Varmint Spring 2025

From a purely practical point of view, two rifles chambered for the right cartridges are all anyone needs for bumping off varmints anywhere in America. The most useful of the magnificent pair would be chambered for the 223 Remington. Accuracy is hard to beat, cases are easy to find, and given proper care, barrel accuracy life is long. In order to pull off shots halfway across the county, something faster and flatter shooting is needed, so the second rifle would be in 22-250 or 220 Swift. For those who classify feral hogs as varmints, heavier bullets too long to be stabilized by the standard 1:14 rifling twist rate for those two cartridges are needed, and that would require replacing the barrel with one having a quicker twist. You could do as I did and order Mark VII rifles in 22-250 and 22 Creedmoor with 1:7 twist barrels from E.R. Shaw. Another option is to simply head to your favorite gun shop and buy a factory-built rifle in 22 Creedmoor with the standard 1:8 twist for that cartridge. ...Read More >

I was talking to a few friends the other day about how they are controlling the coyote population on their dairy farms. Four out of five said they still had a 223 Remington bolt action rifle. The fifth friend said a 30-06 Springfield, which I could not argue with. I asked them what they were using for ammunition. One of them said he handloads 55-grain Hornady V-MAX bullets. The others said they just use factory ammunition and shoot whatever works best. They are not trying to shoot tiny groups, just coyotes out to about 100 yards. ...Read More >

Despite its antiquated design and lackluster performance relative to other varmint rounds, the 22 Hornet continues to endure even as far superior varmint rounds fade into obsolescence. For evidence of the ancient cartridge’s inherent durability, look no further than the fact Blaser now chambers the 22 Hornet in their cutting-edge R8 straight-pull rifle. ...Read More >

Known for its full line of centerfire rifles and shotguns, Savage also has a long list of rimfire guns to please all. Always looking on the horizon for something new, they introduced the “A” line of rimfire guns to the American market. With the .17 caliber becoming popular, Savage brought out the A17 in 2015 (but only advertised in 2016 literature). Touted as the first semiautomatic to cycle this cartridge safely in a newly designed, delayed-blowback, recoil-operated action. The initial entry was a generic type of rifle with a black stock, but shortly after, a Thumbhole and Sporter Laminate were added. ...Read More >

The story of this rifle began about two years ago, during a time when my good friend and fellow contributing writer, Stan Trzoniec, decided to part with a small collection of his rifles. Stan, a seasoned shooter and varmint hunter, has an eye for quality firearms. He was refining his inventory and was kind enough to give us the first right of refusal before selling them elsewhere. Among the group of rifles he put up for sale, one in particular stood out to me. It didn’t scream for attention at first, but something about it quietly drew me in. ...Read More >

For years, serious varmint shooters and fans of Hornady’s ELD (extremely low drag) series bullets have used the company’s .224-caliber ELD Match selection. The ELD design provides the accuracy needed to pick off distant varmints and high ballistic coefficients to buck prairie winds while also expanding adequately from faster varmint cartridges, like my 22 Creedmoor. To some of us, Hornady’s 2024-released ELD-VT was an answer to our prayers. ...Read More >

Back in 1910, rifle designer and builder Charles Newton necked down the 25-35 Winchester case for a .228-inch bullet weighing 70 grains. After sending Newton a nice paycheck for his idea, Savage Arms introduced it in 1912 as the 22 High Power. During the three decades that followed, the cartridge sold quite a few Model 99 rifles. Not one to miss an opportunity to pick up a few more dollars, Newton developed another cartridge for Savage, and it was introduced in 1915 as the 250-3000 Savage. Soon thereafter, Newton necked down that case for the 70-grain bullet of the 22 High Power, but his luck had run out as Savage had no interest in another .22-caliber cartridge. ...Read More >

In the spring of 2020, I was considering building a long-range rifle on the AR platform for target shooting and coyote hunting. At the time, my only good options were the 6.5 Grendel and 224 Valkyrie. I have never pulled the trigger on either of these because they have never interested me. The 6.5 Grendel was too slow, with a 130-grain bullet traveling approximately 2,500 feet per second (fps) and a 100-grain bullet reaching around 2,650 fps. The lighter bullets for the 6.5 Grendel suffer from a lower ballistic coefficient (BC) compared to the heavier bullets. Therefore, the Grendel never interested me. As for the 224 Valkyrie, made by Federal, the ballistics were not quite what I was looking for, and limited component availability was also a concern. ...Read More >