Varmint Rifle
Question:
Either round is an excellent round for varmint hunting. My father-in-law hunts with a 223 and has taken groundhogs at 350 yards. It is all preference on your part. Also price is another factor. Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
> Hello all, > I’m thinking about getting a varmint rifle. I’m considering either a > .223 or .22-250. What advantages do either of these cartridges have over > one another?? Also, what rifle/scope combinations would you recommend?? > Thanks in advance…
The 22-250 has about 90 yards more energy and about 30 yards yards more point-blank range for varmint-sized targets. To achieve this it makes a lot more noise, produces more recoil, makes a lot more muzzle jump, uses more powder to reload, stretches brass more quickly, and fouls the bore much worse than the 223. Anybody who tells you the 22-250 is much flatter shooting has only to check their ballistics tables. It’s really only about 30 yards longer in point-blank range for the 3-inch diameter target, all else being equal. Accuracy potential of the two is roughly equivalent, and excellent. My two varmint hunting buddies both use 22-250, while I use the 223. I’m really glad I opted for the 223 (against their protests) and I have become the best one-shot killer of small varmints of the group. The 22-250 just doesn’t give them a real advantage in the field, where the extra 30 yards of point-blank range is lost in the noise of uncertain distances, and the extra recoil and noise is more likely to produce a flinch when shooting. When I develop loads and practice at the range, I can shoot my 223 all day with no recoil or blast- induced fatigue. No, shooting the 22-250 is not like shooting a bigger-bore magnum, but at the range or in the varmint fields, where hundreds of rounds can be fired in a day, ask anybody — it adds up. And I can usually watch my target being hit through the scope, while the 22-250 shooters almost never can. I guess I’m attracted to the quieter, more efficient approach which is the 223. I highly recommend the Remington 700 VS. It’s the best out-of-box accuracy platform available at a very reasonable price. Unless you get a bad barrel (always possible with a mass-produced factory gun) it is a guaranteed tack driver. I can routinely hide five shots under a nickel at 200 yards with handloads from the bench. With several factory loads it will shoot 1.5-inch groups at 200 yds.! Have a gunsmith tune the trigger to a nice smooth 2 lbs and put a Leupold 10x scope on it, sight it in dead on at 220 yards, and learn how to use your reticle for holdover out to 300 yards or so. Brian Adams Reno Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
Tell us what you are going to hunt. — Henry Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
Hello all, I’m thinking about getting a varmint rifle. I’m considering either a .223 or .22-250. What advantages do either of these cartridges have over one another?? Also, what rifle/scope combinations would you recommend?? Thanks in advance… Daniel NAHC Life Member Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
