Thread: Varmint Cal

One thing to consider when hunting small varmints such as rabbits at long range is that part of the (sick) pleasure derived from the sport (refer to the thread about what we find relaxing) is the acrobatics they perform when being hit by the high speed projectile. Its actually quite amusing and sometime damn hilarious! Therefore being able to witness the impact is (IMHO) quite important.

Bigger calibers with higher recoil and high powered scopes with small fields of view means missed acrobatics. Having shot several thousand rabbits in the Hawkes Bay in the past two years, the difference between shooting the .223 and the .22-250 is quite marked. The .223 recoil allows you to maintain vision on the target. The .22-250 recoil is just enough for you to miss some impacts. .243 is hopeless.
When I am out hunting rabbits, I take the .223 (or even the HMR) unless I know that the ranges are getting out to +250m or the breeze is getting up, at which point I start going up in the caliber.

Just worth considering if you want to see the kill on a small target.

Originally Posted by hotbarrels

One thing to consider when hunting small varmints such as rabbits at long range is that part of the (sick) pleasure derived from the sport (refer to the thread about what we find relaxing) is the acrobatics they perform when being hit by the high speed projectile. Its actually quite amusing and sometime damn hilarious! Therefore being able to witness the impact is (IMHO) quite important.

Bigger calibers with higher recoil and high powered scopes with small fields of view means missed acrobatics. Having shot several thousand rabbits in the Hawkes Bay in the past two years, the difference between shooting the .223 and the .22-250 is quite marked. The .223 recoil allows you to maintain vision on the target. The .22-250 recoil is just enough for you to miss some impacts. .243 is hopeless.
When I am out hunting rabbits, I take the .223 (or even the HMR) unless I know that the ranges are getting out to +250m or the breeze is getting up, at which point I start going up in the caliber.

Just worth considering if you want to see the kill on a small target.

Well said, hot barrel's
this and the cost, are the reason I favor the 17 fireball, 17 hornet, .204 and humble .222, for varmints,
for a pure varmint cal the little 17 hornet is cheap to run, and big on performance.

From the additional info, the orginal poster 300 BLK, has given, and his desire to use factory, I think the .243 or 6mm rem, or perhaps the .260 or 6.5 CM, in that order are his best options.

if your serious about varminting, then barrel life needs to be considered.

In 0.224 cal a 22-250 will give you 1200-1500 rounds before your throat and accuracy goes south.

In 6mm cal a 243/creedmore case capacity is not gong to give you much more with light projectiles and full powder charges. Thats why Tubbs developed the 6 XC with smaller case capacity

By comparison a 6mmBr will give you 3000-4000 rounds before accuracy starts to go. 6mmBr will push the 87vM at 3100fps which is pretty close to what you get from 243.

If your considering 6mm then 6.5*47 or 6mm XC is better case to build on.

Other point to remember is varmints are small light framed animals, so non plastic tipped projectiles dont work! i.e. bergers. Once you go to 6mm you there is only one vld type projectile that works (105AM) all the other 95+ vlds drill straight through.

I'm just doing load dev on a 22Br shooting 75 AM. Can get to 3300fps with no pressure signs. Havnt been in field with it yet but the 0.224 75 AM has hight bc than 6mm 87 VM and that explosive from 50-400m so expect the 75 AM to have similar terminal performance but shoot flatter and better in wind.

Hotbarrels comments about recoil are also very relevant. Half the fun with varminting is seeing the hits. 204 is magic, 20Br has enough extra recoil to loose your sight picture if not a heavy gun.

Cheers

grant