wanted to go that route, but price of shells for it, changed my mind and unboxed a 700 lvsf in 223 and with 40gr vmax and blue dot I'm better off
Like the way you think Steve...
Did the same a long time ago, when I discovered that I could ( at the time ) load a 223, with Blue Dot and 55 grain FMJ's, for cheaper than the cost of a box of 22 Mag bullets ( 50 count)...After a ricochet hit a farmers irrigation pipe and put a hole in it. I fessed up at his house and wanted to know the price for the repair.. He asked me how many ground squirrels did I kill that day and told him around 500. Told me not to worry about it, then squirrels would have cost him a lot more in crop damage than a patch on that pipe. Said I'll send Jose out tomorrow morning and have him put a patch on it.
However after that, I switched over to regular varmint bullets.
But I do have a Ruger and a pair of Marlins in 22 Mag, which I love. The Marlin 25 MN, has been used for a truck gun for 4 decades. I've put down a dozen or so deer in my travels, with head shots after they have been hit by cars, out in the middle of nowhere.
Blue Dot in a bolt 223, does make barrels last. I've got a couple of barrels that have over 30,000 rounds down the barrel and are still minute of sage rat, off the hood of my 4 Runner.
