December 15, 2005, 08:46 PM | #1 |
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Varmint rifle
I was wanting to get some opinions on what I should buy. I want something that will reach at least 300 yrds. Should I go with a 243. I know there are a lot of good rifles, Win, Rem, maybe Savage. I will probably use it for coyotes and target shooting.
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December 15, 2005, 08:58 PM | #2 |
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Remington or Savage. I don't know about a 243 at 300 yards. I am confident that it would kill a coyote, I am just not that familiar with the ballistics of it. My personal favorite is a 308. I would use a FMJ bullet to avoid damaging the pelt, if this is possible with a 308? Of course a 22-250 or 220 swift would be good medicine.
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December 15, 2005, 09:49 PM | #3 |
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I have a Rem 700 PSS in .308 that I'm VERY happy with. Sub MOA groups even with ME pullin the trigger .
Lotsa aftermarket stuff out there also. Most any gunsmith worth his salt can do trigger and action work. I even made a slight adjustment on the trigger on mine, very easy, good result. I dont think you can go wrong with Remington. Its my goto rifle for serious target (175 SMK) or varmint (110 V-Max) work |
December 15, 2005, 10:33 PM | #4 |
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.243 Win should work SWEET for your purpose. One of my favorite rounds. Low recoil and ammo won't break the bank. The 243 has over 50% more ME than a .223 and is nearly as flat shooting at 300 yds. Best of all it retains the energy to longer distances and still has almost 1000+/- left at that distance. I doub't you'd be disapointed in it.
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December 15, 2005, 10:57 PM | #5 |
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I really like the .243, and I strongly recommend handloading for it. There is a truly fine selection of bullets available.
My pet load--now, also made by Federal--has always been the Sierra 85-grain HPBT. I've killed some 20+ deer with it, and it's absolutely ruinacious on coyotes. Sighted in around two inches high at 100 yards, it zeroes right about 200 or so, and is no more than six inches low at 300. I generally limit myself to inside of 200 yards for deer, but since most deer are generally in that range, no problem. I figure it's fine on coyotes to 300, without worrying overmuch about estimating the range--and coyotes are easily called to closer ranges. You can really hotrod the .243 with a 55-grain bullet, or go to a Nosler 100-grain for better penetration on larger deer... , Art |
December 15, 2005, 11:30 PM | #6 | |
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Quote:
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December 16, 2005, 12:31 AM | #7 |
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I just picked up a NEF single shot super light rifle in .243. Great varmint rifle. Found mine at my favorite store with a simmons 3x9x40 pro hunter scope mounted, and used hardly at all. Only three rounds had been through it. Picked it up for only $200.
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December 16, 2005, 02:07 AM | #8 |
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I thought I read that 243's have short barrel lives. Might be something to consider if true. Maybe some that knows could comment on this.
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December 16, 2005, 02:21 AM | #9 |
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If you let the barrel cool off a 243 Win barrel should last as long as a 22-250 Rem. You can burn out a 243 barrel if you keep firing continuously in a healthy PDog town. Leave the rapid fire to the triple deuce or 223 Rem and reserve the 243 for the windy/long range varmints. If you are shooting for fur from coyotes then go for the slow twist barrels firing 55 grainers at hypervelocity to flatten the varmint because the bullet will explode inside the coyote from 200 to 600 yards. The only drawback to that is if you have to shoot one at ranges of 100 yards and under it will sure ruin a lot of fur with the bullet breaking up as soon as it touches fur. josh
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December 16, 2005, 03:26 AM | #10 |
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243 is great calibre for what you want I use 95gr ballistic tip Noslers and 65 gr for long range varmints. My rifle is in for a new barrel after 25 yrs and it would still hold 1-1.5" at 100 yds but it needed a load of cleaning after every outing. That and possibly the 25-06 are good all round for varminting and a bit of paper shooting too. Lots of good s/h ones at good prices if you look round.
Enjoy!
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December 16, 2005, 04:05 AM | #11 |
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Ruger
Get a Ruger Mini 30.
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December 16, 2005, 09:22 AM | #12 |
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gdeal, the 7.62x39 is not the right cartridge for the intended purpose.
Art |
December 16, 2005, 12:11 PM | #13 |
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For varmints and target shooting, I would get (and have for this purpose) a 22-250. A bit more flat than a 223, and all you need for 'yotes and pd's.
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December 16, 2005, 01:12 PM | #14 |
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I would get the .243 also, but Remington does build a nice model 700 light varmiter in .223 with a fluted barrel and a synthetic stock. Cheep to shoot too.
Gib |
December 16, 2005, 07:10 PM | #15 |
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243 or 308 is good medicine at 300 yards. But one caution on the 243, check the barrel twist because one that shoots 55- 65gr bullets may not like the 95-105 at all, and vise-versa.
Generally the lighter bullets in 243 "blow up" real easy (I.e. are really varmint bullets) and the heavier bullets are designed for deer size game. |
December 16, 2005, 08:01 PM | #16 |
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This rifles sole purpose will be for varmints. I was thinking of the Rem VS SFII, or the VSF, or a Mod 70 Stealth II. Any body have any experience with these rifles. I will be hand loading , but don't have a whole lot of experience with it, still learning. I've got a Mod 70 Ranger in 223, but I need something new. Yall know how that goes.
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December 16, 2005, 08:43 PM | #17 |
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The .243 55 grain bullets shoot flater than a .223 correct me if im wrong. And a good varmint twist rate would be 1-10 for a .243 and if i am wrong correct me. Does anyone els have a .243, i can't watch the target being shot through the scope this might be because i'm 120 pounds can any of you guys watch through the scope?
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December 17, 2005, 12:21 AM | #18 |
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This thread is all over what ive been wondering. JUst sold a big barreled REM 700 police 25-06 for a ruger Mark 77 243 compact. I went from one extreme to another. The ruger has a light 16 1/2 inch barrel. Ive been wondering what bullet should I shoot. I dont really varmint hunt but I like knowing that I can shoot something way out there if I want. But I mostly deer hunt in the woods and got tired of lugging a big gun around. So now i cant mke up my mind on what kind on bullet to shoot. The 243 impressed me. These guys that go out here with 7mags and cannons must a a small mans complex. I like using a small fast round. So far I really like that 243 but the 25-06 was very impressive.
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December 17, 2005, 02:15 AM | #19 |
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There is always the AR15 in .243 WSM to add in the mix. For varmints they are hard to beat.
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December 17, 2005, 02:45 AM | #20 |
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Here is an adviced twist rate from benchrest.com. I've been trying to explain this twist rate requirement to a friend of mine and he insisted that his Ruger Mini-14 can shoot the 55 grain all the way up to the VLD 77/75 grain 223 bullets in moa @ 100 yards. Riiiiiiiight.... A good example is my Colt H-Bar w/ 1x7 twist. It wouldn't shoot 55 grain bullets worth for crap and I was ready to sell the rifle and take a 25% lost on it. I ended shooting some 64 grain pp through it and it grouped better than the 52 grain bthp match loads. I was actually getting 1.75" moa with the 64 grain so a light bulb came on in my head. I started researching twist rates and so on so I ordered some 77 grain Sierra HPBT match bullets and started playing with loads using virgin winchester brass and varget powder. My first outing with the Colt gave less than moa and the 2nd trip I was getting .5 moa from a box stock non free floated barrel from the Colt. I told the person thinking of buying it that I wasn't selling anymore, when he asked I showed him my .5 moa target that I shot. What does this have to do with the 243? Well if your barrel has a twist rate for dear loads then I'm thinking you should look for your accuracy loads in the 70-90 grain. josh
.172 9" For bullets heavier than 30 gr. 10" For bullets up to 30 gr. .204/20 12" For all bullets. .222 RF 14"* Twist for pistol barrels 16" Standard twist for rifle barrels 17"* Special twist for rifle barrels .224 CF 8" For bullets heavier than 70 gr. 9" For bullets up to 70 gr. 12" For bullets up to 63 gr. 14" For bullets up to 55 gr. 15"* For bullets up to 55 gr. driven 4,100 fps or more 16"* For bullets up to 55 gr. driven 4,300 fps or more 6mm/.243 8" Special for VLD bullets over 100 gr. 10" For bullets up to 120 gr. and VLD under 100 gr. 12" For bullets up to 85 gr. 13"* For bullets up to 75 gr. 14"* For bullets up to 70 gr. 15"* Special for bullets up to 70 gr. .257 9" For bullets heavier than 100 gr. 10" For bullets up to 100 gr. 12" For bullets up to 90 gr. 13"* For bullets up to 80 gr. 14"* For bullets up to 70 gr. 6.5mm/.264 8" For bullets heavier than 130 gr. 9" For bullets up to 130 gr. .270 10" For all bullets 7mm/.284 9" For bullets heavier than 140 gr. 11" For bullets up to 140 gr. .307 13"* Special size and twist .308 8" For bullets heavier than 220gr. 10" For bullets up to 220 gr. 12" For bullets up to 170 gr. 14"* For bullets up to 168 gr. 15"* For bullets up to 150 gr. |
December 17, 2005, 07:55 AM | #21 |
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Several years ago, I sold my .22-250 and got a Rem. 700 Varmint in 6mm Rem, which has almost identical ballistics and uses the same bullets as the .243. I loved the caliber for spring chuck hunting in Maine due to it's superior wind-bucking ability and long-range energy.
The only reason I got rid of the beast is that the rifle was too heavy to carry around the fields. We'd walk about 5 miles a day and I prefer a standard-weight hunting rifle for those outings. The results were spectacular, however. I tried 80-85 grain bullets, but settled for the 90 grain Sierra for it's very good accuracy and wind bucking. Back then we considered the .243/.6mms a bit light and fast for Maine deer hunting, though a few people used them. Picher |
December 17, 2005, 05:50 PM | #22 |
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the 243 will push bullets fast enough to make it useful at 350-400 yards,
that being said, anything a 243 will do a 6mm Rem will do better, depending on how serious you are you might look at the Rem 40x series |
December 17, 2005, 09:08 PM | #23 |
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A 243 with a 105 grain VLD bullet will reach out and touch a varmint. If a 223 using 77 grain VLDs can dominate cross the course up to 600 yard shooting, the 243 will reach 1000 and still supersonic as long as you're shooting a 24 - 30" barreled rifle. josh
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December 18, 2005, 12:51 AM | #24 |
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Exactly what kind of varmints are we talkin' about? I have a .17 Remington 700 and also the .243 NEF. Both are great rifles for distance.
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December 18, 2005, 12:55 AM | #25 |
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Oops, I see you made a reference to coyotes.
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