Prairie Dog Rifle Question…

[woodnut]

Wow. A lot of good and differing points of views on cartridges. I have been to S.D. ten to twelve years and loved every one of the trips. I take several rifles. In all the trips, I know I've done a round count when back home and they are all at or very near a 200 round day. I started doing 3 days, but quickly found if a rain comes; you lost a 1/3rd of the hunt! Went to a 4 day shoot and liked it better in the last week available so the big momma's would be out.
Over the years I have gravitated to having fun so I shoot the 17 WSM mostly. I also take a 20 PPC, 6 Creedmoor, and a 19 Calhoon. One of my 1st years I took a custom AR in .223 A.I. Back then I didn't dial ranges, just held over with the N.F scope. The reticle had circles on the stadia wires with holes in them so you could see the target inside it. Well, I ran out of dots and was down in the oblong, open "box" at the bottom of the reticle when I finally shot the P.D. at 862 yards! Yes, I know it sounds impossible; but it was witnessed; one of 3 guys was Josh Cluff of HS Precision Rifles, looking thru a very hi end , rangefinding binocular. Never got another long shot again, til a 6 Creedmoor hit at 700. The winds really play hob with you in S.D.! I was very, very fortunate to have made the shot with very little breeze. I had people say "impossible!". But my55gr. bullet was leaving the barrel at 3600fps, (remember, it's an A.I.) and has been proven to be still sonic beyond the 862 yds. I hit it.
Get rifles you can shoot. Have fun. Don't worry about wearing them out; just rotate between several rifles. again, have fun!

 

[orkan]

If you want a true 1000rnd per day colony varmint cartridge, that's a .22 or 6mm BRA. I've run up near that with a .20-223AI as well. I think a .20 BRA could do it too... but not with 55gr bergers. All that bearing surface puts a lot of heat in the barrel on that little bore.

Yet for that kind of volume, it means a completely brain dead town... so a rimfire such as a 17WSM is generally a better option. I killed 586 in one day with a 17WSM last year. That's the most I've ever killed in one day, and it was 6hrs of non-stop shooting and reloading the magazine.

I live here with the pdogs, so I'm shooting them constantly. Prairie dogs is one of those things you can't get wrong. Kind of like drawing. You do it your way, and everyone else will do it their way, and fun will be had.

My way is the 1-round-1-kill-minimum suppressor required. So every shot gets a precise range and a precise dial or hold, with the expectation that every round should hit. Doubles, triples, and quads erase misses. I don't like being out with the "bang bang bang" miss everything crowd.

-----------
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe on YouTube
Amazon Affiliate

 

[Grey Goast]

Warning Vista Outdoors the parent company to many firearms businesses will be raising the prices on ammo 1-7 percent and primers 5 percent and powder 7 percent this includes alliant powder 10 percent (limited availability) This supposed to start January 1st, 2024.

 

[Hugnot]

A 5 % increase of something unavailable (large rifle primers) is witless.

For me the .20P is the best (like for my use) for volume PD shooting - cheap reloadable brass, effective to 300 yards plus, price about $22 for 50 as compared to $16 per 50 .17 HMR not including .223 reloadable brass. Compare that with .17HMR ammo having certain effective range of 125 yards. I could tote around 1,000 rounds of .17 HMR ammo easier than 1,000 rounds of .20 P.

 

[del2les]

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

On a good day/week, I've averaged 500+ rds/day with 1,500-3,000rds in a 3-5 day shoot. We take several rifles each and some handguns, and most of those are in 222, 223, some 20cals, then the 6mm varieties, and I have used a 25-06 in years past but not so much now.

Every rifle is switched out after 50 rds for cooling, if needed, and light cleaning and to avoid excessive wear, so we have found that helps longevity. However, after a good season, it is not uncommon for some barrels to be replaced annually or every couple of years. I have one 222Rem barrel with 5,500+rds through it that still shoots ok, but bullet seating is way out. So, it is about time to change.

 

[Jim’s Hunt]

My favorite PD rifle is the 222 Remington dealt accurate and easy on barrels

 

[comfisherman]

I don't think I've ever shot a thousand rounds of Centerfire, but have in conjunction with rimfire. Admittedly not all well thought out perfectly placed shots, have several 17 caliber rimfire autoloaders and they can burn through some ammo. Also like to take a 22 wmr pistol for tooling around the smaller draws and fields. Thos rack up rounds pretty quick.

 

[dug]

lately , we have been going twice a yr ,May and June are the best for us .
outfitters have been leasing up ranches to secure buissness ,
so the days of getting permission to hunt on ranches are fading away.
i have a chunck of property but no dogs on it .
i have been running 3-4 ar's 223 and 2 bolt guns 204,260 rem
i pack 100 round each for bolt guns and 200 each for ar's.
two days hunts 300-500 rounds are spent ,i hunt with a friend and he packs bigger cals , he likes everything creed , he owns more cals than my wife has shoes ! Shots are 200 yrds to 600 for the bulk of shooting. I have access to free once fired LC brass so 223 is 80% of ammo used . The farther shots are after weeding out the town ,or if they are educated to gunfire .
back in the day towns were multiple acres wide and deep.
last 8-10 yrs they are smaller and less populated.
last yr we traveled to ND and two day total round count was <200
It was the worst ,as most of the time was spent driving around on the ranch looking for towns .
rimfire can be fun at close range but the splatt factor just isnt there .
i put more barrel wear on at my range than on Pdog hunts .
i load my own ammo and rebarrel rifles myself. Some say that helps keep cost down. I find because you can do it yourself you will build more stuff !
any rifle ur shooting passed 400 or so ,for me and my old eyes, requires a 20-30X scope with good turrets to dial with. 3-4 rifles so equipped is $6K-$8K just for glass, but that is a one time purchase unlike barrels, ammo .
buying cheaper glass and a moa or mil retical can save money with hold over technique .
even with the 22 creed i would not worry about barrel wear , shoot ten rounds stand the rifle up with bolt open to cool down and shoot the next rifle in rotation , repeat .
it is a great way to learn wind and different shooting positions, if a diverse rifle range isnt available.

 

[island2019]

I have 3 thatI use. Average 200-300 shots per weekend. No shots under 300 yards.
1. 300- 350 yards.223 AR15
2. 300-400 yards 6x45mm AR15
3.300-600+yards 224 Valkyrie Bolt gun and AR15. The .223 and 6x45 have 1000s of rounds down the barrels. The .224 Valkyries are my go to rifles/calibres. I have shot both out to 1150 yards on steel and 600+ yards on prairie dogs. Very under rated cartridge IMO. I shoot 85.5 Bergers and 88 ELDM.

 

[skipglo]

If you have the time AND can afford to shoot 1000 Rds a day of anything but .22 LR.......a barrel every 2 days shouldn't even be a consideration! BUT MAN...what a day it would be!

 

[dogz]

I have 3 thatI use. Average 200-300 shots per weekend. No shots under 300 yards.
1. 300- 350 yards.223 AR15
2. 300-400 yards 6x45mm AR15
3.300-600+yards 224 Valkyrie Bolt gun and AR15. The .223 and 6x45 have 1000s of rounds down the barrels. The .224 Valkyries are my go to rifles/calibres. I have shot both out to 1150 yards on steel and 600+ yards on prairie dogs. Very under rated cartridge IMO. I shoot 85.5 Bergers and 88 ELDM.

No shots sub 300 yards, I like where your head is at!

Get out there, hike around and shoot them offhand, sitting etc. Then you're learning something....just a thunk. Shooting a bunch of pups off a table at close range is about as exciting as kissing you grandma

 

[del2les]

If you have the time AND can afford to shoot 1000 Rds a day of anything but .22 LR.......a barrel every 2 days shouldn't even be a consideration! BUT MAN...what a day it would be!

Yea. The good ol days of $12/1m primers, $40/4# of H335 and $75/1m of Speer TNT 50gr to get 1K of 222Rem or 223 ammo are long gone, but for a couple of big shoots per year, it is still cheaper than my friends vacation trips and other hobbies many have.

Today, I can find SRP's for $80/1m, H335 for $35/lb, Speer TNT 50gr $125/1m, so I can still throw together 1k 222Rem's/223's for about $350/ea.

 

[dogz]

Course 1K round days are about as common at trips to the moon for most of us

Real world, if you have a 400 round day you're doing extremely well.

 

[budlight]

An 800-1000 round day may be hard on barrels, but they are great for the psyche.

You'll remember them for years.

A 2 rifle (at least) solution is a .223 or such for close to moderate, and something else for distance.

I've only managed to shoot 1500 rounds in 3 day's and I was tired of shooting. The hours of looking through the scopes with heat waves blurs your vision. I take three 20 inch ar's .223's and my trusty 26 inch barrel 243 for the long shots.

I have a quad with a welded up padded shooting bar across my front rack so I can pull up to a field and commence shooting. When gun one gets warm it's gun two, and then three. bulk hollow point 55's or varmigedon 55 gr. soft points are good for 300 yards with match grade barrels. 62 gr hpbt's do a good job in the wind.

When I was a kid I owned a 22-250 and I reloaded thousands of shells. Semi autos like ar15's can be made to shoot quarter sized 200 yard groups and follow up shots are easy because the scope never comes off the target. I use big 8x32x 60 mm scopes and generally have the scope up around 30 power all the time.