Small varmint rifle setup suggestions

[rtl]

A couple of us from church are looking to get into assisting with prairie dog removal and would appreciate your input for a setup. I'm thinking stainless with synthetic stock, scoped of course but iron sights would be nice as well and would prefer to stick with .22 mag versus .17, but welcome your input on that as well.

So what's your suggestion for rifle, scope and caliber combination based on the above? Not looking to spend a fortune if possible.

Appreciate your input.

Thanks,
rt

 

[CRITGIT]

get into assisting with prairie dog removal

Haven't heard it put that way before!

I shoot a Ruger 77/22 Mag Target Varmint Model with SS barrel and laminated stock. Mine has a Hakko (Japanese made) 6X24X44AO with a target dot. I recommend the target dot regardless of scope brand. Check out Millet, Weaver, and Mueller Scopes.

Mine likes Fed, Hornady and CCI 30gr ammo.
It'll cover a nickel @ 100 yds when I'm doing my job.

One friend shoots a Cooper in .17 the other shoots a Savage in .17.
My ammo is a little less expensive. We all have similar success overall.
We shoot via a bench and various rests.

CRITGIT

 

[benzy2]

Hmm. If it were me I think I would step up to the 22 hornet. Ammo price is about the same and you get a bit more pop out of the hornet than either the .17 or the .22 mag will give you. You are stepping out of rimfire world but it would be for the job something I would consider.

If you want to stick with rimfire then I would probably go with the 22 Mag. Take your pick of rifle from there based on your budget. If you are in the <$250 range I would go with a Marlin or Savage in the caliber you like more, though it will probably be blued for that price. For ~$300 you can take the same rifle and get your SS. If you step up to around $400 you can get a CZ in your flavor of round, though again it won't be SS. To me this is the best bang for the buck. I think the build quality is far ahead of those less expensive than it. Those that outperform it take exponentially more money to do so. There are nicer rifles out there and you can get less expensive ones to shoot just as well but when it comes to all around quality I don't think they can be touched for the dollar. For a little more you could look at the Ruger line though they are far from the inexpensive way to go.

If you go 22 hornet Savage makes the model 40 which seems to get amazing reviews. CZ makes a 22 hornet as well that is sized to the round. To me the hornet is a much more fun round to have around than the 22 mag or 17 hmr. I do reload as well so being able to tune my loads a bit is something that the hornet greatly appeals to me on and wouldn't to a person not into reloading. Still I think the performance outweighs any slight negatives there may be about going with the hornet.

When it comes to scopes there are many great options though it really depends on budget. Natchez has Weaver shotgun scopes on sale for $80 which is outstanding. If a fixed 4x is ok with you then it will be by far the best bang for the buck you can get. From there Weaver, Nikon, Burris, Bushnell, Sightron, and Leupold all have quality made models. Stay away from anything less than the 3200 series though. A good scope is very important. Many people will blow 90% of the budget on the rifle. It really is a shame to put such a crappy component on an otherwise great setup. A decent 3-9 can be had for around $200. While that seems like a lot now trust me when you go in the field it will be something you are glad you had. I would rather skip the SS on the rifle and spend the money on the glass. It really is what makes or breaks the rifle in my opinion.

 

[rangerruck]

scrap all the above, and get a cz or anything heavy bbl, not a single shot break bbl though, in 17mach2. a 17mach 2 will shoot both mach 2 and 17 Aguila rounds, that's right, two diff rounds through 1 rifle. a 17mach 2, it's trajectory is much smaller than a 22 mag, about 1/2 as small. it is deadly out to 150 yds on p dogs. a zero'd m2 at 100 yds, only drops 5 inches at 150.
Ammo cost? 1/3 the cost of 22 mag ammo, 1/4 the cost of 17hmr ammo. Ammunitiontogo.com sells a brick for 40 bucks, and a case for 35 bucks a brick.
most m2 ammo is rated at about 2100 fps, but the Eley/Remmy ammo is hotter loaded, about 2300 fps from the muzzle, so you are way faster than a 22 mag, and getting about 300 to 400 fps slower than a 17 hmr, again, for 1/4 the cost.
I would look at a heavy bbl, marlin, savage, cz , or Ruger for this. The marlins and savages can be had for about 200 bucks, the cz will be more, but can be had with a set trigger , which you can adjust down to the ounces of pull, and the ruger will be even a bit more.
Scopes? I would want power myself; anything 18 x or above. Tasco makes a scope series called the Varmint, and you can get a 6x24x42, for about 100 bucks. I have 3 of them.
Also anything Weaver will be very good, but more money. I just personally don't think a 3x9 or 4x12, looking at a p-dog, at 100 yds, will give you a big enough site picture, but that's just me...

1 more thing, if the scope says BSA, then run away!!! trust me...

 

[rangerruck]

lets look at that cost. you can easily shoot 200 rounds of ammo, in a single p-dog session. 200 rounds of eley m2 ammo from ammunitiontogo.com
4 dollars a box x 4 boxes= 16.00, that is now about the avg cost of 1 box of 17hmr ammo. even if hmr ammo is 12 bucks a box, then you can buy 1.25 boxes of hmr ammo, for 4 boxes of m2 ammo.
22 mag is now 12 bucks a box most places, some you can get for 10, others, on a massive sale, may be as low as 8 bucks a box( before tax) this is still twice the cost of the m2.
how flat are the trajectories? if all zero'd at 100 yds, with a scope's centerline riding 1.5 inches above the centerline of a barrel's bore;
22lr will rise approx 3 inches at 50 yds, above your sightline or almost 5 inches above your bore line.
22 mag will rise about 2 inches at 50
17mach 2 will rise about 1 inch.
17hmr will rise about .5 inch.
Again, let us not forget about the 17 aguila round, leaves the muzzle about 2000 fps, with a solid point , 20 grain full metal jacket, boat tail round.
It may or may not be accurate in your gun, you just have to see to know.
it makes tiny entrance and exit holes, because it does not have the explosive poly tip of the mach2 , or the 17hmr round. i have also now seen this done in a hollow point round, must be quite impressive on the wound channel, on small game.
most dudes that used to have lots of 17hmr rifles, now just have 1 or none, and now have multiple mach 2 rifles, their fun factor is just too good, plus the meager cost of ammo, makes it so much more appealing.

 

[MachIVshooter]

If it were me I think I would step up to the 22 hornet. Ammo price is about the same

.22 Hornet is $40/box of 50.

.22 Hornet IS cheap to reload, and I thouroughly enjoy mine. But it's probably not the best choice for someone who has to buy factory ammo.

rtl:

The little marlin in either .17 HMR or .22 WMR would be a fine choice, topped with a Nikon Pro-staff 3-9x.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/17HMRMagnum/917s.asp

 

[Art Eatman]

I've been out with Justin a couple of times. He has a CZ in .17 Mach II. It's devastating to 100 yards, and with some doping of the wind, quite useful to 200 yards. The .17 HMR would do a tad better, of course.

SFAIK, the .17s are flatter trajectory than the .22 Mag...

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

So what's your suggestion for rifle, scope and caliber combination based on the above? Not looking to spend a fortune if possible.

How much is not a fortune? What's the actual budget for the entire project, including rifle, scope, mount, rings, tax/shipping/FFL, and 100 round of ammo to get you started?


Caliber, I'd run with .17 HMR, .223 Rem, .17 Rem Fireball, .17 Rem, .204 Ruger, or .22 Hornet, (or if you like being a bit oddball, .221 Fireball, .222 Rem, .218 Bee, or .20 Calhoun), unless going extreme range past 250-300 yards. But within these choices, you want to pick the one that best suits your intended likely max range. At what ranges do you think you'll be shooting these pdogs, at most? 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 250, or more yards? You said cheap, so I'd tend to stick with either .223 Rem or .17 HMR, maybe .22 Hornet, for a good balance of performance to cost.

The RIFLE itself will cost a bit less for a rimfire than a centerfire, so I'd look at Marlin, CZ, or Savage in a .17 HMR if going the rimfire route. But I'd have to know entire budget to fit in a scope and decide whether to run with a centerfire.

 

[benzy2]

Scopes? I would want power myself; anything 18 x or above. Tasco makes a scope series called the Varmint, and you can get a 6x24x42, for about 100 bucks. I have 3 of them.
Also anything Weaver will be very good, but more money. I just personally don't think a 3x9 or 4x12, looking at a p-dog, at 100 yds, will give you a big enough site picture, but that's just me...

I totally disagree here. 100 yards is close. People shoot with irons at squirrels at 25 yards. At 9x that same squirrel is bigger at 100 yards than he is with open sights at 25. To think you need more than 12x to shoot a p-dog from 100 yards is a joke. You don't need to know which hair you put the bullet into. At 12x he would look about like he does at 10 yards. If you need to be closer than 10 yards to see a p-dog you really must be blind. At 100 yards looking at him through 24x he would be about like he is at 5 yards. I do see the point when you are using some flat shooting screamers in centerfire where you are shooting a couple inch target at 500-1000 yards but at 100 you don't NEED more than really even a 4x. It may be fun at the range to punch paper but if I were on a budget I would get clear glass in a lower magnification range than ugly glass with a huge top end magnification.

 

[skinewmexico]

I wouldn't trade my Savage FV93R17 for anything. Funnest gun I've ever owned, and it cost me all of $165 on Gunbroker. Shot a sub .3" 5 shot group at 50 yards with it. I would like to shoot some of the new ballistic tip ammo for 22mag and see how it stacks up though.

Get a Pentax Gameseeker 6x mildot, and the dots range almost perfectly at 25 yard intervals for the 17.

 

[Dirty Dawg]

I've had good success with this:

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/22WinMagnum/982VS-CF.asp

Can't say I've shot it out to 100 yards but it'll knock a turtle off a log at 50 yards every time.

 

[KINGMAX]

Marlin 882 or 883

Find you an older MARLIN 882 or 883 w/ micro groves. Place a 4 X scope on it and start driving tacks if you want to.