8" groups at 250 yards! But is loud like a 220 Swift! I also like a similar frankengun in 6mm x284. 70 grain Blitzking over 4831SC @ 3500 fps. Only time printed a group at distance, was at a shoot: 3 shot group of 1 1/4" @ 523 yards (almost zero wind) I won that day.

I've been playing (unsuccessfully) at 200-250 yards with a peep sighted 38-55 Low Wall 1885 Winchester with Black Powder. I need more time working out the elevation settings at short intervals (say 15 yards) out to 300 yards or so. Ivan

[Hairtrigger]

I love All 22 centerfires
My favorite is a 22-454 that was smithed by Wayne Baker of Freedom Arms in a Ruger NO1

[JimC]

Varmint hunting in my younger days in NJ meant woodchucks/groundhogs on many local farms when permission to hunt could be secured.
At 15 or 16 years old, I began with a simple .22 LR Remington bolt gun with a simple Weaver RF scope as did a lot of young shooters.
Fast forward a lot of years, the .22-250 was king back then but I used a lot of different calibers.
The .222 Rem was another very popular caliber.
Another good one was the .224 Whby. Mag. A lot like the .22-250 but with a higher price tag.

[Highhawk1948]

.22 magnum only because that's the rifle I have with me. Pocket gophers to coyotes.

[H Richard]

22-250 is my preference. I currently have two, both Rem 700's with the older one having been re-barreled with a 1 in 9" Douglas barrel. I use the 55 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip over Varget, for right at 3600 fps. I did have a .243, intended for the longer ranges, but my eyes just aren't good enough any longer to take advantage so I sold that one. My last trip out to SD my longest connected shot was 512 yards (1 shot kill, read the range finder, read the wind meter and made my adjustments, dead dog). I do have a .222 Sako for a walking around gun. I consider it an out to 250 yard gun.

[Abflyboy]

I'm super happy with my heavy barrel Remington 700 .204 Ruger.

40gr VMax bullet in my handloads gives me excellent performance and accuracy.

We don't have much for prairie dogs around here, few rock chucks here and there but there are MILLIONS of ground squirrels.

[Wyo]

I like the .223/5.56 for most uses and, occasionally, use the 17 HMR also. However, as someone noted above, we do have wind in these parts and it will play havoc with either of these calibers. I have been known to resort to the .270 Win. with 100 or 110 grain bullets and even the 7mm Mag. in more extreme conditions. Of course, these aren't high volume calibers - maybe 100 or so per day, max, on a prairie dog town. Either of them works really well on the larger 4-footed varmints like coyotes and fox.

[BAM-BAM]

Here in Western Pa and the Laurel Highlands.....not a lot of long range shooting............ being fond of Mannlicher stocks........ most of my needs are met by a couple of CZ mini-mauser FS/mannlichers........ a 452FS in .22mag for walking in "Penn's Woods" where shots are mostly limited to 100-120 yds or less; and a 527FS in .223 for more serious excursions.


My Ruger 77/International in .243 can be utilized with light loads but is generally reserved for Pa's "mammoth" deer!

[BigBill]

My varmint rifle build is a 29" barreled 7mm mauser(7mm x 57mm).
Haven't fired her yet. She's one of my under $200 builds. For big varmits at long range. Lol

I have the 223 will do but the real varmint caliber in the 22/250? I never got one.

I have the savage 17hmr my son got me for father's day a few years ago
Never benchrested it yet.(been sick)

[j a]

75 grain V-max and a good charge of RL15. It will drop a coyote dead out to 300 yds and then some. Then 100 grain Sierras for deer season. One gun two seasons. I have never been prairie dog hunting so no experience there.
I started coyote hunting many years ago with a .22 mag. I felt limited on range. Then soon moved up to a .22-250 Rem 700 VLS. Great shooting gun. There is a picture of this gun and the first coyote I shot with it in the Sierra reloading manual 5th edition.
I shot the .22-250 for years until I stumbled onto a dirt cheap (I think I gave $125 ) Savage in .243. I tried the .243 on coyotes and was very impressed with the knock down power of the 75 grain bullets. Current coyote rig is a .243 Tikka T3 Lite.
No regrets with the .243. JA

[David R]

Remington 700 VL in 22-250
Savage model 25T in 223.

I used a 7mm mag with 115 HP loaded to the max. It wore out the barrel.


I find now 223 is all I need. I like the savage thumbhole stock.

David

[moosedog]

Mine's 17HMR in a Savage thumbhole bolt rifle and 223 in a Ruger number one.

[Dandecoteau]

Mines usually 4 33inch General Grabber tires. Works well. Kinda messy sometimes though.

[Engine49guy]

Gopher Everett ?


All I can muster is a scoped AR15 in .223 Remington but that would handle any Florida Varmint I can think of offhand...

This video is a "Hoot"... believe he is using a .300 Whisper ?

YouTube

[coltle6920]

Heck,at over 300yds any varmints where I shoot are still the neighbors problem to deal with.

[BuckeyeS&W]

22-250. 55gr. Sierra Spitzer = dead ground hog

[David R]

I spent an hour at the indoor (pay) 50 yard range on 'sunday. No chucks out yet, we have snow on the ground. I took the Remington 700VL in 22-250 and my Savage 25T in 223 to the range. I took a couple hand guns too.

I shot about 40 rounds in the Remington first all at 50 yards. Then I shot the Savage for 30 rounds.

I just felt more comfortable with the Savage. It fit me better. The trigger was lighter. Caliber really does not matter. I have shot chucks with everything. 10" 32-20 TC Contender, 44 mag, 222, 308 (ouch) and the earlier mentioned 7mm mag.

Handgun hunting just takes more walking.


This target was shot from the sitting position at 50 yards with the Remington 700 VL in 22-250 with handloads.

[BigBill]

Originally Posted by David R

Remington 700 VL in 22-250
Savage model 25T in 223.

I used a 7mm mag with 115 HP loaded to the max. It wore out the barrel.


I find now 223 is all I need. I like the savage thumbhole stock.

David

The faster velocity wears barrels out quickly like the 264wm. I may try a Swede 6.5 military surplus mauser next they had chrome moly Swedish steels there steel quality is the best on the planet.

[BigBill]

Originally Posted by Engine49guy

Gopher Everett ?


All I can muster is a scoped AR15 in .223 Remington but that would handle any Florida Varmint I can think of offhand...

This video is a "Hoot"... believe he is using a .300 Whisper ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa3V5tZXT7U

Nice split second hoot to make it put the brakes on for a shot.
I had a 14+ pto 275/300lb monster buck chasing 8 does while we were fixing my tractor. He was 50ft from us in the field. My son points to it. He never seen us. I whistled quick he stopped. Of course I had no bow or tags but I put my finger u p and went bang. He froze like that yote. I have 15 to 20 deer per night in the same spot there all his babies. His genes are being passed on.

[LittleCooner]

Varmintholic here, lets see, 22lr and 17 hmr for the really short stuff, 100-150 yards is the 218 bee on a martini baby action, 150-250 use the 223 in a Model 7 action and Douglas barrel, 250-400, use the 22-250 or the 220 Swift (Swift is a better case IMHO) and for the 300 to 600 yard stuff is a 22AKM (wildcat on the 6mm Rem case Ackley improved and necked to 22, will run 50 grainers about 4600 fps, and wind days at long range, use the custom 250 Sav. AI built by one of the best benchrest smiths in the country. If I run out of ammo, then just use the old 270 W. Dang this gun addition hurts some days. Its been a long time since I had all of them in a PD town in WY or MT, but you have not lived until you have fired 500-600 rounds in a day at live varmints. Cleaned the guns and did it again the next day.

[BigBill]

The coyotes were seeing in the water shed near me are as big as female German shepherds. My son seen three yotes running across the ice the other day. The ice is still on here.

[ky wonder]

I have recently picked up a new b-mag savage with a 22" heavy barrel, it will become this years truck gun

I ordered the gun after shooting a crow out of a tree at close to 200 yds with a dead on hold with a friends gun, the crow literally exploded

I did not like the look of the skinny barrel b-mag but the heavy barrel stainless gun got me to pull the trigger on a new rimfire

the new rimfire 17 Winchester super mag at 3000 ft per second, with a bullet co efficient rating of 1.85, is dancing right there with the 22 hornet with less drop and wind deflection at the longer ranges at a third of the centerfire cost per round.

I have yet to shoot my new gun at anything, but I have had great success with the 17hmr shooting from a cz452 American, as well as the 22mag. from a stainless marlin

I bought 200 rds of the Winchester 20 grain, and got my lgs store to order me some of the hornady offerings in this round.

I am not a fan of Winchester rimfire 22 ammo, but I feel like hornady will do a better job of quality control

there is some youtube offering that shows a great deal of deviation in a group of Winchester 17wsm ammo through a chrony
but I still have the others as well as a couple of serious contenders in 223 platforms

[2152hq]

Haven't hunted anything in years. But I did hunt woodchucks for a few years back then from spring to fall.
I never had a true Varmint Rifle.
I used a M1917 Enfield mostly. It was accurate and had very good sights.
Ammo was $3/hundred at the local G/S. I got pretty good with it, there were plenty of targets then and plenty of land to shoot on.

My other centerfire rifle at the time was a M1893 Loewe mfg 'Spanish' Mauser 7mm. But it wouldn't print groups at all with the ammo available and it shot high.
The Enfield was a $25 buy and the Mauser (unissued condition w/bayonet) was something like $15. Don't get excited,,you didn't make much either.

My .22 rifle was (still have it) an Anschutz singleshot that came back from Europe after WW2 w/my Dad. Very accurate,,but 'it's only a .22!'
That and a couple handguns in 22 and 38 rounded out the game gettin' collection at the time.

I don't know what I'd use now if I were to take up hunting them again. I still don't have a Varmint cal rifle.
Maybe a 30-06 again or the Krag. Kinda like those.

[jimbo728]

Originally Posted by Big Cholla

Here in the West we have something called WIND! Combine that with long distance shots possible and a serious Prairie Dog hunt really requires 5 rifle calibers;

0 to 150 yards.............22 Hornet (I prefer my "K" Hornet)
150 to 250 yards.........222Rem or 223Rem HBs
250 to 400 yards.........22-250 (I prefer my 22-250 Ackley Imp.)
400 to 600 yards.........243 Win or 243 Win Ackley Imp. (I prefer my 250 Savage Ackley Imp.)
600 yards on out.........6.5-06 HB

I have been known to take all five rifles on serious PD hunts in Wyoming and Montana.

Ive taken up a collection to buy you a nice golf, uh I mean , gun cart.
Jim

[klausinak]

I own quite a few, sold off quite a few; however the ones that get the most use are my .222's. They are an old Remington 700 ADL, and a CZ 527 FS. If we've been seeing a lot of wolf tracks, then I bring the .243. Others include a couple of AR-15's in .223, a 17HMR, & a .204. Oops, I almost forgot my Savage 24, .222/20 gauge.

-Klaus

[old tanker]

A Ruger No. 1V in .223 handles groundhogs nicely here in Kentucky. It does OK in the North Dakota badlands on prairie dogs when I visit my old Army buddy there. As others have said, cheap and easy to load for, a combination of the 50 grain Sierra hollow-point and IMR-4198 has been the old standby.

A Model 70 Featherweight in .257 Roberts, just because it shoots a 90 grain Sierra BTHP so well.

[silentflyer]

The only "varmint" gun I have is a TC .22 Hornet 10" bull barrel with a 4 power Weaver scope on it, good out to about 150 yards, IF I do my part.