Best varmint gun out to 400 yards

[Damon555]

If you own no other varmint rifles the place to start is with the 223 Remington. Everybody should have at least one. Abundant and accurate factory ammo plus it's a lot cheaper than many of the other calibers mentioned. 400 yards is well within the reach of a 223 Rem too.......The Savage Model 12 BVSS with a 9 twist has been my go to varmint rifle for 20 years now. Sure you'll want other guns in the future but it's tough to beat a 223 as the basis for your small caliber, varmint shooting stable.

 

[Tommie]

The reference to 6.5 Creedmoor is sort of an inside joke.

Since you don’t reload, the BR family of cartridges is not much of an option. You’ll get tons of suggestions for a .223 or .204. Both are fine for the parameters you’ve listed. My preference would be the .204 but either will get the job done nicely.

 

[Hoodoo]

What twist if you don’t mind sharing?
Apologies to the OP for the thread drift.

1:11 twist for 40 grain bullets. 1:12 if you are going to shoot 32 grainers.

 

[hogpatrol]

The best gun for any type of shooting has not yet been invented.

 

[BULLET 05]

I love my 6br. Great all around caliber with low recoil. But in your case which is exactly the same situation as mine was a few years ago. I went with a CZ heavy bbl varmint in 223. I was ready to purchase another savage and I ran across a fairly new CZ heavy bbl in .223. Love the CZ too and really like the set trigger. I used factory ammo first and then started learning to reload on with CZ .223 and Savage .22 hornet. Next step I purchased the 6br. I am glad I got the 223 first. I would have shot my bbl out on my br just working up loads when I first started reloading. One thing happens when you start reloading. YOU SHOOT MORE!!!

 

[Skunce]

I use a 30 caliber suppressor on my 204 and It works fine. Sounds similar to a 22 high velocity long rifle. I would go with a 204 1-11" twist shooting 39-40 grain bullets. The 32 only has a speed advantage to about 250 yards. You won't have any problem seeing your hits with a suppressor on a varmint weight rifle. I use an 8-32 Sightron SIII on mine. If your going with a custom barrel I'd go with a 20 Practical just because of the brass. Also a 20 Vartarg will work fine out to 400 yards, with less recoil and noise.

 

[Patton243]

22-250 gets my vote. After that I would have the 243 right behind. Both have Lapua brass availability too.

 

[SBS]

At 24x zoom gonna need to be a 20 cal in a 12-14 lb plus rifle. Even then it could be iffy.

GrocMax has it right. Needs to be .20 cal. in as heavy a rifle as you can find to keep the dog in the field of view with 24X scope. Using factory ammo, .204 Ruger is the only .20 cal. choice. A brake will help some. A .204 with a 39 or 40 gr. bullet also has about the same drop and wind drift out to 350 yds. as most .22-250 factory loads with 55 gr. bullets. I would also opt for a Savage mod. 12 as a good choice considering both accuracy and cost. A Savage can also be easily rebarreled to a different caliber if wanted and even a caliber with a different bolt face. I also have a .223 using 40 gr. handloads that I can keep an eye on my hits/misses, but in my experience very few factory .223's will shoot 40 grainers well and it's usually a matter of handloading for those that will.

 

[jpx2rk]

Drop by a Cabelas and look at the FV12 model which is a Cabelas exclusive of the Savage model 12. About half price but you get a very nice tupperware stock that is still capable of half to 3/4 MOA. You can buy a 204R and 223 for the price of the laminated stock Savage.

 

[5spd]

I use a Savage I built in .223 along with my handloads with the 50g V & Z max bullets, my pal uses a Thompson center bolt action in .204 with 32g varmageddons. We both have no issues slapping p-dogs in the 400 yard distances. They will flip into the air depending on how hit mostly. I run a Nikon black scope 4-16x50, MOA reticle, he uses a Athlon 6-24x50 scope with that MOA reticle.

 

[Ken]

Good 223 works great for me----- 20+ years on the pd towns.
Started with a Rem 700 tactical style rifle with a 12x Leupold.
I have spent a bazillion dollars on rifles and scopes since then but can't say I have had more fun.

Oh yes, the more fun came with the suppressors much cheaper than hearing aids.

 

[B23]

CZ 527 Varmint 204 is a sweet little gun and even more fun shooting it suppressed. I'm thniking of selling this one if you're interested. Stock has been bedded and the barrel is already threaded. Shoots the 32gr Vmax factory ammo in to .5 inch groups pretty easily

 

[BobbyJ]

I would buy the .223 heavy varmint Savage in a 9 twist, find a factory loads that shoots well till u load your own , then shoot the 69gr and 25.2 gr of varget (listed in the sierra manual as the accuracy load ) works for me and a few others I know .

Might just get a couple of Remington 700 ADLs on sale for 400.00 could get two calibers to play around with. They are 26" Varmint 1/12 twist in .223. I want explosive small varmint kills so will probably start with the lighter faster bullets.

 

[BobbyJ]

CZ 527 Varmint 204 is a sweet little gun and even more fun shooting it suppressed. I'm thniking of selling this one if you're interested. Stock has been bedded and the barrel is already threaded. Shoots the 32gr Vmax factory ammo in to .5 inch groups pretty easily
View attachment 1054584

How much barrel life is left? Heard the 204s wear out the barrels pretty fast.

 

[Barlow]

220 Swift! Barlow

 

[BobbyJ]

I love the 204, but for economy, I would say .223. Cheap to start up with and easy to start reloading with. As for WOW factor, I was popping(literally, you could hear them) at 425 with my 24" AR. You may not see your close up shots through a high power scope, But anything past 200 yards I could catch with my 6x24 sightron. If you want to switch to a 20 later on when you start reloading, you can do as one said and make a 20 practical and no need to get different brass. I know you are looking at a bolt gun, but my AR handles 6 different calibers with only an upper change, and a bolt in two cases

Yea doubt I will ever get a AR style gun. My buddies wife who does not care if we hunt or shoot around the house goes a bit nuts over that style. Like "Why do you need that type of gun blah blah" And the truth is I don't. That style just has got a bad rap and I don't need the hassle. A good ole hunting style rifle is fine for me.

The .223 is probably the best in terms of recoil, and ammo price. I really don't want to get roped into reloading just yet if I don't have to. I like shooting more but who knows maybe I will be reloading in the future.

 

[BobbyJ]

220 Swift! Barlow

Yes I started out wanting a 220 swift but I am slowly getting educated on the pros and cons of each round type.

I want a 220 swift but I probably should start with a .223.

 

[urbanrifleman]

If you own no other varmint rifles the place to start is with the 223 Remington. Everybody should have at least one.

Best advice in the whole thread. EVERYONE should start with 223, and many never upgrade.

 

[BobbyJ]

GrocMax has it right. Needs to be .20 cal. in as heavy a rifle as you can find to keep the dog in the field of view with 24X scope. Using factory ammo, .204 Ruger is the only .20 cal. choice. A brake will help some. A .204 with a 39 or 40 gr. bullet also has about the same drop and wind drift out to 350 yds. as most .22-250 factory loads with 55 gr. bullets. I would also opt for a Savage mod. 12 as a good choice considering both accuracy and cost. A Savage can also be easily rebarreled to a different caliber if wanted and even a caliber with a different bolt face. I also have a .223 using 40 gr. handloads that I can keep an eye on my hits/misses, but in my experience very few factory .223's will shoot 40 grainers well and it's usually a matter of handloading for those that will.

Really .223s can't shoot 40gr well? What about 45gr? A buddy has been collecting Cabella points and I might buy a couple of Remington 700 ADL Varmints for 400.00 each 223 or 22-250. He gets the points I get a couple of cheap guns to tinker with.
I think 1/12" in 26" barrel.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Really .223s can't shoot 40gr well? What about 45gr? A buddy has been collecting Cabella points and I might buy a couple of Remington 700 ADL Varmints for 400.00 each 223 or 22-250. He gets the points I get a couple of cheap guns to tinker with.
I think 1/12" in 26" barrel.

When I hunt with 223 I use 40 grains for more explosion. And yes, they shoot very well. A full case of AA2015 and a 40 of choice is outstanding and goes 3800-3900 fps.

1-12 is great, as is 1-14.