ULTIMATE VARMINT CALIBER ?

It wasn't me!

dwighet wrote: »

180gn hornady sst..... 3060 fps
They worked well...
we had full intentions of a bit of late evening L.R. bunnies but the midges were out in force but they dissapeared when the sun went and the foxes came out to play..we spoted 4 and got 2..all cubs...

Very nice. I like the idea of the SST or a relatively light constructed soft point out of a .300 as an all round bullet, moving up to 180 or 200gr for much heavier or tougher animals like moose or boar. Itching to try it on deer I daresay?

jwshooter

DR6.5 wrote: »

I use a 6.5 Sauer outback, i started with 140 grains in various brands, they werent the best round for sika, last season i used the Norma 120 grain ballistic tips, after using them i would not go back to the 140 grainers. The norma is a great round in the 6.5.

dr6.5

Hornady do a 95 gr v max for the 6.5 now that would be of interest for necking ,speer also do a 90gr TNT ,i used the 90gr TNT in my 270 a fire hazard a dry day on the hill .

i had two english lads out some years ago both using 6.5x55 culling hinds ,it was so bad i started bringing my 270.

DR6.5

thanks for that jw, id say the 95 grain Hornady would be a nice round, mate uses them in the .243 fairly explosive.

dr6.5

Hondata92

Sorry to bump an old thread but ive something to say

All this is my opinion

This is Ireland and so anything above .243 should not be counted as its a deer round and as for reloading to make a factory round even better, as if :rolleyes:

Personally .204 is the perfect varmint round, easily shoot foxs at 400+yards with little effort and here (ireland) thats pretty much all we have for varmints besides rabbits which with a proper setup will easily knock rabbits at the same distance as foxs with a .204

The .204 is a flat level round that bucks the wind extremely well and still has the knocking power, it is unlikely to ever see a .204 round (especially 39gr) ricochet or penetrate and continue on after hitting your intended target (rabbit/fox)

The .223 round is good bt nothing for varmints when compared to the .204 using a 39gr federal round

I believe it was tackleberry who mentioned about getting a compact .204 rifle, weatherby do a .204 sub-moa varmint that has a 22 inch barrel compact, easily maneuvered and has an optimal barrel length for the .204 using up to a 40gr round (if im wrong please correct me)

Personally i think any centrefire up to a .223 should be classed as a varmint round here in ireland, anything over should be classed as a deer round or target round

As for irish shoters in general, i think ALOT need to learn how to shoot and know their balistics (drop,windage, etc) as ive seen alot of people mentioning shooting rabbits at 200yards wit a .22 magnum, im sorry but on a relatively calm day i can easily shoot rabbits with my cz .22 using subs, no problems it might be for some tho to shoot and struggle to hit rabbits at 220yards with a centrefire, some math involved but it is easily done and for those who are going to slate me for this statement, work away but once i know the limits of my firearm/ammo and myself and i can 9 times out of ten hit a rabbit at 200yards then i think there is nothing wrong with that. If i dont think that im going to get a clean kill then i wont take the shot. I think those whose will be first to have a go at me for this statement will be those who cant shoot cleanly with a rimfire and compensate with a large calibre centrefire, the saying "all the gear, no idea comes to mind". This isnt a go at anoyone but if you dont like what i say then im sure ill be banned.

As for the .17 fireball, no thanks:eek:

Spannerman7

Horses for courses, I love my .17, if we were all of the same opinion there would only be a need for about 3 rifles produced. Thank God we are not all the same.

Jonty

Hondata92 wrote: »

This is Ireland and so anything above .243 should not be counted as its a deer round and as for reloading to make a factory round even better, as if :rolleyes:

I'm glad that its YOUR opinion and not An Garda Siochana's

Tackleberrywho

My .223 is zero @ 200 so it takes only the skill of holding steady at that range to take head shots.
I'm always trying to stretch the range, I'm almost at 400 yard head shot bunnies, I'd be further if I had a spotter to tell me if I miss '500 how much have I missed by.

I go for the head on the bunny as, if you miss you miss completely and if you hit you kill.

When I used .22lr I never used Subs, and most people were the same Winchester HV were the most common round at the time.
Honda @200 a sub .22lr must have very little energy left for a bunny So I would not recommend them for said purpose, and deffo not a fox.

Yes the .204 seems to be a great round, I'd like to field test one some day
Honda you won't get banned for your opinion, however many consider the .243 .25-06 as fine varmint rounds shooting foxes out to 400yards, and many more don't
You have to remember Varminting with anything over a hornet was almost non existant a few short years ago so perceptions can change over time.

Now centrefire is common for varminting, and Ammo makers are making ammo to suit.

jwshooter

To be a varmint cal ,the rifle has to be accurate ,capable of flat shooting at long range ,with a bullet leaving the gun at @ 3000FPS + .


Shooting in the field is more fun even on targets . hear is two targets i shot recently 300yds and 100yds for a round bale .

Tackleberrywho

jwshooter wrote: »

To be a varmint cal ,the rifle has to be accurate ,capable of flat shooting at long range ,with a bullet leaving the gun at @ 3000FPS + .


Shooting in the field is more fun even on targets . hear is two targets i shot recently 300yds and 100yds for a round bale .

My 125grain HPS 2995fps Not 3000, but fast out of a short barrel .308
110grain Hornady TAP are 3165fps and shoot flatter than a .223 55grain

I don't know of anybody who has used them as they have not been imported into the country by the main dealers yet.

I'd be very interested in getting a box of them to use in field trials
http://www.hornady.com/store/308-Win-110-gr-FPD/

However I received a lot of flak recently for speaking of a .308 as a varmint round:o

poulo6.5

jwshooter wrote: »

To be a varmint cal ,the rifle has to be accurate ,capable of flat shooting at long range ,with a bullet leaving the gun at @ 3000FPS + .


Shooting in the field is more fun even on targets . hear is two targets i shot recently 300yds and 100yds for a round bale .

is that with your .270 . what would you think of 125gr .308 crono'd at av 2979fps, out of my 22.5" barrel,

i was plinking a steel target with them yesterday at 550y with a light wind coming from 3o'clock

i agree with you (for a change) i luv shooting targets out in the field (in a safe place) i regularly go for shot and i have steel silhouettes made up of deer, fox and bunny. i just spray them whit or yellow and a hit is instantly viable

Tackleberrywho

poulo6.5 wrote: »

is that with your .270 . what would you think of 125gr .308 crono'd at av 2979fps, out of my 22.5" barrel,

i was plinking a steel target with them yesterday at 550y with a light wind coming from 3o'clock

i agree with you (for a change) i luv shooting targets out in the field (in a safe place) i regularly go for shot and i have steel silhouettes made up of deer, fox and bunny. i just spray them white or yellow and a hit is instantly viable

How did they perform Paulo?

tomcat220t

jwshooter wrote: »

To be a varmint cal ,the rifle has to be accurate ,capable of flat shooting at long range ,with a bullet leaving the gun at @ 3000FPS + .


Shooting in the field is more fun even on targets . hear is two targets i shot recently 300yds and 100yds for a round bale .

Thats some tight shooting ,JW;).

tomcat220t

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

My 125grain HPS 2995fps Not 3000, but fast out of a short barrel .308
110grain Hornady TAP are 3165fps and shoot flatter than a .223 55grain

I don't know of anybody who has used them as they have not been imported into the country by the main dealers yet.

I'd be very interested in getting a box of them to use in field trials
http://www.hornady.com/store/308-Win-110-gr-FPD/

However I received a lot of flak recently for speaking of a .308 as a varmint round:o

Price of ammo aside ,which setup would be your preference .308/or .223 ?

Tackleberrywho

tomcat220t wrote: »

Thats some tight shooting ,JW;).

Any updates on your 6XC?

A pic would be nice! a 1 hole group would be better

poulo6.5

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

How did they perform Paulo?

they were bang on. 11.25 moa elevation and 1.5 wind.

nice tight group at 100 and i have a manhole cover at 280y and a deer silhouette at 430y

for the 430 yard shot i gave it 6.75 moa elevation and 1 for wind

tomcat220t

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Any updates on your 6XC?

A pic would be nice! a 1 hole group would be better

Thread will be posted up in the coming days with plenty of pictures and results :D.

Tackleberrywho

poulo6.5 wrote: »

they were bang on. 11.25 moa elevation and 1.5 wind.

nice tight group at 100 and i have a manhole cover at 280y and a deer silhouette at 430y

for the 430 yard shot i gave it 6.75 moa elevation and 1 for wind

Very good.
If the weather holds off today i might try them out in the field.
lashing it down here yesterday (the river is very swelled today)

jwshooter

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

My 125grain HPS 2995fps Not 3000, but fast out of a short barrel .308
110grain Hornady TAP are 3165fps and shoot flatter than a .223 55grain

I don't know of anybody who has used them as they have not been imported into the country by the main dealers yet.

I'd be very interested in getting a box of them to use in field trials
http://www.hornady.com/store/308-Win-110-gr-FPD/

However I received a lot of flak recently for speaking of a .308 as a varmint round:o

the 110gr v max shoot really well in my 270 , but the gun shoot very well with all ammo .

the 110gr in the 30 cals would tick all the rite boxes as a varmint /neck shooting round .
i have chested a few with them ,they dont exit on stags shot on the shoulder and make a mess .

the head would be quite short in the 308 ,not sure how it would be at ultra long range ,i know the 110gr in the 270 looses a lot of performance after 500yds .

Tackleberrywho

jwshooter wrote: »

the 110gr v max shoot really well in my 270 , but the gun shoot very well with all ammo .

the 110gr in the 30 cals would tick all the rite boxes as a varmint /neck shooting round .
i have chested a few with them ,they dont exit on stags shot on the shoulder and make a mess .

the head would be quite short in the 308 ,not sure how it would be at ultra long range ,i know the 110gr in the 270 looses a lot of performance after 500yds .

the 125grain actually is the same length as the 155grain in .308.
Where it is lighter is from the nose back.

Although I'd imagine 110 grain is the min weight in .30cal that would be of any use.
There is only so much that can be pared off before it loses all it's aerodynamic properties

They are a noticeable round even with the mod on you'd notice more recoil than with 155grain taps.

Tackleberrywho

tomcat220t wrote: »

Price of ammo aside ,which setup would be your preference .308/or .223 ?

Well i like the .223 as you can shoot with a T-shirt on and feel nothing.
however i can not compare like with like as my VSSF II is much heavier rig than my VTR.

i'd probably still take the .223 for bunnies and foxes "leaving price aside"

If you are shooting a lot of bunnies you get fond of a pleasant shooter

jwshooter

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

the 125grain actually is the same length as the 155grain in .308.
Where it is lighter is from the nose back.

Although I'd imagine 110 grain is the min weight in .30cal that would be of any use.
There is only so much that can be pared off before it loses all it's aerodynamic properties

They are a noticeable round even with the mod on you'd notice more recoil than with 155grain taps.

where do they put the extra 20 grains of copper/lead ? .

poulo6.5

jwshooter wrote: »

where do they put the extra 20 grains of copper/lead ? .

surely you mean 30gr :rolleyes:

there is a lot of the bullet down in the neck and its just a matter of how deep they are seated

jwshooter

poulo6.5 wrote: »

surely you mean 30gr :rolleyes:

there is a lot of the bullet down in the neck and its just a matter of how deep they are seated

the head in the case matters not ,its the bullet length in the air that matters . 110gr will be shorter than a 155gr .

poulo6.5

jwshooter wrote: »

the head in the case matters not ,its the bullet length in the air that matters . 110gr will be shorter than a 155gr .

that is true but i think we are getting side tracked here.
i aint going to argue with you now its getting late and i want to get my self a nice sika tomorrow.
good night and happy hunting all

Tackleberrywho

jwshooter wrote: »

the head in the case matters not ,its the bullet length in the air that matters . 110gr will be shorter than a 155gr .

I was talking about 125grain being the same length.

AFAIK NO 110 grain Hornady have been imported into the country this far, so I can't comment on them, I have been asking after them for the past 2 years to no avail, I've been disappointed twice with promises of them.

110grain are only 15 grains off my current HPS 125 so it could be quite feasible to shave that much off and still retain structural integrity and aerodynamics

I got two nice head shot bunnies this eve at dusk. so they can perform.
However it's work for the next few days so no shooting for me until Wed evening

jwshooter

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I was talking about 125grain being the same length.

AFAIK NO 110 grain Hornady have been imported into the country this far, so I can't comment on them, I have been asking after them for the past 2 years to no avail, I've been disappointed twice with promises of them.

110grain are only 15 grains off my current HPS 125 so it could be quite feasible to shave that much off and still retain structural integrity and aerodynamics

I got two nice head shot bunnies this eve at dusk. so they can perform.
However it's work for the next few days so no shooting for me until Wed evening

125 gr same lenght as what .. ? ,

Tackleberrywho

jwshooter wrote: »

125 gr same lenght as what .. ? ,

125grain HPS same length "exposed" as 155grain Hornady Soft Nose

Tackleberrywho

Heres a pic I took last week

jwshooter

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Heres a pic I took last week

yes ya donkey ,the bullet length will be the same ,but not the heads . its the heads that do the flying part.

in not us to speed on ballistics tac , but the BC will not be as good as say a 165gr in the 308 . but that should not be a problem out to 500yds.

Tackleberrywho

yes ya donkey ,the bullet length will be the same ,but not the heads . its the heads that do the flying part.(the bullet To me is the head the complete object is the round)

in not us to speed on ballistics tac , but the BC will not be as good as say a 165gr in the 308 . but that should not be a problem out to 500yds.[/QUOTE]

The ballistic coefficient is lower than 168

But the Fox does not Know that

dwighet

The heavier longer bullet head will be seated deeper into the case than the shorter lighter one.....
All 308,7mm08,243 factory ammunition have a maximum length of around 2.80 inches so they can fit in the standard short action magazine or mag well...