need some thoughts on caliber selection

B

brybenn

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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southern ontario
What better place than the depths of cgn members right. Next years project will see a bolt action rifle savage or howa sitting in an mdt ess chassis as I think I'm going to like the style. Just put a savage rimfire in one and I'm loving it
My local range is 100 yards and the country places I hunt are down to 300 yards. I have the heavier calibers well covered but on the lower end I have an early inherited Winchester 70 featherweight in 223 that's all but useless and a 25/06. The 25 is getting a new barrel and so should the Winchester but since it's still technically my dad's I'm leaving it stock. It's to nice for what I want anyway

What I want is cheap shooting. Flat to 300 yards. Low recoil I want to spot my hits. Able to take coyotes at 300 yards. Most would be shot in the 50-75 yard range.
I've told the wife its for my daughter to learn firearm safety with and it's adjustable for when she grows. My daughter should be born around the start of Feb
So with all that's on my mind I'm stuck on head stamp
20 vartarg
20 practical
204 ruger
222
223
223ai
22-250
I am not sure if the 20s will work with the mdt mags yet.
I do reload so that's not an issue. The rifle will be mostly a range toy but will see the field while coyote hunting. Shots over 300 yards are very unlikely. I'd also like to stay in the 20-22 range as it's easier to buy in bulk
Any opinions or experience welcome
 
22/250 or .223 a distant second if you want to do it the easy way. The 22/250 has an edge on the coyotes and the .223 for throwing a pile of rounds down range due to less heat.
 
6x45. More down range energy then 223 and big game legal where you need a min of 23 caliber. Also worth a mention I am getting 2994fps with 85gr bullets in a 26" barrel, 3389fps with 58gr vmax, also 105's over 2600fps.
 
I would take the 223 over the others if you plan on shooting a lot. You can buy military brass cheap for reloading and there is an immense amount of reloading data for the 223 compared to almost any other caliber.
If it's a purely hunting rig with fewer shots being fired then the other cartridges might shine in other areas. All the cartridges can be equally accurate to the distances you are stating and all are great at killing coyotes.
 
22-250 or 223...i would suggest either one of these, both will cover most of your tslking points.
 
HChammer said:
In a regular hunting situation I wouldn't be concerned about that, you would have to shoot a lot for that to happen and since you specified "cheap" you would probably upgrade the rifle before this would happen.
Click to expand...

By cheap I meant projectiles that don't cost a dollar a piece and burn 70+ grs of powder

It will have a select match barrel

As a mostly range toy it will see a lot of rounds. However it will see use against crows and coyotes as well
 
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