Pennsylvania Game News - August 2011 - 62

as Kahles, Zeiss and Swarovski began to bite into the American market. Weaver closed its doors for a while, only to have manufacturing operations move across seas to compete with the affordable foreign imports. Redfield was still popular and Leupold and Burris had a full lineup of scopes that could cover any need that a varminter could want, if willing to spend the money for quality. As far as rifles went, synthetic stocks were becoming more popular due to their being lightweight, tough and pretty impervious to the elements. There was also a rise in wooden laminated stocks that were aesthetically pleasing and very strong. Stainless steel began gaining ground due to its weather resistant qualities and a slightly longer shooting life as compared to blued steel.

The .223 Remington has been one of the most developed varmint/target rounds ever. It has dominated matches out to 1,000 yards, and has also stretched out hunting accuracy well beyond 300 yards.
Another advantage was that if the stainless steel became scratched, then all it needed was just a quick polish of that marred section, rather than an expensive, time consuming, polish and blue job of the barreled action. In 2003, the short, plump sharp-shouldered .223 WSSM was introduced and has ballistics similar to the .220 Swift. It hasn’t put a dent in the popularity of the .223 or .22-250, because it does erode barrels quicker, and few people I’ve talked to have kind things to say about its accuracy. As with the .220 Swift, if velocities are held under 4,000 fps the small bore barrel will last longer, but then again, you end up with .22-250 velocities. For such high-stepping cartridges the secret to prolong barrel life is to not shoot long fast strings of rounds; let the barrel cool between shots and clean it carefully. There are some copper/carbon foam cleaners (such as WIPE OUT) that work very well with minor use of a cleaning rod, which helps to prolong barrel life/accuracy.
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The second newest round is the .204 Ruger, which was introduced in 2004 and sends a 20-caliber 32- and 40- grain bullet more than 4,000 fps. It has been successful because it shoots flatter than a .22-250 and doesn’t burn barrels as does the Swift (smaller calibers require less powder for equal speeds). A friend of mine that uses a Ruger 77 thinks that the .204 is the best varmint cartridge going, because it does not have a loud bark, the recoil is negligible, it shoots flat and has a pretty good reach. For me it’s like shooting a light .223 round. It was fun to pull the trigger and not lose sight of instantaneous impact due to recoil, and it is very accurate. The third and most recent introduction is the .17 Remington Fireball that shoots a 20-grain 17-caliber bullet at 4,000 fps. I haven’t had any experience with this cartridge, nor have I been in contact with anyone who has, but ballistics are just short of the .17 Remington. Only time will tell as to the popularity of this cartridge. Even though the .22 Hornet, .223 Remington and .22-250 Remington are still the top varmint centerfires, they are not the same cartridges they were 20 years ago. With the introduction of faster twist barrels, longer aerodynamically designed bullets and newer powders, these cartridges are a bit more potent and have become more versatile. Many .22 Hornet rifles now have a 1-in-14inch twist (rather than the old 1-in-16) that can handle bullets from 35-55 grains for those who handload. Plus, new powders such as Hogden’s “LIL GUN” are a perfect match for Hornet size cases. The new factory ammunition includes 35- to 40-grain Hornady V-Max and Remington Accu Tip-V spitzer boattail bullets that fly more than 3,000 fps. These have 30 percent flatter trajectory and push the old 200-yard maximum accurate range out to 250 yards. The .223 Remington has been one of the most developed varmint/target rounds ever. The original barrel twist was 1-in-12 inches and pushed 50- to 55-grain bullets out to 250 plus yards. But with the newer twists of 1-in-9 inches, 1-in-8 and 1-in-7, and powders such as
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Pennsylvania Game News - August 2011

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