I've really enjoyed my autographed copy of GACK. And boy, was I surprised to find a chapter on the old .25-20. I am the 4th generation owner of a Winchester M92 bought by my great grandfather around 1907 and passed down through the family, where it now resides in my gun safe. The bluing and the bore aren't top-notch, but my father used it to kill a small whitetail buck around 1939, when he was barely a teenager. I will pass it on like those who went before me, and it will never leave our family. At least that is my fervent hope.
I have a question for John (and others). You wrote that you have settled on 26.0/TAC/50gr Nosler BT as your go-to recipe for varmints in the .223. I have long used 26.5/H335 behind the same bullet, but I plan to switch to TAC down the road because of its cleaner-burning characteristics.
Do you have a similar go-to combo for the .22-250? I'm a bit old school in that I still carry a .22-250 along on my PD hunts for a change of pace. I generally shoot the 50 NBTs here as well along with the occasional 52 Sierra HPs. FWIW, I've probably culled more Texas whitetail does with the 63 Sierra semi-pointed out of the Varminter than any other bullet by a wide margin, and that's out of a 14" twist barrel.
None of my PD buddies bother with the .22-250 anymore, so I'm the last one carrying the flag. There has to be a few of us left that are still shooting sod poodles with the .22-250. What load, if any, have you found to be nearly universal in several with the Varminter?
