Accurate, Long Range Rifle on a Budget... Groundhogs?

[searcher]

Because your shooting will be under 300 yards in either direction - I'd opt for the "quieter" .223 in any decent varmint-weight rig you can find. Shooting heavier V-Maxes or such will do those groundhogs in just fine - along with any coyote or such. I'd look for a new or used Remington, Ruger or Savage. Probably find something at a reasonable price in the ads on this site.

 

[Mark W]

Many of us need to pay more attension. I asked the website manager if he would delet every post more than 3 YO. to clean up the website. He said no.

I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is about old posts that bothers some people so bad. Many times there’s info that’s still pertinent to someone’s situation. If not, they’re always free to scan right on past it. No harm no foul IMO.

 

[Bulletbob]

Happy New Year folks, I have been wanting to purchase a rifle, bolt action or semi-auto I can reach out and touch somebody with.

I just retired, and don't have a lot of money to spend, so want the best bang for my buck.

I live on a pretty good size farm, loaded with whistle pigs. I'm building an elevated observation "tree house" for my young daughter, and thought it might as well double as a hunting blind.

Lets say I could scratch up $500, not including a scope. Is there anything out there I would be real impressed with as a long range rifle for picking off ground hogs consistently? Farm is 6/10 of a mile long, but I will be kind of in the middle of it. That would be it's normal usage... but now and again, I might want to do some friendly competition with a buddy and start stretching the boundaries.

However... might get a hankering to set up a few exploding targets once I've run out of ground hogs.

Give me your best advice on what would satisfy my wish list.

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

I also agree with the Howa fans, look for a heavy barreled Howa in a 22~250, and a Vortex Viper PST 6-24 scope, should be a killing machine.