Favorite Varmint Round??

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I really like a 4" .357 magnum for varmints. You can blow them up or smash through a lot of meat and bone, depending on the critter. For reaching out a ways,.. never mind, they're all good, they're varmints!
 
I have a .17 Rem, .221 Fireball, and a .22-250. The .22-250 is the best all around with windy and distant shots. The .17 is the most fun.
 
Mine is the .220 Swift.
( i built and extensively tested all manner of .22 caliber rifles and cartriges )( yes, i did the same with .284's, .308's, 6mm's and .270 )
I went to great lengths to build a single shot, FULL Bbl, tight chambered,mounted in a custom composite stock, ( long before composit stockes were the 'norm' ), extreeeeeeemly accurate .220 Swift that was launchin a 52gr. BTHP @ 4100 fps 18 years ago. I topped it with a Bausch and Lomb 6x24.
On whistledeeks i had to take headshots when hunting places where they needed to be disposed of. Body shots just left too many parts to clean up.


Majority of shooters just don't get it and handloaders that aren't into 'building' ammo for one , aren't....well....real handloaders :neener:

But the Swift is king of the .22 centerfires.
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whitchhunter gits it.;)

I've even dropped white tails with it at 200 yards. And i mean..DROPPED 'em.

I also had a hand or two, into building a .22-.284. Tons of work makin brass and loading it. And, pushin a 52gr .224 at close to 5000 fps makes for ridiculously short throat and Bbl life.
 
I've had good results with the following:

.22LR
.223 Rem
.22-250 Rem
6mm Rem
.25-06 Rem
.257 Wea Mag
.270 Win

I haven't taken any varmints yet with my .308 Win.

Geno
 
.22-250 was my first varmint gun, and I currently have four of them. I have several other calibers, but my first choice is usually a .22-250.
 
1. Crosman 760. (with the real wood stock) Dad was watching too close with the Red Rider for me to be in my killin zone.:D
2. Marlin 60 .22
3. Stevens 16 ga.

For most vermin nowdays, a.223 of some sort is usually my go to.
Unless the vermin seems too big or too far for that, then it's..... Whatever works best..
 
.223/5.56 because ammo is normally cheap and easy to find. Good to hit coyotes out to 600+ yds. Chambered in my favorite varmint rifle, the AR15.
 
The ubiquitous 22LR works for lots of varmints. For whatever it won't reliably kill, there's the .223 Remington. It's plenty fast and flat without being a barrel burner.
 
A one caliber hunter,I hunt groundhogs in the summer and deer in the fall with a .243.
 
The Swift is still King! I have been looking at the .223 WSSM ballistics though...but I have a ton of faith in the .220, I have owned a couple, shotem out and rebarreled em, they all just shoot great. You don't get the barrel life you do with a .222, but you get the accuracy and the speed, ah the speed....the Ackley version solves the brass stretching.....
 
I use a 204 Ruger for ground hogs out to 400+ yards (off a bench, or one of those field pods) and my 270WSM for anything beyond that
 
.222 Remington. That's my ground hog rifle. It's accurate, efficient, and easy to find bullets for. ( Brass, not so much,) and best of all, it was my grandpa's rifle. Been killing whistle pigs for pretty near sixty years.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
243 is one tough customer in the varmint department, it can easly match the 22-250's ballistics downrange and can sling 100gr pills for larger varmint (aka hogs) The 25-06 is a superb dual purpose hunting rifle/splader cannon but many would say that it is simply too excessive for a purpose built varmint gun.
 
Ah, Dave, a man I can identify with. :D

243 is one tough customer in the varmint department, it can easly match the 22-250's ballistics downrange and can sling 100gr pills for larger varmint (aka hogs) The 25-06 is a superb dual purpose hunting rifle/splader cannon but many would say that it is simply too excessive for a purpose built varmint gun.
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Well, between these two, there IS the .257 Roberts and the .250-3000, ya know. Both are efficient rounds and they would be appropriate medicine on long range yotes IMHO. I don't do yotes unless they're trying to raid my chickens at night and then I have a light on my .22 mag's scope, just pontificating on the .25s. :D
 
I like 60 grains of 3Fg pushing a patched .380 round ball from my .40 caliber flintlock on groundhogs. Hammers them out to 100 yards
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That's good stuff there Dave. I'm fixin to do my dirtpig shootin with my .36 Seneca this summer.;)
 
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For prairie dogs: I shoot 17 HMR up 100 yards, .22 Hornet 150+ yards, .223 up to 200 or so yards, .204 and .243 up to 400 yards. Squirrels .22 rim and 17HMR. Coons and possums 12 gauge and 17 HMR. Coyotes 12 gauge, .22 Hornet .223, .204. 243 in that order.
 
Used to be a die hard .223 guy because the ammo was cheap and available. Now,,,not so much! So I think I'm switching over to the .22-250. I like the .243 a bunch too but it is rough on soft critters like coyotes and bobcats. I guess a .22-250 is to though..

In all honesty I think a .308 with 165 gr or 180 gr bullets is pretty decent cote medicine and with a decent bullet not as tough on the hide as many hyper little .22's and 6mm's. For volume prairie dog shooting it's pretty tough to be a good .22 CF.
 
22 rimfire magnum.It is very accurate.It has a quiter report.My shots are under 125 yards.
 
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