What rifles you guys running for varmint hunting?

Well, these days I go to my Weatherby Mk-V miniture action Varminstmaster in .224 Wby Mag, when shots get a little longer and windy I use my other (top) Weatherby Mk-V miniture action Varminstmaster re-barrel into a 6XC both or superbly accurate. Cheers

6mmXC Wby Varmintmaster top .224 Wby Mag Vamintmaster bottom 001 - Copy (2).jpg
 
Well, these days I go to my Weatherby Mk-V miniture action Varminstmaster in .224 Wby Mag, when shots get a little longer and windy I use my other (top) Weatherby Mk-V miniture action Varminstmaster re-barrel into a 6XC both or superbly accurate. Cheers

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Absolutely gorgeous Bee's, thanks for sharing!!! I love mine too 😍
 
Absolutely gorgeous Bee's, thanks for sharing!!! I love mine too 😍
Yep, they are very fine rifles... I've always loved the miniature MkV actions, and the rifles oversize, back in the day when they were available I tried to talk Weatherby into making them in a .308 Win, .358 Win, and similar cartridges... but no...They only made the miniature MkV's like the ones I have in .224 Wby Mag and 22.50 Rem, the .22-250 was one I converted due to its boldface for the 6XC, and the .22-250 Rem accounted for a metric ton of Yotes and so on. I really think Wby missed the boat back then, just my 0.2 Cheers
 
Yep, they are very fine rifles... I've always loved the miniature MkV actions, and the rifles oversize, back in the day when they were available I tried to talk Weatherby into making them in a .308 Win, .358 Win, and similar cartridges... but no...They only made the miniature MkV's like the ones I have in .224 Wby Mag and 22.50 Rem, the .22-250 was one I converted due to its boldface for the 6XC, and the .22-250 Rem accounted for a metric ton of Yotes and so on. I really think Wby missed the boat back then, just my 0.2 Cheers
Agreed!!! Still something sooo seductive about good walnut!!!
 
17-204 sako , 1-9 Shilen ,30 hpbt gr,Don Unmussing . H&R ,Sako ,17-223 25 gr hornady hp sako. (220 Rocket , Ruger 220 Swift , improved ) neat round, probably use 40 gr, no groups , A17 hmr , cci 20 fmj , best Shooting factory round. All groups at 100 yards , some just sighted in. hit bull, shot 2 more , never revisited .
 

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Don't own any rifles. My varmint handguns are from Ruger MKIII suppressed to .416 Taylor Encore handgun. Most common used- .223, .22-250 XP-100, 6mm AI Encore, .250 Sav. AI XP-100.
Haven't used a rifle for anything since 1978!
 
Don't own any rifles. My varmint handguns are from Ruger MKIII suppressed to .416 Taylor Encore handgun. Most common used- .223, .22-250 XP-100, 6mm AI Encore, .250 Sav. AI XP-100.
Haven't used a rifle for anything since 1978!
Interesting, if you don't mind me asking, why not? Just asking out of curiosity, Cheers
 
22/250 AI, 12T, 60g Bergers at 3700 just about cuts a coyote in half, and I have actually shot a bob cat in half, 25", #4 contour. 22 Creed with the set up above would be equal to the 22/250 AI.

6 Rem AI is a monster, 26" #5 contour, 12 T shoots the 70g Nosler at 4100 fps with a zero freebore chamber using Win 760, Rem/Win case with AA2700/Win 760 with darn good barrel life. 80g Sierra Blitz bt is 3800 at the accuracy node with R#19.

243 Win Custom with zero freebore with 12T hart shoots the 80g Sierra Blitz BT at 3400 fps.

The 80g Sierra blitz BT makes the loudest PLOP sound of any bullet I have ever shot on coyotes! This PLOP puts a smile on your face every time!

I have shot a number of 17's, 222's, 223's, 22/250's, 243's, 6 Rem, and a number of pawn shop 270 Win with 90g Sierra hp over the years, the above are my favorite.

The combos that shoot the largest holes in coyotes are:

257 Weatherby custom with zero to .030 FB with 87's at 4150 out of a 10T, 26" and 100g at 3850-R#19

270 Win with 90g Sierra hp at 3500 with IMR 3031

6 Rem with the 80g Sierra at 3500-3600 with R#19, 24" 9 1/4T and 26", IMR 4064 and R#19 Respectively

6 Rem AI with the 70g Nosler Ballistic tip at 4100- Win 760 and AA2700

243 with the 80g Sierra at 3400-IMR 4064

223 Rem bolt gun, 12T, over book max load of xbr 8208, CCI 450 for the small group with 55g Lead Tip Blitz at 3450 fps on 24"- Never try this is an AR, even if it has an adjustable gas block. This load shots a fist size hole clean through a large coyote...55g lead tip blitz will not take a fast twist

Years ago, we hunted Baja -North and Sonora Mexico, we did a lot of bullet testing!

I shot the barrels out of 4 of the 25/06's and two barrels on a 6/284(which will best the 6 Rem AI). Figure 800 rounds each on the 25/06 and 6/284.

We were also hunting Rock Chucks in Utah and S. Idaho. Those larger calibers made those large Chucks look like they had been shot out of a Circus Cannon! It was not uncommon to kill over a hundred chucks in a morning over lava rocks on the edges of Alfalfa fields where the first 50 yards of the field had been chewed down to 2" nubs. We called this "chewed down area", No Man's Land!''

Calling rifles were you walk out and make stands are usually 225 yd and under shots with a 350 yd shot being a a long shot. Of course, the plains states will be a lot different hunting than other states due to wide open areas with a LOT of wind.

For a light weight carry rifle, a Rem 700 with a custom 24-25" #2 or #3 Shilen contour is hard to beat. I purchased a new rem take off in 223 with it's 12 twist and had it chambered to the 22/250 AI, accuracy was 1/2". I shot two bullets, the Nosler 55g Ballistic tip and the Sierra 55g bthp. I killed a lot of coyotes with that rifle in Az. hunting while riding cross country on gaited horses(Fox Trotters).

Around 250 yards is where you start to see smaller calibers fail due to poor hits, especially behind the diaphragm. Flippers and Floppers pretty much stopped with the 22/250 AI and larger calibers.

Due to the number of lions we had in Az, I always wanted to want to use good bullets in the 22 caliber and up. I did call in two black bears in N. Az, but never had to shoot one, juveniles.
 
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Interesting, if you don't mind me asking, why not? Just asking out of curiosity, Cheers
rifles got way too easy to use and not challenging. Nothing better than shooting a full charge elephant at 12 yards or a groundhog/fox at 4-500 yards with a handgun.
 
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