lomg range groundhog guns
- Thread starter maddysdad
- Start date
maddysdad said:
The best L-O-N-G range "prairie dog / woodchuck" rifle I had was a .257 Ackley. It had a 26" / 1-12 twist barrel to shoot 85 grain Nosler Ballistic-Tips. With 54.0grs of IMR 4831 (not H4831) those pills were screaming out of the barrel at 3550 f.p.s. I shot my first Prairie Dog at 500 yards with it>> ON THE FIRST shot. I shot a crow with it ON THE FIRST shot at 440 long-leg paces and I shot a woodchuck (went back to New York for a vacation and took that rifle there) at 375 yards that ONLY had his head sticking out of his hole. Now, obviously, these were not the only varmints I shot with it>>but they do serve to show what that round is capable of..
That's a real good question that's hard to answer, there are a lot of "Best" groundhog calibers and rifles out there. I have a Winchester heavy varmint factory gun in 22-250 that shoot 50gr hornady vmax at 3800fps into one raged hole at 100 yds. I have shot groudhogs and pdogs at 500yds with it. I hunted in ny for years with it and my friend used to say"that gun is haunted, it kills everything you point it at" I have shot several crows at 300yds and literally thousands of pdogs with it!
I also had a custom built 6x47 lapua that would shoot pd's regularly at 500 if I did my job. One of my favorites was a custom 6mm AI that shot like crazy!
I also had a custom built 6x47 lapua that would shoot pd's regularly at 500 if I did my job. One of my favorites was a custom 6mm AI that shot like crazy!
potatoe
Silver $$ Contributor
I have to lean with stacy on this one a little. When shooting the groundhogs 400+ yards, BC is your friend. If you hunt groundhogs I'm sure you know you don't get many second shots so the first shot is very important. For me figuring out my ballistic chart isn't that hard for out to 600 or so yards, many decent calculators are out there and if you know your MV, BC, have a rangefinder and varify your clicks out to at least 300 yards you can come up with a fairly accurate drop. So with that I know my main enemy is the wind so with that I like BC.
With all that bs out of the way, "IF" you can get them to shoot the 87's are a great high BC varmint bullet, 6AI, 240wby, 6mm, .243ai ect could shoot them great with good MV. I personally could never get them to shoot. I would like to try a nice .22 hot rod doing the 75 or 80gr. A-max's but I haven't so I can't praise them on their ability. I have however shot .243 AI, PPCs, 6brs and dasher's at the groundhogs, with the nod going to a 10t dasher pushing 80gr. Ballistic tips 3500+. The 80gr. Noslers are a very good hard hitting groundhog bullet but I'd want to make sure I'm shooting them fast for CONSISTENT kills out to 600 yards, I don't count nor do I like crawl aways.
But this year I have found a new cartridge I really like for groundhogs which is my .284 win. I've shot 162 amax's out of it and they did ok but I really like the 168gr. berger hunting bullets right at 2900fps. The ballistics on this load are very good, I have great wind deflection and a ton of energy when it gets there. The accuracy is more than I thought I would get. I hope I can keep up the good luck with it next year to give more definitive answers but from what I've seen I wouldn't change a thing on it, it's a great long range hammer on groundhogs. I did honestly expect a little more "fling" action than what I get with these heavy bullets but they do just kill them very well, below is a vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf6Or08aNh8
With all that bs out of the way, "IF" you can get them to shoot the 87's are a great high BC varmint bullet, 6AI, 240wby, 6mm, .243ai ect could shoot them great with good MV. I personally could never get them to shoot. I would like to try a nice .22 hot rod doing the 75 or 80gr. A-max's but I haven't so I can't praise them on their ability. I have however shot .243 AI, PPCs, 6brs and dasher's at the groundhogs, with the nod going to a 10t dasher pushing 80gr. Ballistic tips 3500+. The 80gr. Noslers are a very good hard hitting groundhog bullet but I'd want to make sure I'm shooting them fast for CONSISTENT kills out to 600 yards, I don't count nor do I like crawl aways.
But this year I have found a new cartridge I really like for groundhogs which is my .284 win. I've shot 162 amax's out of it and they did ok but I really like the 168gr. berger hunting bullets right at 2900fps. The ballistics on this load are very good, I have great wind deflection and a ton of energy when it gets there. The accuracy is more than I thought I would get. I hope I can keep up the good luck with it next year to give more definitive answers but from what I've seen I wouldn't change a thing on it, it's a great long range hammer on groundhogs. I did honestly expect a little more "fling" action than what I get with these heavy bullets but they do just kill them very well, below is a vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf6Or08aNh8
jghoghunter
Gold $$ Contributor
Ive used a 220 weatherby rocket in a ruger #1 to take groundhogs out 6-700 and pd out to 800. Shooting a 50 gr. nosler ballistic tip at 4150. Ive also used a 257 bob with 100 gr speers on geoundhogs out 600.
This year I killed 389 groundhogs, but not all with one caliber. I shoot on farms of 100-400 ac. and they are in semi-developed areas and for that reason I don't shoot big guns. Over the years I have found that a 20 cal. will reach out there as will a 223 ack imp. If I could have only one gun it would be hard to choose between a 204 and a 20 vartarg.
My longest shots with small cal. are.
20 vt 530 yds. 39 sbk 204 554 yds. 32 vmax 223 ai 650 yds. 53 vmax 223 454 yds. 50 vmax
I will be the first to admit that when the wind is blowing 10-20 or more a high bc bullet is your friend. I would recommend a 204 if you don't load and a 20 vt or 223 ai if you do. If you are looking for the splat factor well the bigger the better.
My longest shots with small cal. are.
20 vt 530 yds. 39 sbk 204 554 yds. 32 vmax 223 ai 650 yds. 53 vmax 223 454 yds. 50 vmax
I will be the first to admit that when the wind is blowing 10-20 or more a high bc bullet is your friend. I would recommend a 204 if you don't load and a 20 vt or 223 ai if you do. If you are looking for the splat factor well the bigger the better.
jghoghunter
Gold $$ Contributor
varmintshooter said:
You are my hero!!!! I can not wait till I have the time it would take to kill 400 groundhogs a year. I'm glad your having fun.
I just reread the op. and I didn't mention the guns I used so here they are. 20 vt in cooper model 38 varminter (my favorite), 204 in cooper classic and cz 527, 223ai is a savage with a cbi 24" 8 twist barrel, and the 223 is a cooper varminter. All wear either 6.5x20 or 8.5x25 scopes and all have harris bi-pods. I think the best gun is the one that makes you most happy.
CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
Groundhogs take a little bit of "smacking", unlike prairie dogs. I have experience with both.
Grew up and spent my working days hunting groundhogs. Sure the 222 Rem and 22-250 worked but for me, when the shots got longer, my 6mm Rem. rifles ruled.
Tried 25-06 for a while. Liked Roberts better for blast and barrel life. The 6MM Remingtons ( owned and built many) just worked out past 400 yards a whole lot better than any 22 bore I used.
When it's windy and you just don't have a perfect handle on the ranges, something in the 80 - 90 gr. 6mm bore sure works well. If I were starting out doing that today I would use a 6mm Dasher instead of the 6mm Rem. Same results and longer barrel life with less powder, shorter action and maybe better accuracy.
Grew up and spent my working days hunting groundhogs. Sure the 222 Rem and 22-250 worked but for me, when the shots got longer, my 6mm Rem. rifles ruled.
Tried 25-06 for a while. Liked Roberts better for blast and barrel life. The 6MM Remingtons ( owned and built many) just worked out past 400 yards a whole lot better than any 22 bore I used.
When it's windy and you just don't have a perfect handle on the ranges, something in the 80 - 90 gr. 6mm bore sure works well. If I were starting out doing that today I would use a 6mm Dasher instead of the 6mm Rem. Same results and longer barrel life with less powder, shorter action and maybe better accuracy.
Low wind type days with maybe small gusts to no wind, 220 Swift.
Wind and gusts, 6mm Remington AI 8).
Wind and gusts, 6mm Remington AI 8).
I agree with several here. The 20's shooting the 40-55's and the mid-sized 22's with the 53-80's kill well to 500 yards. By well I mean anchoring without crawlers when hitting the boiler room and not the CNS which is always good! After that the 6's really come into their own with 85-105 fragile bullets. I am presently working with a 22-.284 that pushes the 80's at 3750 fps however the crop rotation limited my ranges this year and hopefully next season will allow me to stretch it's wings! JMHO and experiences of 40 years of chucking lol
What about a 6.5 Creedmore or a long barreled .243?
I'm thinking of Ruger's RPR which is optimized for long range and is available in both 6.5mm Creedmore (24" barrel) and .243 (26" barrel).
(With the 70 grain Nosler ballistic tip or Varmageddon you ought to be able to get nearly 3700 fps.)
I'm thinking of Ruger's RPR which is optimized for long range and is available in both 6.5mm Creedmore (24" barrel) and .243 (26" barrel).
(With the 70 grain Nosler ballistic tip or Varmageddon you ought to be able to get nearly 3700 fps.)
MarkS
Silver $$ Contributor
I have done all of this, fast 22 cal, big 6mm, 20cal. There is one round that stands out 6mm BR. a 14w will run 70 gr. at 3500 f/s. I have seen kills out to 750 yds. go with a 12 to 8 twist and shoot 87 gr. Vmax and go out to 1000 yds You can not beat the accuracy.
Mark Schronce
Mark Schronce
Used a 7.5 twist 6 Dasher with 117gr DTACs this year on pds and was very happy with it. The DTAC 117s aren't made anymore but some 115s are. Really high bc and even though they aren't that fast at muzzle they are going around the lighter bullets by at least 400 yds and really good in wind with .600 bc. All posts are good just whatever you like.
potatoe
Silver $$ Contributor
Yeah but dtacs are target bullets and a groundhog is tougher than a PD. I don't doubt mark seeing kills out to 750 but in my experience a 6br is a good ground hog gun out to a lot less than that. I shot the 70's out of a dasher almost 200fps more than he was and I would cal that a decent 450yd groundhog gun. Obviously this is just my opinion from my experiences.
Again IMO there aren't any really good choices for a long range varmint bullet for groundhogs other than the 87 vmax and I've never been able to get them to shoot as well as other bullets. That's why I had to go to a hunting bullet
Again IMO there aren't any really good choices for a long range varmint bullet for groundhogs other than the 87 vmax and I've never been able to get them to shoot as well as other bullets. That's why I had to go to a hunting bullet
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