Favorite Varmint Bullet

[COBrad]

I too have shot Hornadys for a few decades. I preferred the A-Max's and now the ELDM's. These have all been through a 22-250. Now I'm using Berger 85.5 hybrids because I haven't been able to get a good supply of the Hornady's. The 75 grain ELDM's shot between .25 and .5 moa depending on the day. The Berger's are giving me a lot of groups in the 1's and I got a .25 moa at 200 today fine tuning my load. Tomorrow I'll take them to 1100 and see what I get, depending on the wind

 

[ROCKCREEKARMS]

my go to is 60gr anybody's bullet, favor the nosler and hornady rounds I am also working on a 6mm arc its slow with the ammo drought. so i use my trusted 6x45 best short to mid-long range song dog killer in this world easy shots to 450/500 meters, hope the 6mm arc lives up to the hipe, have 223 rem (in both gas and bolt) 22 nosler and 244 valk while they are very nice shooters the 6 walks all over them so keep in touch wit your adventure into 6mm arc

 

[509TrophyHusband]

I run vmax they are a little hard on fur.

 

[KaSH0508]

I've been shooting a 6mmAR for alot of years now. Just a straight neck down of the Grendel before the ARC came out. It's my main coyote rifle. The 75 V-Max is my go to for coyotes. Puts them down on the spot, however it is not very fur friendly if that's what your after.

 

[APDDSN0864]

In 6mm (.243Win & .243AI) I prefer the good, old fashioned 70 gr Speer TNT and the Speer 75gr Varmint. Both are very accurate (sub-MOA in three rifles) and the 75gr Varmint is an absolute hammer on Coyotes when loaded over Superformance.
I'm waiting for the Barnes 62gr Varmint Grenades to return to the dealer's shelves to try them out.

In .223/5.56, I prefer either the 50gr Varmint Grenade or the 52gr Hornady BTHP. Plain-Jane 50gr Speer TNT work, too. All three are accurate enough for prairie dog work beyond 400 yards and the Speer TNT doesn't exit a coyote.

Ed

 

[Rugerjim]

In Australia, Rexem... holy s*** do they wreck'Em.

Won't use anything else now.
5 shot group at 100 with 73gr F-Bomb.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Sierra Blitz Kings 39gr in .204 bolt and .SBK 55gr for 224 AR for Parrie dogs and chucks. Fast exploading bullit!

SGK 65gr .224 for Coyotes , Bob cats and hogs. Bullet has beter penetration for larger animals and bones also saves the fur.

My shooting chair that I carry. My .204 Ruger 77 MarK II. 5 shot group 0.161" 3,449fps 39 gr SBK on top of 26.8gr of 4895. I changed out the wood stock on my Ruger, put on a MDT chassis and swapped out scope to a Vortex HD.
Picture of 5 shot group has incorrect load data, should be 26.8 gr 4895 not 28.6gr.

 

[22250imp]

I am building a 6mm ARC which i plan on using for varmint hunting. What is your favorite varmint bullet and why?

Ditto on the Sierra Blitzking. Many have fell to my rifle shooting these pills.

 

[Mustang72]

V-max. Mine are out of a 223 and very for friendly. Total devastation. Only had one exit a coyote,but it was a neck shot on a small dog.

 

[Goose71]

Hornady VMAX devastation

 

[cardon1122]

39 grain Sierra in my heavy barrel CZ 204 Ruger with 8028 XBR powder. Over 3800 FPS. Shoots 1/4-1/3 MOA. Suppressed with a Thunderbeast. No problem watching your shot impact. 3 shots checking zero @ 100 yds from pivoting bench from a hill above a prairie dog colony.

 

[sodakota]

I like V-max. My first center fire was a 7.92x57, but it was quickly re-barreled with a 6mm Rem barrel by Sharon. It wore a Herter's grade C stock. With multiple loads it would shoot 1/4" 5 shot groups. Back then the best bullets for varmints was the 75 grain HP's. That rifle liked Remington, Sierra and Speer 75 grain HP's.
Nosler makes some very accurate varmint bullets that compete with the V-max.
My 6mm's like the 58 grain bullets.

I guess I didn't read what size varmints.

 

[Hugnot]

The varmints do not have any feelings as to what bullet they dislike the most, they are only interested in their next meal and propagating their own kind. Should a person be available to eat they would cheerfully do so. From exhaustive experience I have found the Hornady VMax series of bullets to offer the best combination of accuracy, ballistic finesse, & cost for almost all applications. For a 6mm of any kind I would go for the 87 VMax, the plastic tip assures good expansion and increases ballistic efficiency, the boat tail also helps to maintain speed. A 6 mil 87 VMax as slow as 2000 fps, contacting small rodents as small as 1 pound will emphatically effect destruction.

I have replaced light weight zippy bullet .22-.250 loads with .204 40 grain Vmax bullets at 3750 fps from .20p & .204R. The .22-.250 is now loaded with 75ELDM bullets at just under 3,300 fps MV. Wifey's .223 is loaded with 53 VMax's at 3,250 fps mv. The 10 twist 6mm AI is loaded with 87 VMax's at close to 3,500 MV.

In relatively long range engagements, up to 1/2 section, just over 800, against rodents and the occasional yote the .224 75 ELDM (.22-.250 7.7 twist) & .243 87 VMax (6mm AI 10 twist) are about equal except the .22-.250 shooting the 75 ELD uses about 12 grains less powder for less blast, recoil, & somewhat better barrel life.

The 87 Vmax will also perform well in 8 twist rifles.

 

[dwcars]

I am building a 6mm ARC which i plan on using for varmint hunting. What is your favorite varmint bullet and why?

I'm very envious and would do the same myself. However, I've yet to find any ammunition or components for sale anywhere. If I can't feel assured of fodder, I don't want to build a bull. Whats been your experience regarding availability of ammunition~>