Small Game, Predator and TrappingFrom shooting squirrels in your backyard to calling coyotes in Arizona. This forum now contains trapping information..
hey ya'll..I need help, Im a huge big game hunter and small game and waterfowl and all that. But I have not done much Coyote calling or coon hunting to much(and if I coon hunted I used a 22)..But I recently acquired 776 acres to hunt on here in Nebraska, and there is a ton of coyotes and I have been looking at doing some predator control, and been looking at the Bushmaster AR 15 ATACS Predator Or the Varminter..I no they are in the $1,500 range..But I got told them are 2 ideal weapons to use for predators and even coons...just would have to get a few modifications put on it,like a scope?..anybodys 10cents on this will help me much..thank you guys for your time!!
buy a kit gun put it togather for just over 1/2, and get a 204.
RR
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Buy complete upper & complete lower and slap it together.
Get 18" barrel if looking to shoot at longer distances.
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While I generally agree that you'll save a lot of money buy building an AR-15 yourself, not everyone is so inclined, so skilled, or so outfitted to do so.
To speak directly to the OP question, of the two, I would speak very highly of the Bushmaster Varminter Special (in stainless). I have built dozens of AR-15's over the years, and the Bushmaster Varminter Special is the only factory AR-15 left in my stable.
I personally wouldn't use a .223rem for coons, but to each his own I guess. But then again, it's hard for me to think outside my paradigm, since I've been running coon hounds for 20yrs, and can't imagine shooting coons with anything but a .22lr.
But for coyotes out to 600yrds, it's hard to argue with a Bushy Varminter.
Lots of folks are using such guns for varmint hunting.Only down sides are weight and cost.I would go with .223.My CZ 527 is a .223 and it shoots great with plenty of punch for the largest coyotes.An important thing to consider here is twist rate.Faster twist's favor heavier bullets.I would suggest going here- http://www.predatormastersforums.com...ubbthreads.php
Tons of info on all things related.
Good luck!
For afforadability and accuracy...I'd go with a .223,.204 or even a .22 Hornet?The .223 will reach out pretty far and have plenty of knock-down power even if it gets a little windy...the .204 is a very fast and accurate Rifle and it reaches out even further when need be,the .22 Hornet is another small center-fire Rifle that is easy on the pelts/hides.Each of these Rifle are fairly affordable....the .223 would be great in a Savage Light weight Hunter Model 11 or 111 bolt-action and the .204 in a CZ-USA model 527 "American" would make a great Walking Varmint Rifle....even a .223 in a CZ-USA would be an awesome Rifle and each of these I mentioned can be bought for around $600.00,then You have to add mounts and scopes of your choice.
The .22 Hornet are made by CZ-USA,Kimber and I believe possibly Savage too?A .22 Magnum would be a good choice but its not going to reach out into 200-400 range that well.Next up would be something in a .220 Swift or a 22-250 thats going to reach out further and have more knock-down power......a .243 is a good Caliber also,just need to get a lighter grain bullet in say a 50-60 or 75 grain?
I vote for the Bushmaster AR also. I bought a Bushmaster AR in .204 this year for predator hunting as well. Collapsable stock, free floating foregrip (no quadrail on this one) match grade fluted heavy barrel for $900 at Cabelas. This was a sale price, I believe it was normally $1100-1200. Added my scope and bi-pod and the gun is ready to go. As soon as deer season is over here I'll be out to give the coyote and bobcat hunting a shot.
Plus for around $300 you can get a .223 upper/barrel combo and and you can swap them out in about 2 minutes for some cheap target/play shooting.
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I would get an assembled lower and order a White Oak upper with a 1 in 7 twist. You can't over stabilize a bullet but you will need the fast twist to shoot the heavy 224 bullets
I appreciate all the help guys,all the info I can get..I am looking at buying an Bushmaster AR15 Varminter or predator....either the predator,with a 20" barrel or the varminter with the 24" barrel..still debating on that..just a 100$ difference on the bushmaster website..also looking at the new ACM's,but from what I understand the only difference is camo?..going to purchase one of these by end of january...like I said just still debating betweem guns and accessories
predator/coon rifle, Bushmaster AR 15??
