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Post by psustang89 on May 24, 2005 13:53:04 GMT -5
Alrighty, what is your favorite varmint caliber? Looking at all the ballistics data is driving me nuts! There's pros and cons to different calibers and everyone has a different opinion; .22-250, .223, .204, .222, etc. My father has a Browning A-bolt Varmint in .22-250 that'll take out a groundhog at 500+ yds, but for some reason I want to be different than the old man. I see the varmint gun as a MAJOR purchase due to all the accessories involved and I wnat to make the best decision. Oh ya, the AR's are out due to PA laws not allowing hunting with semi's. Thanks for the opinions.
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Post by TBT on May 24, 2005 22:22:28 GMT -5
I can't stand that PA law ... before you know it we will be restricted to shotguns. A lot of areas you aren't even allowed to use a rifle at all.
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Post by psustang89 on May 25, 2005 5:17:14 GMT -5
I know what you mean. I REALLY want to build an AR, but I can't justify building an expensive gun that I can't even shoot groundhogs with. I asked the PA Game Commission if an AR could be a legal varmint gun. They replied: "sure, just weld the gas ports shut and convert it to bolt action." So, the non-smartass answer is no. Different friends of mine ask me to hunt with them in Allegheny county, but I don't own a slug gun and I don't plan on buying one.
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Post by 5ontarget on May 25, 2005 6:26:41 GMT -5
Only shotguns, and muzzle loaders allowed in Ohio for hunting.
So, I don't have much recent experience with too many hunting rifles. I have to get close enough to the critters that a .22 is adequate for my needs.
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Post by 5ontarget on May 25, 2005 17:45:41 GMT -5
If I were permitted to hunt with a rifle, I’d probably go with a .223 or maybe something a little bigger (perhaps 25-06, or .243), as I would want to hunt more than varmints with it. As you said, this a major purchase. I’d want it to do as much as possible and then have a larger bore for the rest. The 25-06 is a good varmint round, and general hunting round. The .223 is much more plentiful, cheaper, and has a greater variety of loads, but not the power of the 25-06.
If you wanted to stay smaller than that, perhaps the 220swift, or the 22-250 are good. Well heck, as you said they all have good and bad things about them. I’d just prefer something a little bigger/poerful.
The most popular guns choice seem to be the Remington 700, Ruger M77, and Savage 12, or 14, or 16 series. Another not so frequent mention is the CZ-527. Of course, you probably already knew all that.
If you want to look at a little more exotic ammo, look at the 25wssm, 223wssm or 243wssm these look great. I really like the looks of the 25wssm.
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Fobos
Gold Member
Posts: 202
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Post by Fobos on May 30, 2005 16:56:13 GMT -5
I'm not aware of anything better suited for varmint-slaying than the .22-250, but the .223 is my favorite round for the task. The ammo is cheap and available in a huge variety of configurations, but you sacrafice only a little in performance. Plus, I'm a big fan of the AR, which doesn't present an issue for me here in Idaho.
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Post by psustang89 on May 31, 2005 8:26:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. A friend of mine just got back from South Dakota prairie dog hunting. His gang was seeking out a 1000 yd shot. They ended up with a best distance of 845 yds with a rem 300 ultra mag.
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Post by Mountaineer on May 31, 2005 22:19:06 GMT -5
psustang89, I've groundhog hunted with .243win., 22-250, and a .223, and I like them all. The .243 has good range and the bullets don't seem to drift as bad as the .22 caliber bullets do. If you want something different maybe you could look at the .243WSSM., that should be just about ideal for varmints I would think.
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