Hey all you varmint hunters

gajinoz,
there's alot of good ammo to choose from nowadays. I'll tell you what has worked for me in the 222. Any factory loaded 50gr softpoint or hollowpoint is good.( I like Winchester the best) If you handload, Nosler 50gr ballistic tips are good. My favorite is the Speer 50gr TNT or 52gr hollowpoint and Sierra 50gr blitz. These bullets have thin copper jackets and explode on impact to eliminate the possibilty of a riccochet
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Ammo here is slightly more limited than what you might find in the US but I'm sure a good gunshop will have something similar to what you have mentioned.

Unfortunately, being Winter here, most of the buggers have gone underground so I'm getting a little short of targets. :(
 
Most of the large production companies have loads that use stuff similar to what those guys were talking about.
The key thing to look for is a light fast hollow point, really light and fast like less than 55 grains. Or something with a ballistic tip. Remington and Winchester both load cartridges with these.
 
gajinoz said:
You guys sound like the ones to ask ...

I've got a .222 rifle which I use for rabbits and foxes. Any suggestions for ammo that is a good compromise for both. I don't eat the rabbits, just want to keep the numbers under control. I'm usually shooting between 50 and 100 metres on average.
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How about cats? Oh, you're in Australia. I remember watching some PBS show where there were taking about the feral cat problem in Australia. I guess they're getting fat eating all those rabbits :D (you all know how fast rabbits multiply).
 
Don't really have a problem with feral cats where I am, just rabbits, foxes, roos and, believe it or not deer. Some retard let a pair go quite a few years ago and now the buggers are all over the place.

I've got to get myself a good deer rifle! I've been told a 270 is good for that.
 
A 270 is an excellent chioce for deer. I would suggest a bullet weight of 130gr or 150gr. I like the Nosler partition, good penetration and bullet holds together without excessive fragmentation. Remington corelocks are a good chioce also. I know you have strick gun laws in Austrialia, but what about ammo? Could you order it from the US and have it shipped to you. I would offer to buy what you need here and ship it to you.
 
Thanks for the offer. Ammo is not such a problem. Once you have a shooting licence and a licence for the gun(s) you have then you can simply walk into any gun shop and buy whatever ammo is available. I was looking through my most recent shooters magazine last night and all the options mentioned here appear to be easily available.

I'm lucky in a way in that I own a property and I'm legally obliged to control "vermin" (which includes rabbits and foxes), so that gives me an almost automatic acceptable reason to own guns. I'm in the process of applying for a hunting licence and a target shooting licence as well and i may even try for a pistol licence as well. It's not that I need or even want all these things but the way i see it, if I can, why shouldn't I? :cool:
 
That's good to here that you can get the ammo you need. Gun control SUCKS!!! big time here in the US, but not as bad as where you are. All of the liberal A...holes in our government are still determined to take our firearm freedoms away. Good luck in your quest for ammo. :D
 
I'm not really a varminter but i use 7.62 & .22lr on ranges. (600meters) though at home i use air-rifle for 75yrd kills (headshots)on rooks & rabbits, which is a fair wee distance for a air-rifle.
 
do rats count? I've got rats that seem to be able to avoid and/or take food from my rat traps. Ready to take my pellet gun under the house.
 
I've done some pest control with air guns. RWS Model 34 in .177 and Beeman GH1000 in .22. The latter came with a scope already mounted and sighted. I saw no need for a more expensive scope, not in an air gun.

The German-made RWS definitely seems to be of higher quality than the Spanish-made Beeman, but you have to pay for it. I don't have a way to test the velocity and calculate the energy but the Beeman seems to have more knockdown power, probably due to the caliber.

I usually use Beeman pellets like the Crow Magnum and Silver Sting.
 
I have a Sheridan .20 cal that I've had since I was a teenager. Had some real fun with that thing! :D

Ryan8 said:
I've done some pest control with air guns. RWS Model 34 in .177 and Beeman GH1000 in .22. The latter came with a scope already mounted and sighted. I saw no need for a more expensive scope, not in an air gun.

The German-made RWS definitely seems to be of higher quality than the Spanish-made Beeman, but you have to pay for it. I don't have a way to test the velocity and calculate the energy but the Beeman seems to have more knockdown power, probably due to the caliber.

I usually use Beeman pellets like the Crow Magnum and Silver Sting.
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gajinoz said:
...walk into any gun shop and buy whatever ammo is available.
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Start reloading, mate.

I used to be able to reload .45ACP cheaper than .22LR.

The initial cost can seem to be prohibitive, but you'll recoup your expenses in a couple of boxes.

Difficult? In the 50s or 60s, the firm that makes Lee reloading equipment trained a chimp to reload shotgun cartridges...

maximus otter
 
the varmints i hunt are feral hogs, tons of them around where i live, a bud killed 1 a few yrs ago that dressed out over 400 lbs, he shot that 1 w/a .243.
ranch/farm owners around here are MORE than happy to have ya come out and kill a few of them due to there destructive nature, also no season/limits on them in this state, when i was a kid in the '60s ya NEVER saw hogs now they are everywhere, and nasty old things too, but prep'd right they are some good eating, a pain to butcher though.

we gen'ly use smaller deer rifles ie .243, .270, 280, 7mm-'08 though 1 bud uses a marlin .45-70 which does get the job done. we were gonna use AR15s at 1 time but they proved to be "not enough gun" unless ya get them in the noggin.

lately i have been using a winchester 94 .30-30 w/a old weaver variable scope. might try a super balckhawk .44 this fall just to see how it works, would think it would work well but thats what we thought about the AR15s too lol, maybe AK's would be better??
 
My dad used to hunt chucks and he said he used a 220 swift. He said he could see their heads explode before the recoil fully hit him. He also used and old artillery rangefinder to get the distances. Of course I don't remember any distances but you know how dads can add a couple hundred yards now and then.;)


Paul
 
I've got a good number of rifles including 7mm, 308, 270, and my favorite which is a 35 year old Colt Sauer 25-06. I generally always pick the 25-06 and only shoot 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip ammo through it.

I have shot at least one whitetail every year for the past 32 years in a row with it all the ways out to 500 yards which was a one shot kill.

It's also deadly on coyotes, crows, and anything else I decide to shoot at. With a Leupold variable scope up to 14 power if I can see it I can hit it!
 
The .270 is pretty versatile: suitable for varmints or big game up to maybe 350 pounds (although regularly used on elk and moose). It makes a fine longer range varmint rifle with any of the 100-110 grain loadings. A bit less recoil than the .30-06 and typically very accurate in my 35 years of experience with the cartridge. It is one of my favorites and have even used handloads (cast bullets) with pretty good success on turkey.

One of my best friends has used it for a brown bear (backed by a guide with a three and six bits), a 65" moose, two elk, rocky mountain goat, stone sheep, dall, and a bighorn (no desert sheep as yet for his grand slam).
 
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