Prairie Dog Cartridge

[CJ6]

As mentioned take 3 guns....22 rf, 223 and one of your hunting/deer/elk guns (just to stretch it out a bit)

 

[urbanrifleman]

How do you like the Masterpiece Chassis?

I have four of them. My favorite platform that is not an Elisio.

I have sold a lot of them.

 

[PainterJohn]

I have taken five rifles with me more than once.

I like my 17HMR Cooper LVT out to 150yds and sweep those first. A Ruger 77/17 with a trigger job and Lilja as a walking gun. Then a pair of Savage LRPV's in 223. Good out to 300 for me. Lastly an LRPV in 6mmBR for long shots. Fun, but it really see's the least amount of shooting I do on PD's. You can't beat the value of the Savage LRPV's. More gun than you are paying for and perfect for the particular task at hand. Put the savings in ammo as you will need a boatload. The 20 cal's are the next for me up if I retire the 223's. I have all the shooting I can handle out to 400 yds typically. 500 rounds per day isn't uncommon. Three days of shooting out west and I'm ready for a break. The 17's wear Sightron Big Sky 4-16x42 and the 223 Bench guns have Sightron S-III's in 8-32x56. They get blurry at around 25x but I do turn them up and enjoy seeing the hits. If it's hot there is going to be mirage at a much lower power of course.

As other folks have mentioned, good Bino's are a must. Buy the best glass you can afford. The most used piece of hunting equipment you will ever own. Spotting shots and just glassing produces a lot of eye fatigue. Good glass helps make that more bearable. Don't forget the sunscreen and a nice light hat / clothing. Sunglasses would be a good idea. We hit South Dakota one time and the temp was 112 the day we arrived.

Should be the most stress free and enjoyable "hunt" you can do. It's really not hunting to me, it's flat out killing. ENJOY!

 

[209jones]

Certainly no shortage of good ideas here from the above folk, a good .22LR, a 20cal is great if you are inclined that way, I wouldn't shoot anything bigger than a 50gr .22 bullet at gophers, waste of perfectly good bullets. I load 40gr in my 218Bee and .223 these days and get some pretty respectable velocities out of both. Take my lawn chair, a tripod with my bag on top for a rest, big hat, plenty of liquids, and plink away. Used a 6.5-20x40 on center fires, 2.5-10x50 on the .22LR, I have fancier scopes these days, but, they are on other guns, those two are good enough for gophers, along with a cheap spotting scope I can use to keep an eye on the rest of the field with.

 

[ken158]

Your post said you were going to build a gun for PD’s. The .223 would be a great start and then you can fit a .20 Practical or a .20 Tactical barrel to your build for a switch barrel gun. I have spent a week a year on a PD safari for the past 12 years and learn something new to fine tune my equipment on every hunt. I have shot 17 HMR which is fun for close range and then .204, .20 Tac, .223, 22 PPC, 6x45 and 6 PPC. The .20 Tac and a .223 with go next year. Just keep in mind that your targets are 2 pound critters and easy to dispatch so accuracy should be your objective as well as a caliber that allows you to see your hits without knocking you off the scope.

 

[stosh]

Been several times and usually take 4 or 5 guns, carry 3 with me on sxs. 17hmr,223 cooper,223 rock river ar with varmint barrel,22-250,6x47 L. This is so one can cool while i shoot another, naturally they have range limitations. I love the 17hmr because i don't have to reload! But if i could only have one gun it would be 223. cheap to load for and not a barrel burner. I have to say the ar is the most fun! Just can't keep clips loaded!

 

[dantiff2]

At least the prairie dogs are not as bad as hogs! :O

 

[STS]

I've been shooting prairie dogs for over 60 years. Shot several 100,000 rounds.
Hit a fair number of the critters. Used many different weapons and cartridges.
We're I in your position I would go with 20practical 11 twist and 40 vmax bullets.
If I was forced to use a 223 I would use 40 or 50 grain bullets from a 12 twist barrel. There are a lot of ways to enjoy the sport. I like to sit at a bench and shoot out to 400 yards or so. Fast and flat is your friend! 40 grain vmax in 20 caliber is capable of much farther. Not so with the 223. Heavy for caliber bullets in a 223 do not interest me. I won't shoot prairie dogs with 50 cents apiece bullets out of a 22 caliber rifle. If I do want to show off I have numerous rifles that can shoot fast and flat much farther.

^^^^^^ This right here. I can always tell when someone is talking about P-dogging and has been there and done that. I've whacked 70 or 80K of them I would guess, and the info from Hotshot is exactly what I would do if I were in your shoes. The 20's are remarkable. I shot a little over 100 of them day before yesterday when it was in the upper 50's. The 20 Practical is pretty tough to beat.
PS. Take a good range finder.

 

[sw282]

You can kill a bunch of dogs in side 300.

After 300 they don't blow up as well. Hit with a 40gr VMAX @3600fps from my Cooper 21 Varmint in 222 sends
them to Prairie Dog Heaven in P I E C E S. You can sometimes hear that special POP too!

 

[searcher]

At least the prairie dogs are not as bad as hogs! :O

So much for donating meat to charities...... Still - I like it!

 

[markT]

I've been shooting prairie dogs for over 60 years. Shot several 100,000 rounds.
Hit a fair number of the critters. Used many different weapons and cartridges.
We're I in your position I would go with 20practical 11 twist and 40 vmax bullets.
If I was forced to use a 223 I would use 40 or 50 grain bullets from a 12 twist barrel. There are a lot of ways to enjoy the sport. I like to sit at a bench and shoot out to 400 yards or so. Fast and flat is your friend! 40 grain vmax in 20 caliber is capable of much farther. Not so with the 223. Heavy for caliber bullets in a 223 do not interest me. I won't shoot prairie dogs with 50 cents apiece bullets out of a 22 caliber rifle. If I do want to show off I have numerous rifles that can shoot fast and flat much farther.

Not wanting to be controversial, what all is involved in building and ammo for a 20 practical? I have a 223 AI (40 gr a max) and I love it. Would like to explore the .20 caliber.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Mark, I put together an AR upper in 20p. I had purchased 250 LC brass formed 20p from a seller on Saubier several years before. I size(shoulder/body) my fired brass with a RCBS fl 223 die I already had. I found a Redding 223 nk bushing die on clearance to size the neck(.225). Load and shoot. 32 and 40 gr vmax are a hoot. Possibly some day a bolt gun build.

 

[L.Sherm]

what all is involved in building and ammo for a 20 practical?

Its a simple neck down 223 brass with the proper bushings and shoot

 

[Greyfox]

Lots of good info in this thread, similar to many over the years if you choose to do a search. Next year will be my 24th season with sometimes 2-3 trips in one year. I'll be brief as most of the important stuff has been said, sometimes multiples. Couple of things though, be sure and take more than one rig, three is even better along with more than one good scope. Reason, something will get screwed up and if you don't have backup you will be a very sad puppy. I lean toward 40 VM in either 204 or 223 cal. One or two mentioned a 20 VT. Great platform with minimal noise and recoil. My favorite hunting style is either bipod and stool as a walkabout or my gator with three rifles, water and ammo, sand bags and shooting sticks. Gives you the mobility to move around without wearing you out. Our little group usually has 7-8 so mobility can get space for everybody.
We nearly always camp. Enjoy the company and conversation, that's possibly the best part of the trip.

Rick

 

[sporty]

I love my 22-250 Ackley with 50 grain noslers. My newer gun is a 20 cal BR. A 6 mmBR necked down with 40 grain V- max bullets. I really love it but have not shot enough yet. My early prairie dog shooting years made me stop using all my 223 guns. Wind and distance were issues. Sure, at first you can do ok with .17 and 223 weapons but i wanted more speed and less wind deflection. The high speed 22-250 Ackley and 20 cal 40 grain served up well for me. I load hot with both going over 4000 FPS. They shoot consistently out to about 525 yards. I did go crazy and have the rifles built custom.

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

I didn't see (or failed to notice) any mention of suppressed setups. Shooting suppressed keeps more dogs up and makes it real easy to get follow-on shots if needed. When the first unsuppressed shot rings out, they react. Ammo doesn't have to be subsonic either. Both 17HMR & 223 suppressed work very well.

Temp stable powder will help avoid speed shifts. Varget, Benchmark are my go-to powders for 223

 

[Logbuilder35]

Looks like most on here say 223 but I built a 20 practical on an AR platform and never looked back
Either one will work fine

 

[lgwatson]

I have an opportunity to go prairie dog hunting with a buddy next year in Montana. I currently don't have a suitable rifle for high volume blasting, so I would plan to build a rifle for the job. I am wanting to build something based around the .223 simply because of the affordability of 1000 pieces of once fired processed Lake City brass. I have never gone prairie dog hunting or high volume varmint hunting, so I want to make sure I bring plenty of ammo and I don't care if I burn up a barrel in one trip as long as I have a good time! I have been debating on 3 potential cartridges, 20 Practical, 223 Remington, and 6x45 (6mm-223) with 55-65gr bullets. Ballistically the 20 with 39/40gr bullets and the 223 with 50-55gr bullets are very similar and I don't see an advantage to either option, however I have no real world experience with either cartridge for varminting. Running the numbers, the 6x45 isn't as flat shooting and drifts a little more in the wind, but I have access to old 6mm benchrest barrels so that is attractive but not a huge selling point. Any input or opinions on these cartridges for prairie dogs would be appreciated. Thank you!

.223 Remington, Savage 12 FCV action, Kreiger 9 twist, light varmint barrel with 55BKs and 52 Berger varmint bullets work well for me out to a little over 300. Also have used a 6X47 Lapua for longer shots. This year, I got a 22BR set up on a Remington action using 52 Bergers varmint bullets. I've only had it out once and it's deadly. For the longer shot, the X47 is more effective. The problem with long range is the loose nut (me) on the end of the stock.

 

[bar_n]

I built a 223AI for the brass reason that you listed, it does everything I need it to do on PDs at any sane distance. 0 freebore, 1/12 twist, .252 neck. No neck turning with Lake City brass. 3700 fps with 53 grain v maxes, 4200 with 40 V maxes on a warm day. Both shoot one hole groups. I normally shoot the 40s out to 350 when it’s calm, 53s are good to 500 or if there’s a breeze. Couldn’t be happier with 223AI for what I’m doing with it, it’s sweet running small primers and not burning 40-45 grains of powder every shot. 20 Practical/tactical does look like a fun one, I wouldn’t fault you a bit for trying those out.

 

[shrapnel]

I don’t understand the infatuation with heavy bullets and the 223. I live within 100 miles of all the prairie dogs I can shoot. I have dozens of dedicated varmint rifles from 17 HMR to 6mm Remington. The 223, which may not be my favorite, is still an excellent choice with a 40 grain VMax at around 3600fps. For most prairie dog shooting that combination works well…