Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Walk Around Varmint Rifle

I bought a .17 WSM 2 years ago for the casual walking as mentioned above. Unbelievably fun gun.
Longest coyote to date was 178 yards, dead right there.
When first sighted in I benched it out to 235 yards and four rounds on a windless morning inside of a playing card were to me impressive,
I did not zero to 235, too much to compensate at lesser range and be spot on. The rifle is a basic savage bolt model, it wears a Leupold 6x. Super lite, super fun, plenty of knockdown ( no pigs up here ) and zip for cost of ammo.
My only change would be a better quality rifle in that caliber. The base savage is ok but I think the action could be a whole lot smoother.

Osky

An edit to this…the rounds for this rifle I have found are .20 and .25 grain. My rifle is deadly with the .25, the 20’s seem to wander a bit.

Does that have a bit more soup than the HMR ?

Mines a 700 ADL in HS stock, .243 w 22" sporter bbl
4-12x AO and Harris leg notch non swivel bipod

Gonna log some miles for yotes after 1st of the yr LOL

My “walk about” .223 is also my range rifle for playing with steel.... an 8 twist RAR with a timney trigger and SWFA 3X9 on deck. The factory mag works fine with most 60 gr and under bullets, not so much with anything longer seated out where they belong..... I mod’ed a mag to run 75’s and it works OK.

The rig is amazingly accurate with most any load I’ve tried. That said, I’m either going to trip it or put the compact stock I bought on it and use it to teach the grandkids.

I have a pile of 40 and 50 gr bullets to load for the kids to shoot. Probably switch to a straight 6X SWFA and put the 3X9 on the Tikka T3X SL that I intend to replace the RAR with........... after market mags will cure the long loaded col issue and keep it hand carry friendly.

What zcm82 said.

A standard Ruger American in 223 is a handy rifle for those shots under 200 yds. When I am not walking far a Vanguard, Hough stock, Timney trigger 24" barrel gives me confidence to 300 yds.

This Ruger sure is fun, loaded with 62 grain Bear Claws.

Look for a Montana in 223 or 204. I found one ,223 , in a small gun shop about 20 miles away last Feb. Wasn' t really looking for one, but it came home.

A Savage 340 or Remington 788 in 222 or 223 is a very handy rifle. Great walking or truck / quad gun. Can usually be found for a reasonable price and if it gets bumped or scratched it just adds more character to the rifle.