If you don't reload and you shoot a good bit, a .223 is the way to go for anything bigger than squirrels and rabbits. You cannot beat the price and quality of the Black Hills ammo. There is a bunch of different combo's of loads that they have. And ~$20 for 50rounds is pretty awesome. I have also shot the .223 45gr winchester white box varmint hp's. They shot good out of my gun and they are devastating.

North Texas is right...if you are huntign very wide open country...the 25-06 is king....i got it in Stevens 200 and its pretty amazing considering the price....400 with a 3-9 scope

A 1:12 twist should have no problems stablizing a 55 grain bullet. Most of the orignial rifles, commercial and military, were made with 1:14 originally, but changed to 1:12 so they would stabilize the 55 grain bullets.

I haven't had any problems shooting 40 grain V-max's with my rifle, which has a 1:9 twist. The problem here isn't stabilization, it is the thin jacket of the small varmint bullets. Leaving the barrel at 3600 fps, that means the bullet is rotating at 288,000 rpm. That puts a lot of force on that thin jacket just trying to hold the bullet together. At around the 300,000 rpm mark, the force on the jacket will become to great and the bullet will just fly apart when it leaves the barrel. Some military rifles have 1:7 twists, and they will do this. Although mine don't fly apart when they leave the barrel, they do as soon as they make contact. Not good for game animals, but deadly to a varmint.

Thanks North Texan!

125gr.30-1906
Savage110

I have a Savage 10FP .223 Tactical and it shoots 1/4" groups out at 200 yards. i couldnt be happier

i love my 17hmr's. i own 4, but only use three for hunting and they are devastating out to 100, one shot kills out to 140 so far. not a good caliber on windy days unless you've practiced in similar wind situations and know how the bullet is affected at the ranges you plan on shooting. i've found that with a 10mph wind at 90 degrees the bullet will move 2" at 100 yards in the respective wind direction

these are my 2 varmint guns , rem 221 fieball , 2x7 burris . good out to around 250yds. savage mod 12 22-250,swift 8x32x50. double that.

Guys- is the brass from the BlackHills ammo reloadable?
Since I just ordered an H&R Ultra Varmint in .223 Rem w/24" bull barrel I'm going to start out with factory loads and then work it from there. If the BH ammo is as good as you say, I may just leave well enough alone. My shots should be around 250yds or less. Chucks and 'yotes will be the quarry.
What areyour opinions?

srwshooter, i love the stock on your wrong handed savage. is that a richards microfit?