.223 vs. 20 Vartarg & Rifle Question

[Retired 084]

This is my first posting here and there seems to be a lot of good information and friendly folks present. I am interested in getting into non-competitive casual target shooting at 100 & 200 yards. I am interested in either a .223 or 20 Vartarg and trying to get opinions on which is generally considered more accurate.
I plan on purchasing either a Cooper Montana Varminter or a Dakota Predator rifle as I have about 2k to spend. Does anyone care to share their opinion of which might be superior or would you rate them both as pretty equal?
Thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

[Forum Boss]

The .223 Rem gives you a huge choice of brass and bullets. With careful reloading (and a good barrel) you can get near-benchrest accuracy from that round so it is a good choice for paper. The 20 Vartarg can be very accurate, but you have only one choice of brass (Remington), and there are fewer 20-cal bullet makers. That said we've found both the Berger and Sierra 20-cal bullets to be very accurate.

The big advantage of the 20 Vartarg is a low-noise, low-powder consumption cartridge. For a varminter, shooting a LOT of rounds in an afternoon, the Vartarg makes sense. A lot less powder translates to less barrel heat and less barrel wear. The small 20-cal bullets have less recoil too. Consider the 20 Vartarg the next step up after a 17 HMR rimfire.

If you will primarily be shooting prairie dogs inside 300m I might opt for the Vartarg; otherwise the .223 will be more versatile.

 

[Sidewinder]

If you reload, go with the 20 VarTarg. You can see the hit in the scope, red mist effect. ;D We were shooting prairie dogs at 400 yards with the 17 Fireball so the VarTarg will have no problem with it. It takes longer for the barrel to heat up on the VarTarg. There are good 20 caliber bullets to choose from.

 

[MikeCTX]

Might consider a 20 Tactical/20 Practical - 223 brass necked down to .204 bullet. Great barrel life, easy to load for and lots of fun to shoot 100/200 yards targets...and I hear fun in the pd fields. Love mine.

 

[Recko555]

Might consider a 20 Tactical/20 Practical - 223 brass necked down to .204 bullet. Great barrel life, easy to load for and lots of fun to shoot 100/200 yards targets...and I hear fun in the pd fields. Love mine.

I agree with everything above except for the range. The cartridge is more like a 400-500 yard Pdog smacker.

 

[placek59]

I have no experience with Dakota rifles, but the Coopers that I have seen and shot, shoot extremely well (.2's at 100 fairly easy). With that being said, for just casual target shooting, I would go with the .223. It is plenty accurate and brass and bullets are plentiful, cheap, and easy to reload without having to form brass etc... I do not have any experience with the vartarg but have a .204 ruger (savage 12) and it was a bit trickier to get to shoot good compared to any of my .223's. I'm sure the vartarg will do everything you want it to as well, and I hope to have one someday too. Good luck in your choices.

 

[sdbirddogs]

Just a few thoughts. You can make 20 Vartarg brass from .223 parent brass so there are more options than the Rem Fireball brass. Lapua brass is a good start. I own both Coopers and Dakotas and 0.2" consistent groups are possible with both but not the norm. Things have to be pretty spot on to hold "consistent" groups like that. That being said, I personally would opt for the Vartarg because they are quiet, accurate and it is just a neat little round.