AusVarmint

First and foremost, Hi Everyone! Looks like im on the right forum !

After much thought i I have decided on the calibre, a 22.250.

I know what i will be using it for, Range work and feral eradication (Rabbits, Feral Cats and Foxes)

What manafacturer? No idea! Would like to get some feedback on what manafacturer makes a great varmint rifle? I will customise it over time but for the moment would like a rifle that be accurate but at the same time not back breakingly expensive. I have set a budget for $1300 (Rifle only) which i think will do?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts, experiences and opinions? Cheers in advance!

Well come to the forum NSWJ I hope you enjoy.

Fro what you have written can I suggest a Howa 1500 Varmint.

The Howa has an increasing amount of Go fast gear for upgrades down the track

And the $1300 will get rifle mounts and a bit of other gear as well.

My 2 bobs worth

Welcome mate,
Buy a tikka great accuracy, nothing to do to it as it will shoot awesome out of the box!

Agree with Keith, if you can find a T3 varmint in 22-250 for that money then go for it. 55gr bullets and you will knock over most stuff that walks.

If you want to get into the range stuff a bit more, I dunno what you want to get into but for F class which is 300 to 1000yds, you can buy the T3 varmint 223 in a 1:8 twist and you will be able to get 80gr bullets on target to 700-800 yds.

223 is not a cal to sneeze at and buying ammo is cheap too!

Welcome mate.

Not sure of their price but the savage model 12 varmints shoot very well out of the box or there is prob another similar savage model. The Tikkas also have a very good rep.

Ryan

Another vote for a tikka T3. They work..out of the box, unlike my rem 700

lots of options for the T3's coming onto the market.

Buy a
- Howa Varmit weight barreled action ~ $650.
- Picatinney rail ~ $80
- Boyds stock to suit your preferred style ~ $140

Spend the difference between this kit and your limit of $1300 on better glass.

T3s do shoot well, but they are nothing special otherwise and their price is not as competitive as the Howa. You won't notice any possible difference between the Howa and the T3 in actual shooting.

I have a Howa and a T3. Buy a T3

have a look at the cz. love mine.

Welcome to the forum mate,

+1 for the cz, I love both of mine. Accurate and aesthetically pleasing!

Having said that, Tikkas are good value, you would be hard pressed to find a more accurate rifle for the price.

Regards,

CZ550

i was in the same position last year and went for a SPS Varmint. Dropped it into a wild dog and fitted a rifle basix trigger and its shoots like the stink. Best group so far is .35" at 100m off a bench. It does between .35 and .5" with reloads. I cant comment on the out of the box rifle as i never shot it with the factory trigger or stock.

Seddo you make it sound easy but what did that actually cost ?

I would buy a Remington 700 SPS stainless. Then get a boyd's laminate stock for it. Spend the rest on glass and good mounts.

I know that Tikka T3's have a good reputation but I have serious boubts about the quality control on recent rifles. I sort out problem rifles for a local gun shop and I have had five T3's this year that would not shoot. Two were scope/mounts issues but the other three were basic problems with the rifle.

Having said that, the last one was just this week. It was a .22-250 T3 sporter with the plastic stock. The scope was the issue with this rifle. Once fixed, it put the next three shots through the same hole using 55gn Winchester Supreme factory ammo. Very impressive.

I'm assuming your after a heavy barrel varmint model rather than a sporter?

$1300 wont buy you a T3 Varmint stainless ... that's the only model that I'd be inclined to look at as its H/B but still portable ... might get a blued model for that price though.

If you can find it (I'm fuming my gunshop didnt tell me ) there was a special price run on Savage Predators in the white snow camo (peel it off) where they retailed at about $800 a little while back. I'd take a Savage over a Tikka ... but the T3 varmint remains the portability king and if you'll be walking with it ... the T3 Varmint really has some positive attributes.

Savage VLP with 1:9" barrel would be the bomb ... but its not a lightweight portable rifle.

If you wanted a T3 Varmint stainless in 243Win ... you could buy mine. I'd rather a Savage Predator.
Cheers...
Con
PS: The Marlin H/B varmint model is rapidly gaining a very good reputation.

I paid $1250 for the rilfe and then the extras. Secondhand Wild Dog Tactical $850 (it now has a $600 wild dog varmint on it), Trigger $150. Its not soemthing you have to do all at once as it woudl be easy to do it bit by bit.

i put 100 rounds of federal ammo through it shooting at rocks and the like. When i started load development i had a bunch of taipan 50gr hp's and 2208. I used .5gr splits from min to max load and none of them were over 1" at 100m. The best 3 were under .5 and the best was .35. I dont know wether mine was a freak or not but i am very happy with it.