Best calibre for varmint hunting - .223 or .22-250?

swooshdave said:
Are raccoons really that bad up there? Most people leave them alone down here.

300yrds seems pretty far out for any of these critters. If you're looking for an excuse for a new gun, well, that's understandable.
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I have one taking a dump on my deck night after night. If I see one within 600 yards. I will take a poke at them using my 22-250. The only good raccoon is a dead one in my neighborhood.
 
DogT said:
Yeah, those 22 SX bullets are great if they don't blow up going out the barrel. But I've found there pretty good up above 3000 and more. That's what killed the 220 was the throat erosion.

I even use SX bullets in my 1922 Savage 99. 125gr going out at about 2700fps. Great out to about 150 yds for deer. I hit one in the head Christmas day, I never saw anything go down so fast. I saw it in the garden as I was about to shower when I got up, grabbed the 99 and stepped out the front door and it was a goner.
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Good eating. Head shots save a lot of meat.
;)
 
"I'm looking at a Browning BLR lever chambered in .22-250. "
Go for a bolt action... they tend to be more accurate for the distances that you want the rifle to work at. Mine is a Sako. Couldn't be happier.
 
This guy is using an air gun for raccoons. I’m guessing you’re not keeping the fur? Even the .223 can’t be leaving more than a tail and a smile.
I leave them for the turkey vulture ...Buzzards got to eat, same as worms. Outlaw Josey Wales
 
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DogT said:
Yeah, those 22 SX bullets are great if they don't blow up going out the barrel. But I've found there pretty good up above 3000 and more. That's what killed the 220 was the throat erosion.

I even use SX bullets in my 1922 Savage 99. 125gr going out at about 2700fps. Great out to about 150 yds for deer. I hit one in the head Christmas day, I never saw anything go down so fast. I saw it in the garden as I was about to shower when I got up, grabbed the 99 and stepped out the front door and it was a goner.
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Remind me never to stop for a leak in your garden ;)
 
CanukNortonNut said:
"I'm looking at a Browning BLR lever chambered in .22-250. "
Go for a bolt action... they tend to be more accurate for the distances that you want the rifle to work at. Mine is a Sako. Couldn't be happier.
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Way ahead of you, I ended up getting the Tikka 6+1 bolt:

www.cabelas.ca

Tikka® T3x Varmint Stainless Bolt-Action Rifle | Cabela's Canada

• Barrel and action made of heat-treated stainless steel • Free-floating, heavy contour barrel with muzzle crown • Extra wide fore-end for benchrest shooting • Ergonomically designed cheek piece • Modular synthetic stock with improved recoil pad • Vertical pistol grip with...
www.cabelas.ca www.cabelas.ca
 
acadian said:
Way ahead of you, I ended up getting the Tikka 6+1 bolt:

www.cabelas.ca

Tikka® T3x Varmint Stainless Bolt-Action Rifle | Cabela's Canada

• Barrel and action made of heat-treated stainless steel • Free-floating, heavy contour barrel with muzzle crown • Extra wide fore-end for benchrest shooting • Ergonomically designed cheek piece • Modular synthetic stock with improved recoil pad • Vertical pistol grip with...
www.cabelas.ca www.cabelas.ca
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That should do the trick. Get some good glass for it. I like Leopold.
 
a few years ago i loaned one of my rifles to a friend as he wanted to see how it did on a deer. he was thinking of buying one in that caliber to play around with. the one i let him try was a custom McBros 50BMG and a box of hand load rounds. the load is a hornady 750 A Max at 2700FPS . the bullet comes apart really fast as evidenced by what happened to the deer. it was a 140 yd shot that hit in the left front sholder and exited out the left rib cage. no meet was damaged but the deer was field dressed as ALL the intrails was outside the deer. as he said it did not suffer but i would recommend it as a varmint gun.
 
BMG will kill things behind block walls. War weapon, not a casual hunting rifle. Shooting a deer with it is about equivalent to my shooting a ground hog with a 300WM. Doesn't matter where you hit it, or even if you hit it sometimes. But if I could safely shoot a BMG at my place, I'd probably have one. I understand they really reach out.
 
the 50 is a fun weapon to play with . we like to shoot tracers into the side of the mountain for a good time. it is good to be here in hillbilly land.
 
bill said:
the 50 is a fun weapon to play with . we like to shoot tracers into the side of the mountain for a good time. it is good to be here in hillbilly land.
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Yeah, this is pretty much something my in-laws in rural Tennessee would get up to with it

 
A 50 BMG will knock a hole in a 3/4" steel plate at a 1/2 mile.

During WWII, B25 Mitchell's sank ships with 50 BMG's by coming in from high, firing thru the ship's deck and penetrating down to the boilers which exploded. It also helped to have as many as 12 forward facing 50's all firing at once.

Slick
 
I have about 4 or 5 pieces of 3/4" plate steel that I can hardly lift any more, they're about 18x10". I thought I would use them for a backstop for my 220 Swift. Well that 220 still knocks 1/4" deep holes in that plate steel even with HP bullets. A regular 22 looks like a lead splash on the surface. I stopped using them with the 220S, 308 HP is OK though. I have an old John Deere scraper blade that I thought I would also use for a backstop for the 220S, it's about 1/4" steel, that 220 just punches 1/2" holes in it. Looks like it was burned through with a torch.
 
I've got a book, somewhere, about 1000 yard shooting, entitled Shooting Through the Swimming Pool.
Amazing riffs on temperature, eyesight, light, humidity . . .
 
It kind of all started here:



Good shooting for what White Feather had at the time.
You all have a great 4th of July.
Cheers,
 
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