Varmegeddon....aka Rich Bob's Impact Cafe'

      Once again we enter the 'Man Cave'.  I have been contemplating this for a few years now, but I finally decided to put together a custom high power varmint rifle rig for on the road.  At first I investigated the prices for a new custom built rig by companies such as Montana Rifles, Hankins, Randy's, and Cross Canyon Arms.  Although they were much more, it made me want to try and put together my own design.  I knew due to the expense this would be a project over time.  This would be used for gophers, coyotes, crows, vultures, bobcats, and badgers, ground hogs, and even the occasional pig.  My research took me nearly a year, first wanting a Ruger #1 in 204 Ruger caliber.  This is a screaming up and comer, but the rifle is priced high and only available special order.  I regrouped and decided on the 22-250 Remington caliber.   This caliber has been around for many years and has been a Velociraptor within it's own right.  The velocities in the lighter rounds (35-40 grains) will reach out and touch Mr. Coyote at 4400 fps.  At the higher bullet weights (64 grains) it will still roll 3600 fps; capable of tackling Javelinas and some whitetail deer.

 

      This caliber is available through many manufacturers and custom dealers.  I narrowed my choices to the Weatherby Vanguard and the Remington Varmint SF.  Weatherby guarantees sub MOA for these rifles.  I searched for months with little success as the Weatherby is a high profile weapon usually available only through special order months in advance.  The Remington wasn't much easier, but finally I found a shop in Duncan, OK that could order it for me without much ado.  Murf's Gun Shop not only found what I wanted, but had it delivered within days.  This gun has a heavy stainless steel fluted barrel mounted in a synthetic stock with custom recoil pad and dual front swivels for sling and bipod mounts.  Right off I had the stock fiberglass bedded onsite to hand fit the barrel.  www.murfsguns.com/ 

      Next up for me was the scope rings/mounts and then the front bipod.  I found these when I could, Academy Sports and Dick's (believe it or not).  I also preordered a custom leather sling from Lever  Gun Leather in Athol, ID.  www.leavergunleather.com   We have several other slings made from this company;  the highest quality handmade work.  Besides the logo at the top; lettering on the sling?  Varmageddon

      I knew that the scope would be the most integral and hardest, if not the most expensive part of the project.  A good scope for this rifle could easily cost more than the rifle itself.   I have always loved Leupold Scopes, but left the door open for others, such as Swarovski, Nikon, Vortex, Zeiss, and Barska.  Eventually I narrowed this to the Vortex Viper HST in 6-24mm x 50.  It has side focus range finding, MOA reticle, and completely sealed high rise turrets for adjustments and re-zero reset after sight in.  It comes with caps, sun shade, and of course, a lifetime warranty.  The best scope for the money.

      Remarkably I found this scope at the very same discount prices I found online, but at Fehner and Son Grain Company in Gonzales, TX.  Yes that's right, a feed store, however this location also hosts a considerably well stocked gun store inside.  www.fehnerandson.com/  I do mean considerable; it would rival many other gun stores I have visited.  Welcome to Texas, eh?  They even mounted and bore sighted it for me.
      On the way home due to maintenance and never ending winter weather issues, we had some unexpected downtime and I found a nearby outdoor rifle range.  I was so hungry to pull the trigger on this young lady.  I had already stocked nearly 200 rounds of Hornady 50 grain varmint rounds.  I began sighting at 50 yards, then 100, and finally 200 yards for zero.  I readjusted the external cover cap for final zero and tightened it down
      The scope has finicky eye relief and range is very critical to focus.  After several rounds at shorter ranges I also discovered the barrel is heavy enough that when shooting off a platform it is not necessary to even hold the rifle with the off hand.  Sighting at 50 yards is considerably lower with such a flat trajectory and subsequent groups show the bullet does not begin to drop noticeably until after 250 yards.  

Getting the feel of her during the early rounds

     Then I began the tricky part of checking the external turret settings for 'click accuracy' out to 500 yards.  I had pre-calculated the MOA clicks according to the directions, but wanted to double check. I can always use the MOA reticle holdovers, but this is one of the features for which I bought this scope.  These were 'spot on'.

50 yard groups, bullet is still rising and 100 yard groups were damned near 'dead on'

200 yard zero, first two were high as bullet is still rising.  One adjustment......voile'.  

Final group is just short of 1 inch.  Bullet drops 4.9" at 300, 14.2" at 400, and 32" at 500 yards.

      The finished gun weighs in at a whopping 12 pounds.  This keeps recoil to a minimum and provides a steady platform as well.  In fact the report and recoil are only slightly higher than a .223 in an AR.  For most varmint applications I plan using the Hornady Vmax in 50 grains to keep the corrosive gasses at bay.  HOT rounds (35-40 grains) in this rifle can limit a barrel's life to about 1000 rounds.  I will also use the Nosler Trophy Grade 64 grain for larger game, such as javelinas or smaller pigs.  The barrel has a 1 in 14" twist which usually isn't very good at stabilizing the larger bullets, but Nosler has engineered a 64 grain bonded soft point, flat base bullet just for that barrel and twist.

 

      Amazingly, the ballistics for both these rounds are quite similar and won't take a complete re-sight in when switching between the two.  Simple scope turret adjustments will do it, but additional range practice will be needed to validate this.  Fine tuning for a future javelina hunt.  Final price for this build:  just under $1800.

"I do hunt, and I do fish and I don't apologize to anybody for hunting or fishing"

Norman Schwarzkopf

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