Varmint rifle

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Ruger No. 1 Varmint rifle in .223 Remington. Note the heavy barrel, bipod rest, large telescopic sight, and "dope" sheet on the stock for windage Ruger no1 223 varmint rifle.png
Ruger No. 1 Varmint rifle in .223 Remington. Note the heavy barrel, bipod rest, large telescopic sight, and "dope" sheet on the stock for windage

A varmint rifle is a small-caliber precision firearm or high-powered airgun primarily used for both varmint hunting (the elimination of outdoor animals which harass properties) and pest control (the eradication of indoor infestation by destructive species). These tasks include killing three types of pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock:

Contents

Varmint guns fill a design gap between the more powerful big game rifles and the less powerful rimfire firearms. Big game rifles are more suitable for stalking and taking down individual large-sized animals such as reindeer, elk and buffalo at medium ranges, but not adequate for frequent repeated firing. Rimfire firearms (such as the highly popular .22 LR caliber) are best used to shoot small vermin such as squirrels and rats at close distances, and are somewhat underpowered for many outdoor rodents (which are often alert enough to spot hunters from a long distance away and flee or hide underground), small predators such as coyotes and larger feral animals such as goats and pigs. The varmint rifles are very suitable for repeated medium/long-range shots from a fixed firing position, thus fulfilling and overlapping the functional demands with both in terms of hunting applications.

Common design elements

While any rifle of sufficient power can be used to dispatch targets of opportunity (the venerable .30-30 Winchester lever action and the Ruger Mini-14 are common truck guns or ranch guns kept handy for this) the deliberate taking of varmints requires special characteristics more common to target rifles than "normal" hunting rifles.

General characteristics

"DOPE sheets" for calculating bullet drop and wind drift are frequently used Cooper 243 dope sheet.jpg
"DOPE sheets" for calculating bullet drop and wind drift are frequently used

Varmint rifles can typically be distinguished from other light-caliber hunting or plinking rifles in the use of heavier barrels and (often) omission of open sights. Use of magnifying optics allows for more accurate fire (often on very small, distant targets). Barrels will generally be free-floated, and other accurizing techniques will be performed, either by the manufacturer or the owner. The stocks will generally have wider forends, designed for use on stable sandbag rests, and high combs for easy use with optics.

Since part of the definition of a "varmint" is that it is a nuisance, varmints are not stalked, but rather they are hunted from a fixed position. This makes weight of little consideration in a varmint rifle, so heavy barrels are common. Varmints are also not subject to the same bag limits as game animals are, so far more shots may be fired. The heavier barrel is, in general, more accurate than a light barrel, plus the extra mass helps reduce the felt recoil and absorb the heat from more shots before expanding and potentially reducing accuracy. Folding shooting benches and sandbag rests help provide a stable base for the shooter, allowing the maximum accuracy to be extracted from the rifle.

Calibers

An alert rodent will usually hide underground before hunters can approach within 100 metres (110 yd). Groundhog-Standing2.jpg
An alert rodent will usually hide underground before hunters can approach within 100 metres (110 yd).

Since varmints are generally smaller animals, large, heavy bullets are not needed. A light, fast bullet gives a flat trajectory, making range estimation less vital for accurate shot placement. Velocities for modern varmint rounds are usually in excess of 3,000 ft/s (910 m/s) such as the .223 Remington and some like the .220 Swift can exceed 4,000 ft/s (1,200 m/s). This allows long range shots with a short time of flight, and little change in trajectory at different ranges (see external ballistics). A bullet drop of only a couple of inches (about 5 cm) is enough to cause a miss on smaller varmint animals; so flat trajectories increase hit probability at long ranges. Fast, lightly constructed bullets have additional advantages of rapidly disintegrating upon initial contact. Disintegration minimizes the range of ricochet particles; and energy release of disintegration kills small animals more quickly than a penetrating wound. [2]

Rifles firing .22 caliber bullets became popular varmint guns after World War I. Calibers up to .264 caliber (6.5 mm), including .243 Winchester, 6mm Remington and .25-06 Remington, became popular for ranges over 200 metres (220 yards) as the ballistic advantages of heavier bullets were recognized. [3] Varmint shooting is one of the few areas where calibers smaller than .22 (5.56 mm) are found; the .17 Remington and various other .17 caliber (4.5 mm) wildcats have a vocal following, and the new .204 Ruger is well suited to varminting, and may be the first in a new line of .20 caliber (5mm) rounds.

For shorter ranges (less than about 100 yards (91 meters)) rimfire cartridges such as .22 Magnum and .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire are popular. The .22 Long Rifle will also do, but the low muzzle velocities result in a supersonic to subsonic transition on the way to the target, which can negatively affect accuracy.

Varmint cartridges

Typical varmint rifle cartridges on a 0.25-inch (6 mm) grid (from left to right): .22 long rifle for very small animals at ranges less than 100 meters, .22-250 represents the high velocity .22 calibers for longer range shooting, and .25-06 for larger animals at ranges up to 400 meters. VarmintCartridges.png
Typical varmint rifle cartridges on a 0.25-inch (6 mm) grid (from left to right): .22 long rifle for very small animals at ranges less than 100 meters, .22-250 represents the high velocity .22 calibers for longer range shooting, and .25-06 for larger animals at ranges up to 400 meters.

Action types

Bolt-action rifles dominate the class, with a few specialized AR-15 variants (often referred to as "modern sporting rifles") and single-shot rifles making up the rest. Most bolt-action rifles, if accurized, can be successfully used for varmint hunting. While nearly all varmint guns are rifles, there are a few pistols, generally single shot and bolt-action pistols in rifle calibers such as those developed for metallic silhouette shooting, that have sufficient accuracy, range, and trajectory to allow them to be used for varmint shooting. The Remington XP-100 bolt-action pistol and its aptly named .221 Fireball cartridge, introduced in 1963, were developed for varmint hunting; the full name is the "Model XP-100 Varmint Special".

For varmint and pest control in urban areas, air guns make suitable choices. While the limited power of an air rifle (generally far less than a .22 Long Rifle) limits its usefulness to small rodents at very short range, the limited penetration and low noise allows them to be used in areas where use of firearms is impractical. The popular air gun sport of field target is based on small game and varmint shooting, with targets often shaped like rabbits, squirrels, and other suitable small varmints. The low velocities of air gun pellets makes accurate range estimation paramount, so high magnification telescopic sights are used, with calibrated focus knobs that serve to estimate the range.

See also

Poacher's gun, a type of varmint rifle that can be disassembled for concealment

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rimfire ammunition</span> Type of ammunition common in low-caliber firearms

Rimfire ammunition (RF) is a type of firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located within a hollow circumferential rim protruding from the base of its casing. When fired, the gun's firing pin will strike and crush the rim against the edge of the barrel breech, sparking the primer compound within the rim, and in turn ignite the propellant within the case. Invented in 1845, by Louis-Nicolas Flobert, the first rimfire metallic cartridge was the .22 BB Cap cartridge, which consisted of a percussion cap with a bullet attached to the top. While many other different cartridge priming methods have been tried since the mid-19th century onwards, such as pinfire, only small caliber rimfire and centerfire cartridges have survived to the present day with regular usage. The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge, introduced in 1887, is by far the most common ammunition in the world today in terms of units sold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.218 Bee</span> Cartridge

The .218 Bee is a .22 caliber centerfire rifle cartridge designed for varmint hunting by Winchester in 1937. The cartridge was originally chambered in the Winchester Model 65 lever-action rifles, which may have ultimately led to its lack of popularity. The cartridge is named for the bore diameter of the barrel in which the cartridge is chambered rather than the usual practice in the United States of having the cartridge's nomenclature reflect in some way the bullet diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.22 Hornet</span> Rifle cartridge

The .22 Hornet or 5.6×36mmR Hornet is a varminting, small-game hunting, survival and competition centerfire rifle cartridge commercially introduced in 1930. It is considerably more powerful than the rimfire .22 WMR and the .17 HMR, achieving higher velocity with a bullet twice the weight of the .17 HMR bullet. The Hornet also differs significantly from these in that being a centerfire cartridge makes it reloadable, and thus more versatile. It was the smallest commercially available .22 caliber centerfire cartridge until the introduction of the FN 5.7×28mm.

The .17 Remington is a rifle cartridge introduced in 1971 by Remington Arms Company for their model 700 rifles.

The .221 Remington Fireball (5.7x35mm), often simply referred to as .221 Fireball, is a centerfire cartridge created by Remington Arms Company in 1963 as a special round for use in their experimental single-shot bolt-action pistol, the XP-100. A shortened version of the .222 Remington, it is popular as a varmint and small predator round while also finding use among target shooters. It has application as both a pistol round and as a rifle round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire</span> Rimfire cartridge

The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, also called .22 WMR, .22 Magnum, .22 WMRF, .22 MRF, or .22 Mag, is a rimfire cartridge. Originally loaded with a bullet weight of 40 grains (2.6 g) delivering velocities in the 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s) range from a rifle barrel, .22 WMR is now loaded with bullet weights ranging from 50 grains (3.2 g) at 1,530 feet per second (470 m/s) to 30 grains (1.9 g) at 2,200 feet per second (670 m/s).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildcat cartridge</span> Custom cartridge for firearms

A wildcat cartridge, often shortened to wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and/or firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic of an existing commercial cartridge, or may merely be intended as novelty items.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.243 Winchester</span> Rifle cartridge

The .243 Winchester (6×52mm) is a popular sporting rifle cartridge. Developed as a versatile short action cartridge to hunt both medium game and small game alike, it "took whitetail hunting by storm" when introduced in 1955, and remains one of the most popular whitetail deer cartridges. It is also commonly used for harvesting blacktail deer, pronghorns and mule deer with heavier rounds, and is equally suited to varmint hunting with lighter rounds. The .243 is based on a necked down .308 Winchester, introduced only three years earlier. Expanding monolithic copper bullets of approximately 80 to 85 grains or traditional lead rounds of 90 to 105 grains with controlled expansion designs are best suited for hunting medium game, while lighter rounds are intended for varmints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.270 Winchester</span> Rifle cartridge

The .270 Winchester is a rifle cartridge developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and it was unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54 to become arguably the flattest shooting cartridge of its day, only competing with the .300 Holland & Holland Magnum, also introduced in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.17 HMR</span> Rifle cartridge

.17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, commonly known as the .17 HMR, is a rimfire rifle cartridge developed by Hornady in 2002. It was developed by necking down a .22 Magnum case to take a .17 caliber (4.5 mm) projectile. Commonly loaded with a 17 grain projectile, it can deliver muzzle velocities in excess of 775 m/s (2,650 ft/s).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.30-30 Winchester</span> Rifle cartridge designed by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company

The .30-30 Winchester cartridge was first marketed for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle in 1895. The .30-30, as it is most commonly known, along with the .25-35 Winchester, was offered that year as the United States' first small-bore sporting rifle cartridges designed for smokeless powder. Since its introduction, it has been utilized alongside the development of flatter shooting cartridges, most prominently those derived from designs subsidized by interest in military expenditures, yet the .30-30 has remained in widespread use almost entirely because of reliable effectiveness in civilian applications, proven by putting food on the table for millions of people within a practical range of hunting situations.

The .204 Ruger is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Hornady and Ruger. At the time of its introduction in 2004, the .204 Ruger was the second-highest velocity commercially produced ammunition and the only centerfire cartridge produced commercially for bullets of .204 inch/5 mm caliber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.22-250 Remington</span> Rifle cartridge

The .22-250 Remington is a very high-velocity, short action, .22 caliber rifle cartridge primarily used for varmint hunting and small game hunting. It is capable of reaching over 4,000 feet per second. It does find occasional use by women and young children for deer hunting because of its low recoil. Some jurisdictions prohibit the use of cartridges smaller than 6 mm for deer hunting. This cartridge is also sometimes known as the .22 Varminter or the .22 Wotkyns Original Swift. Along with the .220 Swift, the .22-250 was one of the high-velocity .22 caliber cartridges that developed a reputation for remote wounding effects known as hydrostatic shock in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.220 Swift</span> Rifle cartridge

The .220 Swift (5.56×56mmSR) is a semi-rimmed rifle cartridge developed by Winchester and introduced in 1935 for small game and varmint hunting. It was the first factory-loaded rifle cartridge with a muzzle velocity of over 1,200 m/s (4,000 ft/s).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6mm Remington</span> Rifle cartridge

The 6mm Remington rifle cartridge, originally introduced in 1955 by Remington Arms Company as the .244 Remington, is based on a necked down .257 Roberts cartridge using a .24/6mm bullet. Known for a combination of high velocity, long range, flat trajectory, and accuracy, it is suitable as a dual use hunting cartridge for both medium-sized big game and varmints. When used in the less common earlier slow twist barrels, it offers exceptional range for varmint applications. While not as commercially popular today as the .243 Winchester, the 6mm Remington enjoys a slight ballistic advantage and continues to be popular with handloaders and custom rifle builders.

The .264 Winchester Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. Except for the .244 H&H Magnum and .257 Weatherby Magnum, it is the smallest caliber factory cartridge derived from the 2.85 in (72 mm) Holland & Holland belted magnum case. It was introduced in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the .338 Winchester Magnum and the .458 Winchester Magnum as one of a family of short-cased 2.5 in (64 mm) belted magnum cartridges developed by Winchester based on the .375 Holland & Holland parent case. It was officially introduced to the public by Winchester in 1959. After many years of dwindling use it began enjoying a mild resurgence in popularity in the mid-2000s among long range rifle enthusiasts and reloaders due to the high ballistic coefficient of the heavier 6.5mm bullets and increasing popularity of cartridges such as 6.5mm Creedmoor, .260 Remington, 6.5 Grendel, benchrest and wildcat cartridges in 6.5mm.

Cooper Firearms of Montana was founded in 1990 by Dan Cooper and two other former Kimber of Oregon employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.22 caliber</span> Index of articles associated with the same name

.22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm).

The 6×45mm is a rimless, bottlenecked cartridge based on the .223 Remington or 5.56 NATO cartridge necked up to .243 (6mm). The cartridge is also known as the 6mm-223 Remington or 6mm/223.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.30-06 Springfield wildcat cartridges</span> Non-standard rifle cartridge

.30-06 Springfield wildcat cartridges are cartridges developed from a 30-06 Springfield "parent cartridge" through narrowing or widening the cartridge neck to fit a smaller or larger bullet in an attempt to improve performance in specific areas. Such wildcat cartridges are not standardized with recognized small arms standardization bodies like the SAAMI and the CIP.

References

  1. "Nongame Animals". California Fish and Game Commission. Archived from the original on 13 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 Craige, John Houston, Captain The Practical Book of American Guns (1950) Bramhall House pp.211–222
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hornady, J.W. Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading (1967) Hornady Manufacturing Company
  4. Landis, Charles S. Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles (1947) Telegraph Press
  5. Landis, Charles S. Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles (1947) Telegraph Press pp.118–147
  6. Landis, Charles S. Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles (1947) Telegraph Press pp.36–43
  7. Skinner, Stan (September 2005). "The .221 Remington Fireball". Guns&Ammo. Intermedia Outdoors. Retrieved 16 September 2010. Also, shooters in the fairly populous eastern U.S. discovered that its noise signature was notably less conspicuous than the considerably hotter .220 Swift.
  8. Hawks, Chuck. "The .223 Remington (5.56mm NATO)". chuckhawks.com. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  9. "What are the most popular calibers in the US?". Knowledge Glue. Brandon. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  10. Lewis, David (15 August 2018). "223 vs. 308 – A Rifle Caliber Comparison". The Lodge. AmmunitionToGo. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  11. Zinn, Gary. "Compared: Selected Varmint Cartridges and Loads (.204 Ruger, .223 Rem., .22-250 Rem., .243 Win. and .25-06 Rem.)". chuckhawks.com. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  12. Landis, Charles S. Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles (1947) Telegraph Press pp.73–93
  13. Landis, Charles S. Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles (1947) Telegraph Press pp.27–35
  14. Landis, Charles S. Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles (1947) Telegraph Press p.242