Prairie Dog Rifle Question…

[snox801]

I will wish for a 800-1000 round day on prairie dogs. I think those days are past.

You have never hunted with my ex brother inlaw. He would shoot that much at pigs in a day. Hitting the targets is not required for some.

 

[snox801]

So for those of you who do this often. I've been thinking about doing one in a falkor barrel. If I remember they claim to replace shot out barrels for free. Something with the design they have a a sleeved barrel keeps it cool enough to extend barrel life some magical amount. Would be worth a try for some high volume overbite shooting.

 

[snox801]

Never mind I see they no longer offer the impossible to shoot out barrel. Huh who couldn't see that coming. I only wanted one to see if I could get barrels for life out of some amazing overbore rifles.

 

[UniqueUserName]

I like to try to keep the ammo cost reasonable and my firearm/ammo choices reflect that. I can easily shoot 500+ centerfire rounds on a good day, especially in the spring with the young/dumb pups about. My primary rifle is a 17lb suppressed AR with a 24in bull bbl, shooting 73gr ELDM or 77gr SMK/TMK, depending on what I can get the best price on at the time I purchase. I've got several 1,000s of rounds through it and it still shoots tiny little groups. I also rotate in another AR, 17HMR and 6.5 CM, on shooting days. I don't need anyone to spot my shots with any of these. I figure the .223 is by far the least expensive round to load for and can shoot 600+ yds, if the wind is cooperative.

 

[Ruckmanite]

I like to try to keep the ammo cost reasonable and my firearm/ammo choices reflect that. I can easily shoot 500+ centerfire rounds on a good day, especially in the spring with the young/dumb pups about. My primary rifle is a 17lb suppressed AR with a 24in bull bbl, shooting 73gr ELDM or 77gr SMK/TMK, depending on what I can get the best price on at the time I purchase. I've got several 1,000s of rounds through it and it still shoots tiny little groups. I also rotate in another AR, 17HMR and 6.5 CM, on shooting days. I don't need anyone to spot my shots with any of these. I figure the .223 is by far the least expensive round to load for and can shoot 600+ yds, if the wind is cooperative.

wow, how the heck do you seat the 73gr ELDM or 77gr SMK/TMK to magazine length for your AR? 69gr is the largest I have been able to get to cooperate in my AR for mag length COAL.

 

[ChrisInKY]

Interesting.. Okay, well thats the lightest caliber I have... Beyond that, the rounds just get bigger... Im sure 338 Lapua wouldnt be the most desired for this application but it would be interesting to see what happens to the PD upon impact... lol

 

[kameron]

We used 50bmg once that was pretty effective but we always used heavy 223 ar15 rifles they work great even out to 500 yards and it's really easy to see your shots and make follow ups if you need to

 

[Chas1]

1000 rds a day? In a 12 hour day that's 1 shot every 43 seconds non-stop. Seems unrealistic with no food or bathroom breaks or shooting location change/travel. But maybe I'm missing something.

 

[ColonelGoose]

As long as the wind is not too bad, the 17 hornet pushing a 15 or 20 grain bullet is pretty devastating out to 300 yds.

 

[Allen Kitts]

I have been on lots of Prairie Dog shoots and have never even come close to 800-1000 rounds. Two hundred maybe thre hundred would be a great day and it would never be with one rifle. I take a 17 Mach 2, a 17HMR, a 17 Hornet, a 223 and then (2) 22-250's. Most of the shooting gets done with the rimfires until the dogs get smart and then the centerfires come out! Just recently picked up a 204 so I can't wait to ring it our on some dogs! Main thing is to just go have fun, shoot as much as you can and smile alot!

 

[Stonyman88]

480 minutes in a 8 hour day, so 800-1000 rounds is 2-3 rounds a minute, where are all those PD living , or you shoot them after their dead,?

 

[badseed]

If you find a good dog town, its easy to shoot a few hundred rounds a day. The key like everybody else has mentioned is to have multiple rifles. This allows time for rifles to cool off get cleaned and fired again. The wind usually dictates which caliber works best. Rimfire is great up close but my experience in wyoming is that wind can almost make the rimfires useless unless the dogs are crawling on you. I use different calibers for different ranges and wind conditions. Everything from 17hmr to 6.5cm. The moral of the story is that PD hunts are a blast and there are plenty of caliber options that will work just fine.

 

[meatyrem]

I recently upgraded my 22-250 to a 22 Creedmoor. I was strongly thinking about getting into prairie dog hunting. My question is, how often do y'all go through barrels? It seems like some guys shoot 800-1000rds in a day hunting PDs and I'm pretty sure at that rate a barrel would be close to toast after a couple days or so… am I wrong? If if I'm right though, this may be a more expensive idea than I originally thought! LoL

That's a high volume of rounds. Not that it can't be done but usually there are several rifles involved. I took three but I didn't go through 500 rounds in several days though and once my barrel got warm I set it aside and used the next one to rotate them. It would be a good idea to bring something like an AR 223 where more rounds can be fired per string

 

[Fatcatbuster]

That's a lot of rounds in any rifle I believe. I find my 243 and my 22 Hornet cover my bases here for yotes in Maine. Not many PD here!