Small Game, Predator and TrappingFrom shooting squirrels in your backyard to calling coyotes in Arizona. This forum now contains trapping information..
so i have been doing alot of research the past month or so on rifles for predator/varmint hunting. i plan on purchasing within the next 2 weeks. my question what are the pros and cons for heavy and regular barrels? i was set on a 700 sps varmint with the heavy barrel but when i went to go look at one it was very heavy opposed to the 700 sps. i plan on doing mostly coyote hunting which will entail alot of walking from spot to spot. also if i get a 22-250 cal will the heavy barrel be better or not matter? pros and cons please. thanks.
id say a regular barrel. you dont wanna drag around all that extra weight which prolly wont benefit you that much for callin in yotes. most of my shots are somewhat quick. i recomend short and light. i have the vlsf which has a 22inch flutted barrel and i love it. but for varmints you might like a heavy barrel better. what kind of varmints? my hunting partner has the sps and he really likes it. a little heavy for me to be lugging around for a few miles.
A heavey barrel may be a bit more accurate, but like ilyote said, most shots are pretty quick. If you can shoot well with the short lighter barrel I'd go with that also. Put plenty of concern in the scope you plan to get, somthing good in low light conditions, that will make a big difference in how many critters you get to look at up close.
Barrel selection...............
