Varmint Fall 2018

Now that the “great rimfire depression” is over and new ammunition from both U.S. and foreign manufacturers is being offered, the current proliferation of 22 Long Rifle, 17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire and 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire loads is mind boggling. Equally interesting is a softening trend in regard to newly introduced top-end rifles from which to shoot all this new ammunition. More specifically, classy bolt-action rifles for the cartridges mentioned above are becoming more rare. ...Read More >

Nosler, Inc. has been busy of late; not only with its ever-expanding line of bullets, but with the company’s home-grown rifles and a proprietary line of cartridges. ...Read More >

Beginning in the late 1800s and moving forward, a number of extremely successful rifle cartridges were introduced by Winchester. The 44-40, 30-30, 270, 308, 243, 338 and 458 spring to mind. When it came to 22-caliber varmint cartridges, the company owned the market with the 22 Hornet, ideal for use in settled areas, and the 220 Swift was unbeatable for picking off varmints at barrel-straining distances. ...Read More >

It was a mid-winter day in the late 1960s when the big gyp (female) coyote came rolling out of a shallow draw and broke out across a cut cornfield, giving me a crossing shot at about 200 yards. I was on a fox drive with snowshoes in deep powder, and as such, my rifle was a very lightweight Thompson/Center Contender carbine. I pushed the crosshairs a full body length ahead of the running dog and held just above the ears. ...Read More >

Unless you’ve been in a coma for most of the last year, you’ve no doubt heard of Federal’s new 224 Valkyrie cartridge. Federal states the Valkyrie is based on the 6.8 SPC case necked down to .224 caliber, beats the ballistics of all other AR-15 cartridges and offers comparable performance to larger cartridges like the 6.5 Creedmoor with about half the recoil. Those are substantial claims. ...Read More >

I met with friend and gunsmith Keith Anderson to see if he had anything interesting in the works. As luck would have it, he was “just finishing up” a personal varmint rifle that had every neat doodad he could find. By his description, the rifle sounded perfect. Even the chambering was interesting – a 6x45mm, one of the oldest wildcats on the 223 Remington and a natural fit in an AR-15 varmint rifle. The deal was struck, and he agreed to loan me the rifle once it was finished. ...Read More >

Wildcat cartridges are developed when a hunter or shooter carefully defines a set of criteria about what is needed from a firearm. They are adopted as factory rounds when enough people realize the wildcat really is ideal for their needs, too. ...Read More >

Looking back, I cannot recall if I ordered a Montana Rifle Company Mountain Snow Rifle for its unique looks, its Winchester-type action or that it was chambered for one of my favorite varmint cartridges, the 204 Ruger. Now, after having it for a few months, I think it was all of the above! ...Read More >

Americans annually burn some three billion rounds of 22 rimfire ammunition, mostly 22 Long Rifle (LR). Such volume makes the 22 LR one of varmint shooting’s most significant factors. The 131-year-old 22 LR cartridge is fun, affordable and deadly on small varmints (within its respective capabilities), and is arguably the world’s most popular varmint round. ...Read More >

After the dinosaurs had gone extinct but before their tracks had drifted over, I bought a Burris straight 10x scope for my 22-250 Remington. The Burris was then at the forefront of technology with an adjustable parallax dial ring on the objective lens bell. Its elevation and windage turrets were designed for sighting in the scope, then you screwed the caps back on and left them alone. The reticle consisted of ordinary crosshairs. ...Read More >