longrange varmit

[Mordis]

We need a rifle forum lol. SO what does everyone here use for long range varmit hunting. The reason i ask is im looking for suggestion on barrel length and caliber. Im going to be putting to gether a nice varmit gun and would like to beable and reach out and kill them if i so choose to. Game will be no bigger then Coyotes. Currently im looking at .220swift, 243win. If you have any other cartridges that need honorable mention please let me know.

[Doug Huffman]

.17 Remington under the best glass you can afford. In 1970 they were loaded at 5050fps. I was present at a 1000 pace coyote kill.

Unfortunately I traded mine for an engine and transmission for my race car (SCCA B-Sedan 510 Datsun), since there isn't room to reach out in Coastal South Carolina.

[Mordis]

I was thinking of a .243win with either 95gr or 105gr berger VLD bullets for all my Long range woodchuck/groundhog/coyote(when not worrying about pelts) and then some form of controlled expansion bullet for taking 'yotes for pelts.

[OBXMIKE]

Why go long gun when you can do it with a handgun?

Get yourself a T/C G2 in .223 (or any other caliber you want, for that matter), a good scope and a bi-pod will git 'r done!

I haven't touched my deer rifle other than to sight it in for two seasons since I got my Encore pistol in .308/.44 mag. It WILL reach out and touch 'em! Plus, you get bragging rights because you took the game with a handgun instead of a long gun.

Those T/C's will get you addicted!

[hlh]

Here's my "varmint/target" rifle kit from J&T Distributing in 5.56 Nato. I've shot 3 shots in one hole, and consistant 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. With the 24" barrel it should do well out to 600 yards.

[KodiakISGOOD]

check out the .204 ruger round 4000fps+

[DrewGunner]

Mordis wrote:

We need a rifle forum lol. SO what does everyone here use for long range varmit hunting. The reason i ask is im looking for suggestion on barrel length and caliber. Im going to be putting to gether a nice varmit gun and would like to beable and reach out and kill them if i so choose to. Game will be no bigger then Coyotes. Currently im looking at .220swift, 243win. If you have any other cartridges that need honorable mention please let me know.

How long is long range?

[Mordis]

OBXMike, the reason i want a rifle is becuase i want a rifle lol. I may get one of those T/C guns but not till i get my rifle fix.

Drewwgunner, you asked how long is long range. Well i dont intend to kill any coyotes for pelts past 450yards, but if im not interested in pelts, or im shooting at nuisance birds and groundhogs and woodchucks, i want to be able to reach out and kill them out to 850yards. I was at the longrange hunting forums and my reaserch there has confirmed that the such hits are possible if i get a quality gun with good glass on top matched to a good bullet. I have youtubed longrange varmit hunting and found several videos of people taking woodchucks and what not out to and past 800yards with the larger cased varmit calibers.(which i think includes the .243 which is based on the .308win case.)

I know alot of my hunting shots will be close range, but i want a rifle that will also reach out and touch them at those distances. IMHO it takes alot of skill to shoot out that far.

OBXMIKE, I plan on shooting this rifle more then 5times a year. I plan on doing alot of shooting with it. I want to break out of the current hunter trend of no shots past 300 yards. I want to shoot at distant targets which require more skill then close range targets, which require me to shoot more.

I hope that this makes sence to everyone here lol. Basicly i just want to shoot long range and short range, and for me the .243win is the best round to start with. Later on, if i feel the need to, i could just up to something like a .243AI or .240Weatherby and have even more power.

[Mordis]

HLH have you shot anything past 100yards with it? I would love to see some video or targets shot out to 400-600 yards just to see if the .223 has the omph to do it out that far. I think at some future point id love to get a Varmit AR, once my skill with bolts is improved significantly.

[hlh]

Mordis wrote:

HLH have you shot anything past 100yards with it? I would love to see some video or targets shot out to 400-600 yards just to see if the .223 has the omph to do it out that far. I think at some future point id love to get a Varmit AR, once my skill with bolts is improved significantly.

I've just recently aquired access to a 500 yard range to give it a try. It's a 1:8 barrel so I can shoot the 77 gn bullets. I'm also eager to see how it will do. I'll try to post a target for 100 yards shortly.

[Mordis]

I have definately picked my caliber i wish to start with. I plan on starting with .243win and shooting the snot out of it learning the basics of shooting. Then ill order a new matchgrade barrel and have it chambered to .243AI and have a superb rifle. Atleast thats what information i have gleamed from the longrange forums that i have been to.

[DrewGunner]

Have you consided a .22-250? 850yards, start savin your pennies.

[hlh]

Personally I like .308 for long range stuff, but .223 is a lot cheaper to shoot.

[FogRider]

OBXMIKE wrote:

Why go long gun when you can do it with a handgun?

Get yourself a T/C G2 in .223 (or any other caliber you want, for that matter), a good scope and a bi-pod will git 'r done!

I haven't touched my deer rifle other than to sight it in for two seasons since I got my Encore pistol in .308/.44 mag. It WILL reach out and touch 'em! Plus, you get bragging rights because you took the game with a handgun instead of a long gun.

Those T/C's will get you addicted!

I would suggest getting an original Contender if you can find one. Some of the newer barrels may not fit, but finding on older barrel shouldn't be a problem. I have both a G1 and a G2, and the quality seems to be better with the G1. That's not to say the G2's are of poor quality, but I think the originals were put together just a little bit better. Also, a 14" pistol barrel in .223 with a red dot on it is some fun (and amazingly accurate) shooting.

[Sean]

I bought some sabot rounds for the 30-30 back in 86...unloaded them and used a load from the old shooting times and reloaded them for my 300winmag. 55grain 22 bullet hit the traps at 5879 fps. they were pretty good accuracy wise also. But I dont think you can buy sabot rounds anymore.....some BS about no rifling marks on the bullet....etc.