the best varmit rifle i have found is a ruger m-77 22-250

Then you haven't tried Ruger's M77 mkII target rifle in 220 swift.

For an all around varmint rifle, i would choose between the .223 ackley imp., the .204 ruger, .17 rem., the .221 fireball or the .220 swift. Out of those i dont really know, i guess it would be either the ackley, fireball, or the ruger. I personally reload and hunt for the fur. A 22-250 has got speed ill give it that, but the bullet deflects to easy and leaves to big a hole for fur hunting. Ptherwise I would have one in no-time. I would rather have a 22-250 than to have a 270 or a 7 mag for varmints. lol

Haven't had many other choices then have you? seriously,I really love Ruger firearms but in this area, varmint rifles, there's many better. Of course for me it's a Ruger #1 in .22-250. Not my top choice but darn it, I love those #1's. I'd go HS Precision given the chance.

my best 2 varmint rifles are also Rugers. One is a m77vt in 6mm PPC, with a leupold 6.5-20x scope. The other is a ruger #1 varmint special in 25-06 also with a leupold 6.5-20 scope.Both have done wellup to 500+ yards on groundhogs. My best shot to date is an estimated 525yard cold bore shoton a groundhog with the 25-06 with 85 grain BT's going about 3500fps. Some may call BS but my father was there and hecould not believe the shot untilwe went to the spot of the kill.My PPC has a long shot of about500 yards using berger ldfb moly coated bullets at about 3300 fps. I plan on having a custome 28 inch pac-nor barrel put on the #1 chambered in 25-06 ackley improved to really reach out and touch those hogs. I am hoping to pick up another 200 to 300 fps when all is said and done.

Andrew

Here is the best one.Ruger M77MKII target .220 swift.Its the one compared to the most (its as fast as a swift or its as good as a swift).And the ruger rifle is good for the cartridge long barrel ,great stock just a little trigger adjustment and its a champ.

You guys do know that there are other rifles besides Ruger, don't you?j/k

I used to have a Ruger M77MkII V/T in .22-250. I loved that rifle, and it was amazingly accurate after I slicked up the trigger a bit. It was more accurate than my Remington XR-100 22-250 (but not by much). I miss that rifle, but I got my moneys worth. After about 1500 rounds or so the throat was getting a little long and accuracy was going downhill (it liked 55gr Nosler BT's loaded as hot as possible, about 3750fps), and rebarrelling a Ruger is more trouble than it's worth IMO, so I traded it off for the XR-100.

I'm glad you like your Ruger. They are good rifles. But don't be afraid to expand your horizons a little bit. There is no such thing as the perfect rifle...well at least not coming from a mass producer. All have strengths and weaknesses, and even within one brand or model there will be some better than others.

Mike

Here's one in .243

C O O P E R .