What do you consider to be the best cartridge for predators?

.17 Remington.



Travis

Saving fur wanting to watch fur fly?

fur friendly...if possible....

Some flavor of 17 cal. centerfire

204

Yes.

.22-250 or .220Swift

Judging by the highway - bumper of a 2003 Ford Taurus.

I've had good luck with 35 grain bergers out of a 204 on coyotes but fox is another story

222 Remington magnum with 40 grain V-Max bullets...

Define "predators".
Big difference between saving the fur of a 40lb Coyote and a 10lb thin skinned Fox.

My personal preferences are,,,,
1) 17Rem
2) 222Rem
3) 17FB
but everyone has different needs and ideas.

17HMR works pretty well inside 100 yards, if fur is really your gig.

223 with 40 Ballistic Tip is pretty good too.

223 with 40 gr Nosler BT's. A great bullet that doesn't generally leave an exit hole in coyotes. I can't speak for how it does on fox since I have never shot any with it.

As someone one posted earlier - define "predator".

drover

17 Remington.

9.3x62 with 250-grain Accubonds is very fur-friendly on grizzlies.

Yup...

Mailmanmark: The answer to your question (Best all around cartridge for predators?) is... the 204 Ruger.
Hands down.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

gentlemen....you are absolutely right. I should of stated ...predators of rabitts and such.... not predators of ME ...lol

I thought for sure that it would be about the .22-250 and .223
I didn't realize the .204 has become so popular.

Why is that???

Having a .20 VarTarg built just for such adventures. Should be the cat's ass.

Less fur sewing......

.17/204, best of both worlds.

Same reason married men bang fat strangers. Just something new to try.





Travis

Because it was pimped hard by gunwriters and manufacturers for a few years as "the next big thing", in order to sell more rifles.

I have yet to see anything the 204 will do that a 223 loaded with 40s won't do just as well, except cost more money for a new sub-caliber cleaning rod & accessories.

Have to agree with prairie goat on his assessment of the 204.

One way to gauge a cartridges popularity is to see where it sets on the amount of loading dies being sold for it. It takes a little searching on google but there is a listing of the most popular RCBS dies and the 204 is way down on the list whereas the 223 is still near the top. A few years ago when it was the latest fad it was nearer the top but now it has fallen way down the list.

drover

I'm also with prairie goat. A 223 can be used with a wide range of bullet weights, with the lightest ones as fast as the 204 and heavy bullets the 204 can't use.

That said, the caliber need varies with the size of the varmint. I used a 220 for years, but then the hogs showed up on our place. The 55 gr BT didn't put them down firmly enough. I'm trying out the new 64 gr Nosler BSB, which stabilized in my 220 (so far).

For front yard use (front pasture, actually), I use the 223 with the 40 gr Nosler BT. Kind of an amazing bullet, with the way it'll knock a coyote FLAT. If hunting small varmints (coyote and smaller) that's a great bullet.

Listen people...

He asked which is the BEST. The .223 is good. Even great. But not the BEST predator cartridge.

That seat belongs to the .17 Rem. Always has, always will.



Travis

I'm going to go out on a limb with a guess that this little factoid has something to do with the current administration, and the latest "the sky is falling" mentality of people who thought AR's were going to be banned. Which caliber is most popular to the 'Zombies" are coming crowd, the .223....just a SWAG on my part though. Has more to do with that than which caliber is most popular in the predator hunting world, for sure.

Scenarshooter might be the guy to talk to about this. Thinking he does it for a living, although I don't know if he cares about being fur friendly.

I believe he uses a 6 Creedmoore and a few other bigger cartridges.

My favorite is a 22-250 AI with 55 Sierra BK's. I had to learn how to sew, but don't usually have to look for a runner.

223

Back when I fur hunted and trapped for a living I used my 220 Swift at first. It did a good job but bullet selection was critical. The Speer 52 grain HP (the old one with the huge hp) and the Sierra 55 grain Game King were the only two I came to depend on for not tearing things up to badly on coyotes. The Speer rarely exited and the Sierra almost always did but with a reasonable exit wound (1.5" or less generally).

Then along came my first 17 Remington. After that, the Swift, and the rest of my 22 centerfires languished in the safe, only to come out during the off season when saving fur was not a concern.

I'm with Travis on this one. No better fur cartridge exists than the 17 Remington.

Mart

17 Rem., 17-204, or a 204. These are fur friendly on Coyotes, hands down.

Depends on which predator and whether you're after fur to sell or just want to make them dead.

I'm kind of partial to a 7mm STW with 120 grain ballistic tips over 2-1/2 shovel-fulls of 7828.

For a kinder, gentler sort of dead, .17 Remington works pretty well. Anything in between is fine for some situation or other.

Tom

I have to agree...

It would be even better if necked down to .204.

Oops! Guess that's what basically happened in 2004. But apparently some people are ALWAYS at least a decade behind the times....

Too bad nobody necks it down to .17. That'd be kinda cool.




Travis

Travis,

years ago, Jim Carmichel built a .17-222 magnum on a Sako action, which i'm sure was mighty fine medicine on pasture poodles.


i believe he went the other way too--a 6x47 for paper punching...

20 Practical & 40 V max @ 3900

Do you know the details on preferred gr of bullet and barrel twist?

This sounds like the perfect solution for anything under #60.

I took a 17-222 Mag. to Travis and he was scared to use it.....he Ubed himself.

Yeah.

A .17 Remington. 1-9". 25gr. Hornady HP or a Berger Match of the same weight.



Travis

That was because of you. Not the rifle.



Travis

Since you are in Upstate NY. I would think a .22 win mag to be perfect! No reloading, very easy on pelts, no long shots, and no wind bucking challenges.

It's cheap and very deadly.

I grew up in northern New York. Lots of agriculture and open fields with plenty of opportunity to put a center fire varmint round to work.

I started my calling career there with a 22 magnum. It worked but it was far from ideal for that area. Had to pass on more than few critters that hung up out there beyond the reach of the 22 mag but well within range of a 17, 204 or 222/223.

Under 150 yards the 22 WRFM is a wonderful round. Much of upstate and northern NY offer far longer shooting than that.

I'm there, too...

And if I still hunted for fur, it'd be the runaway choice. Otherwise for coyotes, the faster .22s are better, and the faster 6mms are about optimum...

The one you are preparing to take the shot with.

Where I hunt there is often a lot of wind, and the ranges get long. For that reason, when I am not using an AR, I reach for my 6mm Remington.

An 85 grain pill at 3430 does not get blown around nearly as hard and really puts the smack down on coyotes.

Best is subjective. Best for close cover hunting, where 50 yard shots are most common, or best when you have a 12mph crosswind and dogs hold up at 500 yards..

Heck I even like the .260 for dropping dogs way out across the sagebrush.

222 mag would be at the top of the list for me. But I find its more the rifle in its particular situation.
If I had to choose only one rifle I would have to think real hard between the ruger boat paddle in 223 or the rem tactical with a faster twist..
Someday that tactical will get reamed to 222 mag..

And it might have looked like this: Sako action, 17/222 mag, 12x Redfield, mesquite stock

I have used a 35 Whelen for Bobcats, one had a in and out 35 caliber hole, one had a 35 caliber in and a fist sized hole for an exit!
Ronnie

What distances are you shooting at ? A good old 12 guage with some #4 buck or dead coyote works pretty good too.