Long Range Groundhog Rifle

L

Little Buck

Inactive
Okay guys,
I'm planning on purchasing a longrange g-hog rifle witin the next week. Looking for comments on calibers for shots at more than 350 yards and out.
Needs to be a standard caliber, though I might consider a wildcat, but have no experience with them.
Thanks for all comment,
LB
 
I've been considering this purchase myself lately. Personally, I'm leaning towards the new Weatherby Varminmaster (or whatever they're calling it now) in a .220 Swift repeater. Pricey, but a very interesting rifle.
 
A good 243 Win. or 6mm Rem would be hard to beat at ranges of 350yds. and up, though a 22-250 with 60gr.VMax loads would be good too. Problem with the 22-250 is that most factory rifles are set up with 1/14 twist barrels, which limits your choice of heavier bullets for long shots. I don't think the Hornady 68gr.BTHP Match bullet would stabilize worth a hoot with that slow a twist, but with a custom 1/9 twist barrel at the velocity available out of a 22-250, it would make a hard to beat round for varmints at long range.
 
flatlander is right about the 22-250 twist with heavier and long bullets. Just last week I thought I would try some of the very bullets he mentioned, Hdy 68 BTHP, in a Rem 788 (1:14). I was at a 50 yd range only, so this wasn't serious long range stuff. After the first shot, I was surprised that I could see the hole in the target with my naked eye. After 3 shots, I retrieved the target and there were 3 holes with a perfect profile of the bullet. They were obviously tumbling badly. I pulled the remaining 7 of the 10 I had loaded. Hornady means it when they say that bullet needs 1:7 up to 1:10.
 
Why do you want to kill those cute little fuzzies? Didn't you see "Groundhog Day", when little Phil was driving the pickup? ("Don't drive angry")

Just kidding.
 
For looonnnnggg range, I'd go with a .243 or 6mm over a .22, as the bullets are better in wind. It doesn't take very much wind speed to move bullets way off target at long range.
I like my 6mm with hand loads using medium weight bullets (87gr BTHP, for great ballistic coefficient and sectional density). the 6mm gives about 100 fps more velocity than the .243. Also you'll get a lot more energy downrange with a 24 caliber.
 
I mentioned the Hornady bullet instead of the Sierra 69 MatchKing because the Hornday uses a slightly thinner jacket, and is reputed to expand somewhat more reliably than the MatchKings. Sierra advises against using MatchKings for hunting, since the hollow point is smaller and the jacket thicker than on hunting bullets. MatchKings are designed to do one thing - punch holes in paper targets.
 
25-06 might suit your needs, its a factory cartridge with a LONG reach and a variety of MFG's make several grades of rifle in this caliber.

25-06 is good for game up through whitetails but I'm not sure I'd trust the lightwieght bullets on Mule Deer.

My dad has killed antelope out to 450 yeard with a ruger m77v in 25-06 but it took a long time to get the rifle/scope/bipod combo "dialed In". The ruger also had a weak firing pin spring from the factory that had to be replaced.

A less expensive route would be a savage "tactical" rifle in 308.. you can vaporize varmints of all sizes AND shoot larger game AND shoot "match grade" ammo OR "surplus" ammo and still not spend over $1000 getting started.

Hope it helps,

Dr.Rob
 
Why not get an AR-15 with a free floated barrel, stainless barrel and match trigger. You could get set up for about $1200. The rifle's a ball to shoot and you can get cheap ammo to practice with. Plus, you get to be politically incorrect as a bonus!

------------------
An unarmed man is a subject.
 
Sorry if I annoy anyone with this long post. I personally must disagree with conan on this, the 5.56 (.223) is very unstable and does not work well at ranges +300metres
It's used in the m16/ar15 because of it's instability. The bullet is smaller lighter and "bounces around" inside a living target.
Besides, unless you keep an ar15 completely clean, they misbehave.
Not that a cute little ground hog is a dangerous enemy, but having trained extensively with them, I don't like 'em much.
Anyway :) back to the topic at hand I'd say .243 would be my choice. A little bigger and more accurate. Heavier so less wind problems but still light enough not to worry too much about bullet dropping. Never tried 22-250, so I don't know much about it.
Assuming maybe .243 is too expensive (C'mon guys, it a GROUND HOG, the fate of the world doesn't hang in the balance if you miss) would be 7.62NATO (.308) Cheap, and available everywhere in the world, Hoorah.
Bullet is nice and heavy (Not TOO heavy) so it remains stable and accuate 800metres (Rifle dependant) Though, not being the greatest shot in the world, I could probably only hit a ground hog at 400m or so with one, because the bullet drops alot compared to a small sized cartridge.
Don't forget a nice high powered scope so you can see the cute bastards terrified looks as you turn them to "ground sausage" :)
 
Oh, but if you did get an AR-15 for it, I'd definitely give to bonus points for polically incorrectness :)
And think, maybe you scare the little buggers of with that evil pistol grip :)
 
The .223 is a bit light for stuff past 350, unless you opt for the tight twist/heavy bullet option, but the bullets from it are absolutely NOT unstable, as someone pointed out. There was a "thread" going around back in the '60's during Vietnam that the reason that the M-16's were so 'bad to the bone'(they really weren't, but that's another story, isn't it?) was that they had no rifling in them, causing the bullets to tumble and inflict terrible wounds upon the enemy. No rifling? Tumbling? Uh, no. That's called a musket. This thread actually seems to still be alive. If the .223 is so unstable, as it was put, then why do the service rifle guys regularly turn in unbelievable score/groups with them at 600 yards. There are plenty of guys that use AR's to varmint hunt with. They can be set up to be very accurate.

In this case, I agree that you MAY need something a bit larger than the .223, but lets get the facts straight. For factory rounds, you may think about a .243 as was suggested, or a 6mm Remington. Both can do 350 plus easy and both are easy to shoot.

Sheesh, where do they come up with this stuff?

CS
 
The object of most varmint shooters is to deliver a clean and lethal kill at all ranges. Its nice to see that pink cloud drift away from the kill which tells you that the job was done clean and painless. My pick would either be a 220 Swift or 25/06 with 87 grain bullets so that when you hit at 400 yards you will never see him crawl in the hole.
 
Have some fun..get a Rem. 700 in a .308...you'll be able to hit a ground rat(my dog takes offense when I call the "dogs") easily AND you can use it on bigger stuff
 
I definitely vote for the .25-06. It's yet another rifle for your collection, and if you change loads to 120 grain bullets, you can take any deer that ever walked with it.

87g bullet at about 3300 fps is very much conducive to pink mist, and has a superb rep. for accuracy. I'd probably own one if it weren't for my ready access to the .257 Rbts.
 
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