Best gun for varmints

[Me + Peeps]

get a 22/.410 over/under cross and you could use it on almost everything

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

My wife works in a police station and passed the question around to a bunch of cops. The consensus was .22-250 with hollow point rounds for a minimum gun that has decent power and can do decent damage.

Thats a GREAT choice if youre looking for a LONG RANGE varmint HUNTING gun

For the uses you described, you be best served with 2 guns:
The first would be a 22 rifle (Ruger is my favorite), and a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun ( Remington 870 is my favorite there)

All the higher powered rifles are overkill for what you stated you wanted.
Anyone who says a 22 LR wont kill dog sized animals is just a poor shot. You just have to limit your distance to no more than 50-60 yds.

If you want HUNTING guns for medium to large game, then the bigger calibers start to make more sense, although the shotgun will kill anything on the Continent with the right loads​

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

He suggested a Ruger 10-.22, and showed us the coolest little .22 round with bird shot in the head. It could pepper an invading dog without killing it (I could never kill one unless it was attacking a human being) and take out a snake in the hen house without also taking out the wall the way a shotgun would. This rifle can also handle a Mag (hope that's correct term) round, which I understand is more powerful than a regular .22 round. He also carries hollow points for it, a box of 50 costing a little over $4.

Most Ruger 10/22's are chambered in 22 Long rifle.

They will NOT accept a 22 Magnum, which is much larger. He may have shown you a box of CCI "Mini-Mags", but they are STILL just a 22LR round.

There are some "hyper-velocity" 22 LR loads, such as the "Stinger" or "Yellowjacket"but they usually arent much better than a good old Winchester Super X hollowpoint

The "shotshells" for a 22 are useless past about 15 FEET.

I DO agree with the 10/22 as a good rifle to own. They are accurate and dependable

Ruger only recently came out with a 22 WMR version, but no one has EVER been able to produce a RELIABLE semi auto WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire), so I would be leery of one until the prove themselves
And neither version will fire BOTH cartidges interchangeably

Edited to add:

IF they are trying to sell you a 10/22 MAGNUM, you may want to read this.
It seems Ruger stopped building them a few years ago due to reliability problems:
http://www.perfectunion.com/vb/showthread.php?t=56356​

 

[Buster52]

Ah. Well, I've looked at a lot of rifles lately at different places, so maybe I'm getting mixed up.

I will double check the information I wrote and report back. You are obviously very knowledgeable and have said things that ring true on a gut level (I had a feeling an assault rifle was probably overkill for even coyotes, but I think the fact I didn't say we had a fairly small place probably threw some folks), so I'll run everything back by here before we make the final purchase.

It is nice to know, though, that the Ruger 10-.22 LR (if that is what this is) is a very good weapon that will like meet our needs. That's exactly the sort of information I was looking for.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
Awwwwww the infamous 'assault rifle'

There is no assault rifle for the civilian unless you posses the proper class permit for each weapon. Now what you can get is a cosmetically similar rifle but it will lack the option to fire full auto or burst.

That out of the way, a tactical rifle(appropriate term for civilian version) IS a very good choice for varmint hunting. The only drawback it the price. I like my 1894 tactical rifle(lever action)...

I have both in 357 and 44 mag, both can get the job done but not considered long range. I can reach out and touch most game though at 100 yards. I have a 7.62X54 for anything past that or my 45/70. I can do 300 yard with the 45/70 and 500 yard with the naggant, both using peep sights.

The civilian version of the our military rifle is perfect for shooting a pack of coyote's or for midwesterners those pesky prairie dogs. If you go that route get the tripod and both scope and laser sights. Hey if your gonna spend that kind of money why hold back.

 

[thomas h]

A 22 ruger .
my favorite little rifle .I like it because its short.

but the rear sight can easily break and the short barrel makes it less accurate at 100 yards .
the clips wear out and need to be replaced .
and the frount sight is a little thin.

What I did.

keep bringing it in to the gunsmith.
shoot no farther then 75 yards.
buy clips every few years.

Had the gun smith change the rear sight to a wider sight..

Shoot a coyote ,Bush wolf in the heart and it will still run away and 100 yards of running and it gets tired .
tough to die those yotes.

A less fancy 22 ,,,would work better with less breakage .A 22 cooey.,,spelling ?

thomas

 

[kajunchicken]

If you live close to anyone else I think a 22 cal. pellet rifle would be best and safer for nieghbors and children around the house. They can travel up to 1200 fps. If you live in the wide open spaces a 17 cal. rimfire is the perfect varmit rifle, just a little larger than a 22 rifle.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
Lower power(squib loads) can be purchased for the .22 as long as it is not a auto. I have Russian military training rifle that I paid $50 for at a gun show. Great hooded front site, the rear site is a tri leaf, 25, 50, 100M. Nice wood stock, not fancy, and the barrel is milled not polished. But she shoots out to 100 yards accurately. And by using shorts or squib loads it has the same power as a pellet rifle, and just as quiet.

 

[rittert3]

you had mentioned bird shot rounds for .22 these are ok once in a while but if you shoot them too much it will erode to rifling out of your barrel. these also contain lead shot (same issue as with a shot gun) you may look into seeing if they make a .22 round with steel bird shot and also steel shot loads in general a 410 with a tighter pattern choke would probably be your best bet on varments if you deside to go with a shotgun. Hevn't ever shot a .17 but providing the price is right it sounds like a smart choice as well. one thing to definatly consider is ammo alot of people are selling guns cheap right now because either they can't find ammo or it's to expensive. I know 9mm rounds are getting harder to find in some places.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
A rose by any other name...

I remember when I was in the Corps in the 70s, I walked into a Bay Area gun shop and was stunned to see an AR-15, which I at first thought was an M16. Didn't even know they existed. The owner (for whatever reason... maybe because I was obviously a Marine) let me break it down to have a look-see.

All I can say is I found the similarities far more than cosmetic. It would take very little effort to change it to fully automatic. Thought then and think now they shouldn't be in civilian hands.

But I'm not here to argue semantics or to question folks choice in toys. Let's just say I'm well aware how powerful and accurate those things are, from personal experience with its cousin. Whatever you choose to call it, that is way more gun than I need to kill turtles, possums, coons, or even coyotes, which is all I was trying to say.

I think I'm leaning heavily toward the Ruger 10/22LR for now, a shotgun later. The former will take care of most of the local critters, the latter I think will be good for anything else that might pop up (there is evidence of wild hogs in the area).

A friend on another forum (whose weapon expertise I have great respect for) echoed Bear Foot Farm's comment about "shotshells" as basically worthless gimmick rounds. He also highly recommended the Ruger 10/22LR for my needs.