I have not done much posting about rifles and loads suitable for varmint hunting. I actually got started in the shooting sports as a kid back in high school by hunting woodchucks on the rural farms around central NYS. I worked on a farm all during my school years up until the time I went into the US Navy at the ripe age of 17 in 1965.
Like a lot of kids in that era, I started out with a Daisy lever action BB gun. From there I graduated to a .177 caliber pellet rifle and then on to my first .22 rim fire which was a bolt action Mossberg. From there while serving in the NAVY, I purchased a Sako bolt action .222 wearing a B&L Belvar 8 rifle scope that had the adjustments in the mount itself. That was before the "Gun Control Act Of 1968" and I purchased the rifle and scope set up from vendors that were allowed to come on board our ship at a port in Italy. The gun was shipped right to my house. If you tried that today, your would get a free "Go To Jail" card, and yet as I look back, the world was a much safer place to live then than now. Politicians never understood the gun itself is just a tool and not the cause of anything. If you will open your bible to Genesis chapter 4 and verse 8, you will find that Cain slew Able with a ROCK.
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
"And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him".
There is nothing inherently evil about a rifle or a rock, as it was Cain who committed murder because of the evil in his own heart. The rock like the rifle was just a tool. Unless someone picks up the rock, or club, or knife, or pistol etc. the inanimate object will NOT cause anyone any harm. Neither will watching "Cowboys and Indians" etc. as prime time shows in my childhood were Bonanza, The Rifleman, Wanted Dead or Alive, Matt Dillon, Have Gun Will Travel (Wire Paladin, San Francisco), Wyatt Earp etc.
I am getting off the subject of this blog post, but felt a need to clear the air on murder being a wrong condition of the heart and not in any way tied to the weapon or tool used to commit that crime.
Anyway, back to the .222. I must interject here that to my regret I let that rifle and scope combination go a few years ago. Of all the guns I have traded and bought and sold over the years, I regret selling that one the most. I was into hand loading in those days and woodchucks were plentiful along with an occasional fox. Some of my fondest memories were wandering the "Back Forty" as we used to call it and stalking and hunting woodchucks. The Sako .222 was up to the task out to around 250 yards and I hit a lot more than I missed in those days.
Let's take a look at a brief history of varmint cartridges and what is available to the varmint hunter today:
Here is at least a partial list of the varmint rifle configurations in the market place.:
.17 calibers including the .17 Remington, .17 HMR (REPUTED to be amazingly accurate), / .17 Mach 2 and the .17 Fireball. For my taste if I were to buy one of the .17 caliber rifles, it would likely be the .17 HMR. On crows, prairie dogs, ground squirrels etc. it is effective a lot farther than you would think and I have seen reports of 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. It has a very mild report and will even handle larger farm field woodchucks within its range limitations. It throws a 17 grain bullet at around 2550 fps.
.22 rim fire whether in rifle or handgun persuasion - is effective on crows, prairie dogs, foxes and woodchucks within its range limitations.
(22 Mag) and / 5mm which appeared in 1970 (IT was a .22 mag case necked down to take a 38 grain .204" diameter bullet at a then advertised 2100fps.) I own a nice Mossberg bolt action .22 mag which I like a lot and it is effective out to perhaps 150 yards or so on woodchucks. I ALMOST purchased a 5mm when they came out but never did take the plunge and try one.
.22 Hornet if you are lucky enough to own one was a mild mannered but effective round that started out as a "wildcat" and was eventually legitimized with Winchester making ammo starting in 1930 and chambering their model 54 rifles in 1932. (Always wanted one of these as a kid growing up on the farm)
Next up were several other rifles inspired by varmint hunting including but not limited to:
.218 Bee, .219 Zipper, .22-250, .222, .222 mag, .220 Swift, and eventually the .223 Remington which of course was the civilian version of the military 5.56 Nato round. FORGIVE me please as I am sure I missed a few in the previous list. In fact with all the variants and off shoots of many of these rounds listed and other wildcats, I KNOW I have left a bunch of them out. I would enjoy hearing from those of you who are die hard varmint hunters, wildcatters, hand loaders etc. out there whose favorite pastime happens to be varmint hunting and experimenting with varmint loads. Many of these rounds were .22 caliber which was considered by many to be the most practical and accurate of varmint rounds. Most .22 caliber based rounds are considered excellent varmint choices out to 250 yards or a little beyond. At the 300 yard mark they run out of steam and are slowing down fast. 250 yards or so covered 95% of my woodchuck hunting as a kid and I would dearly love to have that Sako rifle back today.
For upper end varmints or much longer ranges the .25 calibers such as the 25-06, etc. play a role, with extra recoil, and expense, and most also double as deer rifles. The .243 Win can be thrown into this double role as well. I own a Savage .243 that shoots very well with both 100 grain loads and 75 grain V-max loads as well.
My brother owns a nice .22-250 which regrettably I have never shot.....YET. This rifle is considered the epitome of long range varmint rifles by many knowledgeable varmint hunters and will easily handle woodchucks, crows, foxes, coyotes, and just about any varmint situation you run into NEAR or out to the 400 yard mark or a bit beyond. The .220 Swift certainly has an advantage over the .222 and .223 rounds as well.
Another round I would look at is the .204 Ruger, especially if you hand load. It essentially will do everything the .220 Swift will do with LESS recoil. It is NOT that the .220 Swift is punishing in the recoil department. It has more to do with calling your own shots way out there as you will be able to see if you scored a hit or a miss in your own rifle scope without a spotter. It commonly uses either a 32 grain bullet at around 4000fps or a 40 grain bullet at around 3700fps. The 40 grainers are recommended if you are going after coyotes. Another PLUS for the .204 is that both bullet weights shoot to the same point of aim.
I have even given thought to trading my .243 Win which I seldom use for a .204 Ruger or perhaps a nice .17HMR package with a nice scope on it. I don't use the .243 as a combination rifle for deer anyway, having been blessed with more than enough center fire rifles to cover hunting from whitetails all the way up to brown bear. Before you know it spring will be in the air and a lot of guys will be gearing up and working up hand loads etc. for their favorite varmint rigs. Good hunting.
Dan
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