The 223 all the way. You canget into reloading and save a lot on the ammo cost. It will be more accurate and have greater range than the standard 22's or 17's. Prarie dogs are not known for letting you get that close and besides what fun is it being closer than 300 yards or more.

 

Everybody that shoots should have a .22

I have four myself! I have a Marlin 60 from the early 80's that shot several thousand rounds before I had to replace the recoil buffer inside the receiver.

My most fun .22 is my Browning Lever Action! Handy size and will shoot anything from CB Short to MiniMags.

I have a stainless 10/22 that frankly I haven't ever shot much.

And my crown jewel is a Marlin 25 bolt action with a 40MM scope on it. I cleaned up the trigger and it shoots VERY well.

Sure, for prairie dogs a high zoot centerfire that shoots accurately at 300yds or more is the stuff. I don't live where owning such a rifle makes much sense.

A very decent centerfire plinker can be had in the SKS rifle (7.62x39). Mine is a chinese model and shoots better than either the russian or romanian guns that buddies own.

But you really should own/start with a .22

 

For long range varmint, You might get a 22-250 (hotter version of a .223), Remington has been on sale and is a reliable gun for a beginner. If you want to gewt into larger game with it, .243 is better for both uses.

.22-250 will still punch through an empty 20lb propane tank at 300 yards....

 

You like read my mind on the .223. After reading this thread I'm now kinda looking for one to sit next to my .308.

 

Prarie Dogs??

Grandad's Bolt Action .22 Cooey seems to work well.

 

I would go with a 17hmr it will be ideal for target shooting and also a great varmint riffle with incredible range. (savage makes excellent reasonable priced guns)

 

The 17 hmr does not have that great of a range or does it like wind very much. The light weight bullet runs out of energy very quickly and has a lot of wind drift. I think the bullet weight is under 20 grains. For example try seeing how far you can throw a piece of pea gravel and then pick up a golf ball sized rock and see how far it will go and how much it drifts. The 22-250 is a great round but after an extended prarie dog shooting session your shoulder will know it. The 223 tends to be more accurate and less harsh on the barrel. My remington vls in 223 will put five shots into a 1/4" group at 100 yards.

 

I suspect if you get the right gun (like my buddie's Savage) .223 is in fact a very accurate round.

I had a stainless Mini-14 Ruger a few years ago that sprayed bullets like a shotgun. The older blued Mini I had in the 80's was a tack driver.

But I still think a .22 is the best first rifle.

 

OK-- that clears things up a lot. Get the .22. Choose one you like. The Ruger 10/22 is a very good choice so are some in the Marlin family. The reason to start out with this is because ammo is very cheap and you can do a lot of shooting to improve yourself. Start out with iron sights and become proficient with them then put a simple 4x scope on to get used to that. Once you learn proper breathing techniques and trigger control and sight picture and etc... then start thinking about moving up to bigger guns.

I give that advice that way because over the years I've seen too many people develop bad shooting habits (like flinching) from starting to shoot from too big a round. Watched a grown man flat out drop an AR15 recently because the muzzle blast (shooting at dusk) scared him. Just last week another guy at the range took 4 stitches to the forehead and nose when the scope laid him open after a shot. It was "only" a .270.

 

The Marlin 60 got to be the best selling firearm for a reason.. I have a 8 year old one myself.

A starter rifle needs to be inexpensive, CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP ammo, and easy to use.

As you shoot alot, you will start to get an idea and feel for what you want the gun to be able to do that it cant.

Guns are all preference to the owner.. .223 is a good cartridge but for heavens sakes the ammo is ten times the .22 price and in short supply.

If you want to get into something else later, the money you saved in ammo will MORE than pay for a heck of a nice larger caliber.

 

I agree...

I have a model 60 myself. 26 yrs old and shoots like new.

 

.338 RUM-- perfect beginner rifle.

If you can handle that comfortably, you're good to go on just about everything else.

 

I have a Glenfield "Golden 50"

If you have never owned a firearm, get a .22 LR and develop the good habits.

 

Savege 17 with a sweet 17 scope set up. All for about $400 or so and very sweet to shoot.

 

.22 bolt action. Ruger 10/22 is nice, but is heck on ammo.