magnums for long range chuck hunting

[maddysdad]

back in the day the boys at williamsport shot groung hogs at long range with thier big magnums and heavy for caliber bullets.do any of you out there still shoot them and what do you use for loads and what are your rifles made up on?example hall g action hart barrel .laminated wood stock....

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I’ve used a 6.5 Rem Mag on prairie dogs before, but not extensively or for long shooting periods. The 6mms will get a long ways out there really accurately and the barrel won’t heat up nearly as fast as a large magnum. Of course shooting chucks isn’t as eventful as PDs or ground squirrels.

Perhaps something built on a version of the SAUM case would be a good idea to achieve what you’re looking for

 

[std7mag]

I've always used my deer hunting rifles on groundhogs.
When i was younger that was a Savage 110 in 30-06. A 165gr Nosler Ballistic Tip does a number on groundhogs.
Now i don't hunt groundhogs so much. The 06' is gone.
But i wouldn't hesitate to use my 7mm Rem Mag on a coyote, or groundhog.

I always figured was good practice with my deer rifle.

 

[17VLD]

I always thought the 300WSM that Richard Franklin used with his 15 twist and 125s at 4000fps was super cool.I understand the benefits of heavy for caliber high b.c.VLDs but light and fast seemed to work for Richard at 1000+yards.The cool thing about chuck shooting is that usually it’s not so fast paced like say pd’s for instance.Check out the Microfit Stock site and look at how far he is able to toss those big eastern chucks at 1000+ yards.
Matt

 

[sscoyote]

Remember reading years ago about a couple guys who were sniping to and beyond 1000 with big bench-mounted 30 cal. wildcat magnums by Bob Bell in one of his books, and that was a long time ago now 70 or 80's I think. Great stuff really.

 

[mensajd]

Custom 240 Wby Mark V with Krieger 1:7.75” twist barrel for bolt gun.

Dtech 243 wssm with Shilen select match 1:8” twist barrel for AR15.

We have it pretty good these days.

 

[1K6BRA]

Just my humble opinion but I always have thought the word magnum is best suited to the original description intended use.A properly set up 6.5 x 284 with a quality scope and lots and lots of practice shooting long range will usually put you in a position depending on where you live in running out of fields long enough to take full use of this cartridge.

 

[DHuffman]

I've shot a lot of prairie dogs with 6.5-284s, 6.5 & 6 Creedmoors and 6 & 6.5x47 Lapuas all running heavy for cal. bullets.
They're more fun and much easier to reach out past 400 yards where there are more shot opportunities.

 

[6MMsteve]

yes a 6x47 65x47 or 65284 will get them at 1500 easy 65284 1700 or more with heavy bullets

 

[Ackman]

Don't need a magnum for rockchucks. I've shot tons of them with guns from 22Mag to 243AI. But probably the most fun is this .257WBY built purposely for 'chucks. Shoots 100gr Sierras at 4000fps and is very destructive on those things. Has a 29" - 12twist Hart barrel, not the more common 10 twist of a .25Cal., and zero freebore chamber. The barrel has a shoulder. Stock and trigger are from Sharpshooter Supply, Burris 8-32 Black Diamond scope. With brake and at 32" overall it's an unwieldy thing in/out of the truck and really just used when setting up on the hood for a spell. Fun to watch what it does to a rockchuck.

 

[Tommie]

Just my opinion on rodent guns-
If you can’t watch impact through the scope, the cartridge is too big or the gun is too light.

 

[Steve morgan]

back in the day the boys at williamsport shot groung hogs at long range with thier big magnums and heavy for caliber bullets.do any of you out there still shoot them and what do you use for loads and what are your rifles made up on?example hall g action hart barrel .laminated wood stock....

223 wssm

 

[284winner]

6.5-284 is perfect for Ground Hogs. Low recoil, High velocity and Great bullets for the longest ranges. Plus it doubles as a deer rifle. Nothing better than getting year round shooting with your deer rig. 140 Amax does the trick for me year after year. Not a magnum cartridge but close enough by definition

 

[drags]

back in the day the boys at williamsport shot groung hogs at long range with thier big magnums and heavy for caliber bullets.do any of you out there still shoot them and what do you use for loads and what are your rifles made up on?example hall g action hart barrel .laminated wood stock....

Years ago we had rifles (7/300wby, 300 wby 6.5x06) built by Howard Wolfe one of the original Williamsport guys. His groundhog rifle was the 7/300 Wby his long-range deer rifle was a 30x378 Wby, he told us he necked a 264 mag. case to 243 and took it groundhog hunting and the first day it was cool and it shot very well but the next day it got warm and the bullets were blowing up in the air, after that they had to keep the bullets in a cooler to finish the hunt.
Drags

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

We don't have many woodchuck, and can't hunt deer with rifles in the farm zone in Mn. But in the early 2000 I picked up a Rem 7saum in a sendero, I used it for coyote. The section road township layout does make it difficult to have a safe long range(+800 yard) shooting situation.

 

[okie]

Just my humble opinion but I always have thought the word magnum is best suited to the original description intended use.A properly set up 6.5 x 284 with a quality scope and lots and lots of practice shooting long range will usually put you in a position depending on where you live in running out of fields long enough to take full use of this cartridge.View attachment 1205217

my buddies preference for women...

 

[joed49]

I've hunted groundhogs in OH since 1978. My rifle of choice is a 700 VS in .25-06 if not in a densely populated area. Closer to home where it's more urban a 700 VS in .22-250.

From the beginning I was taught light bullets for this type of hunting. I got to see one of my friend's that believed in heavy bullets buy a cow, they aren't cheap.