Caliber of choice for PD/RC

[freddiej]

Tuck, its been a long time since I had prairie dogs in my sights. its been a very long time. now grey squirrels and red squirrels, they are a daily sight. I have to say that the 22 LR at 100 yards is great with little muzzle blast. the squirrels also make good stew.
like I stated prior I have an invite to shoot woodchucks in the northeast. I am not sure what rifles I will be bringing with me. I am leaning towards the 17 rem and the 22-250. My 223 WSSM is not done.. the barrel needs to be fitted to the receiver and the barreled action needs to be bedded to the stock.
last weekend I just found out how accurate my 270 Winchester is.. freaky accurate. golfballs at 300 yards were pretty easy if I did my job correctly.
IF, I do not go to the northeast this year I am going to be sunk into shooting coyotes around northern Nevada.
later,

 

[tuck2]

Freddiej: I got a Winchester Mdl 70 270 in 1952 with a Weaver K - 4 scope. I started reloading in 1953. I used 4895 powder, Hornady 100 GR bullets in Winchester cases with Winchester primers. I ll never forget shooting my first prairie dog shot at about 300 yards with the 270. In 1956 I got a Sako 222 Rem for p dog shooting , the 270 was a bit much for shooting three pound critters. But for ten pond critters I would take a few with a 270. An accurate 22-250 with less muzzle blast and recoil may be better for shooting ground hogs. I v looked at the 223 WSSM , its faster than my 220 Swift and would give some extra shooting range. . I d consider a 1 in 12 or 1 in 10 rifling to handle heaver bullets with a higher BC.

 

[KYHILLJACK]

I use a triple deuce for the dogs. But sometimes wish I had a little more firepower when the target counters.

 

[freddiej]

Tuck.... If you are truly looking for a 223 WSSM with a 1:10 twist; I have a Browning Stalker II in 223WSSM with a 1:10 twist. Its practically new but I just do not see me shooting it anymore. My 22-250 just is a dream to shoot. BTW the Browning is a second 223WSSM. My primary is the Winchester 70. The Winchester is the one I am rebarreling with a 1:14 twist.
my own experience with 270's is not spectacular but I am a big fan of the 277 diameter slugs. I have taken my fair share of coyotes, deer, rock chuckers, marments, and other things with a Tikka A-695.
I like the 224 diameter slugs for varminting. I also like the 17 Remington I own. I have yet to have a 243, 244, 6MM anything shoot like my other calibers. I reckon it going to be a really bad reply from lots of people but I just have yet to have a 6MM slug/cartridge combo shoot for me. nothing I did made any difference. so I sold all of my 6MM guns. the best groups I got were 1.75" at 100 yards. they all went, the ammo went, the dies went, and the brass went. if I need long range on varmints.. I have a 25-06 that is sighted in at 400 yards. it spits the 90 to 110 grain class slugs extremely well. a few coyotes can atest to the fact that Remington 700 had long legs and hits like a sledgehammer at over 700 yards.
talk later Tuck.


KYhillJack, hmm, do the ground varmints really counter with bazzukas? wow, you are living dangerously shooting at them. I suggest an APC with a maw-duce on the top fed by AP, API, and APIT rounds along with the standard Mil-Ball rounds in between. very effective on rodents of all varieties.

 

[COBrad]

My favorite PD rifle is a Cooper Custom Classic 22-250 with an IOR 6-24x50 on it. I've been using that rifle around 15 years now. Shown with a 683 yard PD.

My current LR marmot gun is pictured with my longest shot so far this year at 1402 yards.
Bat HR action with integral 20 MOA rail, Kreiger barrel chambered for 7 RM, throated for Berger 180 gr VLD with .307 neck, Jewell 20 oz. trigger, Greybull stock with bedding block milled out and action glass bedded, S&B PMII 4-16x50 scope.

My light marmot gun is an Allen Precision .270 WSM that runs about 8 lbs scoped.
Stiller Predator action, Satern #4 barrel, Jewell trigger, Manners carbon fiber stock, Nightforce compact scope. Shown with one taken at 592 yards.