I've never owned a heavy barreled rifle, but would like to try some type of target/varmint bolt action to punch mostly paper but hopefully some prairie dogs as well. I've been eyeballing the Savage 12 LRP in .243. Please give me some feedback on the model 12 or any other suggestions.

For the use you described, I would go with .223R/5.56mil. in either a Savage or a Remington HB. Either would be accurate enough with mil. surplus ammo and both could be tack drivers with top quality commercial ammo or good handloads. The .243 Win. cartridge would be a good prairie dog rifle out a few yards further than the .223R but becomes very expensive unless you handload. So, I guess your decision depends on just how much you intend to shoot. When I was serious about PD hunting I took 5 ea. dedicated rifle/cartridge combos to cover all distances out to 1000 yds. They were; .223R, 22-250, .243 Ackley Improved, 250 Sav. Ackley Improved and 6.5x06. All were heavy barreled Remington 700s. I was also known to take a 22 Hornet Ackley Improved when the PDs were especially abundant and close to my shooting positions. Obviously that sort of PD hunting involved a lot of handloading.

For you to sort of ease into this longer range precision shooting, IMHO, start with a non wildcat and something you can buy ammo at a reasonable price. Therefore my recommendation on the .223R caliber with a Wylde chamber to be able to shoot all the military ammo you wish. And, the rifle wouldn't have to be a bolt gun since there are many very heavy barrel AR-15 types available now that will shoot under 1/2 m.o.a. .............

I would also recommend a 223 especially for the ease of getting good brass. I prefer the Remington 700 action. Remington barrels are spotty. You might get a great shooter and you might get one that just wont do. I have seen way too many Remington barrels over the years that should have never left the factory. In all fairness, I have seen a few that would out shoot many aftermarket "super match grade" barrels too. How lucky are you???
Based on what I have personally seen with my borescope the Savage rifles have arguably some of the best looking and shooting barrels on a factory rifle today, and they have for quite some time. I also like the way the barrel attaches to the receiver with the barrel nut. This makes it easy for the average non-gunsmith/machinist to swap barrels/calibers.
If you like controlled round feed I would take a look at either a Kimber 84 or a Montana Rifle model 1999. Both are comparable in price, but I like that the Montana is available all stainless with a floorplate.
Best advice I can give anyone is to plan on buying a high quality scope. The old saying, "buy once, cry once" is a valuable lesson when it comes to optics. If you do it right you will spend more on the scope than the rifle.
Plan on reloading too, there is just not really good accurate quality ammo out there. Just because it says "match" on the box don't make it so. Best of luck.

Edit: Since you want to "punch paper" and shoot prairie dogs {relatively small animal at longer ranges} I would not recommend getting your heart set to seriously on cheap, bulk, military grade ammo...the best hummer of a barrel coupled with the best trigger and fastest lock time bedded in the best fitting stock cannot make up for non-accurate ammo.

I started with a Remington Mohawk 600 in 222. Wish I still had it. Then a heavy barreled Ruger 77 in 220 Swift with a Canjur trigger. After the throat ate out of it I rebarreled it to 6mm Remington. I have since added a Ruger heavy barreled 223. I think it is a great caliber recommendation because you can buy bulk ammo for it pretty cheap almost anywhere. I bought 1000 rds just so I had that much mattching brass. There are some huge dog towns in the eastern half of Montana.

I'd buy this custom JK Cloward .243.

Armorer to the US Palma team.


Remington XP 100 Cloward Custom, .243 Caliber

I do not own a Savage buy have heard positive statements from owners, they do love the new trigger.

Remington quality or lack thereof is noted here. I thought I was the only one. I've had good and bad Remingtons and 3 bad ones new from the box.

I have seen a few that were very accurate but wondered in hindsight if the first new ones in a caliber release received extra attention.

I had a 700 in 243 that shot great, gave it to my daughter.
I currently have a 700 bad weather back up, truck, coyote gun in 25-05 it shoots very well.

I once had a burning desire for a Rem 308 bull bbl in a 700. It's accuracy was 2nd to a slingshot but a little better than hand flung rocks.

For you to enjoy paper punching and varmint hunting a Savage in 5.56/223 would be perfect as folks have pointed out, cheaper ammo, less recoil and cheaper to reload also.


If you are going to do more paper punching I think a bull Barrel would hold up better. Check the bbl twist, it will prefer a specific bullet weight to optimize accuracy.

Do you have a scope? Been looking or already have it. A very nice one in 4x16 would work well. That's what I have on my 25-06 and 5.56 and 6.5 Grendel.And don't scrimp on the scope mounts.

If you're wanting a varmint /target rifle, hopefully you reload.
A heavy barrel varminter deserves well thought out, well built handloads.
As far as caliber, the 243 i ok, but if want to shoot a lot at one sitting(like shooting prairie dogs) you will find out that the recoil gets old after about the first 25 rounds. And it builds barrel heat very quickly.
The 223 is a great place to start for someone wanting to get into varminting. Easy to handload and very little recoil in a var/targ gun. And there is some very good, consistently accurate factory ammo out there for it.
The 204 Ruger is probably my favorite of all the varmint cartridges......laser fast and scary accurate out of most varmint rigs.

Buy the rifle of your dreams in 223 / 5.56 because there is an unlimited amount of cheap brass, a heavy powder charge is 25 grains, .224 diameter bullets are least expensive.

I have shot prairie dogs with the following calibers: 22 LR, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 25-06, 7 MM mag (40 rounds with 120 grain HP bullets), 308, 30-06 (was rebarreled to 25-06 and Magna ported). These days 22 LR and 223 are the only choices -- less noise no / low recoil and cheaper to reload for.

__________________
S&WHF 366

I do agree .223 is a great caliber. What I did was

get a rifle chambered for 5.56. I got the utility of both

5.56 and .223, without trying to locate a Wylde chamber.

Bull barrels in 5.56 are fairly easy to find.

The Howa 1500 is solidly built gun for the money.

__________________
Release the Kraken