Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Best Long Range Rock Chuck rig recommendations

Good to know, Mark. This my first build from Dan. I've got a good friend who has several rifles Dan built. He feels the same way you do. I'm itching to get my hands on it!

Seafire, I too use a 22-250 for long range work on rock chucks. I load 50gr BT with IMR4350. These perform remarkably well in my Rem. 700 22-250. I also have spots to hunt these vermin that I share with no one. Their populations are good but lots of shooting will diminish them quickly. I truly enjoy hiking to lofty meadows to pursue them. My old 22-250 has a factory SS bbl. that I picked up on the internet. This is a fluted heavy contour Rem. bbl. that has taken more than its' share of mtn. chucks. A 22-250 or 22-250AI is more than adequate if the wind is not blowing too much. Otherwise I would recommend a .243 shooting perhaps a 65gr Vmax or 70gr. BT. Good luck with your long range quest.

guys

just yall talking about shooting chucks makes me green with envy! i'm pretty sure I don't even know what a chuck is!
but being here in oklahoma we don't have much of anything in numerous enough numbers to build a rifle around anyways.
also just from this thread I am looking into building my first rifle in a cartridge I have never shot, only done research, the 6mm Rem. I've already counted up how many hrs of overtime I need to put in so that I can start my build.lol. I know i'm sick, but aren't we all?
i'm so jealous of all of you all, just so ya know...

I'm trying to think of a way that I can bait crows just to get some satisfaction that you guys receive from shooting these chucks!

cheers to you guys!

I only hope one day I can go on a prairie dog and chuck hunt

now only the parts to start my build.............

Brett (Mac)

Id go with the 25-06 and 115 grain ballistic tips. The only other thing I can tell you that these guys havent commented on is your choice of scopes. You dont need to go 8x32 or 10x40. In june on a mountain top at 700 yard youll have so many heat waves in that scope that anything about 14 to 18 power zoom is a waste. At 700 to 1000 yards you can still see chucks on 14x. Turn em inside out or make em do back flips. Just remember to bring the video camera. Slow motion playback is awesome when you can see the bullet come into the screen and destroy a chuck.

The 22-250AI with 75 or 80 gr. A-maxs works very well and has good terminal performance in the 500-750 yard range.

I think the 243AI would be better and likely my next build. The 105 gr. A-max has a great BC and is fragile enough to be a good chuck bullet. A standard 243 will work with that bullet too.

The 25 06 with 75 gr. V-max's and 85 gr. NBT's works well too though getting pass the 500 yards range the higher BC A-max's in 243 and 22-250AI arrive noticeably faster /less drift.
I talked to Hornady about making a 25 caliber A-max but they said no target shooters use the .25. I related that a lot of the A-max's get shot at vermin and steel. Didn't seem to swing them my way though.

A 25-06 would fit your needs perfectly. A word of warning though...once you try a 25, you might find yourself taking it on your next deer hunt as well.

Well brett they are basically a Prairie dog on steroids. they live in higher elevations than PD's. As you can tell the folks who hunt them are very territorial. Never caught the bug much. You generally can get more shooting done in a PD town.

Good thoughts, I mainly use a 4-14 Leo and a 6-20 Leo for my long range work. The 20 can work but many days it's just too much of a good thing. And I totally concur about the mtn heat waves. Lastly your words about them doing back flips etc tells me that you're a true chucker as well and the vid idea works well also. The gymnastics is exactly one reason why I don't/won't use any of the 22's (slow or fast twist) 4 long range chucks. They just don't have the gas to toss them around like the bigger cals do...

Dober

6.5x47Lapua. 123 A-Max at 3050fps. 5.5x22 Nightforce with a MLR inside.
6.5 is in the foreground.

That is NICE Jim!

Seafire,
You say 500-700 yards but you know once you reach 700 you'll want to go 800+
I'd go with the 25 or something like Jim's 6.5. I've shot them out to 460 yards with a 22-250 and had mixed results, from flipping them up in the air to crawl offs. The 22-250 was really hard to shoot in the eastern Oregon wind if it wasn�t at your back or in your face. When I scratch together enough funds I�m leaning toward a Remington VLS in 260, they can be found used for $800ish.

I've got a VLS in 260 already.. was one of the first ones to hit the shelves locally.

I've also got a 25/06 take off barrel for a Savage.. it is a heavy barrel.. I just need to take both out and play with them at those distances...

looking at the 25/06 specs, wonder how a 270 with a 110 grain V Max would be looking like at that distance also?

Must admit that I don't think of anything over 6mm as a real 'varmint' cartridge.. with that in mind, I probably have a good half dozen or more solutions to the problem sitting in the safe right now.....

But I don't think I'll ever accomplish the mission with the "cool-ness" that Jim the Plumber does.. what a coooool set up...

as soon as I hit the lottery, going to have to duplicate those rigs...

Lots of things will work fine. Anything with a heavy enough bullet going fast enough to cause some excitement when it gets there. You don't want to just knock them over or drill a hole. My flattest shooting chuck gun was a .240 Gibbs with 70's4100, it made a good mess. Now there's a 257Wby with 100's @4000, which blows the crap out of a chuck. And a 6mmAI with 70's @4100 replacing the Gibbs.