22-250 or 22CM
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I'm thinking about building a small bullet shooter and I've heard a number of varmint calibers mentioned here. Beyond a 22lr the only calibers I gave experience with is 223 and 243.
I plan to use the shooter mostly for target and some varmints inside 200-500 yds.
I load my own rounds, but if possible, I'd like get sold groups out of factory ammo if that's realistic.
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What kind of varmints we talking about here?
You wanting this in a DT or a traditional rifle?
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I'm thinking 14lb scope included if possible, if we can get there with a DT, if not traditional. Pdogs and rabbits. The DT with the 6.5 barrel weighs over 20lbs all dressed up with the TT and the Atlas.
Let me know what kind of weight we can get down to with a DT and a barrel that will allow 100 rounds in an afternoon. If we're close to the 20lbs, then probably a traditional rifle.
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Finite accuracy wins the day. What you hit them with, doesn't matter as much... but hitting them is the order of the day. We can provide a DT which weighs in around 15lbs scoped up pretty easily. The bare chassis with standard contour barrel and conversion installed comes in around 11lbs naked. Not hard to put a scope and mount on without breaking 15lbs. ... but why the weight limitation if this is a prairie dog town rig? You'd want as heavy a rifle as you can bring for a Pdog town.
If it's a heavily populated town, you'll melt down any rifle in any chambering if you don't take a break from shooting. Though something like a 22 creedmoor is going to heat up really fast. My choices for colony varmints are small cartridges in traditional rifles. 22 creed is my main choice for lots of other things, coyotes, first and foremost. You don't want to be burning a lot of powder or getting hit with any appreciable recoil when shooting varmints.... yet you want something that's good in the wind. That means heavy-for-caliber bullets in something burning not very much powder.
With factory ammo being a requirement, that drastically limits the field. Most factory ammo isn't loaded with heavy-for-cal bullets. The entire range of 6BR based cartridge is out. All the 20cal wildcats are out. The .223AI is out. That leaves .223 and 204 ruger. The 204 ruger embarrasses a stock .223 in a pdog town. With the 204, it's almost impossible to find 55gr berger factory ammo. Yet the correct choice will depend upon how much distance you're asking out of it. If you're only shooting to 300yds or so, the standard 40gr loads won't be too bad... but the 55gr berger's carry nearly twice the BC.
The reality is that for shooting varmints, there's almost no "perfect" answer. It's not like coyote hunting, where there are some MASSIVE mistakes made by folks in cartridge selection. When shooting varmints, it's all about fun. Sometimes seeing them explode like a hand grenade is more important than making first round hits at 500yds. So it's really a hard thing to give advice on... because everyone seems to be looking for something a bit different, depending on the day.
I have answers for you... you can be sure of that. ... but you are going to need to take some time telling me EXACTLY what you're looking for here. I can guarantee success no matter what path you choose, but I need to know what path you're choosing first. There are positives and negatives to all the available options.
What distance are you wanting to hit Pdogs?
In what kind of wind?
Are you willing to take a break for 15-20 minutes after firing 10 rounds? 20 rounds? 40rnds?
Why is rifle weight an issue?
What kind of rabbits we talking about here? Jacks or cottontails?Tell me as much as you can, or this will take forever because I'm just going to need to keep asking questions.
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I need to think about the great points you brought up, so that we can proceed. I thank you for setting me straight regarding what makes sense for these lighter caliber firearms and parameters that need to be considered before proceeding . I'll think about those things and get back to you.
As far as the weight issue, I had surgery on my right arm. My strength in that arm is about 30-40 percent of what is was before the injury that required the surgery to correct.
Many thanks for your thoughtful response to my question.
