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.243 or Another 6mm For Prarrie Dogs

centershot

I have a .223 A.I. for prarrie dogs. Would like to have a 6 mm also. I know that many prarrie dog shooters have said the .243 is too much recoil. I like the idea of everything being available, cases,etc. I like the idea of the 6 mm Benchrest as cases are available. If I were to go that route, Savage is about the only factory rifle available. Any other thoughts of opinions? Do not desire to go with another wild cat.
 
I use 17 Fireball, 223, 243 with a slow twist for light bullets and I am in the process of putting together a fast twist 6BR for longer range shots.
 
centershot said:
I have a .223 A.I. for prarrie dogs. Would like to have a 6 mm also. I know that many prarrie dog shooters have said the .243 is too much recoil. I like the idea of everything being available, cases,etc. I like the idea of the 6 mm Benchrest as cases are available. If I were to go that route, Savage is about the only factory rifle available. Any other thoughts of opinions? Do not desire to go with another wild cat.
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6-45 same brass as a 223 . And a ton of bench rest bullets to choice from. Larry
 
If you're concerned about the recoil of the 243 (not seeing impacts) add a brake and or build/buy a heavier rig. The 6BR is worth doing IMHO.
 
If you already have smaller calibers for the majority of the PD shooting, a .243 will get the job done for longer ranges but unless it's a really heavy gun the recoil will eliminate seeing hits and misses. A 6BR loaded with 87 grain V-Max bullets will consistently reach 500+ yards (and much further if you're better at wind doping than I am) and will provide excellent terminal ballistics. Of course heavier bullets can be loaded with the 6BR which will stretch effective range but the splattage factor will drop considerably. I've "penciled" varmints and it's a lame deal so I swore off VLD's for live targets. JMHO.
 
Never hunted pdogs but have hunted a ton of ghogs. The 243, with 80 bullets in a 10" twist is an very excellent long range varmint combo. The Sierra 80 Blitz is exceptionally accurate with excellent terminal performance. Both IMR 4350 and 4064 have worked very well for me in the past with 80 grain pills.
 
Issue I see with a 243 is the parent 308 case is rather large, uses lots of powder and burns out barrels rather easily.

Now that's not an issue for groundhogs as a good day might be 20 shots. For prairie dogs, 20 shots an hour would be so slow you would go somewhere else.
 
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