North90Bucks
Active Member
6-284 gets bad rap as a barrel burner keep em clean they aren't bad accuracy is great! I have a Burris 8-32 saving for Nightforce!
Favorite Varmint Cartridge
- Thread starter Jud96
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Ya I figured they would since your burning all that powder out of that little diameter, but like you said take care of it and it'll work haha! I've never used Burris before but hear good things about them. Personally, I don't think I will ever own a Nightforce, I know everyone... bring on the hate, if I was going to have a battle rifle or something that you can't help not to get it abused then I'd have a Nightforce on it. But for varmint hunting, deer, and packing a rifle in the mountains I really don't need all of that ruggedness. A good Leupold or a Vortex, that I'm going to buy for my current build, is what I will stick with for normal hunting scenarios. The price of the Nightforces is a lot and the only thing that you're getting over the others is the ruggedness. I understand you can get FFP reticles and zero stops, but I don't use those so that's why I don't need a Nightforce. I'm not trying to tick anyone off or hate on Nightforces at all, they are amazing scopes but I will never use it to its max so it's just not for me.
North90Bucks
Active Member
I agree with what you're saying. I want one for the magnification and the reticle. I will probably opt for the benchrest or a used nsx. I like the zero stop and the side focus but don't need either. If I miss a groundhog forgetting to set back to zero it isnt life or death. I know guys say they shoot 1000 with 20x, but if I can have 42 to me it beats 20, like 20 beats the 10's we used to use lol.
Ya I understand what you mean. You can pick a benchrest one up for like $1200. And haha, were you in the military when you said you use to use 10x?
North90Bucks
Active Member
I wasn't but my older brother was and he was my main teacher. Growing up 10x was big no wonder 300 was long range lol. We had Mauser 98's with heavy Douglas barrels from Flaigs in Pittsburgh. I loved that place, but those days are long gone.
Haha sounds like good times! Those old 98 sporters are fun and you still see them being used every now and again.
Wizard
Well-Known Member
My favorite varmint caliber is the 204. I have shot multiple prairie dogs in a row out to 600 yards so far. You can see the red mist in the scope and see the misses so that you can make your changes for the next shot without the need of a spotter. Low recoil, fast, accurate and does not require much powder to reload. I built a 6.5-284 to get me into the 1,000 prairie dog club but it is not near as much fun to shoot. I am having a new barrel built for my 6mm AI for long range coyote hunting. I am partial to the Vortex Viper scopes for the money and quality.
JOHNNIE WALKER
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2013
- Messages
- 343
When I was 14 I worked my butt off at local farms to save enough for a model 12 Savage in 22-250. I remember handing my dad the cash as he signed for the rifle. Topped it off with a simmons 6-18X50. It shot one hole groups with winchester supreme 50gr ballistic silvertips. I pretty much shot anything I could get in the crosshairs. Anything from birds, to coyotes, to deer. That rifle has more memories than anything in my safe. It dropped a deer at 494yds. I took the shot because somebody said I could never make it. Boy, were they wrong. That was a long time ago. But I still love that rifle.
I have 3 rifles that I like for varmints. .224 Vais shoots 80gr. JLK AT 3605fps. .243AI 105 Bergers @3170fps. .257 Weatherby built on a trued Remington. It shoots 115 gr. Bergers @3325fps. All three shoot good. The limiting factor is the operator. The Vais has killed 2 wolves.
I earned my Remington 700 .243 varmint rifle through hard work also. Worked at the machine shop my Dad works at this past summer and saved up for a couple long range rigs that included my .243 and .308 Norma Mag. I was fortunate enough to earn enough to top my .243 with a nice Leupold. I believe the rifles that you work long and hard for are the most significant and memorable, next to hand me downs from family and ones that my Dad has bought me.
Wow! Sounds like you have a wide range of varmints slayers! I bet that .224 Vais burns barrels fast, an 80 at 3650 is fast! Those .243 AIs are sweet, I really like the sharp looks of the Ackley cartridges. Their performance is a nice boost to the standard ballistics. If I go to a .243 AI I plan on shooting 87gr V-MAXs in it, those things will be launched close to 3400fps! That added horsepower comes with obvious cons like barrel life and fireforming, but it would sure be interesting to have one.
tuck2
Well-Known Member
I started shooting prairie dogs in 1949 with a 22 RF rifle and had a 4 X scope mounted on it in 1949. Because of the limited bullet energy and accuracy of my scope sited 22 RF rifle I limited my shots out to about 75 yards. I don't recall just when I started looking for a perfect cartridge for shooting prairie dogs or the one that would become my favorite. But so fare I have shot them with 17 HM2, 17 HMR, 17 Fireball, 17 Rem, 204 Ruger, 22 RF ,22 WMR, 22 Hornet, 221 Fireball, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 22-250 Rem, 220 Swift, 243 Win, and some big game rifles. Got a new CZ Varmint 17 Hornet rifle that I ll be useing this coming spring. The 17 Hornet could be the one with its low muzzle blast and recoil. With 10 Gr of powder it puts out a 20 Gr bullet at 3,600 ft/sec. If I get my reloads to shoot 1/2 inch or less 100 yard five shot groups, I ll like it. I don't know that I have a favorite cartridge but I have enjoyed shooting all of my prairie dog rifles. My accurate 204 Ruger varmint weight rifle is not my favorite but if I could have only one p dog rifle it would be chambered for the 204 Ruger cartridge.
I used to shoot targets with a couple of the guys from Best of the West and they did some work on it for me. At that time it was the flattest shooting cartridge they had ever run through their computer program. (.224 Vais) I don't know about barrel life as I haven't shot it out yet and I use the .243 AI now for wolves most of the time.
The same friend that has the .243SLR has a .270WSM necked down to .25 and it is working good too. He is a P-DOG shooter and has killed 2 at 1900 yds with it. He claims to have killed one at 2200 but it wasn't confirmed so he is still working on that. He says it is getting the same performance as a .257 Weatherby. I haven't seen it chronographed but he hasn't lied about such things before so I believe him.
