Opinions please regarding new prairie dog/coyote gun.

Kermit

Kermit

New member
Hello. I'm just getting into varmint hunting. I'm mainly interested in shooting prairie dogs plus dealing with the occasional coyote and groundhog I see on our farm. I'm interested in purchasing a rifle for prairie dogs and the occasional coyotes. I'm considering buying a stainless Ruger model 77 with either a laminated or nylon stock. Im interested in either .223 or .22-250 caliber. A buddy has a Ruger model 77 in .243 that shoots extremely well for him. Another friend has a Ruger 77 in .223 that he loves. I was considering going the Ruger route based upon their recommendations.

I'd appreciate hearing from any of you with your opinions as to whether the Ruger 77 is a good quality rifle for this type of work, or if you feel there is a better rifle. Also if you have input about the caliber I'd appreciate hearing from you. All advice will be gratefully accepted. Thanks for your time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Hi Kermit,
Welcome to the boards. I have and use Ruger, Remington, Mauser, Savage Winchester, Interarms, and Rossi Rifles just to name a few. Also have and use the AR-15 which is semi-auto .223, all are great guns I have the Ruger MK II All-Weather in .223, and it will outshoot my Remington 700 VS in .223 before I had done any work on the Remington. In todays age of law-suits and attorney's getting involved, just about any gun you buy will need a Trigger Job for the first project/upgrade to the gun you purchase. By far the most accurate rifle out of the box was an old savage 110E that I had years ago. It did not have the Accu-Trigger, but was adjustable if I remember right. You can't go wrong with the Ruger in .223 or 22-250. The .223 is cheaper to shoot than the 22-250, but the range is a little further on the 22-250. If you reload the 22-250 will only cost you about 10-15 grains more powder than the .223. If you are not reloading, factory ammo will cost about $2.50-$8.00 more per box of 20 depending on which brand and type you purchase. Generally speaking, the 22-250 has a slower twist (1 turn in 14 inches) compared to the .223 in most bolt guns being 1 in 9 thru 1 in 12 with 1 in 12 being the most common. What does that mean to you? If you reload, the 1 in 14 inch is limited to about 55 grain bullets, and the .223 can handle about 60 -64 grainers depending on velocity in the 1 in 12. Faster than 1 in 12 can handle heavier bullets. The Ruger .223 has a 1 in 12 twist. I myself, before I bought my Remington 700 VS, was looking to buy the Ruger Varmint/Target (The heavy barreled Laminated Stock .223) but could not find one in the whole city of Las Vegas. It was going to have to be ordered, and the shop that has the best prices in Las Vegas had the Remington 700 in Both the VS and the PSS (POLICE) versions. The PSS is 1 in 9 and the VS is a 1 in 12. I used to shoot the 22-250, but went back to .223 because of available brass and less powder used for reloading. The .223 uses about 1/3 less powder and is only about 200-400 fps slower than the 22-250 for the same weight bullet. If you like the feel of your friends Ruger, buy one and you should be happy. I have given you 40 years of experience with firearms in just a few lines. Have fun and enjoy....JOHN
 
Given your intended prey and the amount of shooting you would do, I figure you can't go wrong with the .223.... it should take you longer to shoot the barrel out with that caliber than it will with the 22-250.
 
Quote:

The barrel life of the 223 is roughly 6 times the barrel life of the 22-250.





What is the average lifespan of a 22-250 barrel shooting nothing over max loads? Just looking for a rough ballpark figure.
 
I would say .223. If you're going to get a Ruger I would look at the VT because a friend of mine has one, and yes I've shot it, and man it is a tack driver. I can't tell you from experience but I have heard some bad stories about the M77 Standard's accuracy. If I were you I would buy a Tikka T3 Varmint ( the gun I own in my avatar ) she is a tack driver and has such a wonderfully smooth action.

shake n bake
 
Nic....... depends on rate of fire as well as how hot the loads are. If you space your loads out and have reasonable loads versus hot ones, I figure 2000-3000 is very possible.

Hot rod them and/or try to wipe out a PD town in one sitting so to speak and you'll burn one out in 400-500 rounds IMHO.

JACK...feel free to jump in here and list your figures. I know you have shot numerous barrels out so you would most likely be able to gve the most accurate figures.
 
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theres nothing wrong with the Ruger M77. The M77 MK2 on the other hand is something of a debate. I have 6mm in a M77 and love it the .223 is difinatly the PD calliber I would choose also cause of barrel life and ammo expense/availability. Yes a trigger job is a must on and new rifle it will improve your accuracy in turn saving barrel life. The .223 will do any varmint/preadator killing you want with plenty of range.
 
Barrel life is a very subjective decision. So much depends on what you are willing to put up with. I am pretty particular and retire barrels at the first signs they are going downhill. Some people shoot barrels 3 times as long as me and seem happy. For me, life is too short to put up with over the hill barrels.

I have never retired a barrel because of accuracy loss, there are other problems that show up long before accuracy goes south.

With fast twist barrels it is bullet blow ups. If shooting matches you have to retire a barrel at the first blow up, preferably just before. One blow up is a ZERO which can be devastating to your average. In a varmint hunting situation one in 10 blow ups is tolerable for most people. Some people will tolerate shooting a barrel blowing up one out of 3.

In the slower twist barrels, the number of fouling shots indicates barrel wear. Some people have no trouble having to shoot 20 foulers to get accuracy after cleaning. Most people never even test to see how many fouling shots it takes to get best accuracy.

As others have said, keeping a barrel cool will extend barrel life a lot. But how many shots do you want to give up to extend barrel life?? If you are shooting in the North 40, no big deal, come back tomorrow. If you have traveled half way across the country and paying for motels and meals, the cost of a new barrel is a smaller expense.

To answer your question; For me, a slow twist factory barreled 22-250 is tolerable for about 1300 rounds. The fast twist 22-250 about 800.

Jack
 
You mentioned prairie dogs as the main quarry with occasional use on ground hogs and yotes. To me that means a heavy barrel .223. The heavy barrel will soak up more heat allowing more shots between cool downs, and the wide forend found on most varminters helps steady the rifle in the shooting bags. I've shot pd's in the heat of the summer when the sporter weight 22-250's were doing well to get off 5 shots before needing half an hour in the shade to cool down. A sporter .223 would heat up slower, but the heavy barrel would be much slower. My son just got a Ruger stainless sporter .223 and I have a Rem. adl .223. Ive worked the trigger and glass bedded both. They are either one accurate enough for long range pds, just not as quick to settle down in the bags as my heavy Savage. Hard to beat a heavy varmint in the dog towns, whether it be a Savage, Rem, Ruger, Win, CZ or whatever.
 


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