What exactly does "Varmint" mean?

greg11

greg11

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When I see a Remington Varmint or a Tikka Varmint, does this have any specific meaning other than model name? I see the T3 listing on Cabelas mentions that the T3 Varmint has a "heavy barrel that will keep up with fast paced varmint shooting without heating up" or something like that. Is that what Varmint means? Heavier barrel?
 
I think that's pretty much it, a marketing term for a rifle with a heavy barrel and small game cartridge chambering. Sometimes a heavy stock, but not typically a benchrest type stock.
 
It means it is a rifle specifically designed for shooting varmints, which often means it is chambered in a fast, flat, and far shooting caliber such as .22-250, in a heavy and accurate rifle, hence generally longer, and larger around barrels.
 
Nick0danger said:
but they make them in 30 caliber rounds too?
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Yep! I got stuck in "varmit class" at our local 500 meter shoot with my .300 RUM sendero? So a couple months later I try'd it on a Coyote and sure enough it does have enough thump to knock him down! go figure.

When I think "varmit" rifle, I think heavy barrels, fast little bullets and good times!
 
Look up Kenny Jarrett and Jarrett Rifles. The first time I heard that term was with reference to Kenny's flat-shooting, super-accurate bolt rifles purpose-built for shooting deer clear across those 600-acre soybean plots (beanfields) in the Southern States. The phrase has come to mean any rifle of that ilk.
 
I reckon a "varmint gun" would be one that Yosemite Sam would find desirable.

Yosemite Sam: "Any one of you lily livered, bow legged varmints care to slap leather with me? In case any of ya get any idears, ya better know yer dealin' with. I'm the hootiness, tootiness, shootiness, bob tailed wildcat in the west."

I have always thought that a varmint was a small target often shot at long range. Like a woodchuck in the east or a prairie-dog in the west.

A flat shooting, tight grouping rifle is required and does not have to provide the energy and knock down that a "big game" rifle does.
 
varmint rifle = the most fun kind of rifle

low recoil & accurate

gophers, coyotes, rabbit, pigeons, magpies, skunks and crows make up about 95% of what i shoot! a rig that is capable of shooting small targets at long distances is my favorite kind of rifle!
 
Duffy said:
I reckon a "varmint gun" would be one that Yosemite Sam would find desirable.

Yosemite Sam: "Any one of you lily livered, bow legged varmints care to slap leather with me? In case any of ya get any idears, ya better know yer dealin' with. I'm the hootiness, tootiness, shootiness, bob tailed wildcat in the west."
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He shoulda met up with Black Jacques Shellac: "Da rough-est, tough-est, mukluk-est Canuck in da Nort'west!"
Love those old Looney Tunes!
 
I would say it implies a gun with a higher degree of accuracy, usually having heavy barrel, and perhaps lighter trigger. Usually chambered in a short action with a flat shooting trajectory. Minute of gopher is a lot tougher to achieve than minute of moose.
 
Varmint has nothing to do with the way a rifle is built. The concept started sticking to rifles because these are the ones you'd use for small game, in order to keep furs/hides in the best condition possible, to get the most value out of it for selling. The high velocity 50-70 grain bullets demand a heavy barrel the live an extended life, as 4000+fps worth of friction can/will burn out a bore a lot faster than your 2700fps .30-06. Mags usually hold a couple more shells too.

I'd definately read your local regulations before using a .22-250 or .223 on deer.
 
And here I thought it was like a "Sport" or "Custom" decal on a truck when it's often called that because it's equipped with little more than the decal package....
 
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