Good varmint caliber? 204 ruger, 223?

[CrazyCanuck]

Yes I reload and I am looking for coyotes and 3 or 400 yards. Using bipod and open field evening type hunting.

 

[A_Gamehog]

The .223 is the rifle for you, 1-9 twist AR-15 or bolt action. Perfect coyote rifle.
the 1-9 shoots the 34's to the 75's very accurate. Brass and bullets are plentiful most of the time.
My favorite Coyote load:
Lake city brass
XBR 8208 powder
CCI 450's
53 V-Max
stones them and chucks easily.
I feel the 1-12 std twist 204 Ruger is too light for Coyotes in my experience.

 

[tuck2]

I started shooting prairie dogs in 1949 when I was given a 22 RF rifle. Started reloading ammo in1953 after getting a 270 Win rifle. I wonted a better p dog rifle so in 1956 got a Sako 222 Rem. Some time after getting the 222 Rem I decided that I wonted a perfect p dog cartridge rifle and scope site. Sofar I have shot P dogs with 17 HM2, 17 HMR, 17 Fireball, 17 Rem, 204 Ruger, 22 RF, 22WMR, 22 Hornet, 221 Fireball, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 22-250 Rem, 220 Swift, 243 Win, and some big game rifles. I should have a 17 Hornet in a few days. Some of the rifles were not worth owning until they were given a tune up which included one or more of the following: adjust trigger pull, glass bed action, free float barrel, lapp bolt locking lugs, re crown muzzle, and remove wood under the bolt handle. The bolt action rifle brands were Anschutz, Browning, Cooper, Howa, Ruger, Remington, and Winchester. Most were varmint weight models. I v tried following what bench rest shooters do when reloading ammo. All of centerfire varmint rifles are good when they put five bullets into 1/2 inch or less groups at 100 yards when shooting off a bench rest. I have ben satisfied with Leupold scopes. Should you go after ground squirrels , p dogs, ground hogs, fox, and coyotes a 204 ruger is a good one to start with, but you can not get by very long with one varmint rifle.

 

[MarkS]

I have had them all 17 rem to 6AI Hands down 6BR with bullets 70gr Blitzking to 87 Vmax. The 70gr are good to 750yds on Groundhogs, 87gr to 1000yds.

Mark Schronce

 

[boltgunluvr]

Yes I reload and I am looking for coyotes and 3 or 400 yards. Using bipod and open field evening type hunting.

204 is serving folks very well. BUT, if you really want to silence coyotes at your range.....flip a coin. I've been using 55gr Sierra for years and it's never failed me. 350-375ish yds. A buddy has a 204. It's very accurate, but it doesn't seem to put coyotes down as quickly at 250+ yds. They yap a tad before hey leave this realm. I hate to see or hear an animal struggle before being harvested. I believe in clean quick kills.

 

[searcher]

Like most of these folks, I too have .17hmr, 204 Practical, various .223's, .243, 6mmBR, etc. I shoot all of them. If I could only pick one, hands down a .223 as it will do 90% of what most people do. I blast groundsquirrels out to 400 yards or so, coyotes further - and that is with lead-free ammo. Lead goes further better. If you will be doing a lot of shooting beyond 350 yards, get a 6br, .243 or a 22/250. That way, you will have one gun that can do everything - you can always add to the armory if and when you desire. Among the faster or bigger cartridges, the 6br gets the nod for accuracy, efficiency and barrel life, yet brass is expensive. Can easily make .243 brass from once-fired .308 brass which is "always" easy to find. The .223 brass and bullets are very reasonable and more options than your barrel will handle. If you shoot quarry like groundhogs and only take a handful of shots - go big. If you shoot hundreds of shots in a day, consider the .223 if for no other reason that shooters fatigue will come into play with the bigger and/or faster rounds.

 

[predator 22]

+1 for the 204 ruger 32gr v-max @ 4100+ fps with hand loads flat shooting to 500 yards no recoil easy to load for killed plenty of coyotes with it and very accurate

 

[stinnett1981]

I really like my .223 with 53 grain Vmax. That bullet is just amazing.

 

[22BRGUY]

If you handload please don't overlook the 22BR with Amaxes when available or the heavier Bergers if shooting out to 400 yards.

 

[40X Guy]

If hunting PD's or ground squirrels with a high amount of rounds fired then absolutely a .223 first and a .204 Ruger second. If hunting chucks, marmots or yotes then there is absolutely no equal: ---.220 Swift. They make barrels every day and nothing dies faster, harder or quicker than something killed by the venerable Swift... With todays powders and bullets plus good barrels you can see an easy 1000 rounds out of a Swift, just don't get it hot.

Frank

 

[Barlow]

I have a Ruger 77ts 220 Swift that I have used for years and imo there is nothing better. I did build a 6 Dasher last year on a Marlin x7, and it really works. There is work involved forming brass, but the end result is worth the effort. Barlow

 

[mshelton]

I'd like to suggest a Richard Franklin style Varminator, 300 WSM running the 125 Noslers close to 4000fps, I don't see how you could go wrong.

 

[tjtjwdad]

If hunting PD's or ground squirrels with a high amount of rounds fired then absolutely a .223 first and a .204 Ruger second. If hunting chucks, marmots or yotes then there is absolutely no equal: ---.220 Swift. They make barrels every day and nothing dies faster, harder or quicker than something killed by the venerable Swift... With todays powders and bullets plus good barrels you can see an easy 1000 rounds out of a Swift, just don't get it hot.

Frank

Just curious...what does a 220 Swift (or 22-250) have on a 243 (6mm Remington) with respect to Varmint shooting atlong range?

 

[Barlow]

Imo opinion, nothing. 243 is better at long range, (350yards and more) but I would rarely get that distance here. Barlow

 

[tjtjwdad]

Imo opinion, nothing. 243 is better at long range, (350yards and more) but I would rarely get that distance here. Barlow

Kinda' what I was thinking and I'm not knocking any 22 calibers at all; just curious if I was missing something.

Jim

 

[40X Guy]

I have always liked the Swift over a .243 or 6MM Rem. for varmints simply because of the recoil factor when shooting prone with a bipod. Plus a Swift or smaller does not knock you off the target as much. I have hunted chucks here in Pa. with both a .243 AI and a standard 6MM Rem and always go back to the Swift. Put the dot on the chuck and let it rip pretty much aiming dead on out to ~400 yards. Its more of a personal preference about the Swift and in my experience if someone asks questions about one or knocks one (no one did on this thread) then they have probably never owned one. A Swift just has that certain appeal...

Frank

 

[tjtjwdad]

Thanks, Frank

The attributes you mentioned is what I really like about my 204 Ruger. They're both pretty heavy and off of a swivel bench I don't see the recoil.

 

[40X Guy]

My pleasure tjtjwdad. I've never owned a .204 Ruger and I did come close to buying one at a gun show a while back. Interesting caliber. If I were to get back into PD hunting out west I would take a .204 for vaporize effect, a .223 for general use and a Swift for bigger vaporize effect.

Frank