Long-ish range prairie dog caliber?

[Kimber7man]

Build a 22-250 or 22 Creedmoor with 7 twist barrel and he can shoot 75 grain and 88 grain ELDM's as far as he wants.

 

[BoomFlop]

And where can he buy factory ammo in 22-250 loaded with those bullets?

 

[Ingwe]

400-600yards in 10-25mph winds makes for a hell of a shot in my opinion...especially for a guy who has never owned a rifle before.

I would go with the 22-250 but try to set up closer shots...600 yards is not an easy shot...even with zero wind

My 2 cents anyway

 

[FIGJAM]

Planning to build/buy my dad a rifle for prairie dog hunting. He's expressed interest in a .22-250 but the buddy he will be hunting with shoots anywhere from 400 yards to 600 yards and in our state of South Dakota the wind always blows at least 10mph - 25mph it seems. I have wondered if a .22 bullet will be buffeted around by our wind too much to be an effective cartridge. Any suggestions for a better prairie dog cartridge or will a .22-250 suffice? Also, I feel I should note my dad has never owned a rifle before, only shotguns, and will be using factory ammunition. As tempting as a tighter-than-factory twist barrel and 75gr hand-loaded 22-250 sounds, I don't think that will be an option for factory loaded ammo that is readily found at Cabelas.

6 creed - that 108gr hornady match ammo is crazy accurate. Its tough to find a 243 with a twist fast enough to spin the heavies - the 243 factory ammo reflects that as well, they don't load them with the heavy high bc bullets.

2nd best option for factory ammo and long range Pdog slaying would be a (dry heave) 6.5 creedmoor....

 

[djm670]

400-600yards in 10-25mph winds makes for a hell of a shot in my opinion...especially for a guy who has never owned a rifle before.

I would go with the 22-250 but try to set up closer shots...600 yards is not an easy shot...even with zero wind

My 2 cents anyway

I agree with your thoughts completely.. Although I might go even a bit farther and say use a .223 or .204; they are just more enjoyable to shoot for a day of gopher shooting.

For someone who has never owned a centerfire rifle. Shooting at prarie dogs at anything over 200 yards in the wind is going to be frustrated quickly. Don't think that is a novice's task.

We grew up trapping gophers at recess in country school and I find it hard to use more that a .17 hmr on them. Typically use .22, .17 m2, rem 5 mm or the .17hmr to spend hours erradicating gophers.. out to about 200+ yards.

Reserve the .17 rem, .204, .223, .220 swift and 6mm rem for wood chucks although I know a lot of guys like to use .22-250 and .243s on prarie dogs and shoot longer ranges. Seems like over kill when you grew up with them.

 

[jweigel]

Having just went through this loading my 222 and my 2506.....I quickly realized the ideal long range PD killing gun is one with little to no recoil and good glass with a turret and with a reticle that does not cover up the target at those distances.

A 2 inch target at 500 yrds in the wind is up there in shooting skill and gun/caliber ability. If you do not see your hits, only the dead dogs will give you a hint and they will be few and far between

If you can range ,dial, then get on the gun and shoot..... See your hit (mostly misses at that distance with wind) and are able to make a quick follow up with ever lifting your head or loosing site of the target makes the second shot deadly

For me....that could be a AR 223 or better a AR 224 Valkarie. Even up to a 243 or 6 Creed as long as it's a semi auto...... above a 223 will need a brake or silencer to drop recoil so you can see all shot.

Plan B would be to find an unshot town just after the pups are up then a 17 WSM in a AR or Volquartsen will do as you will not have to shoot beyond 250

JMHO....

jjw
ND

 

[YZ-80]

Are we limiting this to just bolt guns? And, I'd ask the OP if his Dad is wanting something sporter weight, medium profile bbl., etc? Barrel length? Just asking because it might be helpful to know a little more about how he plans to hunt. I suppose the prairie dog hunting will be off a bench/shooting table. What about the deer hunting? If from an elevated blind with some kind of dead rest or bipod, I'm wondering if something on the order of a heavy barreled AR-15 might work? A 1:8 twist 20" bbl? Black hills has something probably in the 60-70 grain range that might be good for the dogs, then you can use the 62 grain Barnes TSX for swamp donkeys? Just thinking out loud.

 

[djm670]

And where can he buy factory ammo in 22-250 loaded with those bullets?

You can buy essentially factory ammo from HSM or Copper Creek in heavy weight .223
HSM - Hunting Shack
223 Remington HSM-223-6-N 69 Hollow Point Boat Tail MatchKing 2800 1201 837306005190 50 Rifle
223 Remington HSM-223-11-N 77 Hollow Point Boat Tail MatchKing 2680 1228 837306001277 50 Rifle
223 Remington HSM-223-9-N 80 Hollow Point Boat Tail MatchKing 2656 1253 837306009396 50 Rifle
223 Remington HSM-223-32-N 90 Hollow Point Boat Tail MatchKing 2600 1351 837306006173 50 Rifle

Copper Creek
.223 Remington 69 gr Sierra Matchking
.223 Remington 77gr Sierra Matchking
.223 Remington 77gr Berger OTM

Interesting neither company loads heavies in .22-250 that I can see... but I am sure they would if one paid them too.

Lots of production .223 semi heavies by major ammunition Manufactures
Federal Premium Gold Medal Match King, .223 Rem, MKS, BTHP, 69 Grain
Hornady, .223 Remington, ELD Match, 73 Grain
Hornady, Superformance Match, .223 Remington, ELD Match, 73 Grain
PPU, .223 Remington, Match HPBT, 75 Grain
Fiocchi Exacta, .223 Remington, HPBT, 77 Grain
SIG SAUER Elite Match Grade, .223 Remington, Open Tip Match, 77 Grain
Federal Premium Gold Medal Match King, .223 Rem, MKS, BTHP, 77 Grain
PMC X-TAC, .223 Rem Sierra Match, 77 Grain, OTM
Magtech First Defense Sniper, .223 (5.56x45mm), HP, 77 Grain

I would say if you wanted to go factory heavy ammo that one would be best off going with a .223 as there is many more choices that with a .22-250 which has almost no heavy factory ammo.

 

[jasent]

I have a custom built 243 for sale ready to go shoot for a great price. Pm me if your interested. Taken it out to a mile so far. Shoots great but I never shoot it any more. Got the elr bug and it just sits and Pouts. 1:7 28" barrel

 

[Calvin45]

I agree with your thoughts completely.. Although I might go even a bit farther and say use a .223 or .204; they are just more enjoyable to shoot for a day of gopher shooting.

For someone who has never owned a centerfire rifle. Shooting at prarie dogs at anything over 200 yards in the wind is going to be frustrated quickly. Don't think that is a novice's task.

We grew up trapping gophers at recess in country school and I find it hard to use more that a .17 hmr on them. Typically use .22, .17 m2, rem 5 mm or the .17hmr to spend hours erradicating gophers.. out to about 200+ yards.

Reserve the .17 rem, .204, .223, .220 swift and 6mm rem for wood chucks although I know a lot of guys like to use .22-250 and .243s on prarie dogs and shoot longer ranges. Seems like over kill when you grew up with them.

I'm familiar with the 5mm rem mag you mention...you're the first person I've heard personally testify to having used one. Cool. Irrelevant perhaps to the op's question but very cool nonetheless.

 

[huntsman22]

RPR 6.5 creed.....

 

[djm670]

I'm familiar with the 5mm rem mag you mention...you're the first person I've heard personally testify to having used one. Cool. Irrelevant perhaps to the op's question but very cool nonetheless.

I have managed to squirrel enough ammo away over the years so can shoot it a bit on longer shots.. Put a Timney model 788 trigger in the Remington 591 so it has a good trigger set at about 1.5 lbs. Not to hijack the thread. Usually throw a couple of .22's, the 5 mm and the .17m2 on the back of the 4 wheeler and spend an afternoon or two helping erradicate some gophers on the ranch I grew up on every summer.

 

[djm670]

Early spring? Ha ha.. that 6.5 CM reaches right out and touches them.

 

[Calvin45]

RPR 6.5 creed.....

What projectile? Looks to have even opened up a fair bit.