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I have never much partaken in the sport of "varminting" ie I mean long range sniping of small critters for fun. Which the term "varmint rifles" tends to suggest to me. I have of course taken reasonably long ranges at rabbits and in particular foxes with my smaller calibre rifles when hunting. Foxes in particular as while I love hunting them, I do tend to have a somewhat farmers attitude that they are a nuisance and need to be destroyed. Whether with a 400 metre plus shot from a .222 or using a shotgun loaded with shot for ducks.

While NE does concentrate on big bores, classic firearms, double rifles and big game hunting, virtually all the members enjoy their smaller calibre firearms as well. We had an enthusiastic thread on .22 rifles where members shared their rifles and comments.

My lighter calibre rifles centre mostly the .22 rimfires, and .22 Magnum. But my first rifle was a Remington 788 in .222 Remington. At the age of 15. At the time, the .222 was the most popular centrefire cartridge in Australia. Instilled in me a bias towards it and for no substantial reason against the later more popular .223. With my 788 .222 I have shot countless rabbits, a great many vine row hares, good numbers of foxes, some other hoppers over the years, hundreds and hundreds of feral goats, some pigs, some deer, even some head shot birds. My second rifle was a .22 RF Anshutz, I think my third was my .30-06 M98.

So I still have this Rem 788 .222. It is the original design. Ugly, very heavy, cheap, but very accurate.

I have a second .222 in a Mauser M03 barrel, which I now use a lot instead. Single shot firing it as the spring in the magazine has become too weak. Must get that fixed under warranty.

A third .222, in rimmed form, in a Martini-Cadet action. Admitedly hardly used by me, as it has open sights. I really do need to source some mounts and have a scope fitted. A .22 centrefire in my opinuon is for fine shooting usually at small targets and a scope is a must. Unless at closer range.

I have succumbed to a .223 in a Valmet/Tikka Under and Over barrel with a 12 gauge shotgun. I do like the idea of having a decent .223 as the "SHTF" rifle if the "zombie apocalypse" or something similar ever happens. 5.56mm ammo might be sourcable or scroungable.

Back to varmints, if I wanted a faste bigger case, i would go the classic .220 Swift. Once talked about a lot, no loner mentioned much. But the classic barrel burner, which are two reasons I like it, now unusual and classic, and fast.

The opposite, the .22 Hornet I love the idea of. Cheap to reload, easy to shoot. And does the job without fuss. And excessive damage to meat and fur. It is funny how we have the .222, .223, 5.6x50, .22/250, .220 etc etc, but to actually hunt and use these cartridges without damaging the meat to an extreme, or recover a fox fur pelt, the cartridge has to be DOWNLOADED to a .22 Hornet specs.

Or for some of the above, shot at a distance carefully.

The old .17 Remington, I love the idea of. Its slower relative, the .17 Hornet or K-Hornet, or .17 Mach ?? or Bee, I forget????

Oneday I would also love to try the .17 rimfires. I fear to try them as maybe I will then stop using my .22 RF's and .22 CF's and they will gather dust just like my old trusty Rem 788 now does.

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John aka NitroX

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