New shooter looking for a Varmint gun

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Wulfgard

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I'm a new member here on CGN looking for some advice for a varmint rifle with a bit more reach than my 22 lr. I live in southern Ontario so I'm limited to a 270 and under caliber wise, not that I'd use a 270 for varmints.;) Most of my shooting is going to be coyotes but I'm not averse to groundhogs or heading to the range when I find one that is.

I have no real experience shooting long range but I'm looking to learn from some family who hunt varmints frequently. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive since I can shoot 12 gauge all day and not be bothered. The family I'll likely be hunting with use a 222 and a 257 Wby mag respectively.

Any input on caliber and make/model? Any help is appreciated, I do plan to start reloading when I have a bit more disposable income so that adds the 220 swift to the list. All I can think of offhand for calibers are the 204 Ruger, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, 222 and the 243.

Cheers,
Wulfgard
 
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A good 223 is a great varmint cartridge. Reasonable ammo prices as well. As far as brands and models you are on your own. Rifles fit everyone differently and I recommend you shouldering many different kinds in order to find which one fits you the best. The right one will definitely stand out.
The same goes for a .270.
Once you find the right rifle then you can top it off with your desired optics.
 
Wulfgard said:
I'm a new member here on CGN looking for some advice for a varmint rifle with a bit more reach than my 22 lr. I live in southern Ontario so I'm limited to a 270 and under caliber wise, not that I'd use a 270 for varmints.;) Most of my shooting is going to be coyotes but I'm not averse to groundhogs or heading to the range when I find one that is.

I have no real experience shooting long range but I'm looking to learn from some family who hunt varmints frequently. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive since I can shoot 12 gauge all day and not be bothered. The family I'll likely be hunting with use a 222 and a 257 Wby mag respectively.

Any input on caliber and make/model? Any help is appreciated, I do plan to start reloading when I have a bit more disposable income so that adds the 220 swift to the list. All I can think of offhand for calibers are the 204 Ruger, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, 222 and the 243.

Cheers,
Wulfgard
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FYI, i'm in Essex County and I can tell you that here and Kent County there are 6mm bylaws that supersede the hunting regs. I am a fan of 243...if you become an avid yote hunter you can always get a dedicated rifle but I like the 243 because it doubles as a dandy deer cartridge. It won't do any more damage than the 257 weatherby that's for sure. 223 gets my vote for a dedicated yote gun because of ammo cost and all the neat bdc reticle scopes available for it.
 
I don't have a 223 but a friend has one and it is nice to shoot and accurate as well.
There is other cartridges but ammo is harder to get and costly. 225 Winchester, 6mm Remington
I use the 243 for coyotes and ground hogs and also have a 22 hornet.

Starting with the 223 would make good sense and shoot as much as you can.
I also thing a lighter rifle is easy to carry for extended walkabouts.

David
 
Hi go with 223, they are cheap to shoot, easy and forgiving to reload if starting out in reloading. I have a Savage Weather Warrior in 223 with Bushnel Ultra legend HD 4.5-14, Burris tactical rings, pictany rail,great all round accurate package
 
.22-250 is the cats azz for a varmit cartridge. Same bullet as .223 but with more vim and vigor. More speedy and longer range killer! Cost for ammo is a bit more though.

PS.... buy a gun in a standard hunter style barrel.....hunting coyotes or anything really involves carrying that rifle. It sucks to drag a heavy one!
 
.223 is the way to go. Cheaper ammo and components. Shoots plenty flat out to 300 yards and more than enough power for coyotes. .22-250 or .243 if you really want to hammer them and don't mind paying more for ammo.

Ruger, CZ, remington, weatherby/howa, tikka, savage and others all make decent rifles. A mid weight barrel around 22" is perfect for walking around. Heavy/long barrels are cumbersome and tiring after a few stands.
 
I picked up a Ruger American Predator in 22-250, as well as a Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 4.5-14x42 scope with the mil-dot reticle and steel Weaver rings.

Coyotes BEWARE!!!

Cheers
Jay






 
A few more questions. How far you want to shoot coyotes at? Are you looking for some fun as well. I have .222 tikka for longer distance. But for fun I have semi auto .223. Tavor and Ruger mini 14 target model. Love the ruger mini, the tavor not so much. I have shot with guys with 22-250. That's my next gun choice.
 
Wulfgard said:
I'm a new member here on CGN looking for some advice for a varmint rifle with a bit more reach than my 22 lr. I live in southern Ontario so I'm limited to a 270 and under caliber wise, not that I'd use a 270 for varmints.;) Most of my shooting is going to be coyotes but I'm not averse to groundhogs or heading to the range when I find one that is.

I have no real experience shooting long range but I'm looking to learn from some family who hunt varmints frequently. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive since I can shoot 12 gauge all day and not be bothered. The family I'll likely be hunting with use a 222 and a 257 Wby mag respectively.

Any input on caliber and make/model? Any help is appreciated, I do plan to start reloading when I have a bit more disposable income so that adds the 220 swift to the list. All I can think of offhand for calibers are the 204 Ruger, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, 222 and the 243.

Cheers,
Wulfgard
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The 22-250 is the best and by far, only 6 in hold over at 400 when sighted in at 200. Get a savage axis ll and you won't regret it. I could kill squirrels at 200 all day long. The only time I missed was because I could't go prone position. That gun will be less than 600$ with the weaver 3x9x40 with rings included. You can't go wrong with that. Since you said you gonna start reloading the cost of the 22-250 ammo will go dramatically down, get some hornady 50gr v max, save the brass and you'd be able to reload that brass more than 10 times. A pound of powder is 7000 grains and you'd be filling your casing with around 36 grains of varget. 7000/36=194 (a lbs of varget is around 45$) The 50 gr v max bullets are around 30$/100 and primers are 10$/200 so for 115$ + hst you'd be able to reload 200 rounds (factory is around 40$/20) . If you compare it to the 223 which use around 22 gr of powder, after reloading 200 of 223 you'd have enough leftover to reload another 124 rounds of 223. So now since I owned both calibers in the same platform, I still have the 250, I can tell you that I got rid of the 223 within 6 months because the casing is too small for me to be comfortable reloading it and it's like having a pea shooter too. The trajectory isn't really flat if you compare it to the 22-250. I'd suggest you to not make the same mistake I did and go for the 250 first.
 
I wish I knew the distances but I apparently can't start going with my family till I have the rifle (and frankly I'd rather just tag along a few times to learn a bit first). As for fun? Any trigger time for me is fun. My dad has a 308 in the safe I'm free to use so that has me leaning towards 243 for the common brass. My cousin shooting the 257 loads his own so I think he'd be cool with getting me started on the reloading.

Jay I've been eying that Ruger American for a bit, are they any good? My family are Rem/Moss or Weatherby shooters btw. Brand doesn't matter but I'm certainly not gonna go buy a Sako for my first dedicated centerfire.
 
Wulfgard said:
I wish I knew the distances.

Jay I've been eying that Ruger American for a bit, are they any good?
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It doesn't matter that you don't know the distances... You want a flat shooting varmint gun... 22-250 or 204 etc

The Ruger leaves a lot to be desired if you are a traditional guy who likes deep bluing & beautiful wood.

On the other hand, the Ruger offers A LOT for the price point & looks/feels rugged enough for a rifle that will get used for hunting.

Have a look at the specs on Ruger's site, I think you will like them. Nice weight for the Predator, varmint profile barrel & a faster twist for heavier bullets, not to mention an integral rail for mounting your scope.

Cheers
Jay
 
Jay said:
It doesn't matter that you don't know the distances... You want a flat shooting varmint gun... 22-250 or 204 etc

The Ruger leaves a lot to be desired if you are a traditional guy who likes deep bluing & beautiful wood.

On the other hand, the Ruger offers A LOT for the price point & looks/feels rugged enough for a rifle that will get used for hunting.

Have a look at the specs on Ruger's site, I think you will like them. Nice weight for the Predator, varmint profile barrel & a faster twist for heavier bullets, not to mention an integral rail for mounting your scope.

Cheers
Jay
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I second that, It doesn't matter that you don't know the distance. On a second note, if you don't want to use a range finder and not be worried about the dope (like myself) I'd lean towards the lighter pills like 40 gr v max. They are amazing with a 1:12 twist. I shot up to 400 yds, never had the luck to hunt any critters further than that so far. You can barely see a crow without a scope at that distance. A heavier pill would be better for 500 yards and up tho.

Now Wulfgard based on your statments, you need to get a 223 and a 22-250. One for plinking with a cheap scope and another one for hunting with a vortex viper pst, reticle EBR-2C FFP With that set up you gonna be the nightmare of every critter that'd have the malediction to be in your sight. Buy once cry once.

Good luck and may shooting, reloading and hunting stay in your life until death, Amen.
 
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Dope means wind, correct? And can anyone recommend a gun club to join in the GTA? The closest one to me has a mile long waiting list and has been closed 3 of the last four times I've tried to go for Trap since you don't need a membership to do that.

Jay I just had look at the specs for the American Predator, seems like a good buy and lighter too which I like. A decent scope and bipod and I'm still unsure of the caliber though that's because I tend to favor off the wall stuff hence my recent purchase of an old 16 gauge Cooey 84.

Anyone got experience with the 204 Ruger? or the 220 Swift?

Cheers,
Wulfgard
 
franktank said:
The 22-250 is the best and by far, only 6 in hold over at 400 when sighted in at 200.
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The 50gr vmax will drop 19-20" at 400m with a 200m zero. If it started at 3700fps (typical 22-250 speeds). The same bullet at 3300fps will drop 25-26" at the same range zero.

Yes the 22-250 still has better ballistics...but it's not magic.


And heres a fun fact...A 50gr shot at 3700fps (22-250)will pass 400m going roughly 2060fps
An 80gr shot at 2850fps (.223) will pass 400 at 2060fps.
 
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cdn shooter said:
The 50gr vmax will drop 19-20" at 400m with a 200m zero. If it started at 3700fps (typical 22-250 speeds). The same bullet at 3300fps will drop 25-26" at the same range zero.

Yes the 22-250 still has better ballistics...but it's not magic.


And heres a fun fact...A 50gr shot at 3700fps (22-250)will pass 400m going roughly 2060fps
An 80gr shot at 2850fps (.223) will pass 400 at 2060fps.
Click to expand...

6 in hold over is based on my measurements with a 40 gr v max. Don't believe all the numbers that you can find on google. Shoot, know your distance, measure and enjoy the smell of gun powder!!

DOPE means Data Observed from Previous Engagements. It's the bullet drop calculation and how your bullet is gonna shift in the wind. That's why we say: I'm gonna calculate my DOPE. All the measurements you need to know to adjust for windage and elevation.
 
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