300yd + gopher gun

[Joey_Denis]

hi all,

I have my second gopher trip in Montana coming up. The first was great but I definitely brought the wrong hardware. Skip the paragraph to the next to avoid my rambling story. I brought a tc encore .223 and a savage .22lr I built off a cheap savage my wife bought me for our wedding present. Word to the wise...when the wife buys you a gun DO NOT LET HER KNOW YOU ONLY WANTED THE ACTION AND ARE GOING TO SCRAP/SELL THE REST...SHE WILL NOT UNDERSTAND LOL. I went to Montana with some goals in mind. The little 22 or I built I wanted one at 200 yd and the 223 I want one over 350. This is on a farm I deer hunt each year and all shooting is done laying in the dirt off a bipod. My results were great but again...wrong hardware. ENDED UP TAKING ABOUT 250 in the course of two days. Set up in a gopher colony and ranged a mound at 252yds. Settled in behind the .22lr...Checked my range card I calculated in excel and taped to the scope, dialed In The distance and comp for what I judged as a 15mph crosswind, settled in on the head (thinking that may give me some elevation relief if my calcs were off on the range card) on this rifle was a lucid L5 6-25x50 (decent for the money, happy on the 22 but won't buy another) squeezed off the modified factory trigger and down he went. Couldn't believe it. I thought my 200yd goal was a stretch. This was the guns first round in the field and it performed. However any less than perfect head shot left a gopher flopping on the ground in agony, which drove me to put the gun away rather quickly. Although they are a pest for the farmers and their cows, if I'm not putting them out quickly and humanely, I'll adjust. The 350yd on the encore was a bit tougher. Great gun. Even with cheap glass will do sub Moa at 100 with my hand loads. Cheap 3x9 Nikon buck master scope. So ultimately guessing holdover and wind age. Not to mention at that distance the crosshair is bigger than the animals head... Still made the shot eventually. The bigger problem was reloading the rifle on the bipod with the break open action and trying to keep the muzzle out of the dirt. Long story short, wrong hardware.

To fix this problem, I have built myself an ar-15 chambered in .20 practical topped with vortex glass. Gun has patterned easy 1/2 moa. Great shooter. Confident out to 300yds. Now looking to extend the range.

I want something that will get me consistent kills in the 300-600yd ranges.
I have a Remington 700 action that is going to be blue printed. What I'm wondering is what caliber do you suggest to chamber? I was leaning toward a 22br or a 6br. But know there is so much more out there. This will not be a competition gun. Just looking for a deadly gopher/coyote gun. Thinking of mounting in an mdt chassis and springing for night force glass on top. It want this thing to print bug holes on the bench and drop them in the field. What about ppcs, 22 or 6? I've read on them but they state they are best in shorter ranges. I'm wide open on caliber choices here.

Please let me know your thoughts. I'm relatively new to building in this state and looking to learn from those who know more than I!
Thanks!

 

[long40shot]

For my next barrel, I'm really considering a 243 ackley, with a 8 twist barrel . I think for a coyote/varmint rig that wouldn't see high volume shooting, it would be hard to beat.

Matt

 

[swd]

6BR, 6 Dasher, 6x47 Lapua, 243 or 243 Ackley will all get the job nicely.

 

[onelastshot]

6mmAI 26 inch heavy barrel and you're all set. With the right scope you can shoot 800-1000 yards.

 

[Nomad47]

Don't overlook the 6SLR, 6XC and 6 Competition Match.
The latter requires fireforming, the first 2 don't.

 

[powderbrake]

I suggest the 6mmBR. I previous shot p dogs with a 223 in an AR, switched to 22-250 in a bolt gun, and have gone to 6mmBR with a no turn neck, 8 twist. It is more accurate than the 22-250, and I shoot a heavier bullets with better ballistic coefficients. Hitting 300+ yard dogs is no problem.

 

[AckleymanII]

I know that money may be tight. High volume shooting requirements(Colony Varmints) are different than low volume requirements of the coyote hunting.

 

[Phil]

6 BR, 8 twist, Rem. Varmint barrel, Harrells brake, Stocky`s LRP stock, Jewell trigger, 20 power scope of your choice.....

 

[John Russell]

I know that money may be tight. High volume shooting requirements(Colony Varmints) are different than low volume requirements of the coyote hunting.

What Ackman said. For gophers, a 20 VT, a 20 Tac or a really good 223 is ideal - with a larger case, you can ruin a barrel on a gopher town in 2 days... or have to space out the shots so much, that the fun is gone.

For coyotes, an off the rack 22-250 is ideal. 'yotes are large and not hard to hit.

 

[MrMajestic]

For coyotes, an off the rack 22-250 is ideal. 'yotes are large and not hard to hit.

Careful many of us have missed 'um too!

 

[onelastshot]

Read this article: http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek042/

 

[mattri]

For your application a 6BR would be ideal. Excellent accuracy, plenty of lethality and a case capacity that isn't too hard on barrels.

 

[nmjwolf]

I'd consider just building another upper in 6mm fatrat...very good caliber.

 

[jepp2]

I want something that will get me consistent kills in the 300-600yd ranges.

I'm certainly not an expert and I did NOT sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But I did shoot over 4300 prairie dogs this year.

I don't know what sort of hit percentage you need to meet your criteria of consistent hits. But when you are shooting between 300 and 600 yards, I would have many more misses than hits. When you add in the small margin for error in yardage estimation and wind, knowing where you are missing will be essential to making adjustments. What might make a great long range ground hog gun, isn't what I would want to use on pasture poodles.

Heat build up and recoil work against shooting PD's. I shoot by myself, so being able to see the bullet strike is essential. Going above a .224 bullet works against this. But I shoot mostly under 300 yards. When I do stretch it out further, I find the Varmint Hunter reticle in Leupold scopes really helps. It is also a great reference for windage. Based on the first round, I know how much to adjust for the second.

But it is your rifle and I don't know your hunting style. I shoot more 20 cal (204 Ruger, 20 Practical, 20 Bobcat) than anything else. And when I shoot .224 it is mostly 40 grain bullets.

 

[daniel brothers]

Onelastshot.... that was a very good article... makes me want one

 

[Joey_Denis]

Onelastshot.... that was a very good article... makes me want one

Thanks all for all of the great information! The 6FatRat is interesting...I have never seen that configuration...Any experience on feeding reliability with that steep shoulder? I truly appreciate all of the feedback!

 

[ratbuster]

If you go with a cartridge bigger than 223 you will be faced with extra barrel heat and recoil will typically preclude seeing your hits. If you do go the higher power route I suggest your rifle is heavy (15-25 lbs) and has a muzzle brake.

A 20 Practical or Tactical with the 40 grain varmint bullets have better trajectory and only give up a minor amount of wind bucking ability over the 6mm BR:

600 yards, 10 mph crosswind at 5000' altitude:
20P, 40 gn Vmax @ 3800 fps = 51" drop, 30" drift
6mmBR, 87 gn Vmax @ 3000 fps = 76" drop, 28" drift

You could use a 105 gn bullet with the 6mm BR which has about 30% less wind drift over the 20P, depending on distance, but then you are adding even more recoil

 

[Ksmirk]

You can build a 6mm but your going to have to watch the heat, I LOVE to hit those long range pasture maggots with my 243 but she gets hot rather quick! might not be as cool but a straight or ackley 223 fast twist shooting 75-80gr bullets might be a better idea? heck some of the guys are really having good luck out to 1K with a 223 ackley and the 90gr bullets! I'd look at the 75gr Amax as they tend to come apart better and not skip into the next field over and drop farmer Joe's ol' milk cow. Just a suggestion form this guy. Later,

Kirk

 

[drover]

I'm certainly not an expert and I did NOT sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But I did shoot over 4300 prairie dogs this year.

I don't know what sort of hit percentage you need to meet your criteria of consistent hits. But when you are shooting between 300 and 600 yards, I would have many more misses than hits. When you add in the small margin for error in yardage estimation and wind, knowing where you are missing will be essential to making adjustments. What might make a great long range ground hog gun, isn't what I would want to use on pasture poodles.

Heat build up and recoil work against shooting PD's. I shoot by myself, so being able to see the bullet strike is essential. Going above a .224 bullet works against this. But I shoot mostly under 300 yards. When I do stretch it out further, I find the Varmint Hunter reticle in Leupold scopes really helps. It is also a great reference for windage. Based on the first round, I know how much to adjust for the second.

But it is your rifle and I don't know your hunting style. I shoot more 20 cal (204 Ruger, 20 Practical, 20 Bobcat) than anything else. And when I shoot .224 it is mostly 40 grain bullets.

Good advice there. I suggest that you stay with a factory cartridge because if you get into them hot and heavy it is possible to go through a lot of ammo and if you are like me case-forming is not real high on the list of things I enjoy doing.

In certain places we have had practically a plague of them in our area for the last few years, it is not unusual to go through 500-600 rounds of rimfire and 200 or more centerfire rounds, depending on the setup. I have one place that is mainly centerfire shooting and I have gone through 500 rounds a day there (using multiple rifles so that I don't burn out the barrels), so be prepared when you go.


drover

 

[sscoyote]

Don't know how many PD's I've shot and seen shot over the past 40 years, but I was addicted to it for many of those 40. Although I haven't shot it much, my intuition tells me the 69 TMK out of a 223 would certainly fulfill most of my requirements if I built another gun for just that purpose.