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x2!

I have a Savage Arms .17 HMR and its dirty! I love it. I killed 8 groundhogs this past spring/summer on my farm before the soy beans got too tall. A correctly placed shot with the .17 will definitely take down a wiley coyote, but if those are what you'll be mainly hunting then go with the .223 as others have said. OP asked about varmint hunting, not big game.

 

my Grandpa has that gun, and carries it with him everywhere while on the ranch in case of hogs or other pests. it definitely does have a bull barrel.

i on the other hand have the same gun without the bull barrel chambered in 7mm. mine is the black synthetic with stainless barrel.it has the built in scope rings, which is awesome, and the bolt action is smoother than any other i have fired. i highly, HIGHLY, recommend that gun. oh, also has a 3 point safety so you can work the action while it is still on safe

 

I'm not disagreeing...totally. The barrel is so short that the added weight is negligible. I think my Ruger BA is better made than the Remington 700 series that are twice as expensive. Now that's just personal opinion, but I guarantee you there are a lot of people who would argue that point.

My best advice to the OP is to go to a store (Cabelas, Bass Pro, Academy, etc.) and hold each of them. See what feels right in the OP's hands. Another good brand to check out is Tikka (or something like that). The Tikka is a much better balanced gun. It's all in what the OP is comfortable with.

 

If you're looking for a bull barrel 223 that doesn't weigh a ton and has a lot of quality for the price, you might check out Howa 1500s. Japanese action, available in a 1:12 twist in a 20" bull barrel. Factory trigger is OK and the Hogue stocks they are sold in are OK too. Both are easily upgradable. The 20" bull barrel will hold up to prairie dog shooting without heating up, and it's significantly lighter than 24 or 26" counterparts. The M16-style extractor is really consistent too.

Best part is they're cheap. I just sold one with a $100 Timney trigger and a $130 Hoge full-bed stock for $450 with about 200 rounds through it.

 

Sorry to respond to an aging thread. The subject was VARMINT caliber. While a .243 is a great only-own-one-gun solution because it is at the upper end of a large varmint and low end of a deer, the 22.250 is just perfect for coyote and smaller. It's extremely fast (flat) and hit's hard.

 

Will add 2c to this:
Heavier barrel, "fluted", will cut down on weight.

 

In Colorado, Small Game hunting requires under a 23 cal round. So any of the 22-250, 22 hornet, .17 hmr and .223 is fine and dandy

 

I bet a lot more states will start doing that. In VA they only recently made it illegal to shoot deer with less than .243. And even that has to well-placed on a big deer, or you're gonna have to go find it. Someone mentioned 25-06 earlier, I think if you don't shoot anything bigger than deer, and can only have one gun, that might be it. 270 is too big for varmint IMO.

 

My 257 Roberts ak improved does the job nicely, only downfall is I have to reload all my shells which isn't all a bad thing.

 

Every shot has to be well-placed.
Gut-shots with 300WinMag are not going to be recovered the same day.
Coyotes shot with a .17HMR are not likely to be clean kills and I owe the animal better than that.
In re Howa 1500 with 1/12, you are severly limited to light bullets with that barrel and in wind country, it's going to really drift.
I shoot 77gr MatchKings and they are absolutely dead accurate.
.243Win is the best compromise cartridge.
the 'X51 case is the most efficient, accurate design in standard production.