Need varmint caliber reloadable for nutria rats

[Bull Nutria]

we shoot nutria(5-15lb rodents) here in south LA with a 22LR, i would like something more powerful and accurate that is reloadable. I am thinking 223,22-250,222 or other. I really don't get shots much over 100 yards. I am thinking i could probably reload cheaper?? than purchasing 22 magnum cartridges. I would also like a cartridge that isn't too noisy.

I would appreciate other caliber suggestions and this is in the research stage.
i reload 30.06,7mm08,38sp, and 44mag.

would a downloaded 7mm08 with the lightest bullet available be too much for these rodents??

what about a 38 sp with a 125 gr cast bullet??

Rifle suggestions welcomed!

Your thoughts are solicited.

Bull

 

[mrbro]

22 hornet.

 

[Swami]

223 is pretty cheap, and it would definitely do the job. Have you considered .17 HMR?

 

[Gunnerboy]

you want a p90 in 5.7x28mm gives you the perfect excuse to get one

 

[Gtscotty]

22 hornet.

+1.... you beat me to it.

Or, if you want to try something different, Hornady just came out with the .17 Hornet, Itty bitty bullets at around 3700 fps.

 

[Kachok]

223 is probably the way to go, they reload for cheap and are available pretty much everywhere. Not too much noise in reasonable length barrels. Results on nutria rats should be EXPLOSIVE with light varmint bullets. The 22 Hornet is a good choice too but much harder to find rifles and brass (around here anyway)

 

[ScrapMetalSlug]

.223 is what I would use if you want a re loadable and relatively inexpensive round, but it sounds like a bit overkill. Do you eat the nutria , use the hides, or is it just for varmint control? If it just for removing varmints, I see no problem with .223.

 

[manithree]

.22-250

I'm not expert. In fact I just reloaded my first rifle rounds last month with my son. But they were .22-250, and with Trail Boss, they were fairly quiet, almost no recoil, accurate, and the starting load was just a hair faster than most .22 wmr.

My son wanted a .22 (k) hornet, but he got a screaming deal on a Savage in .22-250. I don't know of any really nice $250 hornet platforms.

.22-250 is famous for it's re-loading versatility:

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/2011/01/04/ammunition_great_0930/
http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/handloading-22-250-rem/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22-250

 

[Rifleman 173]

We used to hunt rats with a good pellet rifle. You hit a rat with a good shot and they jump straight up and scurry off to die. And we used peanut butter for bait too.

 

[ricebasher302]

.221 fireball or .17 fireball would be pretty cool. .222 would work well too, but for cost and availability, .223 is the obvious choice. I still think .17 HMR fits the bill and is pretty cheap to shoot, but rimfires don't meet your criteria.

 

[Ky Larry]

.458 Win Mag. Just think of the cleanup time you'll save.

 

[Six-Gun]

22 hornet.

^^Bingo.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

the Marlin lever in .357 is plenty accurate w/158gr swc over 'target' load of Red Dot. easy to scope too.

 

[Bull Nutria]

FYI

we control the nutria because they are literally eating up our wetland vegetation. they are edible and taste like rabbit. the hides are worth $1.85 green no stretching or fleshing or drying. the federal control program gives an incentive payment of $5/tail for any size nutria newborn to adult.

$5/tail pays for a lot of reloads!

Bull

 

[rcmodel]

+1 on .22 Hornet.

It fits the low noise & cheap 100 yard bill perfectly.

A .222 is about obsolete and fairly loud, .223 IS loud, and a 22-250 is REAL loud.

Plus the fact, either the .223 or 22-250 is wasted on 100 yard shots.

If you are selling the nutria hides?
You won't have anything left to sell with a 22-250 or .223.

The Hornet won't tear them up too bad with proper bullet selection.

rc

 

[helotaxi]

.223. Brass is cheap and plentiful. Rifles are common. Factory ammo is widely available if needed and there are scads of different type varmint bullets for the caliber. If you want fairly quiet and don't want to tear up the pelts, something like the 30 or 36gn Varmint Grenade loaded over Trail Boss will get the job done. The bullets are cheap and at lower velocity shouldn't exit. They are also highly frangible so you don't have to worry much about ricochet either. Don't load the 30gn version at regular .223 velocity, they will come apart since they're intended for the Hornet.

 

[Ghost Tracker]

For $5 per nutria tail + $1.85 per green hide I wouldn't spend too much time reloading. I'd be spending more trigger time!
But .223 seems like an ideal choice.

 

[CollinLeon]

Nutria are basically aquatic animals. As such, a long distance shot at them is going to be a pretty shallow angle and you might need to be concerned with the bullet ricocheting off the water. I can remember shooting at turtles that were in a pond on our ranch when I was a kid and the .22 bullets that missed the turtles would strike the levee on the far side of the pond.

 

[Bull Nutria]

I AM CONCERNED WITH RICHOOCHETS,THAT IS why i want to use a lower powered round with a hollow point bullet.

bull

 

[helotaxi]

Which is exactly why I recommended the Varmint Grenade. Hollow point and highly frangible. It's a lead free sintered copper-tin core and disintegrates when it hits anything.

 

[3006mv]

.22 hornet w/ 35 gr hornady vmax

reloadable. also you can download 22 hornet to 22. mag velocities w/ blue dot. http://www.hornady.com/store/22-Hornet-35-gr-V-MAX/ How hard/easy are nutria to trap?

 

[NCsmitty]

helotaxi beat me to it. I'm not a fan of Barnes bullets, but the V. Grenade appears to be the answer for reduced ricochets, and I would think that the 22 Hornet would fit the bill for a more quiet cartridge, and quite cheap to reload.

Forget the 22 rimfires because they are notorious for richochets, especially over water. The 17HMR with the lighter 17gr will fragment quite well but the cost of the ammo is high, and you can reload a 22 centerfire nearly as cheap.


NCsmitty

 

[Bull Nutria]

nutria build feeding platforms out of vegetation. theyeare quite easy to trap. just place the leg hold trap on top of the feeding platform and you catch the nutria. i have a profesiaonal trapper for a friend who claims to have caught 3 nutria in one trap. he says he has caught 2 nutria in one trap several times!!

Bull

 

[igousigloo]

45.70 I hate rats!

 

[T Bran]

I concur with the Varmit grenades and .22 Hornet hard to beat low powder consumption and bullets that greatly reduce the risk of ricochets.
Wish the feds would pay me 5.00 per tail for hogs I'd be a gazillionair ( well maybe I'd make a couple hundred bucks a year ).
Good hunting.