[longriflewest]

Have been looking at these rifles built by Richard Franklin out of Virginia.

http://www.richardscustomrifles.com/favoritevarmintrifles.htm

What do you fella's think? It seems that a 110-125 Gr .30 caliber bullet at 3900-4000 seems really hot!

From videos on the web page they sure do a number on groundhogs and deer.

 

[Saskshooter]

I think a 50 grain .224 caliber bullet at about 3800 does absolutely everything anyone needs done to groundhogs. I think well constructed 150 grain bullets in .30 Cal are much more appropriate for deer, especially at high velocities.

I think you should use groundhog rifles for groundhogs and deer rifles for deer. What you are describing is neither from my perspective.

 

[longriflewest]

Not sure what he shoots the deer with. He does hit the groundhogs with the 110-125 gr'ers.

More on the sensationalist side,,,,,, it sells his rifles.

BTW.... I don't use anything on groundhogs..... we don't have them out here. As for deer, I use a .270 or .308.

 

[gunho1954]

that weight in a 30 cal for varmits to me is a total waste of time if your pushing them @3900.-very inefficient.B.C. is up to mud,and a 60 gr pill @3500 using i guess about 1/3 the powder will do the same job,and shoot flatter.without being seen to be a smart ar#e,did i miss something here.what is the purpose of using low efficienancy bullets in 30 cal.-may be the weight factor giving big blow ups.why would you use this load? to each there own .-good luck,good fun and stay safe.

 

[bsn]

Why would someone use a 30 cal at 4000fps for shooting groundhogs.....................because is so much d**n fun!!!! Don't knock it till you try it!

 

[jwp475]

I guess it's ok if you don't mind shooter a cartridge loaded way over SAAMI max

 

[broom_jm]

"Fun" must be a subjective term. Lugging a 24lb, 30-caliber rifle out to a groundhog or prairie dog shoot sounds like a lot of work to me, especially when said rifle burns way more powder to push ballistically-challenged bullets that have no hope of performing as well as the .204, center-fire 22's, .243 or .257 offerings. The fact that (as his website states) this gun was built specifically for the very light 30-cal bullets, with zero freebore, borders on lunacy, IMHO. I'm all for purpose-built rifles, when the appropriate caliber range is chosen, but this guy is off his rocker and plainly ignoring far better options.

I think the biggest caliber one might use for truly long-range varminting would be the 6.5mm, perhaps based on the 300WSM or 7RM case. I could see something along those lines pushing very high BC bullets to ~3800fps and easily surpassing what the above rig is capable of, due to his choice of light-for-caliber bullets.

 

[Tang]

A .243 Win shooting 55gr bullets but my choice if I bought another varmint rifle.

 

[ROGER T]

richards custom 300 wsm is bustin varmints out to 900 yds on a regular basis . thats pretty impressive in my book.

 

[Tang]

richards custom 300 wsm is bustin varmints out to 900 yds on a regular basis . thats pretty impressive in my book.

Can be done just as well with a smaller caliber with a fast twist and heavy bullets. I'm all for magnums, and we all know that. If Richard, is making his living off those rifles then so be it. But it's a ridiculous idea.

A .300 WSM is going to need 70-75gr of powder to reach 3800-3900 with a 125gr Ballistic Tip. Then at 1000 yards it's going to be moving around 1400-1450 fps.

A .257 Wby Mag with a 115gr Berger will need 67-69gr of RL22 to reach 3500-3550. Still has 1600+ @ 1000 yards.

But since we are being in a fairy tale, lets get creative. How about a 30" Barrel on a .300 RUM with the 125gr BT ? 4200 fps anyone ? Then, lets go with the 30-378 Wby Mag and that 30" barrel, but once you have gone that far, just use a .416 Barrett.

I've often joked about shooting varmints with my mag's, but I think this is a really stupid idea. But, there are always going to be plenty of self indulgent weeners with too much money.

 

[ROGER T]

Can be done just as well with a smaller caliber with a fast twist and heavy bullets. I'm all for magnums, and we all know that. If Richard, is making his living off those rifles then so be it. But it's a ridiculous idea.

A .300 WSM is going to need 70-75gr of powder to reach 3800-3900 with a 125gr Ballistic Tip. Then at 1000 yards it's going to be moving around 1400-1450 fps.

A .257 Wby Mag with a 115gr Berger will need 67-69gr of RL22 to reach 3500-3550. Still has 1600+ @ 1000 yards.

But since we are being in a fairy tale, lets get creative. How about a 30" Barrel on a .300 RUM with the 125gr BT ? 4200 fps anyone ? Then, lets go with the 30-378 Wby Mag and that 30" barrel, but once you have gone that far, just use a .416 Barrett.

I've often joked about shooting varmints with my mag's, but I think this is a really stupid idea. But, there are always going to be plenty of self indulgent weeners with too much money.

i didnt say it couldnt be done with a smaller caliber.but you're not gonna do it at 900 yards with a 204, 223 or a 243 with a 55gr bullet.so why is it rediculous?

 

[broom_jm]

i didnt say it couldnt be done with a smaller caliber.but you're not gonna do it at 900 yards with a 204, 223 or a 243 with a 55gr bullet.so why is it rediculous?

There was a guy on here the other day hitting balloons at 400 yards...with a 22LR!

It's ridiculous because he chose a .30 caliber to do what can be done better with less powder and recoil by choosing a smaller diameter. Does it not register with you that those 125gr bullets are going to be going slower, at truly long range, than a 6-7mm bullet? The ballistics tables don't lie. For accurate shooting at 800+ yards, BC is king. Not only will those .30 caliber BT's be going slower, but they will drift quite a bit more in any crosswind.

I think what you're missing here is: We're all fine with guns that will shoot varmints at 900 yards...but the 30 caliber is not the ideal choice for doing so.

 

[jwp475]

It's ridiculous because of the amount of pressure required to launch a 125 grain bullet to 4000 FPS from A 300 WSM. At SAAMI spec pressure the 3000 RUM ops out at 3900 FPS

 

[Wazz13]

A .243 Win shooting 55gr bullets but my choice if I bought another varmint rifle.

Tang: Can you get enough powder in that case? Just joking w/ ya, ha ha

 

[Tang]

Holy cow, I'm not used to people agreeing with me !

Roger, I'm all for .30 caliber mags, any of these guys here can tell you that. But for a bullet under 180gr, ANY of the mags are a waste. I mean, if thats your style, by all means go for it ! For me, I have a .300 RUM to push 200, 210, and 220 grain bullets. If I wanted to shoot 125's, 150's, and 165's, I'd have a .308 Winchester.


Wazz, believe it or not, I'm a HUGE fan of the .243 Winchester. I just haven't found the right one for me yet. I'm thinking of buying one of the Rem 700 etronix rifles in .243.

 

[shane256]

6.5-284 with high BC 140gr bullets will get you to 1000yds with enough to kill black bears (according to Best of the West I saw on TV). And it isn't even a Magnum or a wildcat (anymore)

 

[ROGER T]

There was a guy on here the other day hitting balloons at 400 yards...with a 22LR!

It's ridiculous because he chose a .30 caliber to do what can be done better with less powder and recoil by choosing a smaller diameter. Does it not register with you that those 125gr bullets are going to be going slower, at truly long range, than a 6-7mm bullet? The ballistics tables don't lie. For accurate shooting at 800+ yards, BC is king. Not only will those .30 caliber BT's be going slower, but they will drift quite a bit more in any crosswind.

I think what you're missing here is: We're all fine with guns that will shoot varmints at 900 yards...but the 30 caliber is not the ideal choice for doing so.

does it not register with you that i did not say anything about 30cal vs any other cal. nor did i say one was better than the other.( i said it was impressive).
im not missing anything,i load for the cals you've mentioned & have for 20 years.im currently waiting for my 6.5-284 im having built. everyone hates the 300wsm but if you handload for it you will find that when you dont seat the bullet to where its touching the flash hole like it does in the factory ammo(figure of speech) it becomes a pretty impressive round.
i guess what i should have said in my first post was that being able to hit a varmit at 900yds atwill with anything is impressive.

 

[BarkBuster20]

That is impressive, my ideal long range rifle would be a .270 wby, for coyotes and whatnot out to a thousand yards. Its cool that your able to get accuracy out there far with a 125 grain .30 cal bullet.

 

[jim johnson]

have used 136gr BIB's in my 308 Norma on prarrie dogs and nothing throws them up in the air like the 30 cals. Have tried with numerous centerfire 22's, 6mm's, 6.5's, just can't bounce them like the big thirty's.

 

[cloverleaf]

It's a free country go fot it! What my 270 does to chucks, coyotes and crows with 110gr hollow points @ 3400fps is totally wild, clouds of red vapour fur and feathers!