If you are going to get into prairie dog towns, you must have at least have two rifles or a huge amount of self control, so as not to overheat a barrel. I have a Tikka Sporter in 223, a Savage varminter in 22-250 and a custom built WWII Mauser with very heavy barrel in .243Win. If I had to dump one, it would be the 22-250. If I could only keep one, it would be the 22-250. The heavier bullets that I can load for the .243Win will get me the range that I want, with a little less effect from wind. The .223 is deadly on anything within 300 yards and the 22-250 is left in the middle. The varmint stock and heavy barrel on the .243Win make the recoil so light, that I can observe the impact of my bullet. Just as a side note: The Tikka has mounted a Taiwan made Tasco 6-24x40 scope, while the Savage sports a Burris Signature 6-24x40 scope. I have never seen any advantage to the Burris, over the Tasco, although the Burris set me back four times as much money. The Mauser in .243 is mounted with a very old 24X Unertl, which while still serviceable, is inferior to either the Tasco or the Burris optics.