Need opinions on a varmint rifle

I would be tempted too. I have a CZ 457 in 22 mag i like it a lot. It''s a shame they discontinued the 557 line. I wanted one in 7.62x39. I am happy with my Ruger American in 7.62x39 though.

In my mind when you say varmint rifle, I think .22-250.

The CZ 550 Varmint American (in .22-250) would be my choice.

If you are looking for a 308 you pretty much can't go wrong with the CZ. My stock CZ 527's have pretty much out shot all my other bolt guns.

igotta40 said:

I’m looking at this CZ and a Savage 12 single shot that’s twice the price.

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That’s a tough choice…I’d go with the CZ though I can’t fault my M12’s.

Savages are pretty much a dime a dz.... not really but,you get my drift.

CZ557 varmint,walnut not laminated.... never seen one "in the wild".

I have a BUNCH of Savages and a cpl CZ's. I'd buy the 557 hands down.

Really like my 110 Storm in .223. Almost boringly accurate at 100 yards with good hunting rounds and OTMs .

The Savage’s generally great shooters despite their their barrels full of tooling chatter. I always kid my buddies that the chatter reduces friction giving me higher velocities . But the CZ’s have character that the Savages lack and I’d choose the CZ most every time.

igotta40 said:

I’m looking at this CZ and a Savage 12 single shot that’s twice the price.

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A $1400 Savage 12? You can get them $1000 cheaper at Cabelas or Basspro

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/savage-12-fv-bolt-action-rifle

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/savage-12-fv-bolt-action-rifle

At least when they are in stock. A couple years ago Savage even offered a $100 mail in rebate (when I picked mine up) but times are not tough enough to offer incentives yet.

I would certainly get the CZ at half the price, if that’s all you have to pick from, that’s currently available.

I've always wondered about the use of the term "varmint" to describe certain animals that may be hunted, and the rifles used to hunt them. "Varmint" is not a word. It's an illiterate mispronunciation of "vermin." So, this is an effort to portray gun owners as rubes and rednecks. Why are we falling for this?

I have been reading about varmint rifles since my first Gun Digest of 1957 and it wasn't new then.
I don't think it is a conspiracy comparable to "assault weapon."

And it is a dictionary listing anyhow, so I think that makes it a "real word."
To wit
1: an animal considered a pest
specifically : one classed as vermin and unprotected by game law

Now when they start calling them "sniper rifles" it is time to get worried.

Didn't Yosemite Sam proclaim Buggs Bunny a varmit?

I would have never thought of a 308 was a varmint gun. That's a big rat. More like ground hogs (marmots to some of you), coyotes, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, etc. Doesn't take a 308 to whap any of those.

So term "varmint gun" more than likely describes a heavy barreled gun that can also see use for targets. Heavy gun, light bullet = low recoil, plus flat shooting and when used on varmints, pink mist.

Howa 9700 said:

Didn't Yosemite Sam proclaim Buggs Bunny a varmit?

I would have never thought of a 308 was a varmint gun. That's a big rat. More like ground hogs (marmots to some of you), coyotes, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, etc. Doesn't take a 308 to whap any of those.

So more than likely describes a heavy barreled gun that can also see use for targets. Heavy gun, light bullet = low recoil, plus flat shooting and pink mist.

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Just my own opinion, but I`ve always considered the 308 a great all around caliber. You can go from paper punching all the way through varmints to bigger mammal game animals.

I recently bought a Savage 110 in 22-250. It's probably the best shooting rifle I've had in many years! Bud's had a good price on it as well.

Varmint rifle and 308 don't belong in the same sentence unless you consider bears and ungulates to be varmints, but it sounds like a nice bench rifle if you like it.

oldfortyfiveauto said:

The Savage’s generally great shooters despite their their barrels full of tooling chatter. I always kid my buddies that the chatter reduces friction giving me higher velocities . But the CZ’s have character that the Savages lack and I’d choose the CZ most every time.

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In no way should this question be considered argumentative, CZ makes fine rifles and I`m new to the game of rifle shooting, but what constitutes the " character " that the CZ rifles possess that the Savage rifles do not? That`s an interesting term to apply to a firearm.

CZ makes a pretty nice rifle. Some of the ones that I have seen have weird chambers. It seems like the QC may be lacking. One of my buddies has one with an over generous neck that splits brass on the first firing. It shoots good!

I am another that doesn't think varmint and .308 go together well, but Remington has felt differently for a long time.

someguy2800 said:

Varmint rifle and 308 don't belong in the same sentence

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Now, maybe. We live in prosperous times and it is feasible to have a golf bag full of specialty rifles.
But once upon a time, one good rifle was about it and if you wanted to shoot a groundhog you just put some 110 or 125 gr hollow points in your .30 and went after them.
The upper crust could have a .220 Swift and call them woodchucks.

“Varmint” might be a derivative synonym to the modern form of its base word, but its documented use puts it twice as old as the United States of America… it’s a word with as much validity in usage as most words we use today.

Interestingly, in most of the Midwest states I have lived, folks seem to differentiate that “vermin” is plural, or maybe infinitive, suggesting a class of animals, whereas an individual animal would be a “varmint.” I’ve also noticed “varmints” often contains larger animals like coyotes and even hogs, whereas “vermin” typically draws the line at invasive small game, especially rodentia, skunks, opossums, frequently drawing the line even below coons. I’ve even had that conversation with Rick Paillet of Verminator (now Lucky Duck) Predator calls about the common perception that folks think his calls MAKE the sound of vermin, but he markets them as sounds to ATTRACT vermin - as in coyotes, fox, and bobcats. Neither are wrong, but colloquial use of the words favors a different definition than the owner’s intent.

In sporting arms, “Varmint” spent a lot of years describing any heavy barreled model, especially in short action. Notably, the comparison between the Rem 700 Sendero SF and VSSF - effectively the only difference was action length and associated cartridge chamberings, so two nearly identical rifles - one was dubbed a Varmint rifle, and the other a long range Easement rifle (the Spanish side sounds sexier, eh?)…

Way back, we saw “varmint” rifles being chambered in 308 largely for 3 reasons: 1) “varmints” loosely included “coyotes” which some folks believe deserve more bullet weight down range, 2) we didn’t have “long range precision” models or “target” models like we do now, so a lot of casual or even competitive long range shooters used “varmint” rifles (counting the casual “snipers” in here as well), and 3) it was rare to see any short action mode not offered in the 308. We didn’t start talking about “Predator” rifles until really around 2010, differentiated from “Varmint” rifles typically by features like a DBM, a more svelte stock profile, and a slightly lighter and often shorter barrel contour - and often with a faster twist. Which was about the same time we started seeing “Tactical” models like the 700 SPS Tactical, or Savage 10/110 LRT. We didn’t really see the “Precision” moniker introduced until 2015, again, commonly differentiated from “Varmint” rifles by twist, slight contour differences, maybe a DBM, and/or stock profile. So for a generation or two, heavy barreled factory rifles were “Varmint” rifles. Hell, when Remington introduced their R700 Police (predecessor to the PSS, Police Sniper System), it was simply an R700 VS - Varmint Synthetic - dropped into a new stock…

These days, it would be less common to see a Varmint model in 308 than in the past, as marketers have figured out how to better present those models as “Long Range Target” or “LR Precision,” or “predator,” or “tactical,” especially driving the idea that a consumer might need a “varmint” rifle in 223 with a “predator” rifle in 243win, and a “tactical” or “precision” rifle in 6.5 creed or 308win… and offering sufficiently different features in each to dissuade the consumer from thinking they’re just 3 copies of the same rifle…

So ~25yrs ago, if you wanted a heavy barreled factory rifle, or the barreled action therefrom, you were buying a “varmint” rifle.

Jim Watson said:

Now, maybe. We live in prosperous times and it is feasible to have a golf bag full of specialty rifles.
But once upon a time, one good rifle was about it and if you wanted to shoot a groundhog you just put some 110 or 125 gr hollow points in your .30 and went after them.
The upper crust could have a .220 Swift and call them woodchucks.

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That was me for a long long time. My only centerfire rifle was a tikka 25-06 loaded with either an 87 grain hollowpoint for yotes or 120 grain soft points for deer, and it performed admirably at the task. A heavy barreled 308 would not be my personal choice for a one and only rifle, but to each his own.

How heavy is it, lbs wise? Might depend on your style of varmint hunting. I had a Ruger M77 V/T that was a great shooter but was heavy and a pain to carry, but was great on a bench. It’s gone and a better carry rifle replaced it. That CZ would be nice though!

Bwana John said:

In my mind when you say varmint rifle, I think .22-250.

The CZ 550 Varmint American (in .22-250) would be my choice.

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The .22-250 Remington was my first and only dedicated varmint cartridge...in a Rem 700 ADL. It shot dimes at 100 yards and gave a little "change" back. My buddy and I both got them, after using our hunting .30-06s for several years. The percentage of kills went down at first, because we couldn't "bounce" rounds into woodchucks with the frangible rounds. However, the little bullets did a great job.