ANATION
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I picked 22-250 because speed is king for me. Also, my 22-250 rifles have been the most accurate I've owned. Don't get me wrong, I love .223 and shot it a lot, but I like the added velocity of the old 22 varminter.
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Eagle 17
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I think your right it looks like the 30gr bullets are Varmint Grenades,
they're the smallest bullet I could find to reload that could push out to 4,000fps and hold up.
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It seems that most people who own .223s don't handload because most use semi-autos and aren't interested in small groups. I'm not one and have three bolt-action .223s, but no semi-autos. The last time I bought .223 brass, it was high-quality Starline and it's helped to make some very accurate ammo, using a mild amount of Varget powder and Sierra 52 grain HP match bullets that shoot 0.2-0.3 MOA groups at 100 yards with my fairly new Rem 700 ADL synthetic that has been pillar & glass-bedded and free-floated.
No, a rifle doesn't have to shoot that accurately to kill varmints to 200+ yards, but I'm grateful that it does. The scope is the 3-9x Bushnell that was on my son's .30-36 when his exuberant dog knocked it down and bent it while said son was looking for some of his hunting stuff early on opening day. We swapped scopes and I straightened this one with a rubber hammer on my workbench. It still works great!
(My son missed a nice buck {6 times} at 100 yards in his gravel access road behind my house, before bringing the rifle to me to figure out what the problem was. I saw that it was bent, so we swapped scopes and sighted the other one in.)
No, a rifle doesn't have to shoot that accurately to kill varmints to 200+ yards, but I'm grateful that it does. The scope is the 3-9x Bushnell that was on my son's .30-36 when his exuberant dog knocked it down and bent it while said son was looking for some of his hunting stuff early on opening day. We swapped scopes and I straightened this one with a rubber hammer on my workbench. It still works great!
(My son missed a nice buck {6 times} at 100 yards in his gravel access road behind my house, before bringing the rifle to me to figure out what the problem was. I saw that it was bent, so we swapped scopes and sighted the other one in.)
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Eagle 17
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Before I picked up this inexpensive Savage Axis XP Combo. .223 Remington
Bolt Action with a 22" Barrel and a 1:9 Twist
all I was shooting out of my Ruger Mini 14 .223/5.56 was 55gr & 62gr
American Eagle bulk ammo.
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Eagle 17
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I agree, now that I have a Bolt Action .223 I've been able to load a variety of great bullets using
Starline & Hornady Brass for better groups & the enjoyment of handloading
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
I built my .22-250 Ackley that way; it wasn't a rechamber of the base cartridge. Work has kept me from really wringing it out yet, but I like it so far.
My .22-250 shot so well that I won lots of turkeys with it, so didn't want to hurt that. My wife also won a turkey, on a bet, with the only round she ever fired in a turkey shoot...a dead-center shot at 100 yards when she was several months pregnant, lying prone and resting on a log!!! Best shot of the day!!! Sad to say that her shot killed turkey shoots at that club. They've never had another one.
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Eagle 17
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I know that there's a lot of free .223 brass to be had that people leave because either they don't reload for it or they like to buy bulk ammo for the Semi's,.
Truth to be told , for me there's nothing like starting off with a new bag or box of shiny ready to load .223 brass.
My wife knows just the right stuff to get for me at the LGS on special occasions, she probably see's the glint in my eye everytime.
So with that in mind she just treated me to a new box of .223 Hornady brass,
Nothing says love like some new handloading stuff ...
.... Happy Camper ....
Truth to be told , for me there's nothing like starting off with a new bag or box of shiny ready to load .223 brass.
My wife knows just the right stuff to get for me at the LGS on special occasions, she probably see's the glint in my eye everytime.
So with that in mind she just treated me to a new box of .223 Hornady brass,
Nothing says love like some new handloading stuff ...
.... Happy Camper ....
2ndtimer
Member
.223 Remington, hands down. 40 and 50 gr bullets for the 1 in 12" twist bolt guns, and 55 gr FMJ for plinking in the AR's, to 62 gr Hornady BTHP for all around AR duty ground squirrels through coyotes and longer range steel ringing. Don't care for sub .224 bores, 22-250 recoils just enough to lose your sight picture on recoil and has short barrel life? The Swift is hard on barrels, brass is hard to find and expensive. Push a 40 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip or Hornady V-Max 3700 fps out of a 26" 1 in 12" twist barrel and watch the show at to 300 yards! .223 Remington is my favorite!
Offfhand
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Since this thread is supposed to be about .223 varmint rifles, I'll stay on the subject with this Rem. 40-X .223 with left side bolt. I shoot right handed but prefer left side bolt operation on my varmint rifles because it is faster and more efficient when shooting from a rest in a well populated PD town. I ordered the rifle with 14" twist rather than usual 12", for top accuracy with 40-55 grain bullets. Especially the 52 grain bullets I make for my BR rifles. It also has a one ounce Jewel trigger and the scope is Leupold Vari-X III 6.5-20X50...
ApacheCoTodd
member
I have had all but the 204. The 223 has given me the easiest, least problematic results in developing accurate loads in three drastically different rifles, a Savage 11, a TC Contender, and a Bushmaster. 220 Swift was fun and accurate in an old Model 70 but hungry and loud. 22-250 in a 112V gave me fits and was great in a 788. I avoided the 223 for years and am sorry I did. Parenthetically, the triple deuce is still the best factory 22 caliber cartridge ever made for inherent accuracy.
ExAgoradzo
Member
.22-250 because that is what my Remington is chambered in.
Greg
Greg
I'm truly thankful for the latest .223 Rem, a 700 ADL mentioned in another thread that I was lucky to buy N.I.B. for $230 a year or so ago. I figured that, since I was allowing a relative to shoot my other .223 at the range and he didn't pay any attention to barrel temperature, I'd let him shoot the new, inexpensive one and save my older Tikka 595 and the very cool, 700 Light Varmint Stainless.
Turns out that he doesn't shoot rifles anymore, but he and his wife like to shoot .22LR handguns and shoot at a range closer to their house sometimes. Meanwhile, I'm tickled with the accuracy of the ADL, which I pillar-bedded/floated, and lightened the trigger-pull on...while maintaining the factory stock, which I stiffened by pouring epoxy into the forend voids in two layers...not pretty enough to show, but very effective. Last range visit resulted in 0.2"-0.3" groups at 100 yds! I'm so tickled with that "bargain" rifle!
The stock isn't particularly great for range use, but it carries well on a sling, better than my 700 Light Varmint, due to that rifle's flat, angular forend. The only problem is that I don't like the idea of spending about $100 more for an after-market stock than I paid for the rifle. Maybe I can find a better stock for it, but the original suffices, for now. The Leupold 3-9X scope works great for this walk-about varminter. I'd take a picture, but everyone knows what a plastic-stocked 700 ADL looks like...or they should.
Thanks for putting-up with a an old guy's ramblings during the cold-weather, Corona Virus stay-home situation.
Turns out that he doesn't shoot rifles anymore, but he and his wife like to shoot .22LR handguns and shoot at a range closer to their house sometimes. Meanwhile, I'm tickled with the accuracy of the ADL, which I pillar-bedded/floated, and lightened the trigger-pull on...while maintaining the factory stock, which I stiffened by pouring epoxy into the forend voids in two layers...not pretty enough to show, but very effective. Last range visit resulted in 0.2"-0.3" groups at 100 yds! I'm so tickled with that "bargain" rifle!
The stock isn't particularly great for range use, but it carries well on a sling, better than my 700 Light Varmint, due to that rifle's flat, angular forend. The only problem is that I don't like the idea of spending about $100 more for an after-market stock than I paid for the rifle. Maybe I can find a better stock for it, but the original suffices, for now. The Leupold 3-9X scope works great for this walk-about varminter. I'd take a picture, but everyone knows what a plastic-stocked 700 ADL looks like...or they should.
Thanks for putting-up with a an old guy's ramblings during the cold-weather, Corona Virus stay-home situation.
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Eagle 17
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I'm truly thankful for the latest .223 Rem, a 700 ADL mentioned in another thread that I was lucky to buy N.I.B. for $230 a year or so ago. I figured that, since I was allowing a relative to shoot my other .223 at the range and he didn't pay any attention to barrel temperature, I'd let him shoot the new, inexpensive one and save my older Tikka 595 and the very cool, 700 Light Varmint Stainless.
Turns out that he doesn't shoot rifles anymore, but he and his wife like to shoot .22LR handguns and shoot at a range closer to their house sometimes. Meanwhile, I'm tickled with the accuracy of the ADL, which I pillar-bedded/floated, and lightened the trigger-pull on...while maintaining the factory stock, which I stiffened by pouring epoxy into the forend voids in two layers...not pretty enough to show, but very effective. Last range visit resulted in 0.2"-0.3" groups at 100 yds! I'm so tickled with that "bargain" rifle!
The stock isn't particularly great for range use, but it carries well on a sling, better than my 700 Light Varmint, due to that rifle's flat, angular forend. The only problem is that I don't like the idea of spending about $100 more for an after-market stock than I paid for the rifle. Maybe I can find a better stock for it, but the original suffices, for now. The Leupold 3-9X scope works great for this walk-about varminter. I'd take a picture, but everyone knows what a plastic-stocked 700 ADL looks like...or they should.
Thanks for putting-up with a an old guy's ramblings during the cold-weather, Corona Virus stay-home situation.
Always enjoy reading your post's, any info related to Varmint Calibers is welcome.
I have been enjoying reloading the .223 even tho many said " Dont waste your time, you can buy them bulk for cheap"
which I do for my Semi, but for my bolt 223 I'm enjoying loading the smaller bullets under 55gr and as low as the 30gr Varmint Grenades
sometimes though my fingers get in the way of that little bullet.
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Eagle 17
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My first varmint rifle, around 1959, bought as a deer rifle, one of the first Savage 110, .30-06 rifles that had a 2.5X Weaver scope that I mounted on it, around age 16. Obviously, it was bought for deer hunting, but I got in with the "wrong" crowd and started hunting woodchucks/crows, etc. My buddy was a bit older than me and took me hunting chucks around China, ME. I was "hooked"!
The factory stock was killing me! It hurt my cheek and shoulder whenever I shot it, so I ordered a "semi-finished, Inletted" Bishop stock for about 25 bucks (don't really remember how much), and taught myself to copy the Weatherby design that I so loved. The only tools I had were files, a pocket knife, and sandpaper, but my Dad knew how to finish furniture and told me how to thin varnish and do about 10 or so coats with soaked rags, then using sandpaper and steel wool to make it smooth.
I read a lot of gun magazines and got information from them about using boat-repair epoxy to "glass-bed" actions and free-float barrels. The stock came out really well and the rifle proved very accurate, shooting better than 1 MOA groups with handloads. One of the years that I kept records, I averaged about 220 yards on (rested) woodchuck kills and we only shot them offhand when engaging them at 100 yards or less.
My buddy's friend had a reloading press and all three of us handloaded ammo, after I got some critical knowledge from a man who worked at my favorite sporting goods store, who took me under his wing. We only loaded 125 grain Sierra bullets for varmint hunting and our load of IMR 4064 was very accurate. Wind didn't bother it too much, either...a good thing, because it's very windy here in March-April.
I built a bipod that fit in my back pocket with knowledge obtained by working with my "plumber" Dad and it proved both useful for prone shooting, and extremely strong, if not very high.
and started hunting woodchucks/crows, etc. My buddy was a bit older than me and took me hunting chucks around China, ME. I was "hooked"!The factory stock was killing me! It hurt my cheek and shoulder whenever I shot it, so I ordered a "semi-finished, Inletted" Bishop stock for about 25 bucks (don't really remember how much), and taught myself to copy the Weatherby design that I so loved. The only tools I had were files, a pocket knife, and sandpaper, but my Dad knew how to finish furniture and told me how to thin varnish and do about 10 or so coats with soaked rags, then using sandpaper and steel wool to make it smooth.
I read a lot of gun magazines and got information from them about using boat-repair epoxy to "glass-bed" actions and free-float barrels. The stock came out really well and the rifle proved very accurate, shooting better than 1 MOA groups with handloads. One of the years that I kept records, I averaged about 220 yards on (rested) woodchuck kills and we only shot them offhand when engaging them at 100 yards or less.
My buddy's friend had a reloading press and all three of us handloaded ammo, after I got some critical knowledge from a man who worked at my favorite sporting goods store, who took me under his wing. We only loaded 125 grain Sierra bullets for varmint hunting and our load of IMR 4064 was very accurate. Wind didn't bother it too much, either...a good thing, because it's very windy here in March-April.
I built a bipod that fit in my back pocket with knowledge obtained by working with my "plumber" Dad and it proved both useful for prone shooting, and extremely strong, if not very high.
mrmike7189
Member
Some nice looking rifles in this post. I must say if I came across a nice 223 bolt action like a Ruger 77, I would buy it, but for now I have this MINI 14. I have picked off some small groundhogs at 100 yards with it already. I can get a 1-2inch group at 100 yards . That I was surprised from a MIni. Happy shooting friends
cougar1717
Member
If it's between three specialty varmint calibers and the most popular centerfire rifle cartridge ever......... I think I know how this vote is going to end up.
jmorris
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That and it’s the closest to .222 in your list.
Continuation of my story about the .30-06 "varmint rifle" above.
Hunting in fields with a .30-06 brought extra caution, because even shooting 125 grain "varmint" bullets, they didn't turn to "dust" like much more fragile bullets do. Still, we had some relatively safe hunting fields back in the late 1950s and people in the country weren't as fearful as some are these days.
I kept track of kills during a couple of my best years, around 1961, and saw that my prone kills averaged about 220 yards, with the longest about 450 yards (second shot) at a woodchuck sitting on his newly-refreshed hillside mound. The first shot was about a foot low and he went down the hole. When he came back, he layed just behind the peak of the mound, reducing his profile, but I nailed him! That was with my customized Savage 110, and a 2.5X Weaver scope. A little luck, definitely, but I shot a skunk on the first try, in the same field, that was over 500 yards and it was walking around.
Anyone who's hunted varmints has had some pretty nice shots, though it's easier when shooting prairie dogs, where folks set up near-benchrest conditions at targets that are relatively close to each other and use massive scopes and heavy varmint rifles. We walked several miles on a hunt and may only have shot at two or three chucks, so each was a real accomplishment for us as teenage kids.
All the hunting and informal target shooting came in handy when, in adulthood, I went to quite a few paper target "turkey shoots" at several clubs around Maine, and by that time, I was shooting an "improved" Rem 700 ADL, .22-250 that would group under 1/2 MOA with a 6X Weaver.
Hunting in fields with a .30-06 brought extra caution, because even shooting 125 grain "varmint" bullets, they didn't turn to "dust" like much more fragile bullets do. Still, we had some relatively safe hunting fields back in the late 1950s and people in the country weren't as fearful as some are these days.
I kept track of kills during a couple of my best years, around 1961, and saw that my prone kills averaged about 220 yards, with the longest about 450 yards (second shot) at a woodchuck sitting on his newly-refreshed hillside mound. The first shot was about a foot low and he went down the hole. When he came back, he layed just behind the peak of the mound, reducing his profile, but I nailed him! That was with my customized Savage 110, and a 2.5X Weaver scope. A little luck, definitely, but I shot a skunk on the first try, in the same field, that was over 500 yards and it was walking around.
Anyone who's hunted varmints has had some pretty nice shots, though it's easier when shooting prairie dogs, where folks set up near-benchrest conditions at targets that are relatively close to each other and use massive scopes and heavy varmint rifles. We walked several miles on a hunt and may only have shot at two or three chucks, so each was a real accomplishment for us as teenage kids.
All the hunting and informal target shooting came in handy when, in adulthood, I went to quite a few paper target "turkey shoots" at several clubs around Maine, and by that time, I was shooting an "improved" Rem 700 ADL, .22-250 that would group under 1/2 MOA with a 6X Weaver.
Hey Picher,
Thank you for sharing your stories. I'm another virus shut-in at age 73. Didn't start varmint shooting as a young hunter. Shot only .22 and 410 at rabbits, squirrels, and quail. Couldn't afford centerfire and being dirt poor, we were mostly food hunters. Through the years coyotes occasionally became targets of opportunity, but never really hunted them. Fast forward to about 20 years ago, my varmint hunting began in earnest. I called a friend who owns lots of land in western Kansas and had lots of pheasants in past years. This time, however, he said, "Don't have any pheasants, but you need to come out here and shoot some of these damned prairie dogs!" My income had improved a lot and my varmint hunting was born, along with the accumulation of 6-7 varmint and reloading equipment. I now reload 5 different calibers, mostly for prairie dogs and coyotes, but also load my deer rounds. While I shoot deer and turkeys and I still hunt squirrels, varmints are my favorite target. I've settled on .223. and .204 as my favorite varmint calibers. I did buy a Remington 700 VLS heavy barreled .243 and developed rounds with 55gr bullets that would travel around 3600 fps. The intent was to shoot long range prairie dogs and did kill some at 300-350 yds. But, I quickly learned that I missed more often than not and I don't like missing. So, I abandoned the long distance shots and mostly shoot under 300, preferably closer to 200. My longest shot with my .223, measured with laser range finder was 326 yds. I've killed 1,000s of prairie dogs with .22LR, 17HMR, 22Hornet, .223, .204, and .243...shot a prairie dog with a 12ga last year! At present, I'm developing test loads using CFE 223 for my latest acquisition, a custom AR-15 .223 to be my go-to coyote rifle. Loads of FUN.
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