rifle/caliber for varminting in south dakota

[collateral]

I'm going to be moving out to south dakota within a year or less and I'm interested in getting into varminting. I have a bushy M4 in .223 but I dont know if the 16 inch barrel will cut it at longer ranges. One option I have is buying a longer barrel upper for the rifle, the other option is getting a new rifle.

What calibers would you suggest for medium to long range varminting? .22-250? .204?

 

[kaizer]

you know the opinions will come flying in, so I will give you mine. I think you have a couple of options:

1. just replace the barrel on your bushy upper and continue to shoot .223 but with a more accurate barrel, probably your cheapest option.

2. Barreled upper in the caliber of your choice, also a cheap option as you can just swap it in and out with the bushy.

3. New riffle- not cheap, but come on who doesn't like getting a new gun!!!

Here is what I have experience with for long range varm/pred hunting:
1. AR .223 24 inch barrel-great gun can shoot it all day and extremely accurate and fun to shoot, kills all the little beasties dead
2. AR .204 ruger- super fast and fun to shoot, but I still like the .223 better but I don't have a good reason
3. AR .243 wssm, by far my favorite but more expensive to shoot. Makes coyotes cower in fear. Shoots super flat and can really reach out there.

Good luck, either way you will have a blast.

 

[gbran]

Ditto on the .243 wssm...... however, I get great luck shooting 40-45 gr varmint rounds in .223.

 

[FrankG]

i would get a nice little bolt action rifle myself in .223. I would keep it in the same cal as the a/r so you could use the same ammo. Here is a site that i know of that are a group of guys go prarie dog shooting in that region. in the f.a.q section they say what guns they use. its all small caliber for the most part. you can preview the video but they are pretty grewsome.

*****The link is just to the main page not the video you have to go under the video section to see a preview***** If you dont like seeing prairie dogs shot DO CLICK THE LINK
http://www.dogbegone.com/index.html

 

[dmftoy1]

It depends on how much you want to spend, but for my money I'd pick up an RRA Varminter upper (.223) for it and then just go shoot. If the budget is a bit tighter then I'd just free float your bushy upper and call it a day. (although for the cost of some of the free float kits you're more than halfway to a new upper! )

Just my .02

Regards,
Dave

 

[Barr]

A .243 is a bit heavier than most varmint guns but is 300+ yards accurate with a decent cross-wind and on the plus side can even be used for small deer and predator game.

 

[Buzztail]

I want an AR in .204 real bad!! I have a 204 barrel for my G2 that I love. I'm also still very happy with my 14 tw 6mmBR.- 55 gr pills at 3800fps and long barrel life!