How bout a Bushmaster Stainless Varmint Special..................
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."--James Madison
Best bullet going, in my book, is the hornady 65gr V-Max. The bullet has all the speed you need, explodes on inpact and has an excelant profile. Loading the 243 can be problematic. if you measures the chamber with a forrester case leangth gauge you are likly to find the chamber very much longer than the trim length. My rem 700varmit was a full .024 longer. I make my brass from 3006 and turn the necks. my groups are now running at .55av at 3800fps
The older I become the more I am convinced that the voice of honor in a man's heart is the voice of GOD.
I've got the Rem 700 ADL Synthetic in .223 and there's no flys in that ointment! Topped with a VariX II 3x9 it's good to go for calling or the odd long shot...
I'll tell you what works for me, for late winter open country I have a 700 ADL in .243W w/ 70 gr Speer TNT and a V-10 Weaver scope. For most of my calling the past 40 yrs. I've used a 600 Rem. in .223 and a K-3 or K-4 Weaver and lately 50gr NBT's. Recently I 've added a Savage short action .223 with a Weaver new model K-4 for 55 gr Siera BT and a K-3 for a reduced load 46 gr Win HP for close in work. I just switch scopes when I switch loads no resighting necessary. The 600 barrel is starting to go so it will be rebarreled to 6x45 this spring.
For called in critter especially fox and coyotes I think people over scope their guns. I find field of view far more important than power on these larger MOVING animals. When you have a coyote hauling butt into your call you only have a second to drill him when you stop him and his partner will be hauling butt if your lucky enough to have a chance at a double.
For called in critter especially fox and coyotes I think people over scope their guns. I find field of view far more important than power on these larger MOVING animals.
Amen! I have a buddy who put a Leupold 6.5-20x40 on a calling rifle a couple years back. Didn't take him long to figure out it was a mistake! I like something along the lines of 2.5-8x36, 3-9x40, or 3.5-10x40 on a calling rifle, but some guys even prefer 1.5-5x's, etc.
My current go-to calling rifle is a tang safety Ruger M77 .22-250 topped with a Redfield Golden Five Star 3-9x40, shooting 50gr V-Max's over a healthy dose of AA2230.
I recently sold a BDL .17 Remington because I was getting inconsistent results. Sometimes it would pole-axe coyotes like nobody's business, but other times they'd run off with what I knew were solid hits. Most were recovered, but not without a lot of tracking, and a few were lost never to be seen again. I've never had a coyote run off when properly hit with a fast stepping .22 centerfire, so that's where my attention is at now.
I think the .243/6mm gains an advantage over the .22 centerfires when wind is a factor, but I usually don't call when the wind's blowing that hard, so the .22's suite me fine...
Most interesting thread about calibers, cartridges and scopes. I have just about finished my medium range varmint rifle and would appreciate your comments be they positive/negative.
Before I go much further......I am considered to be a 6.5 "junkie" or "fanatic"...whichever way you wish to term it.
Remington 788 action w/ CanJar SS trigger, PacNor SS barrel 25", #4 contour with Holland brake, 1 in 11" twist. McMillan "Winchester Marksman" stock with red/black/white swirley pattern. On top will be an AETEC 4.5x14 PA held in place by Burris Signature rings.................Chambered for the 6.5/08 Ackley Improved. This varmint rifle will be called "Red-Dawg"!
I plan to start loads with WW .260 brass and Lapua 243 brass necked to 6.5. Sierra 85g HP's, 90gr Speer TNT's, Hornaday 95g VMax and Nosler 100gr BT's. First choice of powders will be VV 150.
Suggestions/criticisms please! One more item...its set up as a single shot. See the attached pic!
My 6.5-284 XP 100 handgun has an 8 twist Shilen on it, and has seen better days, but when it was shooting well it liked the Hornady 129 SST, and 140 A-Max for long-range coyotes. In fact, here's 1--
dogcatcher, I know a few good places............ I hope to get out soon and get a few. I haven't gotten any with my 222 yet.
Any luck yet? I went last weekend, called in three at one stand. They held up at around 175yds. Had me pinned. I was looking and facing the wrong direction. They came in quartering behind me. I had to turn my body completely to my right to make the shot. The crappy thing is I am still wearing the damn cast from my wrist surgery in Nov. I had one dog just staring at me. I tried to rest the gun over my cast but couldn't get steady. So I tried to lean back and rest the gun over my knee. Thought I was pretty steady, but BANG...dog runs. I pop off 3 more shots but must have missed. I was shooting my AR15 because I cannot hold the forearm to work the bolt in my Dogcatcher (223AI Ruger) or my 243. I am confident if I had no cast and my Dogcatcher, that dog would have been flattened. Those open country shots like that, I would prefer the 243 though. It sucks because the dog did not seem hit, but you never know with a light load from a 223. I could not find blood, but I was not sure if i found his tracks or not. The snow was powder and there were so many tracks from deer that I couldn't tell which were his and which were the other 2 dogs. That is why I like the bang flop.
As far as optics go...seems like dogs either run in and stop right on top of you (40 yards) or hole up at 150-200 and just watch. I have always used a 3x9, but my Dogcatcher wears a 5.5x16.5 Nikon.
Most interesting thread about calibers, cartridges and scopes. I have just about finished my medium range varmint rifle and would appreciate your comments be they positive/negative.
Before I go much further......I am considered to be a 6.5 "junkie" or "fanatic"...whichever way you wish to term it.
Remington 788 action w/ CanJar SS trigger, PacNor SS barrel 25", #4 contour with Holland brake, 1 in 11" twist. McMillan "Winchester Marksman" stock with red/black/white swirley pattern. On top will be an AETEC 4.5x14 PA held in place by Burris Signature rings.................Chambered for the 6.5/08 Ackley Improved. This varmint rifle will be called "Red-Dawg"!
I plan to start loads with WW .260 brass and Lapua 243 brass necked to 6.5. Sierra 85g HP's, 90gr Speer TNT's, Hornaday 95g VMax and Nosler 100gr BT's. First choice of powders will be VV 150.
Suggestions/criticisms please! One more item...its set up as a single shot. See the attached pic!
Ol' John
Nice paint on that rifle John.
While I had my 260 Rem I shot a lot of the 95 gr VMax bullets. Your case is a little larger than the 260 but RL 15 and similar powders should do well in your improved version. Just use 260 data and work up.
Those light bullets will rip a coyote good. I like that.
I use a Leu 4.5-14X Tac. for coyotes and other varmints. It's a good choice. If I had to do it over I would not get the target knobs.
I had been using a Colt Match Target Competition HBAR 5.56/.223 with Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10x50mm scope, and Kimber 84M Varmint .22-250 with Leupold Vari-X III 4.5-14x50mm scope for most of my varminting. For the last two years, however, I've mostly been using another rifle that I set up primarily for coyotes.
It's a Winchester M70 Coyote in 243 WSSM, with a Leupold VX-III 4.5-14x50mm LR scope and a Harris bipod. I had the action bedded, and installed a Kepplinger adjustable set trigger. The trigger is adjusted to 2 lbs unset, and 8 oz set.
The M70 Coyote is the most accurate rifle I have. With the factory Winchester 55 grain loads, it will consistently shoot 3/4" groups at 200 yards on a good day. I have it zeroed at 250 yards, which gives me a point blank range of 298 yards for a 3" kill zone. I only have to use about 7 to 8 inches of hold over out to 400 yards.
I don't hunt for pelts, so I don'y worry damage to the hides. I haven't worked up a hand load that quite equals the factory 55 grain BST's yet, but hopefully one of these days I will.
Since this rifle is dedicated to 100gr or less bullets, I felt the slower twist would be perhaps more condusive to accuracy that the normal faster twists. PacNor had the slower twist of most of the barrel makers that I was aware of--therefore they became first choice. I am planning a dedicated long-range varmint rifle (500-750yds) using the 6.5/06 AI and some custom bullets from a Canadian feller of 120gr RBBTHP's. or possibly the 120gr Sierra MK. I am sure you know already what the RBBTHP means but for others it is--ReBated Boat Tail Hollow Point--they are sure pretty bullets with an unknown BC at this time but it must be high. I will be having Dan Pedersen of Classic Gun & Barrel Works make up a cutrifled SS barrel(he doesn't know it yet so don't tell him), the twist for that one remains to be determined. Planning these speciality rifles is 50% of the fun....if it turns out the way you want it.
