varmint gun?

[Slenk]

PolarBear
Myself I would go with the Savage if you like the accutrigger or Stevens in  25-06  .
I used to hunt with a feller that, was the only riffle he owned . He used it on Deer & Elk and killed a truck load of each.
Slenk

[NORRISKI2]

My brother shoots a Savage BGTV .204 with an accutrigger and I shoot a Rem 700 VLS 22-250, both are well capable of yote extermination. 

[Coasthunterjay]

ok everyone always wants to know this question....now if you are wanting to target only varmints and you have no intend to shoot a larger animal with it then get the 22-250 or a 223. but if you can afford a littlle bit more expensive cartridge then i would recomend the .243.....

the one thing i think about is the what if question....
what if im calling in a timbered area calling coyotes or maybe for bobcats, and a cougar or a bear gets called in.....well with the smaller round you are not even legal to shot them...nor would i want the idea of some animal i just shot suffering in the woods because i shot it with a bb caliber sized round......

BUT WITH A larger round like the .243 (a 25-06 is really nice to)you can legally shot the small game predators(varmints) and your big game animals(including bears, cougars and deer)

i have also been looking at getting a smaller caliber and have been searching for alot of different things but i would stay with the three you have picked i want to stay as small as i can so i am going with a 243.....i also think of the chance that someday i may have a kid that may want to use or go hunting and im always trying to get my wife to go shooting with me, but she wont shoot the big dog....a 243 would be a great beginner rifle and enjoyable to shoot for long periods of time!!!

if i honestly had 1000 dollars to spend on a setup i would check gunbroker.com or one of those other websites and i would either buy a whole setup already built for 800 bucks or i would buy a nice remington 700 in .243 and buy 250-300 dollar leupold rifleman or new200-250 nikon and add a nice harris ultra light or rock mount bipod for it and BAMM..... one animal slaying gun.....

the tikka and savage are both great guns and you can do the same for both and save money but i am a big fan of remington....my recommendation would be to stay away from the ruger models....great gun but not for me......as is i like the remington i like them alot!.................

great choices man but eventually after looking it really only comes down to what you like and what fits good in you hand!

[AWS]

Without more info it's real hard to help with your desicion.

Do you want to save the fur?  The 243 and above and fur friendly don't go hand in hand.

Do you want to take over 300yd shots?  204 and 223 start to run out of horse power out there.

Do you plan on calling or spot and snipe?  Sporter weight rifles are handier on a calling stand, heavy weights are steadier for long distance sighting.

Calling guns work better with lower powerred variable 1x4x20mm, 1.5x6x40mm, 2x7x32mm or max 3x9x40mm.  Spot and snipe rifles work better with 4x12x40mm, 4.5x14x44mm ect.

Taking these things into consideration your choice of guns and caliber are what will work for your style of hunting.  As long as you stay with a quality maker you won't go wrong, CZ, Tikka, Rem., Sav. Browning, and Ruger all make quality rifles.  Buy the one that fits you best and you have confidence in.  Do buy a good scope Weaver, Burris, Leupold, Sightron etc. make good scopes, look for "Fully Multi-coated lenses".

So what do I shoot?  I'm strictly a caller and fur saver.  Open country (desert) Stevens custom 222Rem Mag Improved, 40gr NBTat 3900fps Sightron II 1.5x6x42mm.  East side mountians with a chance of a big cat, Rem 600 6x45mm 55gr NBT at 3300fps Leupold VX-II 1x4x20mm.  Westside where things can get upclose and critters can get up to bear size a Sav. 11 custom 250-3000 75gr X-bullet at 3200fps Leupold VariX-II 1x4x20mm.

Good luck

AWS

[MuleySniper]

I would look at the tikka's and sako's. they are gonna cream the rugers in the accuracy dept. my biggest complaint with my rugers, both the varmint and regular, is the weight....they are tanks. I would say if you are happy with a 1" gun then go ruger all the way, if you want to shoot into the .2's you can go to the tikka/sako and avoid having to do a bunch of smithing. If you do go ruger, the first thing you need to do is pull the trigger and stone it or get it worked by a smith' the stock trigger is pretty ugly, but does clean up very well.

I'll back up the Tikka's too, I can knock the nuts off a fly with mine at a hundred yards Sako is sweet too, but for less money you basically get the same action as Sako on  the Tikka for less dough.
Ms

[dbllunger]

A .243 beats almost everything.  If you reload you can shoot a 55 over 4k, and a FMJ that will save hides.  This is the ultimate varmint gun.  I have a.243, 22-250 and a .223, but I usually take my 7mm STW when I go varmint hunting.

[bankwalker]

i really dont care about saving fur...i just want something to go out and shoot yotes. im leaning towards the .243 so i can double it up as a deer rifle aswell.

[ICEMAN]

I bought a .243 for dawgs, and my son can use it for deer... Besides, it is really a nice little tack driver...

[Bofire]

 :)I am a big time Tikka fan, they use the same barrels as the Sako, but the action is totally different.

Polarbear, My brother lives in Rainier, he has a Remington 22-250 LVSF for sale. In the original box. Let me know if you want to see it.
I put a scope on it and sighted it in last year. Tom still has the target, 10 round group under an inch. factory ammo.
Carl

[T-ROY]

I'm a huge remington fan and own model 7 .223, /model 700 heavy barrel 22-250, and model 788 in .243.  i like the 22-250 the best for my varmit shooting. the 223 is cheep to shoot if you don't reload which i don't. and like you say you can do it all with a 243. I personaly don't like the looks of the tikka. but for the money you can't go wrong. they are under 500$ new at sportsman warehouse and as accurate if not better than any of the rest and to top it all off it weighs in at around 6 1/2 pounds. lot of gun for the money. just my 2 cents worth

[Bscman]

I'm a big fan of the .22 caliber's for 'yotes and such.
Most of my shooting here on the west-side is typically withing 200yds (often MUCH closer), so they pack plenty of punch.

Other benefits:
If you're out calling for 'yote or bobcats and a cougar walks in, you can't shoot 'em if you're using anything smaller than .22 caliber. Yes, in washington you CAN shoot cougar with a .22caliber CENTERFIRE.

If you're out with ONLY a small game tag--not big game permit--during an open deer or elk season,  you cannot hunt varmints with a rifle larger than .24 caliber....so if you opt for a .243 and decide one year not to hunt big game, you'll be taking a few prime 'yote/bobcat weeks staying home because you can't legally hunt....but if you had a .22caliber you COULD be out in the woods calling.

.223 if you don't reload,  22-250 is you do. JMHO.

[PolarBear]

Bofire, thanks but I am going to have to wait on a new rifle for now.  I am building a house and somethings have to be put on the back burner and guess what that is.  The old .250 Savage will have to do for a little bit longer. 

[wastickslinger]

I have ruger #1 22-250. Sweet shooter but man is it heavy. I like the 22-250 because it has a little longer range than the .223 and .204. Not that I can shoot that far but hey maybe someday right?

[whitey]

AR-15 works good on *censored*s as well as coyotes. Bushmaster the truly versetile rifle

[dbllunger]

Whitey...just to poke back...COLT IS THE ONLY AR-15 to use.   That being said Bushmaster makes a good one.  I also used a Hydromatic for many years with never a jam or problem.  Thousands of rounds, but it had a Colt bolt assembly, Hydro trigger group, and Bushmaster barrel.  Ever see one of those?