What is the best centerfire varmint cartridge?

[mnhntr]

.223 if I am saving hides and .260 if I am not saving hides. I read your other post and the .223 will take our big northern coyotes out to 600yds with the right bullets. I do not need to use more powder in a 22-250 or swift to achieve the same dead coyote. I also like my AR15s for hunting and the other bigger 22 centerfires are to long for the AR platform. I do not feel the .223 give up anything to any of the other common 22 centerfire cartridges.

 

[Teachu2]

I'm a .223 fan to 300 yards, but I own and use four .22-250s for the long shots.

 

[sage5907]

I would also recommend a 25-06. With 100 grain bullets it will handle your varmint hunting out to 400 yards, and if you want to use it for long range antelope and deer you are good to go. I have had three of them and they were all very accurate. At long range the bullet gets there so fast it's amazing.

 

[SC Shooter]

Depends on your varmit. I have harvested many a ground hog with a .22 LR Hollow Point. bigger critters such as coyotes or smaal hogs, I like my .223

 

[handloader357]

One more vote for 22-250. I love my 223s too but the 250 is just more accurate in my particular rifle.

 

[redneck2]

If it's an occasional shot, I'd probably pick up my .22-250. If it's prairie dogs where you have hundreds of shots a day, a combo of my AR and CZ in .204. As others have said, the .223 is great to 300ish, then the .204 takes over.

 

[hotajax]

Ditto on the .243 Win. I don't claim to own every varmint caliber that ever came down the pike, but it's a great round.

 

[benzy2]

Ill take a .223 simply because I have plenty of rifles in it, ammo is cheap and it is widely available. Others are ballistically better, but I'd rather shoot a rifle a lot at the range and then take it in the field when needed. With that in mind, .223 does just fine.

 

[savanahsdad]

savannas dad. You have some pretty large velocity deviations. Hopefully these weren't all loaded to the same level.

shot #1 was with clean barrel may have had some oil left in it, I only ran 1 dry patch through it before I shot , and shot #4 was high and left of the eyes , so only #2 #3 and #5 are true readings , and grouped under MOA

 

[powder]

Without reloading, hands down .223. If you reload, hands down 22-250.

Yup.

 

[Sniper66]

I have .22 Hornet, .204, .223, and .243; which is best??? Damned if I know. I've killed 100s of critters and love shooting all of them.

 

[aka108]

Had a home in Nevada. Had a large prarie dog colony about 100 feet from the garage. Got a bunch of them using a air rifle. Not much on shooting coyotes. They feed mostly on rodents. A good cow won't give up her calf to one of those critters either. The rodents burrow and den underground. Many a good horse has broken a leg stepping into the holes leading into these rodent dens. Coyotes do serve some usefell purposes. They clean up dead carcassess and eat the most God awful stuff you can imagine.

 

[Cee Zee]

I have a .223 for that purpose. Use heavier bullets and you'll get clean kills at 400 yards IMO. You might see a little more wind drift than with a .22-250 but not that much. I thought hard about buying one of those two calibers and settled on the .223 because of the cost and variety of ammo.

 

[Varminthound]

I still like my 220 Swift.

 

[km101]

22-250 is my rifle of choice, with the 6mm Rem a close second.

But for really long range work (which I don't get much) it would be the .240 Weatherby.

 

[IndianaBoy]

220 Swift of course.

 

[gonefishin1]

I don't own either, but I am thinking about buying either the 223 wssm or 6-284. After lots of reading I think these 2 are pretty good choices.

 

[Gordon]

.22-250

 

[Art Eatman]

If I were serious about 400 yards, either the Swift or the .22-250. They both work quite well.

For whatever reason or for no particular reason, the aesthetics of the Swift cartridge appeal to me more than the .22-250. Performance-wise, I never noticed any difference.

 

[psyshack]

For a true varmit round. I like my .22 Hornet setup. I have brass 40 years old that keeps on getting the job done when I call on it. A buddy of mine bought two set of old Herter's die's at a estate sale for me along with brass and period bullets.

I'm setting here right now looking at 100 ct boxes of Sierra 40gn and 45gn bullets, soft points and over 2k count of brass and the newest components are 40 years old. LMAO!! The newest bullets came from the first wal-mart in the country at $2.67 per 100 ct.

I like my classic .224 Hornet.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

a 22250 is all a guy needs.

 

[LT.Diver]

Another vote for the 22-250.

 

[chaser_2332]

6mm creedmoor

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Here in the Ozarks, the .22 Hornet -- if you know how to handload it -- is a real winner. I rarely get shots over 200 yards, and a 35 grain V-Max at 3,000 fps will do a coyote nicely.

 

[Plastikosmd]

Big 22-250 fan, also a 243 fan. Would like a swift but with those 2 I don't have the need. If u reload, the sky is the limit, mundane and pleasant to barrel smoking.