Varminting on a Budget Pt 1: The Varminting Bullet.

This will be a series of blogs that I will be writing over a period of a few weeks. Not all of us are able to spend money on toys and are stuck with the rifles we have and I am sure a lot of you get the craving to go varminting but don’t have 1000′s of dollars to spend on a custom rig or a top notch factory rifle and the gear associated with it. So these articles are for you and the ones that are bitten by the custom and premium bugs that I’d like to remind that you don’t have to spend a heap to have some fun blowing up bunnies!
So heres the first one. Sure its not where you should start but its a start none the less and I had the idea for the series after I wrote this blog!

**DISCLAIMER**I have written this with mainly the .224 bullet in mind. I dont know what budget projectiles there are for cals such as the .204 and .177 etc
Enjoy!

The price we pay for premium varminting projectiles I believe is a serious waste of money at the end of the day if there is a cheaper bullet that does the job but it doesn’t have a plastic tip or a serious marketing push.

What are the three main things we look at in a varminting Projectile?
* We want a fast expanding or even fragmenting projectile.
* An accurate projectile .5moa to 1moa max.
* We may want a projectile with a high BC though I’d say for the vast majority of shots we take they are under 250m and the long range ballistics are nice to have but probably not needed in the vast majority of shots unless you are specifically going for distance.

When we look at the above we think of the following types of bullets:
* Hornady Vmax
* Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmints
* Sierra Blitzkings
* Barnes Varmint Grenade etc etc etc.

Now I doubt you could get any of these bullets for under $33 a pack of 100. I wouldn’t know due to the fact I haven’t bought these projectiles in a long long time.

Why haven’t I bought these projectiles do you ask?
Simply because I have found cheaper projectiles that work just as well at the cost of a few points on the Ballistic Coefficient.
You see the majority of shooting I do is no more then 200-250m away. Its the lay of the land where I shoot. So most parts there is only a need for an acceptable BC rather then a super slim boat tail plastic tip.
I suppose I better make my point and argue the case that for most varminting applications we don’t need to buy a “premium” projectile.
I had a 222rem Varminter and have a 22-250rem sporter. The 222rem used 50gn Nosler Shots and the 22-250rem uses 55gn Nosler shots and I tell you that they perform just as well in my rifles as any of the ballistic tips have.
Nosler shots aren’t the only budget bullet out there that have the above qualities they are just the ones I use and have hundreds of.

Other budget projectiles that are a fair bit cheaper then your premiums you can look at are:
Nosler Shots of course.
Remington Rifle Projectiles
Winchester Powerpoints
Hornady Soft Points are usually cheap as well.
There is also an Aussie mob making 224 bullets out of spent 22lr shells that I have read nothing but good reports about as well.

The thing I should say here is that these bullets might shoot great for you or they might not shoot at all. Give them a try and if you are happy with them be happy knowing that you are spending $8-$10 less a pack. If only premium projectiles shoot wel in your rifle sorry but give others a try as you never know.

I really believe that we probably spend a bit too much on varminting bullets considering that they are supposed to be used in high volumes on small critters that don’t need a high performance projectile.

So next time you’re at the gunshop grab a pack of cheaper pills for varmints and give them ago. I’d love to hear from anyone who tries.
Cheers!

Related posts:

1. Handloaders Beware & Be Safe – Inertia Bullet Pullers
2. Reloading Tips – Bullet Seating
3. Amazing new .338 Caliber bullet by Berger.

Tags: foxes projectiles, hares, Hornady, nosler, rabbits, varmint rifle, varminting

Category: Hunting Equipment, Keith Drain's Column