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Whats the best caliber of rifle for varmits?

12K views 54 replies 39 participants last post by  Gun Geezer 
#1 ·
Groundhog, coyote and such. I'm in the market for a good rifle to shoot these types of varmits and looking for some input.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Cool, looks to be part chow and lab?
We think husky and lab. No dark coloring whatsoever on her tongue, and she's very active. She spends much of each evening "patrolling" our 70 acres at a sprint. Also, one pup in her litter had a blue eye.
But we got her in a parking lot, so we can't ever be certain.

As for the real purpose of this thread, I use. 223 for varmints. AR with an EOTech sight and a mounted flashlight. I really want to move to night vision at some point, but that's well down the road.
 
G
#28 ·
100% of the ground Hogs I have interviewed would prefer to be shoot with a 223 over any other cartridge. They didn't say much as they all had softball sized holes in their body with guts hanging out.

I have 3 varmint rifles.

1. Remington 700 VLS in 223 kills out to 450 yards with 50gr V-Max bullets. Never lost one yet with that set up.

2. RRA Predator Pursuit Rifle in 223/556 killes out to 425 with this using 60gr V-Max bullets. The 425 yard shot was slightly down hill and it looked like that chuck jumped on a granade to save his buddies.

3. 25-06 M-98 custom. I have killed a ground squirrel at 475 yards with that one 1 shot no sighters. That gun is amazing. Lets just say once we made it to that kill it looked like someone sent it through a meat grinder 2 or 3 times.

For what the OP is asking a 223 bolt or AR will do him fine. Ammo is cheap even good quality varmint ammo. 22-250 220 Swift 25-06 is just burning more powder to do the same job....
 
#35 ·
In no particular order, I've use and have used;
.22LR
.22 Mag.
.204 Ruger
.223/5.56
.243 WIN
and yep, .270 WIN and .30-06 Sprin.. Was out target shooting one day and a Ground
Hog happened to be in the "right" place at the right time, so he ate a 7mm REM MAG.

I reckon if your pelt hunting, stay with the "lighter" calibers.
 
#38 ·
I'm a 6mm fan, better wind characteristics where I shoot.
As an aside, The Military doesn't neccessarily want to kill all the time, a wounded man requires more men to attend to him, so wounding capacity is a prime consideration. The hard truth of combat.
i agree with you, love my 6mm (remington 788) hard to miss accuracy wise and can be loaded down or up,, 20% more powder capacity then .243 but basically the same,,, and can be used for other game depending on the load,, can take from a 55 grain to 110 grain bullet so gives a lot of variaty in what you wish to use from rabbits to deer. have used mine on yotes 75gr hollowpoint drops them like a rock at 400 plus yards/
 
#39 · (Edited)
Around my homestead, the #1 varmint = feral pigs/wild hogs.

My best rifle/caliber for them things = M1A-A1 and M14S.

From point blank on out to my maximum effective range..... it's the better rifle for me.

Have used various loads for dumpin them. Anything from Milsurp FMJ to match loads into various hunting loads.

Barrel life is longer than most others too boot.

Hogs here often run in groups, so I try and shoot as many as I can when the opportunity presents. All focus when using my M14S = fundamentals...... shoot....acquire another.....rinse...repeat.

I have plenty of 7.62x51mm/308Win ammo.

As far as 2 legged varmints, I prefer to kill them outright, as a wounded badguy can still be dangerous, from my experience at it downrange. (U.S. Army Infantry here, and still serving currently)

Whoever thought up that baloney about wounding enemy combatants instead of killing them has not been shot at by a wounded enemy......much less had a grenade tossed in their direction.
Besides......it's the "humane" thing to do.
 

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#41 ·
I use .204 for yote here in Maine the longest shot so far was just under 450 yards and took the yote NP. I have practice with it out to 600 as long as my aim is true they rarely run more then 20 yards if that...
I have a CZ in .204 Ruger, 3900 ft/sec
flat out to 200 yrds.
 
#43 ·
Hmmm, I'm thinking 30-06. hundreds of loads available, thousands of Germans and Japanese can attest to it's power (from the grave) can be used from Elephants to woodchucks..and so on. Can be reloaded light or heavy. Then again, a 308 has a lot to say. It's kinda like, I've cut that board three times but it is still too short. You can powder down a large cartridge, but you can't powder up a small one.
 
#44 ·
Last weekend, the Pawnee National Grasslands.
Rifles were a Rem 700 H.B. varminter in 6mm, and a Ruger No.3 in .223
Best shot was at 628 yds with the 6mm, about 380 yds with the .223.
We had variable gusty winds and the .223 was at a distinct disadvantage, but usually out to 400 it's very capable.
Met a nasty neighbor too, he wasn't happy with me. :)
 

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#45 ·
I killed 5 ground hogs in my "neighborhood" this summer. (I call it a neighborhood but we are the only full time residents). Three were at less than 20 yards. I shot another in one of my neighbors yards at a rangefinder measured 95 yards. Another was shot using my gun by a friend again at a rangefinder measured 105 yards.

All were shot with a Ruger 10/22 with a cheap Monkey Wards 4X scope.

I missed a few of them though out the summer but I do not consider any other gun for ground hogs.
 
#47 ·
I only hunt coyotes and the only gun I have is a 257 Roberts. I got it by default from my dad and I ain't going out and by something else. I believe that I couldn't do any better with any other gun. The 75 grain HP in front of a bunch of 3031 powder comming out of the barrel at somewhere around 3,450 fps can cut through the canery grass and blackberrys that it is sometimes called to do in a 40 mile per hour cross wind and still get the critter out to 250 yards and beyond. Oh I forgot the scope. It's an 80 dollar 3 to 9 Tasco that I put on it 25 years ago. It replaced the Weaver K4 that had been on the gun sence 1948. Yes the gun is an old short action Remington. You don't need to spend big bucks to have fun and get the job done. The gun will shoot sub one inch groups over sand bags all day long. I have it sighted in for 150 yards.
agedhunter is right a 200 dollar hammer doesn't make you a carpenter
 
#48 ·
Buy a Mossberg MVP Predator in 5.56/.223. Mine shoots less than 1/2" with Hornady 60gr Vmaxs which I use as my walking around gun for p-dogs and coyote. The 30 round AR mag means never having to fumble for extra rounds, but also never having to crawl around looking for brass either like I had to do with my AR. In fact if I wear a pocker shirt, I can cant it just so when I work the bolt the empty case will land in my shirt pocket.

And it's about the only bolt action precision rifle made with a 5.56 chamber. So if you WANT to fire cheap NATO milsurp ammo, you can go right ahead. But it's VERY accurate if you work up loads in .223.

Handy as heck too.

For the price, you get aluminum pillar bedding, free floated barrel, barrel fluting on the 20" like mine, fluted bolt for looks (I haven't figured out what else flutes on the bolt are for) and a knock off type of Accu-trigger which is as good or better than my sweet trigger on my Ruger 77V Swift Bench gun, and with the Nikon 3x9 BDC Monarch I have less than $750 into it. 1/9 twist too.

Now it took me 500 rounds at the range to get it to shoot that well, I don't know if it was me getting used to the scope and trigger and working up good handloads or the barrel lapping in, but it started out as an MOA rifle no matter what I shot through it, factory match Black Hills or Hornady, or my .223 handloads, but after I switched to Varget and went to a heavier bullet than the 50 gr Vmaxs or Noslers I was using for my Swift or Rock River AR it came in nicely, right around 1/2 " at 100 like clockwork, but sometimes I get a little lucky with even less.

Yeah, you want to shoot 400 + or more, a .243 or 6.5mm will buck the wind better and be more forgiving, but unless you are shooting from a bench or prone, you wont be shooting varmints regularly at those ranges unless you are talking P-dogs, and even then there is a lot of shooting closer.
 
#49 ·
Rumor has it there are coyote around my area, though I've never seen one.
I do, however, have one heck of a groundhog infestation in my yard... or rather, with the close of summer, I had one heck of a groundhog infestation.
Took the first one with an old Mosin in 7.62 and that was messy.
Took the next 4 with a Savage Axis II in .223. Nice, clean kills ranging from around 50 feet to right around 110 yards.
Really liking the .223 for pest control.
 
#51 ·
The .17hmr is an EXTREMELY accurate cartridge and I have witnesssed my buddy's Savage do some pretty impressive destruction on p-dogs out to as far as 125.

So much so that for the last 3 years I have MANY times come close to buying rither an HMR or one of the REALLY impressive .17 centerfires like the .17 Fireball or .17 Hornet, BUT there is always something holding me back.

First, those teeny 20-30 gr bullets that get all that velocity and accuracy, also get blown about by a good sneeze...;)

It SUCKS in any wind, and those long shots I witnessed only happened on those rare windless days on the prairie....MOST of the time 20+mph winds are the norm, and then the .17 always stays in the case.;)

.224 bullets are the smallest that will work in any wind at a distance, AND you can get a large variety of bullets, including up to medium sized big game, and now both my buddies are "upgunning" for this year for long range work, one with a Savage LPR in .243 AI and the other an LPR in 6.5 Creedmore....my Swift will be outgunned on the prairie this year....:(

Second, about the only .17 bullets available even for the "big" centerfire cases are strictly fragile Varmint only, nobody has made one for even slightly larger game.

I know someone that uses the HMR for Coyote, and he has taken a few, but never more than 50-75 yds.

But having dumped on the .17, guess what....:)

I am having those thoughts again....about that new Savage in the new .17 SUPER whmr based on those .22 cartridges used for the hammer guns...3000 fps+ in a .17 rimfire, and a SAVAGE....HHhhmmmmm....
 
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