Long-ish range prairie dog caliber?

[cetacea]

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.

I prairie dog shoot with 17 Rem, 204R, 223, 220 Swift & 6mm284. All are very accurate and "hang time" is excellent. ("Hang time" is time it takes the head to fall back to earth.) My favorite is the 204R with 220 Swift a close second. A 243 with 75 gr HP's would be a great 600 yd gun but if Dad wants a 22.250 you won't go wrong.

 

[5.56×250]

Another good round for the 223 is the black hills 77gn Sierra load. The reloads shoot as well or better than the new loadings in my AR . They aren't bargain basement on price , but they are very well loaded and are super consistent. I can usually find them for 32 - 35 bucks per 50. They shoot nearly 1/2 moa for 5 shots out of my little 16" bullet blaster. I'd love to see how they perform out of a 24" bolt gun !

 

[Dry Heat?]

I love my 22 Nosler. Rechambered a Bushmaster (when Windham owned it) 24" "Varminter".Shoots great!

 

[J Doss]

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.

I have hunted pdogs in windy West Texas for a long, long time. I've used everything from 22LR to 7mmRM. My go to guns are 220 Swift and 17Rem. Shots out to 800+ on nice days and 400-600 on normal days. I do have to allow for wind drift, naturally. I have shot those guns enough to know my drift and use my mils. Above the Swift and 17Rem, I mostly use a 243.
I know, old school calibers but they are hard to beat since I have shot them so much.
Shooting the longer ranges with a new shooter might be a little challenging but, it's the comradery that makes it fun.
Be careful on the faster mv guns. Shooting a barrel out on pdogs would not be fun. I rotate between guns, leaving the bolts open, when I'm set up on a town so I don't get my barrels to hot.
Good Luck on your choice.

 

[Ted Sierocinski]

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.

 

[Ted Sierocinski]

1) 22-250, 1/7 twist barrel 75gr amax about 1000 round barrel life
2) 6mm Dasher 1/8 twist. Much more barrel life. About double. I used the Dasher for f-class competition. Great round.

 

[LongRange338]

6mm Creedmoor fits the bill for a flat fast round with match grade factory ammunition.

 

[rugers]

I live in south Dakota and hunt prairie dogs the 22-250 is fine for those ranges, and hornaday makes fine ammo for that round, Black hills ammo is pretty good also and there are alot of people on line who will custom load ammo for it also. I personally use a 223 and a 243 but mostly use the 243 although a little better in the wind not much ,but the 243 is afar superior coyote rifle. In S.D. you can hunt deer with a 22-250 but the range is limited.
But in all honesty I've killed prairie dogs out past 800 yds with a 223 just get the best scope you can afford, and go get some dogs. Also the 204 ruger is from what I witnessed a little lacking at that range.

 

[Swiftkill]

I shoot 204s, 220 swift, 22.250 and 243s.
For a single, multiple choice gun The 243 is the ticket.
From a 26" barrel my 243 shoots hornady 58 grain V Max at 4100' per second. HOWEVER, you have to shoot short strings.
For high volume pdogs a 204 ruger makes sense. It is about equal to a 22250 out to 500 yards. Devasating. Much less powder n heat. Less recoil.
I tend to use the 243 for longer and windier shots.
Shoot 100 grain bullets for deer, maybe bear and Elk!
There is no one perfect gun for every scenario.
I hunt prairoe dogs in Arizona and its much less volume than Montana and Wyoming, but i can get into heated strings. I usually have 5 or 6 guns with me and i like to switch off.
A 204 ammo is much cheaper than 22250 or 243.
By the time ammo is figured into the equation you'd be better off buying 2 guns. A 243 and a 204. Imho. Savage is inexpensive with great accutriggers. Even some remingtons are inexpensive but youll have to spend at least $130 on a timney trigger.

 

[pjmdy]

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.

 

[fireman55]

View attachment 141005 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

 

[fireman55]

What price?

 

[jrkotz]

For factory ammo and that kind of distance to need to look at fast twist SAMMI calibers to stabilize higher BC bullets.

Some 223s are 1:7, and newer calibers like 22 Creed and 6mm Creed are 8 twist.

Factory guns Savage, Bergara and Ruger are great options in those calibers.

On a side note, I really like 17 HMR to 180 yds, and 204 Ruger to 350 or so.

 

[Pizzaman1]

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.

Have you done any research into the .224 Valkyrie?