Debating between 2 varmint rifles.

[westcliffe01]

An 80gr Vmax in .224 ? The Hornady site lists the highest 22 caliber Vmax as 60gr ? Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Bullet Type :: V-MAX™
In 6mm/243 they have an 87gr which is the heaviest for caliber ?

I do have many of the 80gr Berger VLD in .224 and the purpose of those was as an effective training rifle. Not flat shooting, but a good BC and maintaining energy for a long way, which requires good technique on the part of the shooter (ranging, slope and wind call).

I have a .204 ruger and I like it very much for Pa. groundhogs out to about 250 yards, it is a real drt gun. I hear guys killing prairie dogs further than 250 yards but they are a lot smaller than groundhogs. For a varmint rifle I like 220 swift and 22-250 class rifles using 55 to 52 gr. bullets out to about 350 yards and beyond that I like a fast twist 22 cal. using 80 gr. bullets. I have a 22-47 Lapua 8 twist that I shoot the 80 gr. v-max and have several kills out to 510 yards on groundhogs and one whitetail at 110 yards. The 6mm calibers are good also but it all depends what you like best and I like the .22 Calibers.
Joe

 

[drags]

An 80gr Vmax in .224 ? The Hornady site lists the highest 22 caliber Vmax as 60gr ? Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Bullet Type :: V-MAX™
In 6mm/243 they have an 87gr which is the heaviest for caliber ?

I do have many of the 80gr Berger VLD in .224 and the purpose of those was as an effective training rifle. Not flat shooting, but a good BC and maintaining energy for a long way, which requires good technique on the part of the shooter (ranging, slope and wind call).

I meant to say 80 grain A-max not 80 v-max. Thanks for pointing that out.
Joe

 

[budlight]

I had a 222 Rem and it is even whimpier than a 223. When I swapped the Savage 24 for a different weapon, I could not get anyone to drive to my house to pick up the dies and shells I had.

So, other than having a very good barrel life, the 222 is obsolete. The barrel is likely to be a 1:12 or possibly even a 1:14 so will only be able to shoot light bullets and you can pretty much forget about ever hitting a varmint at 400 yards with it unless there is absolutely no wind and all the planets are aligned.

Today there are far better choices for hitting something at 400 yards with any kind of regularity.
243 win with an 8 twist barrel
6x47 lapua with an 8 twist
6.5x47 Lapua with an 8 twist

All the above have lots of good quality bullets available to buy, quality brass and several powder options.

Unless you do a special build based on the 80gr or 90gr .224 bullet, I would not waste my time with a 22 caliber.

I'm a 6mm fan. When i was a child i had a 22-250. Years and years and thousands of reloaded rounds. Lots of choices in 6mm. I personally have the 9 1/8 twist and it shoots varmints very well with 80 gr btsp faster than 9 is required for over 100 grains.

 

[westcliffe01]

Well, I don't know where the 80gr Amax was when I was looking for heavy for caliber bullets a couple of years ago. It could be one of the bullets that was temporarily suspended from production after Sandy Hook, since I have never seen them anywhere. I know it took me nearly a year to get my hands on the 80gr Bergers and I had to get 1000 of them since they were not being sold in smaller qtys at the time...

I meant to say 80 grain A-max not 80 v-max. Thanks for pointing that out.
Joe

 

[drags]

Well, I don't know where the 80gr Amax was when I was looking for heavy for caliber bullets a couple of years ago. It could be one of the bullets that was temporarily suspended from production after Sandy Hook, since I have never seen them anywhere. I know it took me nearly a year to get my hands on the 80gr Bergers and I had to get 1000 of them since they were not being sold in smaller qtys at the time...

I knew where the 80 gr. a-max bullets were a couple of years ago and I bought 1200 of them. I was not aware that berger sold bullet in 1000 count boxes the most I have seen is 500 count boxes. Thanks for the heads up.
Joe

 

[budlight]

As a child I had a 22-250 and i shot thousands upon thousands of reloads. as I got older I felt the need for more HP.

a 22 strains to get a 80 gr. going fast and it still has a relatively low bc compared to bigger cals. An 80 grain 6mm is a real varmint round with 100's of fps over the fasted 22 cals made.

I have some small mind set friends with 22's, 204's, 19 badger, & 17 cal. I don't understand it, but that's Okay!

 

[matt_3479]

Well I took to long and the cz sold but decided the 204 was what I wanted so I bought the Remington 700 VSSF II in 204 Ruger. I have a couple big weeks with work but then I'm going load up the 39gr sierra's, 40 gr vmax.

I have the custom 260. Rem loaded with 140 hybrids for the bigger longer range pests

 

[RidgeTop]

What is your expected max range ?
.223 to 200, 22-250 to 500 and 6mm to as far as you can see in short grass.

 

[Deleted member 115360]

Resurrected

 

[matt_3479]

What is your expected max range ?
.223 to 200, 22-250 to 500 and 6mm to as far as you can see in short grass.

Threads a 6 years old lol surprised you found out. I've gone through 5 or 6 different varmint rifle now and now have 2 full custom varmint rifles.

 

[sourdough44]

Since this is already resurrected from the past, I kinda think most need at least one 223 in the rack, ammo availability.

One can then pick the weight, barrel length, scope range & ammo for the task at hand.

 

[Ohlongarm]

I'm in the market for a new varmint rifle and I just can't decide. I looking on another site and came across a Remington 700 (looks like a mix between BDL with the Monte Carlo stock and the cdl sf with the black end cap) stainless fluted and everything in 220. Swift which is a wicked round just not something I've ever really wanted. And the second is a CZ 527 varmint with a 26" heavy barrel, Boyd's tactical stock and the original wood stock (I put the wood one back on) in 204. Ruger which is one of the calibers in on the market for. Both going for the same dollar. 204 comes with 2 stocks, rings, 220 is just rifle

I have some exciteman for the 204. Ruger and right now the good'ole triple deuce. This rifle will be used for target, coyotes and crows mainly. It will be more of a hunting rifle then a long range rifle (400-500) yards and closer. I have a full custom 260. Rem that will be brought out when the times needed. I just can't decided which one to go with, the unique 220 or the nice 204. What would you do?

The 204 with a 40 grain V-max only drops about 24 inches at 500 yards, and can wallop a coyote or groundhog with about 400 ft pounds of energy deliver at 2200 fps. I made your decision for you. I've a cheap Thompson Center Venture that will flat out shoot, only thing modified was the trigger, done by Mcarbo. This factory loading outshoots a 22-250 at the range mentioned.

 

[matt_3479]

Since this is already resurrected from the past, I kinda think most need at least one 223 in the rack, ammo availability.

One can then pick the weight, barrel length, scope range & ammo for the task at hand.

I've learned that and come to enjoy shooting the 223 a ton! Now have a pair of them in the rack. 223 ruger American beater/truck gun. Upgraded the trigger spring and called her good.
Build a 223 on a bighorn tl3, benchmark 24" mtu, tt diamond, krg bravo stock and the thing hammers.

My main rig though is a 20 tactical build on a KS Sar 3 lug, benchmark 1:10 twist 24" #5, McMillan htg adj, tt diamond and Hawkins bdl. Optic in the second picture got changed out to the optic in the first pic. Was a vortex viper hs sitting there for break in but changed over to the element nexus 5-20x50 ffp once it arrived.

 

[N.Scott Nail]

ohlongarm.......... I could be interested in you T/C 204. Take a few to PM me a few pics and notes pertaining to her on load data and distance achieved. wanting a Bugholer/oneholer/.200 holer.ya get the idea. Thanks bud NSN/75w