Want a varmint gun....need help

[bambam1723]

I have only been on here for a month or so and I know this topic has to have been beat to death...but I'm gonna put it out there anyhow.

I'm wanting a varmint gun to hunt groundhogs (woodchucks). The majority of my shots would be between 50 - 400 yards, I think. I've been doing a lot of reading on here and also asking around and I've got it down to 3 calibers....

.223
22-250
25-06

I really like the .223 due to ammo availability and cost. Though I've read it is not as flat a round or as high performance as the other 2 and tends to peter out in wind or with distance. I'm finding out that the 25-06 might be a little much for my purposes, although past owners rave on it's long distance capability and not needing to compensate drop due to it's flatness. The 22-250 is looking good, but the ammo isn't cheap or easy to find in my experience. I really like the Remington 700 series and would probably go with that gun in whatever round I choose. Opinions on any of this?

I have always been a handgun guy do to being in law enforcement and am just starting into rifles. I went groundhog hunting this past Sunday for the first time, with a Ruger 10/22, and I'm hooked. Now I want a rifle that will do a little more damage so the little bugger will be DRT (dead right there), or at least faster than with a .22LR.

I know I will want a scope and probably a bipod so suggestions there are nice also.

After all this is done then it's just finding some landowners/farmers that are willing to let me shoot there groundhogs on there property.

Let her rip guys and thanks in advance.

 

[P.B.Walsh]

+1 on Remingtons

Harris Enginering makes great bipods, I bought a 6-9" swivel a while back and I like it a lot, granted I've only used it on a bench, but it seems quite sturdy.

 

[Gunner4h1r3]

I picked up a Remington 700 SPS Varmint that would be right up your alley. I paid $450 NIB and it came witha 4-12X scope. Bolt action with a 5 round internal mag. 1:12 twist 26" super-heavy barrel. Damn thing looks like there is a suppressor instead of a barrel. Mine cam with an OD stock although you can find them in black. They can be had in .223 or .22-250. I picked mine up in .223 and love it. I put a Harris bi-pod on it and like the previoue guy said, they are rock solid.

I load a 65 grain semi-jacketed soft point boat tail over 20.3 grains of H322 and CCI Small Rifle Bench Rest primers. It is scary accurate. I would recommend this rifle with much satisfaction.

 

[dakotasin]

out to 400 yards wind isn't that much of a factor in practice. i shoot lots of prairie dogs on the windy prairie so have had to dope the wind once or twice...

remington 700 is a fantastic rifle.

i like the tall harris bipod for this application as it will stand up tall enough to get you over a lot of ground clutter and allow for seated shooting positions.

for a scope for 400 yard varminting, go w/ a leupold vx-2 in 4-12, vx-3 in 4.5-14, zeiss conquest in 4.5-14, etc etc... a high end of around 12-15 power will do nicely.

a rem 700 bdl in 22-250 w/ a leupold 4-12 will make an awesome set up, here...

 

[DIM]

It depends how much you are willing to spend, I could point you from Howa to Tikka and Remington with Savage in between, well maybe Weatherby its almost like Howa…

If remington, then go with SPS model, it will probably hold 0.75 MOA




Then I would recommend Savage 110FP or 10FP and Howa Supreme Varminter, Remington VTR,

Or Weatherby Vanguard Varmint Special

 

[JHansenAK47]

If you are going to shoot ground hogs you might want to consider 17 hmr also.
Out of your selection 223 and 22-250 would be my pick. 22-250 is great and not to hard to find. It gets better performance than 223. 223 though works just fine. It is available everywhere and is the cheapest of the three. I would probably recommend the 223. Should do everything you need and not break the bank.

 

[kb2zya]

varmint savage 22-250. my buddy got one with accuetrigger wow a super shooter

 

[257WM_CDL-SF]

id go with the King the 220 Swift I had one in a Rem 700 VSSF and it was awesome.
But had to sell it

 

[Runningman]

I used the 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, 243, 6mm Rem, and 25-06 as varmint rifles. The 25-06 was my least favorite by far. It was just to much. Longer range hits (275 -400+) yards over what I could get out of a good 22-250 or 220 Swift were down by a good amount, at least that is how it worked for me.

The 223 is better if you are doing lots of high volume varmint shooting such as sage rats (ground squirrels) but I generally prefer a 22-250 or 220 Swift for small targets getting out there in range.

I would recommend you get into handloading and test and develop good handloads for your rifle to really get the most out of whatever round you go to.

 

[bambam1723]

Should've been more specific on how much I was willin to spend on the rifle. I'm lookin to keep her under $600, would love to keep under $500 (will upgrade scope later). You guys are starting to sway me towards the .223. Wind isn't a big issue here in the Buckeye State so I think it should do great for my purposes. Already have a Bushmaster A3 in .223 and I like the round in general. I don't reload, and like I said I have minimal to no rifle experience, so I would be buying ammo off the shelf. I'm gonna have to hit my gun shops and price the Remington 700 in .223 just to get a barometer of what I'm lookin at.

I would love to get one reasonably so my Dad would be convinced to buy one also. I would really like for us to go hog huntin together, what a great time.

Any more thoughts, keep em comin....nothings in stone yet. I want this rifle to be with me for quite some time so I wanna do my homework.

 

[jpwilly]

DPMS AR-15 20" SS Bull BBL 1-9" 223 Rem.

 

[DIM]

For 485 you can get this Savage https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/78302

 

[bambam1723]

Another thing I wanna add here gents. One thing that I like to minimize in a rifle is having to compensate for drop. I know on really long range shots you have to do this even with the most powerful calibers.

But at 200-300 yards would I have to aim a foot or two over the head of the groundhog to hit it with a .223?

a 22-250?

I guess what I'm asking is how good are these rounds at these distances in relation to maintaining it's original flight path?

I would like to know some owner's experiences.

 

[mljdeckard]

The compensation will be less with a 22-250. This is why we prefer it.

I think the main advantage of the .223/5.56 is the AR rifle. I'm building a varminter AR now. But I think I'll still like my dad's 700 VSSF in 22-250 better. I like having the faster follow-up shot in an AR, but I probably need to learn to shoot better.

 

[52grain]

If you decide on .223 (which is a good choice for the reasons that you noted), you might want to look to Savage or Tikka, the Remington 700s only have a 1 in 12 twist which will lock you out of the heavier bullets, which you would want for the longer distances. I have a Remington 700 VLS in .223, it's a good rifle, but I don't shoot it past 200 yards.

 

[longdayjake]

Groundhogs, woodchucks, and rockchucks are pretty much the same thing. I happen to hunt rockchucks here in Idaho and so far I have had the most success with a winchester model 70 .25-06. If you buy a .25-06 you almost have to handload as your rifle will most likely not group well with factory ammo. You can also get MUCH more velocity with handloads than you can with factory loads. I use 87 grain soft points but you can use anything that works. Here is a video of me shooting one just past 200 yards. As you can see I was shooting about 1 to two inches low so I put the crosshairs between his eyes as he was standing up and hit him straight in the guts. There was nothing left inside his chest cavity after he hit the ground. It was gross yet impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSwMQltnoZI&feature=related


This one is the aftermath of a much smaller one that only I could see so my brother in law couldn't get video of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af4XXmTh2so&feature=related

I also hunt them with .223 but I prefer the .25-06 because of the reactive target that rockchucks become.

 

[DIM]

If you like these three shot groups I would recommend TC ICON precision hunter, my is in .308 but they have 204, 223, 22-250 and 243 calibers

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6885/img013nj.jpg

 

[jpwilly]

You can get .223 Rem 40gr pills flying at 3700 to 3800+ fps and drop at 300yrds is only 5-6" - That should do!

 

[dakotasin]

But at 200-300 yards would I have to aim a foot or two over the head of the groundhog to hit it with a .223?

a 22-250?

no, and no.

get the 22-250, sight it in for .5" high at 200 yards, and hold dead on to 300 yards, and a small gap at top of hairline to 400, and you'll be blowing stuff up just fine.

w/ a max range of 400 yards, i would run a 40-50 grain bullet (hornady factory 22-250 ammo is good stuff) in either the 223 or 22-250.

 

[rangerruck]

out of those only, I would do the 22.250, if taking shots to 400. the 223 as a varmint round, is too questionable at that distance, the 250 is not.
outside of those listed, i would look at a 243, 204, and a 17 fireball.
And for a factory rifle, I would look at the Savage varminter series stuff.

 

[FLNT4EVR]

In your price range I would buy a Stevens model 200 and use the rest of the money for a good scope. You can't hit it if you can't see it, and at 300 or so yards a good clear sight picture is critical.

 

[jester_s1]

Good advise in this thread. .223 is enough for your purposes and cheap to shoot. Don't skimp on optics. The scope is the most critical piece of equipment in your weapons system, and if you buy cheap there's no amount of money you can spend on the gun to compensate. Zeiss gives the most quality for the money IMO, but they do start around $500 on the low end. Any maker's heavy or medium barrel varminter will do fine for you, with Savage leading the pack in performance vs. cost. If you decide you need better accuracy in the future, you can always invest in bedding or better stocks later, or a better barrel if you want to really jazz it up.

 

[ForneyRider]

Highly recommend you put in as much in optics and mounts as the rifle.

I shoot AR in 223 with 36gr to 75gr bullets. My dad shoots .22-250 in 50gr V-Max exclusively.

Hornady Varmint ammunition for .223 and .22-250 is about the same.

40gr .223 is pretty close in fps to a 55gr .22-250.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

rem 700 25-06 for long range ground hogs
AR platform .223 for prairie dogs to 300 yds
Nikon optics, Harris bipod.

 

[usmc1371]

Don't discount the .204, its a good round for smaller vermin like chucks and sage rats. I'm still not totaly sold on it for coyotes just yet. My .204 just doesn't stop coyotes like the 25-06 but it has almost no recoil so I can spot my own hits/misses on sage rats.

The rifle I bought for sage rats, jack rabbits, corws and such is a Les Baer Custom Ultimate AR.204 Super Varmint Model. It is pretty spendy but if you miss it aint the rifles fault.

For alot less money you can get an upper for your bushy in .204, or 223 in a varmint configuration and throw a good scope on it and turn your one rifle into two.