How would a 22LR work on Pdogs out to 200yds or so?

[milanuk]

Well, when I was growing up in western Nebraska, we (my friend and I) had 'graduated' from iron sights and could finally afford scopes for our .22 rifles. Being the picky types that we were, we held out for 1" scopes vs the old 3/4 or 7/8" tubes

He had a Stevens lever action w/ a Lyman or some such 3-9x, IIRC, and I had a Browning BL-22 w/ a 4x Bushnell scope.

Inside 100yds, assuming not too much wind, we connected pretty much every time. The problem was that even at that range, a .22 LR won't put them down for the count every time, excepting head shots. 150 and beyond, well, I'd rather not say how many rounds we wasted, but I'll just say that while we never actually hit anything that we could tell at that range, we *did* scare the hell out of a couple of them

I've recently (last 6 months or so) heard of people using .22 LR to practice LR shooting, saying that the .22LR closely simulates a .308Win at 1k yds, as far as wind and drop goes. I've seen a few setups, such as the Ballistic Plex, and the Shepherd scopes, that purport to make connecting at 200+ yds w/ a .22LR 'easy'. Call me sceptical, but consistently hitting a soda-can sized target at 200yds w/ switching breezes w/ a .22LR is not my idea of 'easy', regardless of the reticle in your scope.

I'd say give it a try on paper first. Head on over to Nosler, and they have a fun little download in PDF format of a prairie dog w/ a big ~3-3.5" bullseye in the middle. Stick that out at 150-200yds and see how you do. Heck, I should do that myself, now that I mention it. I've not tried that in years, and I'm planning a prairie dog extermination... er.. expedition this summer. I was planning on the .22LR for 50-75yds or so, then my .22Mag for out to 125-150, and them my .223 Rem for out to 350 or so. If I can pick up a .243 or 6mm Rem, it's be the 'big stick' for longer ranges/windy days.

Enjoy,

Monte

 

[*WyoWhisper*]

Although the 22 is great for practicing techniques and grey squirels.. not sure 200 yards on a PD would be an easy feat.. I have no idea what the velocity of a 22lr is or the enrgy at 200 yards.. but it kinda reminds me of using a baseball to kill a buffalo.... just a thought....

 

[Boyd Heaton]

I've killed ghog's at a buck 25 with a 22lr.I shot one in the chest standing looking at me at 100 once...He went down his hole...Came back around the field an hour or so later and killed one that was out feeding from the same hole.After looking it over I found the bullet hole.Strange thing was It had two holes in it.It was the same hog

 

[rjf3]

22lr is accurate past it's effective killing range. I have made headshots on ghogs at 100 yards with my model 75 target rig, with excellent effectivness. But center mass hits at 100 and beyond were generally not clean kills.

17HMR may be the ticket. I have taken ghogs to 186 yards with mine.


Russ

 

[rjf3]

Trajectory (Basic) Output

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Input Data
Muzzle Velocity: 1100.0 ft/sec
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.250
Drag Function: G1
Bullet Weight: 40 grains
Sight Height: 1.50 inches
Wind Cross Speed: 0 mph
LOS Angle: 0 degrees
Target Speed: 0 mph
Zero Range: 50 yards
Temperature: 59.6 АF
Barometric Pressure: 29.92 in Hg
Relative Humidity: 0.0 %
Altitude: 0 feet
Air Density: 100 % of Sea Level


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Calculated Table
Elevation: 10.123 moa
Azimuth: 0.000 moa

Range Velocity Energy Momentum Drop Windage Lead Time
(yards) (ft/sec) (ft-lbs) (lbs-sec) (inches) (inches) (inches) (sec)
0 1100.0 107.5 0.20 -1.5 -0.0 0.0 0.000
10 1087.7 105.1 0.19 -0.6 0.0 0.0 0.027
20 1076.0 102.8 0.19 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.055
30 1064.7 100.7 0.19 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.083
40 1053.9 98.6 0.19 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.112
50 1043.5 96.7 0.19 -0.0 0.0 0.0 0.140
60 1033.5 94.9 0.18 -0.6 0.0 0.0 0.169
70 1023.9 93.1 0.18 -1.6 0.0 0.0 0.198
80 1014.7 91.4 0.18 -2.9 0.0 0.0 0.228
90 1005.8 89.9 0.18 -4.5 0.0 0.0 0.257
100 997.3 88.3 0.18 -6.5 0.0 0.0 0.287
110 989.0 86.9 0.18 -8.8 0.0 0.0 0.317
120 981.0 85.5 0.17 -11.5 0.0 0.0 0.348
130 973.3 84.1 0.17 -14.5 0.0 0.0 0.379
140 965.9 82.9 0.17 -17.9 0.0 0.0 0.410
150 958.8 81.6 0.17 -21.7 0.0 0.0 0.441
160 951.8 80.5 0.17 -25.9 0.0 0.0 0.472
170 945.1 79.3 0.17 -30.4 0.0 0.0 0.504
180 938.6 78.2 0.17 -35.3 0.0 0.0 0.536
190 932.1 77.2 0.17 -40.6 0.0 0.0 0.568
200 925.8 76.1 0.16 -46.4 0.0 0.0 0.600

 

[jcpython357]

I believe the 22 has enough energy for a 300yd shot, from the tables I've read, although I think I'll keep the shots under 200, and as far as accuracy goes, I tried an unscientific test with my Cooper using the 300yd backstop, took 3 shots with Rem target loads into the dirt using a little bush sitting on the backstop as a point of aim and it looked as though they went into a approx. 4" group, albiet about 7' low (no wind whatsoever) but now I will try it with the German rifle with that ballistic plex using paper this time. I'll let you guys know how I do as soon as the range opens up. J

 

[milanuk]

Boyd,

Funny that you mention that. Here's a story about a prairie dog that thought he was 10ft tall and bullet proof...

I was in high school, and had a Remington 510 Targetmaster, which for those deprived of the pleasure of one of these little gems, was a single shot .22LR bolt rifle, w/ buckhorn sights and an auto safety. I got *really* good at holding a couple (ok, 5-10) spare shells in my lips for quick reloads. I was doing the low crawl thru the sage brush trying to flank some dogs that were a couple mounds out of range from my normal comfy spot.

All of a sudden, I hear this **** high pitch chirping as one little SOB had spotted me from right around 50yds away. Irritated, I loaded a round, sighted, and fired. Chip shot. Heard a solid 'thwock' (music to my ears, to this day), and he flips backwards off the mound. Humming 'Another one bites the dust', I look down to reload. I look up, and holy crap, here's this critter just wobbling and staggering and standing up looking around on top of his mound like 'Dude! *** was that?!?'. I growled thru a mouthfull of Hansen standard velocity target ammo, finished loading, aimed, and fired agin. Same solid impace, and the littler hoser did a backwards/sideways summer-sault off the mound. 'Got 'em that time' I thought. So I get back to reloading the gun, and suddenly I think I hear something. Groaning inwardly, I look up, and sure as heck, there he is again. Looks like got ran over by a Mack truck, but still standing, trying to figure out what the heck is going on. 'Ok. Game's over this time!' I thought. I aimed extra careful, and squeezed the trigger. Dog does the classic Nestea dive backwards.

By this time, there is *no* hope of sneaking up on the other holes, so I bounce up, and walk over to where the PD is. This is what I found:

First shot... centered as if thru the bottom of the sternum (using human anatomy for reference here).

Second shot... centered thru the top of the sternum/collar bone area.

Third shot... right btwn the eyes.

Personally, I'd say that had to be the single *toughest* to kill animal I've ever dealt w/.

Something to keep in mind when you shoot at prairie dogs at longer ranges. You might hit them, but don't count on them staying down.

Monte

 

[jcpython357]

I just bought a Burris 4-12 comp. w/Ballistic plex (Outstanding scope by the way, highly recommend) which I have mounted on my Anschutz 54 Sporter, how would a rig like this work on the "dog" out to 200yds or so? I read that Clair Rees rolls 'em over(Not everytime) out to 300yds with his 10/22 and a Shepherd scope.