Used For Hunting Small Game Animals. Most Varmint Rifles Are 22 Caliber.
Ruger No. 1 Varmint rifle in .223 Remington. Note the heavy barrel, bipod rest, large telescopic sight, and "dope" sheet on the stock for windage
A varmint rifle is a small-caliber precision firearm or high-powered airgun primarily used for both varmint hunting (the elimination of outdoor animals which harass properties) and pest control (the eradication of indoor infestation by destructive species). These tasks include killing three types of pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock:
Small/medium-sized non-game animals such as crows, ground squirrels, jackrabbits, nutria, marmots, groundhogs, porcupines, opossums, skunks and weasels;[1]
Non-native feral/invasive species such as starlings, cats, dogs, goats, wild boar/pigs and donkeys;
Animals considered to be nuisance vermin destructive to man-made properties and vegetation, crops and domestic livestocks, such as rats, house sparrows, gophers, and small predators such as coyotes and jackals.[2]
Varmint guns fill a design gap between the more powerful big game rifles and the less powerful rimfire firearms.
Big game rifles are more suitable for stalking and taking down individual large-sized animals such as reindeer, elk and buffalo at medium ranges, but not adequate for frequent repeated firing. Rimfire firearms (such as the highly popular .22 LR caliber) are best used to shoot small vermin such as squirrels and rats at close distances, and are somewhat underpowered for many outdoor rodents (which are often alert enough to spot hunters from a long distance away and flee or hide underground), small predators such as coyotes and larger feral animals such as goats and pigs. The varmint rifles are very suitable for repeated medium/long-range shots from a fixed firing position, thus fulfilling and overlapping the functional demands with both in terms of hunting applications.
^"Nongame Animals". California Fish and Game Commission. Archived from the original on 13 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
^Craige, John Houston, Captain The Practical Book of American Guns (1950) Bramhall House pp.211–222
A varmintrifle is a small-caliber precision firearm or high-powered airgun primarily used for both varmint hunting (the elimination of outdoor animals...
and ecosystems. The term "varminter" may refer to a varmint hunter, or describe the hunting equipments (such as a varmintrifle) either specifically designed...
Vermin (colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases and destroy crops, livestock, and property. Since the...
244 primarily as a varmintrifle. By the 1990s, even Remington itself sometimes promoted its 6mm rifles specifically for varmint applications thus further...
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of...
pattern stock with 18 LPI checkering. The CZ 527 Varmint is an American-style bolt-action smallbore rifle designed by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod based...
a standard sniper rifle. After testing several possibilities, they ordered seven hundred Remington Model 40x rifles (target/varmint version of the Remington...
5.56×45mm round (based on the .223 Remington varmint cartridge) fired from the new, lightweight M16 rifle, leaving NATO to hurry and catch up. Many of...
Weatherby Mark V is a centerfire, bolt-action rifle manufactured by Weatherby of Sheridan, Wyoming. The rifle was introduced in 1957 by Weatherby and was...
Remington version was often singled out from other 722s and marketed as a varmintrifle often featuring a 26-inch barrel. The Model 725ADL was introduced in...
(2.1 g), .204 bullet from a 24-inch (610 mm) barrel. Intended as a varmintrifle cartridge, the .204 was based on the .222 Remington Magnum, which is...
barrel versions with laminated stocks like the Model 700 SPS varmint are available for varmint hunting. The Model 700 ADL was replaced as the most economical...
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun and rifle/machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge...
Jr. Handloading (1981) National Rifle Association of America p. 21 Landis, Charles S. (1947). Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania:...
455 Varmint Tacticool is a variant of the CZ 455 Varmint and features the standard Varmint barrelled action fitted inside a black Boyd Pro Varmint® stock...
offering a pull weight from 680 to 2,700 g (1.5 to 6 lb). Target and select Varmint model rifles are adjustable down to 170 g (6 oz). Many small arms produced...
Global Information