Which cal for varmint bolt gun?

[TheGDog]

I'm betting you probably already have a .223 Rem bolt lying around. Take a second to give those Hornady 35gr NTX loadings a try. Box says 4000fps.

Just thinking with that high velocity, might help trajectory to not require as much holdover?

I dunno how they do at distance, but up close and personal it blew clean thru a yote I double-lunged at like 15yds when she came to a stop. Clipped a rib on the way out and the elbow on the way out, so that rib piece made a lil bit of a hole. I'd say Quarter-sized? She bled TONS and was easy to track the 25yds or so.

-=-=-

But if it's a sitch of just having the itch for a new piece of steel? Man... I dunno, right about now, if I didn't care about also running same cartridge in an AR15 platform, I'd say 22cm, or 6cm man.

 

[waspocrew]

I use a 6 Creed for most of my thermal hunting. Everything I’ve shot doesn’t seem to care for it. I’ve tossed it onto my 22 Creed and 6 ARC recently as well.

Given your parameters of Proof prefits and factory ammo, I’d recommend the 6 Creed for sure.

 

[benson8454]

I run a .223 and then a 22.250 in the deeper snow. Hope to get less of a run off when ever possible.

 

[Split toe]

Big fan of 22 creed

 

[White Falcon]

Parker Hale, .243

 

[stv117]

6.5 creedmoor brass is spec’d at 1.920”

6.5 PRC is 2.030

Binderless mags and 130s gives a lotta room

Im looking at one vs the old 6.5 SAUM.
Will run in a Zermatt SA.

 

[J_shearin22]

I have a short action Manners Night Stalker stock on order due at the end of the year. This will be built on a Zermatt TL3 short action and I'll likely use Proof pre-fits if available (not opposed to a caliber that'll require me to get something spun up). I plan to build a gun specifically for night time thermal hunting to be used as a field overwatch gun mostly for pigs and coyotes. I have my calibers sorted in both gas and bolt guns for medium and large game and I have a 6 ARC for a gasser varmint option (mostly used for long range plinking) but I want this gun to be a dedicated system for this one job. I prefer a caliber with reputable factory ammo availability as I no longer reload.

So given all of that info, which caliber do you recommend?

6 creed or 308 using the 110 vmax or 115 controlled chaos if also shooting pigs.

 

[Jreinf]

Gonna be hard to beat a 22 creed or 6 creed. I bounce back and forth between the 2 and couldn’t say which I like more. 22 gt is a cool one also.

 

[callen3615]

I'm a big fan of 22 cals for varmint guns but for your intended purpose based on what you said I think a 6 Creedmoor would be the perfect fit for you and give you a, very, wide range of versatility.

Agreed. Especially given the OP isn’t going to reload

 

[RWT]

6.5 Grendel for Thermal hunting. If not then 22 CM. The 223 kills but has issues with DRT for larger hogs unless a CNS hit. I switched from 223 to the Grendel in my AR thermal and just picked up a Brownell’s barreled action in Grendel for my bolt version.

Hunting at night is a totally different game. I want them DRT and the 223 left me chasing hogs in the brush at night. Not enjoyable and a recipe for snake encounters of which I have had a few. The Grendel just incapacitates quicker IMO. Bullet selection is paramount. I want DRT as most of the places I hunt require we pick up the hogs and move them to a bone yard. All of my thermal hunting is sub 200 yards and this is where the a Grendel shines compared to the 223.

If you plan on swapping to daytime scopes I would go 22CM.

 

[sierracharlie338]

6creed or 243 with 87g Vmax. Pig and yote hammer!!

 

[callen3615]

6.5 Grendel for Thermal hunting. If not then 22 CM. The 223 kills but has issues with DRT for larger hogs unless a CNS hit. I switched from 223 to the Grendel in my AR thermal and just picked up a Brownell’s barreled action in Grendel for my bolt version.

Hunting at night is a totally different game. I want them DRT and the 223 left me chasing hogs in the brush at night. Not enjoyable and a recipe for snake encounters of which I have had a few. The Grendel just incapacitates quicker IMO. Bullet selection is paramount. I want DRT as most of the places I hunt require we pick up the hogs and move them to a bone yard. All of my thermal hunting is sub 200 yards and this is where the a Grendel shines compared to the 223.

If you plan on swapping to daytime scopes I would go 22CM.

I have had similar experiences. I hand load for the 95 grain VMAX. Coyotes are DRT.

 

[mcseal2]

I'd go 6 Creed also since pigs were mentioned. I've used a 243 for coyotes and antlerless deer season for years with good results. 6 Creed is just the newer technology that gives better odds for extreme accuracy.

I look at it kinda like the 6.5's. I have a 264 win mag that has served me well for decades. I built the rifle I wanted from the options available at the time. If I was to do the same thing today I'd go 6.5 PRC, still push the same 140gr bullets at 2900fps but do so more efficiently. My 243's and 264 won't get replaced since they still work great but building from scratch I'd update.