6BR for prairie dogs ?

[Tommie]

Tommie - totally agree, BUT of course to each his own. I’m a fan of 70 grain bullets & lighter for prairie dogs. Repetitively, a prairie dog at 300 or less is a dead dog....I mean Dude.

A 55, 58, 65 or 70 grain bullet will easily shoot past 400 with consecutive hits. Done it. Watched it. Measured it. Continuesly expect it. Will do it again and again....

The one factor that changes the hit rate for all PD’s shooters is the wind, which doesn’t care what weight bullet your pounding down range. It can be a challenge for even the best dog/paper shooters with high wind that can change direction quicker then you can react.

In my experience lighter bullets in a heavy rifle with a muzzle brake is the most enjoyable. But some shooters don’t like brakes.

I must say I’ve shot lots and lots of prairie dogs, I used about every varmint cartridge at one time or another....... But, set up a few fellas or gals with tack driving 6BR’s shooting light bullets that know how to shoot them.....you’ll hear popping dogs all day long and yes at 400 and beyond.....never the less I’m not trying to change anyone’s opinion......merely state my experience.

There’s a reason I’ve chambered a pile of slow twist zero freebore 6BR’s.....the guys I shoot with would definitely shoot their fast twist 6BR’s if they they saw an advantage in the dog town.....perhaps the towns we shoot offer more dogs??

Agreed. Somewhere along the line folks have decided that higher BC means better “wind bucking” (a term that has yet to be defined). Boiled down to its essence, ballistic coefficient predicts what percentage of muzzle velocity will be lost at a given distance. That’s it. I suspect people think their high BC bullet is (ugh I hate this term) bucking the wind while actually it’s because at longer distance the bullet sheds less of the initial velocity and has a shorter TIME OF FLIGHT than a lower BC bullet. As we all know there aint no free lunch. Getting back to the prairie dog discussion we see that indeed the higher BC bullet eventually surpasses the lower BC bullet. Eventually. Because in addition to increased recoil and other associated dynamics of the heavier projectile, the other toe-stub is reduced muzzle velocity. Short range benchrest shooters discovered long ago that the tiniest groups are generally found with light bullets at the highest speed their PPC/BR or whatever would push them. It’ll all about time of flight. The less time the bullet is exposed to gravity and wind is the winning ticket. As distance increases certainly bullet BC must increase but only to maintain the shortest time of flight. Notice how I keep saying “time of flight”?

 

[RabbitSlayer]

I shoot 6 creed at em, but I will probably go with 6br next time for the barrel life. You can often get closer shots if you walk rather than setting up a bench near the truck.

 

[birdog]

A fast twist and heavy rig in a 6BR and 65 grain at “Warp speed Scotty” gives dramatic results. Spell splat or lift how ever you prefer. Sounds like you dropped a ripe melon on a concrete floor.

The extra spin factor of the 8 twist gives extra expolsive value for sure. Accuracy is still good with 8 twist in light bullets

 

[JSH]

Walk, get closer, 6CM, why?
I myself don’t make it habit too stroll through prairie dog towns. Not going to lay down and shoot prone either, unless it’s in the bed of the truck.

 

[JLT]

Agreed. Somewhere along the line folks have decided that higher BC means better “wind bucking” (a term that has yet to be defined). Boiled down to its essence, ballistic coefficient predicts what percentage of muzzle velocity will be lost at a given distance. That’s it. I suspect people think their high BC bullet is (ugh I hate this term) bucking the wind while actually it’s because at longer distance the bullet sheds less of the initial velocity and has a shorter TIME OF FLIGHT than a lower BC bullet. As we all know there aint no free lunch. Getting back to the prairie dog discussion we see that indeed the higher BC bullet eventually surpasses the lower BC bullet. Eventually. Because in addition to increased recoil and other associated dynamics of the heavier projectile, the other toe-stub is reduced muzzle velocity. Short range benchrest shooters discovered long ago that the tiniest groups are generally found with light bullets at the highest speed their PPC/BR or whatever would push them. It’ll all about time of flight. The less time the bullet is exposed to gravity and wind is the winning ticket. As distance increases certainly bullet BC must increase but only to maintain the shortest time of flight. Notice how I keep saying “time of flight”?

You're correct that time of flight is the 600 lb. gorilla for this question, however, the mass of the bullet remains important. Newton's 1st and 2nd Laws of Motion intimate the importance of the moment of inertia, which is directly proportional to the mass of the body in question. A greater unbalanced force (the wind, in this case) is required to overcome the moment of inertia of a greater mass (heavier bullet, in this case) and, once overcome, the acceleration along the new vector of motion relative to the original vector is also directly proportional to the mass of the object. More mass tends to be better when the unbalanced force (the wind) cannot be directly and precisely observed.

As I've seen it written on this site, "Up and down is math. Side to side is voodoo." It is voodoo because that vast ocean of air we shoot through, and all of its dynamics, cannot be directly and precisely observed. I wish I could give attribution - there is wisdom in this statement.

 

[RabbitSlayer]

Walk, get closer, 6CM, why?
I myself don’t make it habit too stroll through prairie dog towns. Not going to lay down and shoot prone either, unless it’s in the bed of the truck.

I walk with a 17 hornet or 223. The 6cm weighs over 20lbs and never leaves the bench. I sit in a low chair with sticks or shoot off fence posts. I get way more than my friends by walking in the afternoon.You can get to dogs that have never been shot at. I set up the bench mornings and evenings. I don't ever shoot prone.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I've shot pdogs with my 6br using a Hornaday 105 Amax. This year I may use the easy button and go with my comp 105 amax load or try the 87 vmax. I've seen good success with the 75 and 87 vmax on pdogs.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I've shot pdogs with my 6br using a Hornaday 105 Amax. This year I may use the easy button and go with my comp 105 amax load or try the 87 vmax. I've seen good success with the 75 and 87 vmax on pdogs.

Why not just shoot the new 80 eldvt and get the best of both worlds?

 

[dusterdave173]

I am taking a 6BR this year along with my 223's --I will be using the 6BR 8 twist for "bragging" shots way on out there--at this moment I am like DGd6mm plan on taking my 107 Sierra load that is aces at 600 yards and I am hoping to tag up on one at 1000 yds early or late in the day when wind slacks off
I shot at some fat ones over 1100 last year with an 85.5 Berger in my 7 twist 223--I could get within a foot or so --the wind was too much for my skill level so I figure if I can do that --I can tag one with my trusty 6BR
I may try some of the 80 ELDVT if I get a chance
My 223's are plenty good to 500 so the 6BR is going to be for the long shots
I agree with many --inside 300 or so is real fun--easy as pie and I love that "pop" but I have a Lot of fun working the really long ones
I made a couple at 640 last year with a 223 and 85.5 Berger so .................
Can't wait!!!

 

[Dgd6mm]

Why not just shoot the new 80 eldvt and get the best of both worlds?

Maybe someday, but for now I'm going to use what I have on hand.

 

[AlNyhus]

For 'dog shooting, the Nosler 55 BTip (.276 B.C.) in a zero free bore chamber and a 12-14 twist barrel @ 3600-3700 is like hitting the Easy Button. With a 250 yard zero, the elevation issue is taken care of to 400.

Routinely connecting past 300 in real world prairie conditions is a lot harder than it sounds.

 

[alintx]

6br is the easy button for sure. I take several slow twist, and one 7tw for 80gr blitz. Man they make a mess!! The 7tw will puff 75gr sierras about one out of ten, so I stick with 80s&85s in it. My slow twist ones are all built out of used br barrels, so most are 21 inches or less. The fast twist one is 27 in heavy varmint. I run a suppressor on all of em. Keeps the closer dogs up longer. Good into the wind!

 

[NCVarhtr]

Benchmark is a great powder for the lighter bullets and its available ................