Groundhog rifles ... any advice

For a mostly sniping while sitting, longer range rifle, I like the Ruger No. 1 single-shot, chambered in .220 Swift. For walking around, "stalking" rifles, I use either a Browning Micro Medallion bolt-action, chambered in .22 Hornet or a Browning Low Wall single-shot, chambered in .223. And for those times when a low report is called for in densely populated areas that are being hunted, I use either one of my many .22 rf rifles or a Marlin Model 882 bolt-action rifle, chambered in .22 Magnum.

Varmint hunters are like golfers, in that you can't play golf effectively if all you're armed with is a putter. :D
 
377 ft/lbs is not a lot
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To a groundhog? Seriously, time to go for the Barrett 50!

Reloading is great. I reload. But, only for certain cartridges. I reload for my hunting cartridges. But, for .223, nope. Not worth my time at this point. The factory stuff, in various flavors and costs, has been working just fine for my applications.

It is wonderful that we all have so many different cartridges and barrel lengths and triggers, and stocks, and ... to choose from! If only we all had the time and money to play with them all!

YMMV
 
If you are going to buy a rifle anyway & I sure you will want a gun that is cheap to shoot.
Try going this rought buy a complete AR lower & pick up one of these 5.45x39uppers.
http://www.usarmorycorps.com/index....n=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53&vmcchk=1&Itemid=53
And talking about cheap ammo US Armory Corp. has the ammo for this upper as cheap as .10 cents per round, that will put the hurt on some Groundhogs.
This ammo is just as acurate as .223/5.56 but cost a lot less per round.
 
AZAK said:
To a groundhog? Seriously, time to go for the Barrett 50!
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Don't get me wrong, it's plenty enough to kill one but it's also getting into the energy range where shot placement matters. At 400 yards, a 1 or 2 mph wind error could mean the difference between a head shot and a butt shot. 377 ft/lbs is not a lot of energy. A hit in a non-vital area may not be immediately fatal. Bullet construction may make shot placement even more critical as energy decreases.

Wind drift, retained energy and trajectory... all these factors favor the .204 vs the .223.

Like I said, as a handloader, I prefer the laser-like qualities of the 35gr Nosler BT at 4,435fps in the 22-250 but for factory ammo, the 204 has serious advantages over the 223.
 
Where I am at in VA ground hogs are a low volume shooting. The most we have seen and killed in a day was about 15 at our farm. Other places you can get up to 100 shots a day. We do a whole lot of walking.

I have 2 rigs both 223 by chance.

First is
Remington 700 VLS with a Nikon Monarch UCC 6.5-20x42mm (Picture is with old Leupold VX-II 6-18x40 that I traded for the monarch.
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Second is

RRA Predator Pursuit Rifle with a Nikon Monarch 6-24x50mm SF

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The 22-250 can be picky on loads more so than a 223 or 243. Any of the varmint calibers would make a great ground hog rifle. From a 17 K hornet to a 243, 6mm br to 25-06 to a 270. It is just on all you want and how much you shoot.
 
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