lomg range groundhog guns

[Savage99]

I am disappointed to see that the woodchucks are gone from New England and E. NY.

Chuck hunting was the most shooting and a favorite of mine since the 1950's. We think the return of the coyote did it.

A favorite rifle is my high wall Winchester in 219 I. Zipper by Floyd Butler with it's Lyman Supertargetspot scope.

 

[284winner]

Boy what a question !!! So many phenomenal options out there. Some big some not so big. Guess it all depends on cost to load, recoil, range and availability of materials. I myself am a 284 win guy but have fun finding brass. It's seasonal at best unless you get 6.5-284 , then it's pricey. I use a .260 or 6.5 - 284 for groundhogs primarily but have heaps of brass for both. The .243 is also a great option. All three of those calibers offer great BC'S and can push the round fairly fast without beating you up. I'd say price wise to load and comfort of shooting in order would be .243, 6.5 - 284, .284. There are still lots of others that are probably as good but it's a preference issue mostly. You'll find that out with all the feedback you get. Good luck.

 

[drags]

My three that I am torn between is 220 swift AI, 22-243 Middlestead, and 22 X 55 Swede all of them 28" 12 twists and love 69 and 77gr Sierra's. really good and effective Splatter Factor, on anything from a Pdog to a Ghog and also good on Yotes.

Dean

Hi Kanuk, You have some serious guns there. How does the 69 and 77 SMK work on a 12 twist and do the bullets open up on groundhogs.
Joe

 

[scope eye]

Hey Drags, They work great in 12 twist due to having a short bearing surface, that and sending them just under or just over 4000 FPS.
I know they work great because when I hit them it looks like I hit them with Tanarite. I have a 223AI and a 22-250 AI and there fine and get the job done there just not as fun. But as much fun that they all are there no where near as much fun as these. I will not say how fast these are, you would not believe me but they are borderline insanity. and they are defiantly at the top of the food chain as far as 22 goes.

They are 30" long



Dean

 

[Stormbringer]

Mike,

What kind of velocity are you getting out of the 53gr. V-Max in the 220 swift and what is your opinion on their performance on groundhogs.

Thanks
Alan

Alan - I have a limited amount of kills with the 53 vmax and 220 Swift since it is a new load for me (about 50 kills). Thus far I am very pleased with the performance on chucks and it has extended the range of the rifle over the loads I used in it before. The rifle is a older long action Savage 112 single shot with a 1-12 twist barrel. Velcocity is at 3900 and accuracy is outstanding.

 

[onelastshot]

Difficult to say which caliber is "best" when there are so many great possibilities available to us. My two favorites that I own are the 22-250AI and the 6mmAI. I typically keep the 6mmAI for the longer shots; if you're looking for the red mist affect this will definitely fit the bill.

 

[Nomad47]

My favorite cartridges for long range groundhogs are the 6XC and the 6SLR both shooting the 105 AMax bullet. I know the Amax will anchor them out to 1062 yards.
I shoot from a portable bench with a rifle weighing at least 16 pounds. I can see my hits/misses without a brake with that weight of rifle. Front rest is a wide bipod similar to what is used in FT/R.

 

[onelastshot]

I have two long range guns, the 22-250AI and a 6mm Remington AI. I built the 6mm AI using a Mauser 98 action and a 26 inch varmint barrel and built a custom stock for it. For the longer shots this is my go to gun with 75 grain vmax's. Love the 22-250 but the 6mm AI is difficult to beat for the long shots.

 

[Yote Hunter]

A fast twist 22-250/22-250 AI with a 8 twist barrel and 75 gr AMAXs will get the job done more consistently than light bullets at 400 yards and beyond. With a .435 B.C. it will work fine to 800-1000 yards. But a 6 mmbr/6mm Dasher with a 8-10 twist barrel will work really well also. The 87 max for the 10 twist barrel and the 105 amax for the 8 twist. 87 gr max would be great to 800 yards and the 105 gr AMAXs work better to 1000 yards. All of these bullets kill very well. Anything larger than these cartridges is really unnecessary.

 

[cath8r]

I'm running an 8 twist 22 250. Shooting 75 gr amax at 3150fps without any trouble. Cuts the wind great!

 

[IdahoCTD]

I always though anything sub 7mm mag was a waste of a good chuck. A friend and I shot a sh!t ton of rock chucks in the 90's with .300 Magnums using 150gr Nosler BT's at 3550fps to 3700fps. 20-30 feet of air was the norm with a hit across the belly when they were laying on a rock. When Nosler changed those bullets and made them tougher they ruined a awesome chuck bullet. We shot a lot of them with 7STW's and 140-180gr bullets as well as 185 to 210 Berger's in the .300 Magnums. I shot a few with my 7-300wm and 162 Amax's at 3260fps in the last few years. They make a pretty good mess of them too. I don't retrieve them so the bigger the splatter the better. ;D

BTW I've shot them with calibers as small as a 6BR but it's not near as fun as the big calibers. A .243AI and 105 Amax's are decent on the smaller chucks. When you get up to 10+lb chucks the smaller calibers are out matched if you want to shoot them "For Effect".

 

[MQ1]

I grew up in Ohio, and on occasion make it back to the Bowling Green area to partake in a Myles Pizza and to shoot in the bean fields I shot in back in college.

If you don't want a Wildcat, I think my favorite choices were a .243 or a 25-06. For whatever reason, I had an old single shot J Series Savage in 25-06 that was just incredibly accurate...I shot more groundhogs past 400 with that rifle, which kinda started my respect for the 25-06. I've killed a bunch of long range groundhogs, a couple deer and an elk with a 25-06....a truly impressive do everything cartridge if you ask me.

If you want to Wildcat, I'd go with a 243AI...mostly for the lack of brass trimming and the cool factor of that 40 degree shoulder. Good brass options, and you can always just shoot factory ammo if you are in a pinch. My .243AI is a 12 twist, and it is impressively accurate with 70 TNTs and 80 Bergers. If you really want the long range, an 8 twist and 105 Amaxs will get you there, and you'd still have the 70 TNTs for the close work.

IMHO,


MQ1

 

[NWnewguy]

I would say that there are a lot of good choices mentioned here. I would also like to bring up the 300 Varminter. It's basically just a WSM with a short throat to shoot the 110-125gr bullets. It was a favorite of one of the all time classics in my mind Richard Franklin.
The thing to remember is that if you want to see the splatter factor, you need speed. The formula for Energy is .5 x Mass x Velocity squared. Therefore energy is directly proportional to the square of it's speed. Spoken a little simpler, you get more results with more speed than with more mass. It doesn't mean that it's always easier to actually hit your target with a super fast light bullet, (speed is temporary while BC is forever) but when you do it sure does have an effect.

 

[scope eye]

There is nothing like a 30 cal varmint rifle, I have a 300 WSM, 300 WinMag, and a 300 RUM, all with short throats and slow twists, And as far as I am concerned they are in a league of there own. I know they are not Ideal out to 1000 Yards with there low BC numbers, news flash that's not what they are made for. But I tell you up to 600 yards anything you hit looks like you hit it with Tanarite I also like the single digit bullet drop, I know I get way more enjoyment with this type of shooting than any other form.

Dean

 

[R.Morehouse]

Last one I got was with a 300RUM and a 208 A-Max at 300ish laying on my belly off a bi-pod. WHEWWWW......The dogs are replacing the hogs pretty quick here in western pa. as well so when I DO get a shot at a hog I don't mind rolling out a cannon.

 

[hogpatrol]

For long range groundhogs, it's hard to beat the .50 BMG. Air time is fantastic and sometimes you even get some aerobatics thrown in.