Varmint Rifle

waspocrew · May 14, 2012

This past weekend, there was a shooting expo at the Cache Valley Shooting Range and I finally had the chance to shoot a 22-250... Long story short, I'm hooked! I took a rock chuck a couple of weeks ago at a friends property with a .222 and I'm thinking it would be a blast to get into the varmint deal.

My wife is a little reluctant, but I think she'd be ok with me buying a new rifle. She made me pinky promise that it would be my last one haha.

With that being said, I'm fairly interested in the SPS varmint in 22-250. I had a SPS tactical in .308 and it shot very well, so I'd like to think the varmint would do the same. Others to note would be the Savage 12FV or maybe, just maybe, a Tikka Varmint (On sale at Cabelas). Which one would you go with?

Gator · May 15, 2012

Good thing you have several pinky's. LOL

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
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beech18 · May 15, 2012

Its a blast shooting varmits. I like shooting prairie dogs in the summer, stress reliever. Tons of rifles will be good depending what your goals are for the rifle. In my case I actually like alittle smaller of a round that isnt as loud. Seems the dogs go in there holes quicker with such as 22-250 or 223 than like a 22 Hornet, but the range is limited more so. Have fun picking out a new rifle. Never can have enough.

hntbambi · May 15, 2012

Any of the guns you mentioned will suit you fine. Depending on how much shooting you intend to do should help determine your best fit. If you plan on shooting it a lot, developing loads as well as your long range shooting skills, you will shoot a lot. A 22-250 will eat up a barrel a lot faster than a .223 Rem. This gives you a couple of options, you can stick with the 22-250 and look at the Savage as its the easiest gun to rebarrel this side of a TC Encore. You can change also the chambering if you get tired of the 22-250. It's up to you.

By going with a 223 Rem, you can get fast twist barrels that will let you shoot heavier bullets that buck the wind and carry more energy farther down range. With 77-80 grain bullets, the .223 Rem can be shot very accurately at 1000 yards, in the proper hands. They are cheap to load, have super light recoil, and are a blast as a long range trainer.

I have a handfull of varint guns and the most fun gun is my Savage 110 in .223 Rem with a 1:7" twist barrel. It will shoot 1" groups at 300 yards and smokes varmints. What a fun toy.

sageadvice · May 15, 2012

Going with the Remington SPS varmint seems like a sound decision BUT, as a single example only, a good friend bought one last year in .223 and is still trying to get it to shoot well. It groups most ammo in the 1" to 2" range @ 100 yds but he has yet to get it to settle down to thumbnail sized groups. With the heavy barrel and all, i'd expect a near one holer but that is certainly not yet the case with his rifle.

Dusting ground squirrels is a blast. Nothing like calling head shots at 2-300 yds and getting it done if it be you be behind the rifle or on the spotting scope with your hunting pard doing the shooting.

Good luck, hope you get a shooter!!

Joey

"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

waspocrew · May 17, 2012

LAST EDITED ON May-17-12 AT 05:41PM (MST)[p]Sage, I noticed that the SPS varmint in .223 has a 1 in 12 twist compared to a lot of other rifles with either 1 in 9 or 1:8. I wonder if that has something to do with your friends rifle.

I love the idea of .223 being quite a bit cheaper to shoot, so that definitely gets my attention. My FIL has a reloading set up at his house, so I think I could even the costs out between the calibers. I don't plan on having too much time to shoot either, so I don't know if I would be too concerned with barrel life being shortened.

Thanks for the input! 22 cal centerfires are a whole new world to me, so I definitely appreciate the help!

Pre64 · May 18, 2012

If you do not reload I would recommend you consider the .223. There are so many different brands of 223 ammo available you will have plenty of options in finding a round your rifle likes without having to spend too much on ammo. I had a Ruger 77 in 223 that I could not get to shoot no matter how much I helped put the gunsmiths kids through school. I have an SPS witch shoots very very well, but it took a little time to find the right combo.

Also, you might consider the type of hunting you will be doing. When I started yote hunting heavily I found my heavy barreled SPS was not the right tool for the job. Not only is it a pain to slog around the desert all day, but the heavy, long barrel is very unwieldy. Then again, my heavy barrel .223 is just the ticket for chucks and whistle pigs.

dang302 · May 21, 2012

Get a savage! I have been so impressed with them. I really like the model 10 predator. I have one in .243 that I shot a coues deer last fall at 760 yards with. I have one in 22-250 that I shot an antelope with last fall at 420 yards. It a medium weight barrel so its not as heavy as some dedicated "Varmint rifles." They all seem to shoot .5 MOA. My dad has one in 204 ruger that will also shoot 1/2 MOA. I also have a Savage target rifle (model 12F) that will shoot 1/4 MOA. I would guarantee you that one of their heavy barrel varmint rifles will be capable of .5MOA.

I also have a sako varmint in 204 ruger with a set trigger and it is just not fair shooting prairie dogs with that! It is quite a bit heavier and so I don't use it as much, but it is fun to shoot because there is no recoil so you can see the hits.

I have had some big game rifles that will occasionally shoot .5MOA, but what amazes me is all of the above seem to do it every time. As a side note, I am only handloading currently for the 243.

waspocrew · May 22, 2012

>Get a savage! I have
>been so impressed with them.
> I really like the
>model 10 predator.

That's the exact rifle I picked up from Sportsman's over the weekend in 22-250! I read so many great reviews about the rifle and I liked how it was a medium heavy barrel.

I'm stoked to get out and shoot it. I'm just in the process of trying to figure out what scope to put on it. I've got it narrowed to a couple choices, but I'm just waiting to see what deals I can find.

dang302 · May 23, 2012

Excellent!, I am excited for you. For a scope, I would recommend getting something with a ballistic type plex. I don't think anything really matches the 22-250 well, but I found that shooting prairie dogs at 100-300 yards it doesn't matter that much. Let me explain. I was shooting my 204 ruger with a regular plex and my brother had a 223 with a ballistic mil-dot (ballistic plex going down and mil-dots up/left/right). Its almost impossible to get a range on a prairie dog out in the flat, and they very so much in size that you cant really measure them well. If I thought it was far I would hold on the head...miss low...guess how high to hold. I used my brothers 223 and when you missed you could just use then next line on the bal-plex, and if that didn't work try the next line. It worked really well and at 300 yards they were just standing there giving us multiple shots. Obviously try to find a plex that matches the load, and you will like it even more.

These things shoot so well that when you get it setup with multiple actual aiming points in the reticle, you will be deadly.

look at the leupold varmint hunters reticle, I like the looks of it, and there is probably some way to make it fit a 22-250.