Varmint cartridges

B

brybenn

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
53   0   0
Location
southern ontario
In talking with several others i hunt with ive noticed pretty much everyone uses either the 223 or the 22 250 for varmints up to coyotes. Mind you we are all from southern ontario. Now i admit im fielding a 223 this season as it shot so well i couldn't bring myself to rebarrel it to a 20cal just yet. Got me thinking does anyone else still use oldschool varmint cartridges? 17s and 20s? Are the 6s and quarter bores just passed over for the main stream 22s and 6.5cm?

My renewed interest in varmint rifles got me thinking so what do you use and where do you it and for what?
 
For me the main attraction to the 223 is ammo cost and barrel life. This also let's you put in a lot of trigger time which translates into good results in the field. That being said I hunt coyote quite a bit and the 223 has it's limitations in comparison to all the other faster and flatter shooting calibers. I only take the 223 when I'm going to be in an area where I know my shot distance is limited.

In big open fields my 25-06 and 85gr NBT always comes with me. But I'm not a fur saver... I just want them dead.
 
I use both .223 and .22-250, but I use others a whole lot more... my favourite in tighter cover is the .22 Hornet, and for open areas, I like .220 Swift and .22 TTH... I also use .22 PPC and .22 BR. For awhile I did use .204 Ruger and. 20 Vartarg, but I hated reloading those little pills... ditto for .17 cal pills... only doing .22 cal CF now. I would say that my .22 H, .223 and .220 see the field more than the others... but that is partly a platform thing too, as they are in Sporter bolt action rifles, as opposed to bench and hybrid bench/sporters.

I could happily spend the rest of my varmint/predator career with just the Hornet and Swift... I love both of them.
 
jiffx2781 said:
For me the main attraction to the 223 is ammo cost and barrel life. This also let's you put in a lot of trigger time which translates into good results in the field. That being said I hunt coyote quite a bit and the 223 has it's limitations in comparison to all the other faster and flatter shooting calibers. I only take the 223 when I'm going to be in an area where I know my shot distance is limited.

In big open fields my 25-06 and 85gr NBT always comes with me. But I'm not a fur saver... I just want them dead.
Click to expand...

Love my 2506. It needs a new barrel though
 
CZ 527 .22 K-Hornet, Sako A1 Varmint .222 Rem, Rem 700 VS custom .223 Rem, Tikka T3 Varmint .204 Ruger and Tikka T3Lite .243 Win. gets the job done for me
 
222's in a rem 700HB and a rem 600, both with the same handloads using 4198 and zmax 50gr bullets. The 243's are close behind along with the b78 in 6mm with the hex barrel. 222s are for whatever the critter, sure made the gophers pop last spring. The 243's/6mm are great for coyote and the odd deer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom