Hey guys,planning a varmint build. currently planning on going 22-250. 26" barrel 1-12 twist, trued 700. wondering what contour you guys running? what stock/chassis you guys like for lets say prairie dogs?? if you can post pics and specs of your builds and post your opinion what i should do, id really appreciate it
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Varmint build- would like help
- Thread starter Zackbarr
- Start date
For prairie dogs, id use something easier on barrels, like a .223. Im partial to the .20's myself, and shoot a 20 practical primarily, with a .223 for backup. Regarding the stock, that depends on how you plan to do your shooting, and in the end a personal preference. I like shorter/lighter/handier guns for varmints. The lions share of my shots are inside 450yds.
The two most important things to me for varmint shooting (prairie dogs for me) is being able to shoot a lot without heating a barrel too much to have to stop and wait for it to cool and barrel life. A 22-250 isn't going to do well at either one of those things. I ran a 6BR with a bartlein HV barrel and it was fantastic. Very accurate and I could shoot 50+ rounds in under an hour and maintain a pretty cool barrel. The 6BR is one of the better calibers for barrel life too. An 8 twist barrel will let you shoot a huge range of bullets and shoot at just about any range you want. Really hard to beat a 6BR. In fact, after selling my 6BR and messing with a 308, 223, and 243 for varmint shooting, they all suck compared to the BR. I'm going to have a 6BR barrel spun up for my AI soon, heavy varmint/fluted/28"/8 twist just for prairie dogs.
Small amounts of powder burned for large returns are what you are looking for. A fast twist .223 or .20 caliber ( .20 TAC / .204 Ruger / .20 Practical ) would be my primary shooter, with a larger bore or higher capacity round ( i.e., 6 BR or .22-250 ) as my extended range gun. This allows you to shoot more without Armageddon levels of barrel heating. I would stay with a faster twist no matter what caliber you decide, as it just gives you more options. My son hit a PD 2 years ago with a fast twist .223 shooting 75 grain Amax's at 1033 yards. As paul1k2k stated, my 6 BR with a 1/8 twist shoots the 105 Amax extremely well past 1K yards without much barrel heating ( 32-ish grains of powder vs. 25-ish for the .223 / .204's ). A Remington Sendero contour or larger works well from a bench or fixed bench position. I like a Heavy Varmint contour, as the added weight usually allows you to spot your own hits & misses. The McMillan Winchester Marksman or McMillan / Manners adjustable A-5 are nice, classically styled varmint/ target style stocks and track well on sand bags.
I do have a 223 throated for 80gr bergers And an ar I would bring. So I primarily want a gun to make pdogs explode out to like 500 yards. Then I would use my 6.5 creed. I would bring several guns so I wouldn't shoot till barrels got hot.
I'd recommend a 223 or 223AI.
For prairie dogs I use a 223 bolt action with a 22" light Palma barrel. A 22-250 would have been trashed after what my 223 endured. I ran over 950 rounds in that rifle, with a suppressor, in 4 days. In one particular day I shot about 400 rounds. My rifle got very hot but I've seen pretty minimal wear. The thing still shoots lights out with almost any load.
I think for sub 300 yards 22-250 is a lot more expensive for little gain. Now if your goal is long range, say over 400, then 22-250 would be a solid choice so long as the rate of fire was slow.
Side note: I use 25.4 grains of bl-c(2) under a 53 v max. A light load but I can still get prairie dogs airborne at about 250 yards. Farthest I've got is 360 and the bullets just zip right through at that point.
For prairie dogs I use a 223 bolt action with a 22" light Palma barrel. A 22-250 would have been trashed after what my 223 endured. I ran over 950 rounds in that rifle, with a suppressor, in 4 days. In one particular day I shot about 400 rounds. My rifle got very hot but I've seen pretty minimal wear. The thing still shoots lights out with almost any load.
I think for sub 300 yards 22-250 is a lot more expensive for little gain. Now if your goal is long range, say over 400, then 22-250 would be a solid choice so long as the rate of fire was slow.
Side note: I use 25.4 grains of bl-c(2) under a 53 v max. A light load but I can still get prairie dogs airborne at about 250 yards. Farthest I've got is 360 and the bullets just zip right through at that point.
A friend and I built these in June for an AZ trip we did in July, for Gunnison's prairie dogs(20% smaller than blacktails). They both have 10 twist Krieger #5's in .20 Practical. Mine is 19" on a bighorn TL3 and BA lite chassis. My buddy's is 20" on a howa 1500, in a standard BA. We both shot 39 BK's, but arrived at different load recipes based on what powders we had on hand. His was around 3450 fps, mine 3625. Both guns are lasers, and we whacked stuff well beyond 400 yards. I took two shots at 515-520, about 30 mins apart, and connected with one of them. Lions share of the shots were at 150-250. Absolutely no difference in terminal between the two guns, despite the velocity difference. Lots of batwing aerobatics. Both of us got doubles, and several probable doubles.
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The year prior I shot a heavy 26" barreled 20P that was going 3850 fps(39 bk). Great shooting gun, but my results were no better then than they were this year. I choose handy from here on out, unless i'm going really long. When my .223 gives up, I think I'm going to try a .223AI in a #4 contour.
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The year prior I shot a heavy 26" barreled 20P that was going 3850 fps(39 bk). Great shooting gun, but my results were no better then than they were this year. I choose handy from here on out, unless i'm going really long. When my .223 gives up, I think I'm going to try a .223AI in a #4 contour.
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What you shoot in the field is going to be dependent upon the P. dog towns and the population. Towns that have been shot a lot will require longer range chambers as any close in (300 and less) dogs are either dead or spooked. There a 22-250, 243, 6.5 Creed, etc. is the way to go, just keep your rate of fire slow. Trust me, when you get dialed in on some dogs and they are exploding, it's hard not to keep pulling the trigger. If you have a partner, swap off shooting/spotting, watching the hits is as much fun as shooting. You might consider in investing in a couple of these:
http://barrelcool.com/
If you fortunate enough to land in a virgin un-shot town, your .223's are going to get a workout. A .17 Hummer is a blast on 100 yd. and less shots. Keep your scope power on the lower side so you can spot your hits/misses. Dial elevation, estimate wind, it's always changing.
If you'd like to add a extra 100 fps to a 22-250, try some VV N540. 3800 plus with 55's is do-able.
If this is your first time out, a couple of thoughts. Use a large (10"x12') painters dropcloth as a base for your shooting mat. Not only will it protect you from the little ground stickies, it will make your brass and gear a lot easier to find. Carry something for snakes. Get a 5-6' stick and sweep in front of you as you walk through the grass to give the snakes a warning and give them a chance to move out. Same for when you step out of the vehicle or open a gate, scan, watch where you put your hands. All of this is based on prairie terrain, where you shoot may be different.
Take lots of ammo, drink water and have a blast.
Sweet rigs supersubes, ive never even heard of 20 practical. very interesting necking down a 223 case. i think this post is going to lead me into many guns. living in michigan i will probably end up going 22-250 for yotes and stuff, and once I plan a p-dog trip i will probably end up with a 223 bolt gun and a 20 practical would be cool in an ar platform! and then use the 250 for farther shots
There's a bunch of ways to go about it. I like mag feed, so the 20p made sense. The .204 ruger will too, but you cant fill a mag completely because the body taper isnt happy in a straight magazine. The .20 tactical is identical to the practical ballistically.
My backup gun is an 8 twist .223 with a long throat(lilja three groove barrel). When its varmint time, I load with 50gr ballistic tips. Shoots great, even with a haggard throat. Never had a varmint bullet come apart, and that includes 40gr bullets.
My backup gun is an 8 twist .223 with a long throat(lilja three groove barrel). When its varmint time, I load with 50gr ballistic tips. Shoots great, even with a haggard throat. Never had a varmint bullet come apart, and that includes 40gr bullets.
I could always load my fast twist 223 with 50's also. didnt even really think about it.
You also have accurate factory ar options in stag and rock river. We run one of each with 24" barrels and the thickest profile. You can shoot two 15 round magazines at a time at a decent pace and they won't get too hot. Both of ours shoot 50 gr vmax right at 1/2 moa and the fiocchi stuff is less than 50 cents a round. Both can be had in the 800-1000 dollar range, although I would advise tossing a geissele in them as the factory two stage triggers are just okay. One note on glass, if you plan on shooting past 350 on windier days, get something with 0.2 mil wind marks, you'll want the extra precision in your holds.
