Help with ideas for a new varmint gun

[montana_native]

I recently bought a new hunting rifle so I was going to convert one of my other rifles to a "semi-custom" varmint rig for 600 yards and under gophers and prairie dogs. I have hopes of finding a used HS Precision varmint stock for one of them.

The two guns I have are a 670 Win and a 78 Sportsman which are the econo versions of model 70's and 700's. Both are long actions, however the 670 is chambered in 243 with spacers in the magazine. It came like that from the factory as far as I know.

Which would be the best platform to build on? What would be a good chambering?

The only things I would prefer are decent barrel life (1500+ rounds) and it must remain a repeater.

 

[357Mag]

ideas for a new varmint gun

Montana -

Please read you PMs.

Regards,
357Mag

 

[CanusLatransSnpr]

If I were you I would stay with the 6mm and larger bullets! Since you have long actions the 25-06 wouldn't be a bad cartridge! Put a slower twist barrel on it and keep to the 75 gr. bullets and you would have one hell of a varmint rig! Fast and flat shooting! Maybe even a 25-06 A.I.! Just a thought!

Mike

 

[Lone Hunter]

+ 1 on the 25-06. It also makes a good deer rifle plus.

 

[nockhunter]

How about a 6.5x55, can't go wrong with the old girl.

Mike

 

[Kenny474]

I think Lone Hunter and Canus have missed an important part of your build criteria, as the 25-06 is likely to cook a barrel in under 1500rds, probably closer to 1200. It also suffers from a lack of bullet selection compared to more popular varmint calibers, such as the 6mm and 6.5mm and .223 as well.

Consider the 6XC, 6.5 Grendel, 6,5 Creedmore, .260, .260AI, 6.5X55 or even a 7mm-08 or .280AI. And if you want to go smaller the .223AI might be a good choice, though the bigger bullets will have a major advantage in the wind with their superior BC.
I like the idea of a .280AI, as the 7mm has some excellent high BC bullets and the rounds should feed fine and still give you acceptable barrel life. It will also double as an excellent medium/large game rifle as well. The 120gr V-Max, 120gr Nosler BT or 100gr Sierra varminter should do well on varmints, and there is the 162gr A-Max or quite a few offerings from Berger, Sierra and Nosler if a heavier high BC bullet is needed.

There are plenty of good rounds that will do what you want and still give good barrel life. I would go with a .243AI before I considered a 25-06 for varmints. I would think barrel life would be similar and the .243AI will have a far better bullet selection.

Though getting some of these rounds to feed in a long action may be a pain, but if the 670 feeds the .243 well I don't see it being that hard to adapt to most of the rounds listed.

 

[bozo699]

Kenny,
I don't know? I have better than 2K down the tube of my 25-06 and still shooting Great.
Wayne.

 

[Kenny474]

I only go on what I have been told and the fact that the bore to cartridge capacity ratio isn't in favor of long barrel life. It's similar to the 6-06 and 6.5-06, and neither of those are easy on barrels by any means. My only experience with a round of similar size was a 6-06, and barrel life wasn't that great.

You may have an exceptional barrel, they do vary a bit. And if you go easy and don't use max loads you can often extend barrel life.

And with the limited bullet options compared to more popular calibers is a drawback in my eyes. It's a great deer sized game round, but I think there are other rounds better suited to long range varminting. It's similar to the .270, great round with a lack of available bullets compared to other calibers. Berger only offers 3 .25cal bullets, less than half of the 7mm.

If I were to go with a -06 based round, it would be a .280AI hands down. Those 180 Bergers have a .659 BC that is untouchable in that bullet weight. And there are plenty of lightweight varmint bullets to be had as well. More importantly, the larger bullet diameter will extend barrel life even in AI configuration.

 

[oldroper]

I recently bought a new hunting rifle so I was going to convert one of my other rifles to a "semi-custom" varmint rig for 600 yards and under gophers and prairie dogs. I have hopes of finding a used HS Precision varmint stock for one of them.

The two guns I have are a 670 Win and a 78 Sportsman which are the econo versions of model 70's and 700's. Both are long actions, however the 670 is chambered in 243 with spacers in the magazine. It came like that from the factory as far as I know.

Which would be the best platform to build on? What would be a good chambering?

The only things I would prefer are decent barrel life (1500+ rounds) and it must remain a repeater.

I'm at a disadvantage as I break my PD rifles down into short yardage shooting 300/400yd then move up to different caliber for over 400yds. I just cann't see taking my 280AI out to shoot PD from 0 to 600yds.

When you get into the larger caliber you have to consider recoil/limited shooting due to barrel heat so your not going to be able to do any volume shooting. You can get more shots of with a 25-06 before barrel heats up.

I think Lone Hunter and Canus have some good ideas on varmit calibers and I have my favorites like the 243,243AI and 6RemAI that would work. My gunsmith just build himself a nice 6.5x06 he's been shooting a 6.5x55AI and we talked about a 257AI. I load for my varmit partner one of his rifle is a custom 25-06 nice rifle alot of good calibers for the long action.

Well good luck

 

[Hackberry]

I've got more than 3,500 rds through a 25-06 AI and I haven't had any problems at all. I attribute this to proper rifle care, judicious loading and if the barrel gets hotter than I can touch with my hand, I stop shooting it until it's cool enough. It's all just no-brainer common sense, really - if you like 25-06's or 25-06 AI's then go for it. They really are show-stoppers where varmints are concerned and they're darn good deer rifles too!

Good luck with your choice!