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Old 04-27-2022, 06:16 PM
Gale Johnson Gale Johnson is offline
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Default Best Rat rifle?

Just got back from 4 days of sage rat shooting with Seth Franklin in Crane, OR

Since the drive is 1125 miles we had plenty of time to discuss the title, What do you all think?

Out of my current stable I would have to vote for the Ruger 77/17 HMR All Weather with 24"barrel, I wish i would have swapped out to better glass because it got most of the work.

The 221 FB in Rem 700 classic came in second for me on this trip, although I brought 1000 loaded rounds for this one I used less than 200 because we shot rimfire only fields on the 2 best days.
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Old 04-27-2022, 06:35 PM
Bill K Bill K is offline
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If your shots were mostly under 150-200, the your HMR served you well. The 221 would work best for out further.
Have you considered adding a 20 VarTarg ? It would be a very nice one and I bet you would end up shooting it a lot more than the 221 FB. Just a thought

( Did you happen to fish Crane Prairie Res ? I have had some good fish trips there in years past. )
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Old 04-27-2022, 07:09 PM
JDHasty JDHasty is offline
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"I wish i would have swapped out to better glass because it got most of the work"

I can relate.

When I bought my first Hornet, a CZ 527 American in 22 Hornet I envisioned it as a 100 - 150 yard chuck rifle and went home and put a Leupold 2-7 Compact that had been upgraded with a target elevation knob on it. Got home from my first trip and swapped that scope out for a 3-12 and used it that way the following weekend. Came home and put a Nitrex TR2 4-20x50 on it and that is what it has had on it for the last 10 -12 years.

My buddies followed my move from shooting 17 Rem, 223, 204 Ruger, 22-250 and 243 almost exclusively to about 70 percent of our chuck shooting now being done with 17 & 22 Hornets.

This move opened up acreages that we hadn't had access to shooting with center fire rifles in the past and we find that having the ability to very precisely place bullets with the Hornet based cartridges the limiting factor has been the distance at which bullets no longer expand reliably.

We shoot a lot of grey diggers and although I don't own one I would think the HMR would be the optimal choice on sage rats. There is a lot of fun shooting to be had around Burns. We don't get there much because we have diggers to shoot in central WA that are closer to home. My favorite grey digger rifle is a Savage Anschutz 22 magnum sporter.

Last edited by JDHasty; 04-27-2022 at 07:14 PM.
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  #4  
Old 04-27-2022, 07:42 PM
Gale Johnson Gale Johnson is offline
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Default Fireball

I agree with you Bill K somewhat, before I got mad at Cooper and sold all of them I had one in a 20 VT and shot it on sage rats. I still think I like the plain ole 221 FB the best for a medium range rat killer. On this trip I was getting spectacular terminal ballistics (I was thinking about naming the gun Uncle Kracker, but that name may be better suited for the 204R with 32 gr VMax at 4060 fps)with my standard 40 gr Vmax over 18.9 gr AA1680, these loads cruise at about 3400 fps and where left over from my Cooper days.

I would like to try a 22 Hornet but never have had one. At home the slighter bigger 204's like Tac 20 and 204R tend to shine on the windy days and since I haven't shot rats since 2015 I never did get around to buying a Hornet in the 17 or 22 variety.

My friend shot a 17 wsm for his rimfire and worked well and seemed to push through the wind a tick better.
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Old 04-27-2022, 08:24 PM
TRnCO TRnCO is offline
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I don't know if there is a "best". I'm sure each of us have a favorite.

Define "best". Is it the most accurate? Is it the one that is the cheapest to shoot? Maybe the slowest to heat up a barrel? Maybe the one that handles the wind the best?

My current favorite is my .17 AH, BUT I sure like several other rifles as well. It's just if I had to pick one, that's the one that I'd start with.
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Old 04-27-2022, 08:39 PM
Gary in Illinois Gary in Illinois is offline
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Default Easy to answer

In my opinion, the best overall rat patch rifle is a 20 VarTarg. Works very well for every distance out to ~ 400 yards. Bucks the wind fairly well, slow to heat up, next to no recoil.

Great cartridge for nearly everything up to and including coyotes at moderate distances.
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Old 04-27-2022, 08:46 PM
barretcreek barretcreek is offline
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Love to see something decent in 17 WSM because here we may have the chance to do some long term control work and it could be the ticket in a top notch rifle.
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Old 04-27-2022, 10:36 PM
Bayou City Boy Bayou City Boy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by barretcreek View Post
Love to see something decent in 17 WSM because here we may have the chance to do some long term control work and it could be the ticket in a top notch rifle.
Not too long after I developed an interest in the 17 WSM cartridge, I bought the first 17 WSM rifle I found which happened to be at First Stop Guns in RC, SD. It's a sporter weight Ruger 77 walnut stock/blued metal rifle, and it is very accurate at 100 yards and beyond while shooting rodents. Since then, I have also bought a laminated stock/stainless rifle with an 18" varmint weight barrel that shoots very well also. Both rifles are far more accurate than the internet says they should be. Go figure.....

The good thing about the Rugers is you don't have to sneak them in and out of your house in darkness to avoid being embarrassed by having your neighbors seeing you with them.

If I could have only one "rat" rifle, it would be either my custom 700 with a stainless PacNor varmint weight barrel or my Cooper MT rifle, both chambered in Tac20 that reside in one of my gun safes. For me and my small critter shooting wants/needs, the Tac20 cartridge loaded with my hand swaged 38 grain HP bullet over a stiff load of Benchmark works great on everything from ground squirrels up through coyotes.

Dang........! I left out the 17 Remington cartridge.

-BCB
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Old 04-27-2022, 10:37 PM
foxhunter foxhunter is offline
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i would think the 17x28 (17VHA), would be a contender with 15.5 ntx over 4000 fps or 20 vmax at 3750 fps. you can load 700 rounds per pound of powder, pretty good rat medicine.
rimfire only i would think 17 winchester rimfire magnum would be king
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  #10  
Old 04-27-2022, 10:52 PM
Rick in Oregon Rick in Oregon is offline
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Default THE Rat Rifle

After exactly 50 years of shooting sage rats, mostly over in the area the OP shot recently, and fielding about every rat-suitable caliber in that time from rimfires of all descriptions up to and including the 243 Ackley, my all-time favorite caliber is for the past 15 years is the 20VT.

Todd Kindler talked me into it back in the late '90's and I've never looked back. Many of my other rifles have gone down the road in that time, but my 'rat battery' now after much trimming is:

22LR for a belt pistol and 10-22 out the truck window on the ranch
22 Mag (rarely)
17HMR
20VT
204R
22 K-Hornet
221FB
223

My Mach 4, Swift, 223 Ackley, 22-250, 6mm, and 243 along with others have all found new homes, as with an accurate 204 and a 20VT, the bases are pretty much covered. For just driving around the ranch shooting out the truck window, the 17HMR is pretty good too, but our custom 10-22's with WW Power Point HP's or Mini-Mag HP's do a good job out to 125 yds on the rats and is much cheaper to shoot.

As I don't do much work any more in MT, SD or WY mostly due to absolutely stupid fuel prices, my prairie dog rifles all got sold, as you really don't NEED a 223 Ackley for ground squirrels inside 400 yards, where most of the shooting occurs. Besides, there's much more shooting of sage rats than PD's....much more stupid critter.

To me, the panacea of rat shooting is a rotating bench, rich alfalfa field loaded with targets, and my 20VT. When the wind is up, or more range is needed, then I grab either my Cooper MTV, maybe my 11T M700 in 204, or one of my 223's.



But for the 20VT and fairly high volume rat shooting, when you add the benefits of the lack of barrel heating (throat erosion), the ability to see every hit/miss through the scope due to very low recoil impulse, wicked accuracy, and the ability to shoot strings in excess of 50 rounds without cleaning, it starts to become obvious it's very suited for this particular task. I've gone as much as 100 rounds and the Wilson barrel cleaned right up with minimal effort. The fact that it's miserly on powder doesn't hurt either. Most 20VT's run well at 3,700 fps~ with only 18.0~ grs of powder with the 32gr bullet. I'll also freely admit that recently my two 221FB's have become my second choice for sage rats under 400 yds.

And this is THE time of year kids! Rats are up, chucks are out, let the fun begin (again). YMMV, but you asked, and this is what 50 years of shooting Skippy has evolved into for me in "rat country" here.
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Last edited by Rick in Oregon; 04-27-2022 at 11:35 PM. Reason: still can't spell worth a hoot
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