best varmint rifle?

TRG 308 master

hello there my sons birthday is coming up soon and his on about changing his 22 in and moving up, he does alot of rabbits and fox shooting, just wondering what be the best caliber for him. he like a high enough power.

endasmail

ah get him a tikka t3 tactical in .223 ,topped off with a schmidt bender 5x25x56 pm11
best birthday present he ll ever get:)

beretta391

ha enda you toke the words out of mouth, agree with a 223 serious round, by the way how much would one of them scopes be looking to upgrade

endasmail

depends where ya go
2000+
not cheap,,worth every cent

beretta391

what are the scmidht and bender 8x56 like, be good bit cheaper

It wasn't me!

Might be just me, but I'm leaning towards smaller and lighter scopes. I'd be more inclined to something like a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x44. I say this as someone with a 27oz. S&B 4-16x50 on his stalking rifle too by the way. If I could change for the same model in a 3-12x42 I'd do it in the morning. 14x is more than enough at the top end for any sort of hunting you could do with a .223. I was stalking with a friend the other day and dry-firing off sticks on a fern at 265 metres on about 3.5x and would have been very confident of killing a deer at that range and at that magnification. Magnification is massively overrated on hunting setups. Better to have it and not need it, but only to a certain extent when the payoff is larger, heavier scopes.

TheIrishGrover

Who are ya? Yosemite Sam?

beretta391

send me yer scopes and i let ye know which one i like the best lol

endasmail

i like to have that bit more mag ,if your shooting long range rabbits or so
the 25 mag comes in handy

stopping power

I agree with everyone else the .233 would be the best choice.... i suggest leupold VX-3L

It wasn't me!

endasmail wrote: »

i like to have that bit more mag ,if your shooting long range rabbits or so
the 25 mag comes in handy

True enough, but that 7x of yours will never leave you short either. Glad you got that sorted by the way. It was a puzzling one that day when it wouldn't group at all!

TRG 308 master

thanks lads so between the 22hornet 204 220 or 223 which is the best overall?

endasmail

It wasn't me! wrote: »

True enough, but that 7x of yours will never leave you short either. Glad you got that sorted by the way. It was a puzzling one that day when it wouldn't group at all!

thank god i got it sorted ,back to the factory it went

i dunno ,i wouldn be happy using a 7x on certain game

tomcat220t

TRG 308 master wrote: »

thanks lads so between the 22hornet 204 220 or 223 which is the best overall?

.204;)

endasmail

TRG 308 master wrote: »

thanks lads so between the 22hornet 204 220 or 223 which is the best overall?

depends who ya ask
i shoot a .223 and does exactly what i want it to do
my friend shoots a .204 and it does the same job

id say you pick between them two
think of ammo as well
plenty choice for .223 ,different prices
.204 not as much

Hibrion

Go for a 223. They're a great round. Any of the big names will be good in terms of a rifle. Give savage a look, they are about the best bang for your buck in a factory rifle.

Don't skimp on the scope AND rings and bases. Warne do good quality affordable mounts and rings.

You should spend as much as you can on a scope.

A mod would be a good addition for the rabbits.

It wasn't me!

endasmail wrote: »

thank god i got it sorted ,back to the factory it went

i dunno ,i wouldn be happy using a 7x on certain game

I was surprised. Meopta have a good name, but glad they handled it well. It's a lovely light setup with the fixed power scope I must say. Gotten much use since?

No? For rabbits at long range (Greater than 200 yards) I guess I see your point, but I shot 1" groups at 200 yards with my S&B on 8x before. Like I say, nice to have, but not needed except for small targets at longer ranges. I figure if you can hit an eight inch fern target consistently at 3.5x standing off sticks, you're not going to be lacking at 7x at 500 yards if that's your game.

beretta391

223 all the way, was chatting a lad with a 204 and his sorry he didnt get the 223.

endasmail

It wasn't me! wrote: »

I was surprised. Meopta have a good name, but glad they handled it well. It's a lovely light setup with the fixed power scope I must say. Gotten much use since?

No? For rabbits at long range (Greater than 200 yards) I guess I see your point, but I shot 1" groups at 200 yards with my S&B on 8x before. Like I say, nice to have, but not needed except for small targets at longer ranges. I figure if you can hit an eight inch fern target consistently at 3.5x standing off sticks, you're not going to be lacking at 7x at 500 yards if that's your game.

lately it seems to be the only thing im using

TRG 308 master

lads he has a good scope already, can we talk about calibers here thank you

It wasn't me!

endasmail wrote: »

lately it seems to be the only thing im using

Hard to blame you. Cracking rifle and setup. Would love to see how it's going sometime now it's all sorted out. Loved the light weight, even if it is a bit thumpy for it, it's still well manageable.

poulo6.5

TRG 308 master wrote: »

lads he has a good scope already, can we talk about calibers here thank you

i had a .223 for a couple of years and i loved it. it was a tikka tac 20" with a t8mod.
the only reason i sold it was to fund a custom build.

i still miss my tikka .223

anyway all the calls you mentioned will do the job very well, but for price and availability and choice there can be only one.

.223

It wasn't me!

.223 is the best way to go, though I have a soft spot for the big .22s, the .220 swift and the .22-250. Not that they'll do anything different to a fox than a .223, and they'll be expensive to run on rabbits, but it's a nostalgia thing. I think they're slipping towards the past and I'd be sorry to see that happen.

clivej

9 out of 10 Foxes say they prefer the 223 over all other rounds.

Constab2

I have a Sako 75 223 (second hand) & Zeiss conquest 4.5x14x44 absolutely great rifle , amazed at the accuracy with Hornandy Rounds 55 grain whole package was very reasonable for the quality i got.Expect to have this set up for many years no experience with 204 so can't comment, what ever you pick i am sure your son will be happy best of luck with your choice

landkeeper

if he shoots a lot of rabbits buy a .17 hmr if he shoots a lot of foxes buy a 223 or a 204

it makes me chuckle when you hear lads say they are shooting rabbits with a centrfire calibre it's expensive unless you hit the rabbit in the head there is very little left
rabbits for target practise yes rabbits for the pot :rolleyes: yeah right

Hibrion

I miss m 223 terribly. I am considering getting another when funds allow. If I do, it will be a savage without doubt.

stick shooter

TRG 308 master wrote: »

lads he has a good scope already, can we talk about calibers here thank you

If your son is looking purely for a calibre as your title says varmint shooting then your best choice is the .204 .They are gaining popularity and for a very good reason . As a varmint calibre it does everything a .223 can do but only a bit better . I have had the pleasure of using both .223 & .204 and for me(in my opinion) the .204 has the edge over both calibres.

master 22

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master 22

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TRG 308 master

master 22 wrote: »

A .22LR with sub sonic tips

im looking at .223s they seem to be the way to be the best all round according to my dealer

Hibrion

If you go for a 22-250 you should pick up a second hand one for buttons now. I know of a nice sako 75 in a dealers with scope and all for very, very low money.

TRG 308 master

really how much?

Hibrion

You have a PM

stick shooter

Hibrion wrote: »

You have a PM

would you mind sending me a pm too with price .

Hibrion

PM sent

landkeeper

a 22-250 is a bit over the top for el rabbito lol

endasmail

22-250 not require a deer license?

id check with the local FO before looking about buying

snipeface

If it's bunnies he's after then definitely go for the HMR17.

If on the other hand he's going to be after foxy, then i'd strongly recommend the .223 The Tikka T3 Hunter is a beaut.
Seriously do people shoot bunny rabbits with .223?

endasmail

snipeface wrote: »

If it's bunnies he's after then definitely go for the HMR17.

If on the other hand he's going to be after foxy, then i'd strongly recommend the .223 The Tikka T3 Hunter is a beaut.
Seriously do people shoot bunny rabbits with .223?

shoot them all day with the .223

snipeface

endasmail wrote: »

shoot them all day with the .223

Jayz i'd love to have your money, i'd burn me own.:D

endasmail

yea ,****eing money i am

4200fps

TRG 308 master wrote: »

hello there my sons birthday is coming up soon and his on about changing his 22 in and moving up, he does alot of rabbits and fox shooting, just wondering what be the best caliber for him. he like a high enough power.

he should go for a 223,swift or 22-250. i seen a rabbit shot with a swift and all there was was furr.. theres a great chice out there

foxer3640

He should keep the 22. The 223 or any centrefire is too much for rabbits if he wants to use the meat. Get a good second hand 204/223/swift etc for the foxes and use the 22 for rabbits/plinking etc and he'l be laughing

daniels.ducks

Sorry new to rifles here... what i get from this thread is that the .17 is the best all round gun for shooting rabbits and foxes?

juice1304

daniels.ducks wrote: »

Sorry new to rifles here... what i get from this thread is that the .17 is the best all round gun for shooting rabbits and foxes?

Yes if you plan on eating the rabbits and you take a sensible shot at the odd fox. 223 204 etc won't leave much of a rabbit.

garv123

daniels.ducks wrote: »

Sorry new to rifles here... what i get from this thread is that the .17 is the best all round gun for shooting rabbits and foxes?

If you have money to burn go for a. 204 or. 223 but there won't anything left on the rabbit if you plan on eating it. The .17 hmr Will have no problems knocking foxes out to 150 yards and most foxes are shot under 200 yards

tac foley

It seems to me that apart from the .22Long Rifle, the .223 is the best all-rounder for small game.

It has a number of clear advantages over ALL the others in the same arena -

1. A great choice of many different loads.

2. A great choice of many different makes of gun - new AND second-hand.

3. Ease of actually getting hold of the stuff in the fust place - most everywhere and every dealer seems to have SOMETHING.

4. most guns that shoot this calibre are stunnunglay accurate - given the chance.

5. Lastly and, for many, importantly - the stuff is comparatively cheap when you look at the newbie on the block - the .204 Ruger.

@Mr daniel.ducks - certainly the .17HMR is a good round out to about 150m, and the .17Remington - a centrefire cartridge costing four or five times as much - is good out to about 350m or so, but the humble .223 is good at ALL thse ranges, if you are up to the shooting. Placement is everything.

tac

daniels.ducks

One more question, is it easy to silence a .17 or will it be still fairly loud? I plan on shooting rabbits.

hedzball

daniels.ducks wrote: »

One more question, is it easy to silence a .17 or will it be still fairly loud? I plan on shooting rabbits.

It wont be as silent as a .22 which is as loud as a click of yer fingers..

if you want silent get a .22

if you want twice the range get a .17



I've a 22 myself but itching for the 17





'hdz

ssl

I have a 22 but am considering a 17.
Get a mod for ear protection but I believe the noise of a rimfire (modded or not) isn't what startles animals, it's the noise of the impact of the round.
How loud is a .22,.17, .22 mag at 100 yards down range?
And how loud is the impact next to a critter?