New Varmint Shooter Looking for something EASY to use
- Thread starter Mbshooter
- Start date
I just love my Remington 243 VLS with 75gr Vmax ,but i'm not fur friendly.
Cheers
Bucky
cdnredneck_t3
Regular
It depends what you want to do. Do you want to call coyotes in as close as possible and not damage the hide, and shoot some gophers? If so a 204 ruger would be just fine.
Do you want to experiment with reloading and different bullet weights and use the rifle on coyotes at medium ranges and try and do some longer range gopher shooting for accuracy? If so look into a .223.
Do you drive around looking for Coyotes and shoot at them on the run out to 300 yards? If so look into a 22-250 with light bullets and it will be a laser for pretty much dead hold on out to 250 yards. 22-250 is not that great for gophers because it kicks a little too hard to keep sight of your target in the scope.
Do you want it to double as a deer rifle and are not concerned about the hides? If so go with something like a 243 or for more zip look at a 25-06 or 257 wheatherby.
Do you want to experiment with reloading and different bullet weights and use the rifle on coyotes at medium ranges and try and do some longer range gopher shooting for accuracy? If so look into a .223.
Do you drive around looking for Coyotes and shoot at them on the run out to 300 yards? If so look into a 22-250 with light bullets and it will be a laser for pretty much dead hold on out to 250 yards. 22-250 is not that great for gophers because it kicks a little too hard to keep sight of your target in the scope.
Do you want it to double as a deer rifle and are not concerned about the hides? If so go with something like a 243 or for more zip look at a 25-06 or 257 wheatherby.
I am going to try these this fall in my 22-250, so far the range tests were awesome and fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYigC49tnh8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYigC49tnh8
- Location
- Virden, MB
22-250 and 223 are always favorite varmint rounds. I personally prefer 223 because it is a little cheaper and with a fast twist and heavy efficient bullets you can easily turn it into a long range rig. Brass is readily available and cheap.
Cheap, cheap, cheap.
To me the whole point of shooting is to do it more and get good at it. I started with a 223 and will always recommend it.
If you want a versatile gun the 243 is good for deer sized game as well. Not as fur friendly but I thought it was fine.
Cheap, cheap, cheap.
To me the whole point of shooting is to do it more and get good at it. I started with a 223 and will always recommend it.
If you want a versatile gun the 243 is good for deer sized game as well. Not as fur friendly but I thought it was fine.
Thanks!
I am really surprised with the quick replies! I guess I should have been more specific with my posting. I want to get into 400+yard shooting (Manitoba is pretty flat). I do like the fact that a .243 can double as a deer gun but I would rather an accurate, longer, flatter shot. If anyone has experience with both .22-250 and .243 as far as 400+ yard range I'd love hear your opinion.
I will be reloading and playing with bullet types and grains. Ease and cost of reloading is pretty impt to me.
I am really surprised with the quick replies! I guess I should have been more specific with my posting. I want to get into 400+yard shooting (Manitoba is pretty flat). I do like the fact that a .243 can double as a deer gun but I would rather an accurate, longer, flatter shot. If anyone has experience with both .22-250 and .243 as far as 400+ yard range I'd love hear your opinion.
I will be reloading and playing with bullet types and grains. Ease and cost of reloading is pretty impt to me.
cdnredneck_t3
Regular
I am not a big fan of the .243 for varmint. Too slow and too much drop for me. The 22-250 is my go to Coyote gun. The problem with most 22-250’s is they are 1-14” twist rates. This limits your bullet selection to around that under 60 GR. area. The 22-250 with a 45 Gr or 50 GR bullet is great because sighted in at 1.5 inches high at 100 yards puts you around 6 inches low at 300 yards which is right in your range area.
The nice thing with the .223 is there are lots of factory guns in different twist rates available. A 1-9 will let you shoot the heavier bullets that will buck the wind better. Around that 400 yard mark the .223 still has lots of stopping power for coyotes. If you plan on setting it up as a target gun and using a scope with target turrets and you don’t mind dialling to your range go with the .223. The .223 is also mild enough to shoot gophers and still be able to watch the chunks fly through the scope.
The nice thing with the .223 is there are lots of factory guns in different twist rates available. A 1-9 will let you shoot the heavier bullets that will buck the wind better. Around that 400 yard mark the .223 still has lots of stopping power for coyotes. If you plan on setting it up as a target gun and using a scope with target turrets and you don’t mind dialling to your range go with the .223. The .223 is also mild enough to shoot gophers and still be able to watch the chunks fly through the scope.
I fell in love with the 204 Ruger. The factory ammo is the fastest on the market at over 4200 fps. It has zero recoil. Many factory ammo offerings or load your own.
I shoot gophers out to beyond 500M and I have dropped coyotes before they could take another step at distances in excess of 300M.
Zero recoil guns are awesome for being able to watch gophers turn to eruptions of goo through the scope.
Lots of factory guns out there and to be honest, as much as I would always customize a gun for competition, I love using totally stock factory Remington SPS Varmints for shooting grass rats.
243, 223, 22-250 and the 220 swift are all good cartridges, but my thoughts are that velocity is the most important attribute of a good gopher cartridge, and the 204 is very good for avoiding heat build up. This is where the 243 would be work against you.
I shoot gophers out to beyond 500M and I have dropped coyotes before they could take another step at distances in excess of 300M.
Zero recoil guns are awesome for being able to watch gophers turn to eruptions of goo through the scope.
Lots of factory guns out there and to be honest, as much as I would always customize a gun for competition, I love using totally stock factory Remington SPS Varmints for shooting grass rats.
243, 223, 22-250 and the 220 swift are all good cartridges, but my thoughts are that velocity is the most important attribute of a good gopher cartridge, and the 204 is very good for avoiding heat build up. This is where the 243 would be work against you.
Well, to use the example of 60gr. bullets, the .243 will be as fast, if not slightly more. Either one would get the job done. If you could find your self a fast twist .22-250, THEN you'd be set. And there's a wider variety of bullets for .224 to reload.
- Location
- Sudbury, On
Hey, you guys left out the .221 Fireball.
- Location
- Virden, MB
Are you going to be reloading?
Reloading
Yes I will be reloading, I am already set up for reloading 30-30, .308, 30-06, .348. I will admit I am not very familiar varmint loads or bullet trajectory. I would love to understand wind conditions and humidity and there effects filght path.
Yes I will be reloading, I am already set up for reloading 30-30, .308, 30-06, .348. I will admit I am not very familiar varmint loads or bullet trajectory. I would love to understand wind conditions and humidity and there effects filght path.
Aside from learning the trajectory of the round you’re shooting, wind will be your biggest worry. Google a couple ballistics calculator and if you know the BC of the bullet your shooting and the muzzle velocity you can calculate drop and wind drift as far out as you want. Humidity will have a fairly small effect on ballistics but basically higher humidity means less drop. This may sound counter intuitive at first, but water vapor is less dense than air and therefore more humidity means less drag.
Lots of good suggestions in here for calibers, pick whatever flavor suites you best. Personally I'd be looking to go with a .223 to start with. Cheap, plentiful ammo, easy on barrels compared to some of the others and is more than good for everything from gophers to coyotes.
Lots of good suggestions in here for calibers, pick whatever flavor suites you best. Personally I'd be looking to go with a .223 to start with. Cheap, plentiful ammo, easy on barrels compared to some of the others and is more than good for everything from gophers to coyotes.
- Location
- Virden, MB
Hear is how I learned.
use JBM's trajectory calculator.
www.jbmballistics.com/~jbm/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.0.cgi (seems to be down right now?)
Just fill in the fields for bullet weight, cal, coefficiency, and muzzle velocity. Leave everything else at default. You can find all the other info by using other tools like http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp to see what speeds you can get from different loads. Also visit Bergers or Hornady, Sierra's website to see what the ballistic coefficiency of there different bullets are. Doing this you can compare what effects wind and distance has on bullet drop and drift. Also what energy your bullet will have at different ranges.
You can play forever checking different bullets and calibers until you find what suits your needs.
