ALL-TIME NO. 1 WILDCAT — THE .22 VARMINTER
Bob Bell
new case. Just neck down the .250-3000 Savage case to accept a .224 bullet, at the same time changing the shoulder angle from about 26½ degrees to 28. Whether that tiny change of shoulder angle made a significant difference, I don’t know. The .250-3000 itself was an accurate cartridge, but a .224 bullet seemed a better choice for ’chucks and crows and prairie dogs. Anyway, practically every gunsmith in the country went on build- ing rifles for the wildcat. They just called it the .22-250, a name which accurately showed its derivation, even if it lacked the glamour of “Varminter.” Gebby, incidentally, also offered the .22 Junior Varminter, made on the .32-40 Ballard case, and the .22 Senior Varminter, based on the .257 Roberts. The Varminter was the best known
Necked down .250-3000 Savage case was called the Varminter early on, but when it was commercialized by Remington it was just called the .22-250. Whatever the name, it was truly great.
ooner or later it makes more sense to get rid of guns instead of buying more. So that’s what I started to do awhile ago. One of these was a Model 700 Remington Varmint Special, the last of a half-dozen-plus .22-250s I’d bought or had built since the late 1940s. Back then this cartridge was gen- erally called the .22 Varminter; in fact, Jerry Gebby, a well known gunsmith of the ’30s and ’40s, trademarked the name, apparently hoping to generate business by keeping others from building rifles for this wildcat. I don’t know how many others had simultaneously or even previ- ously created the same cartridge – wild- catting was a popular pastime in those days – but “Varminter” was an attention getting monicker that was hard to resist, especially when its ballistics and accu- racy were so impressive.
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It was a simple matter to form the Spring 2013
and most popular wildcat of its day, overcoming the competition of such fine .22 caliber cartridges as Leslie Lindahl’s Chuckers, P.O. Ackley’s extensive line, Al Marciante’s Blue Streak, and L.E. Wilson’s Arrow, to say nothing of Win- chester’s fabulous .220 Swift, a factory load. There were other good loads back in the heyday of the wildcat, but none had the panache of the Varminter, and none attracted its following.
This doubtless led to its eventual introduction by Remington as a com- mercial cartridge in the mid-’60s after some three decades as a popular wildcat. Remington called it the .22-250 also. And they offered it in a modern action of the proper length and with an excellent and easily adjustable trigger, which was far better than the longer 98 Mausers and 03 Springfields which so many of us had begun with in post World War II days. I never saw an M700 that didn’t shoot well (my friends had quite a few and I, myself, had four), and as mentioned earlier that Varmint Special rifle was one of the last guns I got rid of.
So why all of this background on the .22-250? I guess it’s because when I sat here some months ago contemplating
an empty spot in the gunrack, it dawned on me that it’s really un-American for a varmint shooter not to have a .22-250. So what to do?
Well, one day while digging through the gun safe for something, I happened to come across an almost new M700 action I’d acquired on a trade quite awhile ago; then I remembered that a varmint weight stainless .224 caliber Hart barrel had been leaning in one corner of a gun cabinet for several years. Why weren’t they joined? I couldn’t re- member. Doubtless in the nebulous past there had been a reason, but I couldn’t recall it.
“Mebbe I should have that done,” I innocently suggested to my wife that evening.
“I thought you were getting rid of guns, not building more.” Terry’s voice was sweet and her glance might not have cut through steel though it doubtless would have melted paint.
“I am,” I said. “Actually, when the time comes, it should be easier to sell a complete gun than just pieces.” “Of course it will.” Her voice was resigned. “Nobody else has guns made, do they?”
That was a question I thought it better not to answer.
Anyway, a few days later I was lugging the pieces into Gary Gault’s gun- shop. If you don’t recognize the name immediately, he’s the guy who built the rifles Carl Bernosky used to win the Highpower National Championships at Camp Perry several times running. I didn’t figure it would be a big job for Gary to thread and chamber a barrel. While waiting for him to finish that chore, I gave some thought to a stock. I like dense dry wood. With the action and recoil lug glassed and the barrel floated I’ve never had any trouble getting a bar- rel – especially a Hart – to group OK and maintain a consistent point of impact. But it usually takes a fair amount of time to find a nice hunk of walnut, then inlet,
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