Any humble advice on a varmint rifle?

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Jpw360

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Hello everybody...

Im in the market for a new rifle, this will be my first low caliber rifle ( i currently own the following: xbolt ss 7mm rem mag , toka t3 varmint chambared on 300 win mag, xbolt 270,sako a7 7mm-08) the main purpose will be to hunt varmints up to and including coyotes. The main criteria is to minimize recoil as much as possible in order to be able to see hit or misses and also im looking for something very (extremelly accurate). After doing lots of reading i came to conclusion that i also want a rifle with a heavy barrel (to compliment the main criteria). Budget is set for $2500 max w/o optics and accessories. Im leaning towards a 22-250 as its very available in mt area but im slowly getting into reloading so im open to suggestions. To this extent i have only come across 2 rifles to caught me attention

1) sako 85 varmint.weight 8.625 lbs
2) savage model 12 bvss. Weight 10 lb

Any other suggestions? Opinions?

Thanks alot in advance guys
 
Seems to me that the current varmint king, especially for keeping your target in view for the impact... is the .204 Ruger. But I'm not much of a hunter so I don't know how well the .204 does on coyotes.

I travel west each year for a 3-4 day varmint hunt. I simply bought a no-frllls Howa 1500 with a 24" heavy barrel in .223. It does all I ask.
 
Depends on the weight of the target you are shooting at. It seems that you have a good range of rifles for the larger game animals.

For the lowest recoil I would recommend the 223 (also the cheapest to shoot). For a excellent mid range weapon I would recommend the 243, a lot of choices in bullet weights from 55 grains to 107 grains with a 9.25:1 twist. Only problem is the life of the barrel is 750 rounds with any hot ammo. 1500 rounds if you keep the weight of the bullet up and speed around 2,900 to 3,200 fps. 243 would give much longer range than the 223, BUT.

Most practical is the 223.

Good luck and stay safe.
Jim
 
Check out the Savage model 11 Trophy Predator package, Camo Syn stock, heavy barrel, Accu trigger, Nikon Scope that you can sell if you don't want to use it, the rifle comes in several calibers.

In my bolt guns I use three calibers for hunting coyotes, 223, 22-250, 243.
The 223 gets used the most, when I need more range for longer shots then I step up to the 243, have not decided why I keep the 22-250 as I don't use it very often.
 
I like your picks Savage model 12 223 & check out the creedmore 6.5. I'm a bench rest shooter, Some of my friends are varment hunters,
 
I'll have to agree with the advice given so far. Given your criteria, the .223 in a heavy barreled rifle seems be your best choice. If you want to see the bullet impact through the scope anything much bigger won't do. That's even difficult with the .223 unless the rifle is heavy. I wasn't a Savage fan but a friend of mine bought a .223 Savage Mod 10 varmint rifle for around $600 & that thing shoots tiny groups! Don't skimp on the optics though.

FWIW...
 
I like your picks Savage model 12 223 & check out the creedmore 6.5. I'm a bench rest shooter, Some of my friends are varmint hunters, 22-250 nice flat shooting round, but I think it's a barrel burner.
 
A .223 does bad things to coyotes. 55-grain soft points.

I had no problem in shooting a bunch of prairie dogs one morning with a rifle having a medium sporter barrel. I merely avoided a rate of fire that would take the barrel into the "very hot" condition. 3-9x40 scope was plenty good to 300 and 400 yards. Old Leupold Vari-X II, new in 1973.

Tried some 55-grain in my .243 with a 2-7 Vari-X II. Plenty good to 300 yards.

(Never needed to go beyond 300. Just drove to a different part of the pasture.)

Absent prairie dogs, lighter is better. The main thing with a coyote gun is that the first shot from a cold barrel reliably goes to the intended point of impact. Same as for any other hunting rifle.
 
As to rifles its personal opinion, what fits you.

What I would advise, study up on the 204 Ruger. Look at the ballistics of the 40 gr A-Max

I like the 223, and have some good shooters but there is the 204

An example my most accurate 223 load is the 52 Gr A-max. Comparing it to my 204, both sighted in at 100 yards, the 223 drops 2.9 inches at 300, where as the 40 gr 204 drops 1.9 inches.

The 223 listed above goes sub sonic at about 850 yards. The 204 load I listed gets to 1100 yards before it goes sub sonic.

Just give it a look see.
 
Thanks so much guys for all the helpful advice. I was set on the 22-250 because for cayostes it seems to be alright for up to 500 yards....but if the 204 can get it done too at that distance then id take it....im very confortable shooting any of my other rifles at that distance...but like i mentioned i dont have a small caliber so i cant tell how well a 204 223 or 22-250 at that range...the 22-250 seems to be superior but again the main criteria is recoil and seems that the 22-250 is a bit high for taget acquisition where has the 204 is. Ery low in recoil yet at 400-500 is its enery too low for cayotes? The 223 is right in between with the highest bullet drop.

What is your guys opino
 
It depends on how you hunt, but all your other rifles are good coyote guns if you are strictly hunting coyotes. I usually take my .270 w/115gr when coyote hunting. But if you are hunting small varmints & a coyote wanders by use what you got!

JIMHO...
 
I have owned a Winchester model 70 in .225 and several Remington and Ruger 22-250 rifles. The .225 is long gone but I still have two Remington 700 and one Ruger 77V in 22-250.

My experience is the 22-250 can be a barrel burner if you run them up real fast. If you stay realistic in velocities say 3200-3500 fps, they will run and deliver very good accuracy. The real key to long life with these guns is not to shoot them too fast. The heat from multiple fast shots will wreak havoc on the best of barrels.

I have used a Douglas aftermarket barrel for my first 700BDL and it only lasted about 900 rounds before the accuracy went away. I use factory barrels now when I need them. I still have the original barrel on the M77V as it is a 1976 edition and really a pretty special rifle that I bought for my BIL who gave it back to me a couple of years ago.

With care and not being too aggressive in rapid fire and careful load development, you can have a long lasting love affair with the round. It has been around for a long time and is a tried and true performer.

The newer .204 and .17 caliber rifles are interesting and I have shot them but I sure would hate to try to clean then. My preference is nothing smaller than a .22 caliber.

I really hope you give the 22-250 a fair shake. It will do the job for you but you will need to hand load to get the best out of it. Loaded down somewhat, the brass is easy to reload and I have been shooting some of the same brass for years. True, I have not shot some of that brass a lot but I have shot it and it still has that panache for me.
IMR 4895 and 4064 are ideal powders for the round and I have had real good luck with H380. Be careful with H380 as a round that shoots good in the cold will show signs of overpressure when the heat goes up. Just be careful.

I really do like the round but I suppose you already know that.
 
I have guns in .22 Hornet, 221 Fireball, .222Rem, .223 Rem, and .22-250.

I'm not a particularly huge fan of the .223 as a varmint cartridge.

To be sure there are some sweet rifles in .223, but aside from that, I prefer the .222 for sheer accuracy, and the .22-250 for more practical velocity.

Also, I wouldn't get completely hung up on a heavy barrel. The do very, very well for some things, but are ALWAYS heavy to carry. Meaning not every kind of varmint hunting benefits from a heavy barrel, but a heavy barrel rifle is always a heavy barrel rifle.

I grew up in the northeast, the varmint I hunted was primarily woodchucks. My first .22-250 was a custom rifle, built by a local smith, Mauser action, Douglas 26" medium wt barrel, bishop stock and Weaver K8 w/fine crosshairs. Got it in the early 70s for a whopping $140. I added a Timney target trigger and a Numrich scope safety. Sadly I traded that rifle for mere money in 80 (hard times and foolishness). Replaced it a few years later with a Win M70 Varmint. Its a great rifle, but its heavy, compared to my Mauser, and it doesn't shoot any better. Does 3/4" with 52/3gr HPs and about that with 55gr SPs. Does not do well with 60gr or above.

Match your scope to your shooting. Too many people put way too high power a scope on their rifles, and its easy to do. I used a 8x for years, then 3-9x for decades. Currently my .22-250 has a 6-18x on it, and its nice but it has drawbacks. EVERYTHING becomes much more noticeable in your scope at very high power. Heat shimmer, annoying at 9x is much, much worse at 18x and terrible at 24x. Every beat of your heart, a tiny twitch at 9x is a fair jump at 18x, etc.

When it comes to spotting your misses the higher the power, the more difficult this is, IN THE FIELD. On the range, its just the opposite. At 18x, a 12lb .22-250 with a 50-55gr bullet, the small recoil this has is enough to move you off center. You should still be able to see your miss, but it will be at the edge of the scope's field of view. Higher power, you lose it out of the scope entirely.

I use the high setting (18 in this case) for looking at but turn down to 9x for shooting. In the field, this actually gives me better results. You might be different.

The perfect rifle for potting prarie dogs at 300 all day long is not the perfect rifle for tracking and nailing a trotting coyote at 175, or 40yds. On the other hand, it doesn't have to be perfect to work very, very well. Don't be afraid to consider some compromise.

.223 is probably the best overall choice, particularly for a first varmint gun. Its a good round, there are good rifles, and they are everywhere.

When you get into handloading options expand enormously. One option seldom talked about is that while you can go down, you can't go up.

Consider the .223, standard loadings 55gr bullet is in the 32-3300fps range.
.22-250 using the same bullet, cruises in the 3600fps range and if you max it, 3800+ is possible.

If you desire, you can load the .22-250 down to .223 performance, but you cannot load the .223 UP to match the .22-250.

Think about what you will be using the rifle for, most of the time. I've got a 6.5lb .222 carbine, shoots about 1.5MOA its a GREAT rifle for some things. I've got a .22-250 that weighs twice as much, and shoot groups half as big. Its a GREAT rifle for some things.

But neither one is all that great at the other's great thing. Figure out what your needs, and wants are, and what you are willing to live with, and what you are willing to give up. Then come back and we'll talk...:D

There are almost no BAD choices, but some are much better than others...
 
My all-around rifle these days is my Tikka 260, but all-around for me means pigs, coyotes, and deer. If I was just hunting coyotes, I'd go with my old 220 Swift, which is a Ruger 77V with a new and slimmer barrel. But, often the pigs will come back, and I have to factor them into my rifle equation. The 220 doesn't quite put them down fast enough, so I go back to the 260. I suppose I'd use a 243 if I had one. That would be just about the perfect varmint rifle and an adequate deer rifle.

That said, the gun I shoot the most is the 223. I once said that I'd never own one, but I guess I lied. I shoot that thing all the darn time. The grandkids love it too. When I hit a coyote with that Nosler 40 gr Ballistic Tip, they hit the ground hard. So potent, but such a little bullet.

Thus far, I think that 204, 222, 223, 221, 243, 260, and 6.5 Creedmore have been suggested to the OP. That's quite a range. If deer are in the equation, go for the big end of that list. If it's just coyotes, go for the small end. If pigs are involved, go for the middle (243 or 260). And heck, any of them will do. Just get a light rifle and a good scope. Tikka T3 Stainless Lite would be an excellent choice.
 
I'm a varmint hunter, have been one for 36 years. My have a few rifles that use depending on where I'm going to be shooting.

My 700 stainless VS in .22-250 sees a lot of use when I hunt where houses and buildings are close.

My favorite is a 700 VS in .25-06, I use this when I'm in an area that I can make long shots. In my mind this is the largest caliber I prefer to shoot for varmint. They make varmint bullets for the .25 which is all I use.

The reason for varmint bullets is they explode when the hit something.

I will tell you that you may not see the hits through the scope even with a .22-250. But, you will hear the hits, almost sounds like a slap.
 
Really it depends on what varmints you are shooting, if all you are shooting is coyote and the occasional other varmint of opportunity then a .22-250 is a fine choice. If you're shooting colony varmints such as prairie dogs and ground squirrels and you find yourself in a target rich environment the .22-250 kind of sucks. .223 Rem and .204 Ruger are much better suited for the colony varmint shoot, as they use less powder and the barrel doesn't heat as fast. You also have less fatigue from high volume shooting with the .204 and .223, and you'll shoot longer with more accuracy than with a .22-250.

The Creedmoor is a very cool round but is better suited for larger game than varmints. Personally I feel that 6mm cartridges are the largest of the varmint class rifles since they have bullets as light as 55 grains. The 6.5 caliber will work fine on the occasional varmint but in the long run the bullets are too heavy and expensive for heavy varmint use.
 
I use 3 different guns for ground hogs, coyotes,hogs.2 heavy barrel bolt actions 22-250 and 25-06 and a AR223 to keep me from cooking the barrels on my bolt actions.Love the 22-250 for coyotes But the 25-06 will turn them in side out,wont see the impact but you'll see the red vapor cloud.All will do you a great job just start reloading.Get what ever rifle smokes your tires & get after them.I got to go My 22-250 is about to jump off the rack.:D;)
 
I for the most part in the summer will be shooting prairie dogs and i the winter will be shooting mostly coyotes with it....here the big game hunting season is in the fall so no varmint hunting in the fall
The sako 85 i wws looking at is a bit expensive to waste its barrel by burning it with hot 22-250 ....and the 204 ruger seems a bit low in energy at 500 yards...i inguess if i get the 223 inwill have to live with its deep bullet drop
 
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