ever wondered what a 50cal. would do to a prairie dog?

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

rammy

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
342
Location
Tennessee
well then check out this site. http://www.dogbegone.com/video.htm

A friend showed it to me today. WARNING : THESE VIDEOS SHOW THINGS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT WISH TO SEE. ALSO KID ALLERT ON THIS ONE.

you may not wont to let the little ones see it and if you have never hunted or actually shoot a living animal then enter at your own risk.

There are several videos to look at. It has me thinking if this is a pro-guide group or just some friends out hunting.
Talk about having enough rifle. Not living in a area that has prairie dogs, are they pretty much open season? I can’t see any reg's book allowing a 50 cal to be used on an actual posted season.
 
It's certainly interesting video. I believe someone linked to it a few months back, but this kind of stuff never gets old.

However, where exactly did you hear (or read) they're using a .50BMG ?
I believe they're using more suitable calibers, such .223 and .22-250.
Certainly never underestimate the destructive effect .22 caliber pills moving upwards of 4,000 fps have on small critters.
 
Disclaimer - No .50 was used in the dismembering of these prairie dogs

From Velocity Films web site:

Q: What kind of firearms were used?

A: Three rifles were used.

1) Savage Model 110 FP in .223

2) Savage Model 12 FV in .22 - 250

3) New England Firearms Sportster in .17 HMR

:D
 
Don't worry! It is safe for kids to watch!

If you play the video backwards, the prairie dog walks away unharmed!
 
Well I took the whole "its'a 50 cal" thing from a firend. I have never shoot a p-dog before so I would not know the differance from a 223 or a 50.. It was just very impressive and with the power of the knock downs or should I say distruction of the p-dog it seamed to fit in my mind.
 
A: Three rifles were used:

1) Savage Model 110 FP in .223

2) Savage Model 12 FV in .22 - 250

3) New England Firearms Sportster in .17 HMR
Click to expand...
I’m having a hard time understanding how these can be .22 or .223 rounds. Rabbits or chipmunks don’t become flying shredded corpses like this when hit with a .22LR. Deer don’t have this degree of tissue damage when hit with .30 something caliber rounds, even hollow point ones. A .22 – 250 or .223 bullet has more charge behind it then a simple .22LR, but I don’t see how it can be enough to cause the carnage in these videos. I definitely don’t believe any of these hits are .17 HMR. I’m guessing they are either using much larger caliber rifles, or maybe fragmenting .223 bullets. Does the U.S. military use fragmenting .223 bullets? If so, and if these prairie dogs are demonstrating what they can do, it is just another reason why our military tears through any force they go up against.
 
LaEscopeta, if I'm not mistaken, a .22-250 has a significant edge in velocity over the .50 BMG (circa 1000 fps). Though it's only pushing a 55gr pill, that fragmenting .22-250 round is scorching along at 3600+ fps, whereas a .50 BMG with its massive 750gr+ slug is hauling off at somewhere around 2500 fps... which is ideal for defeating light armor, though less impressive against light fur.

I have no doubt in my mind the amount of destruction seen in those videos could very well be expected from a 55gr Nosler Ballistic Tip out of a .22-250 Rem.

I'll also say that I doubt the explosive effect on small critters such as those would have been any greater had a .50 BMG actually been used, though it would have certainly dug a nice grave for the remains to fall into in a most spectacular manner. On little beasties such as those, velocity reigns supreme.
 
The muzzle velocity of a .50 is around 3,300 ft/sec. For a .22-250 or .220 Swift, 3,800 to 4,100 ft/sec.

The .50 wouldn't even begin to expand on a pDog. Light bullets at an impact speed above 3,500 ft/sec explode.

I haven't tried it, but Google "red mist". That's a common term used by dedicated varmint hunters. :) There are even tee-shirts with red mist pictures.

Remember that these tiny pills are rotating at incredible speeds. When the particles fly apart on impact, they take lots of "stuff" along with them. Red mist.

Art
 
It's called hydrostatic shock, and if you have ever seen high speed video of a .22 caliber bullet traveling at over 3000 fps and hitting a 12 pound watermelon....well it is quite spectacular. When a bullet as these velocities strikes a small living target that is about 75% water, the shock wave tries to compress the water in the animal's cells, but water is a non-compressable liquid so the shock wave transfers it's energy through the water until the energy wave exits the target with explosive force. Naturally the bigger the target, the more energy is absorbed by the tissue mass, until the target is so big (elephant or whale), there is little or no effect at all. However, the larger and/or faster the projectile, the more the energy overcomes even a huge tissue mass. A 16" naval gun would probably do to an elephant, what a 22-250 does to a prarie dog. As a side note...a large 10-12 pound groundhog does not "explode" the way the prarie dogs do. The dogs are just so small and light that the impacts are incredible. It's all about moisture content...shoot a gallon jug full of sand with a 22-250, and no big deal, but shoot a gallon jug of water....
 
Someone already beat me to it, but my guess would be that a varmint rifle (.223, .22-250 etc.) would probably show more dramatic results on a prarie dog than a .50 BMG although I have never shot one with a .50 BMG.
I have however shot a number of common Ohio chipmunks with a .50 muzzleloader and it looked about like these prarie dogs, but a chipmunk is much smaller than a prarie dog.

"As a side note...a large 10-12 pound groundhog does not "explode" the way the prarie dogs do. "
True, but at close range it will blow a hole through one the size of a baseball ("vamint rifle").

Ocasionally I will shoot a jackrabbit with a .223 and it has a similar effect to some of those videos. Shooting jackrabbits is sort of like coyote welfare. They get a free meal that they didn't have to work for.

As a sort of related side note, a .223 will blow a prarie dog to bits. It will blow a jackrabbit to bits. It will put a hole in a ground hog the size of your fist. When it hits a human, the damage is horrific as anyone who has seen this can confirm for you. Don't buy into the internet commando BS that the .223/5.56 NATO is like shooting someone with a pea shooter. Anyone who tells you that should immediately raise a red flag to you: they have never seen someone shot with one and don't know jack about what they are talking about.
 
Never whacked a PD...

but I distinctly remember a crow I shot a few years ago with a .22-250 and 40 grain Hornady Ballistic Tip at 110 yards. There was a thin shred of skin holding the head to one wing. Everything else was scattered about 15 feet behind the point of impact.

It's all about velocity and energy. There was a car bombing I read about. Target was a limo that was bullet-proofed. The bombers had a bicycle parked alongside the roadway. There was a backpack with a bomb inside that had a copper plate. Velocity from the explosion was enough to drive the copper plate all the way thru the car and kill the occupants. Something like 13,000fps IIRC. Anyway, the speed of the projectile is dissipated in the target and transfers into destruction.

Speed kills
 
Thanks for the info; I’m beginning to understand. 3000 fps is way beyond my shooting experience.

I’m assuming hydrostatic shock requires supersonic speed, to get an explosive shock wave?

Also, does the bullet fragment because of its design, or will >3000 fps fragment a bullet no matter what the design (i.e. will it fragment a simple solid bullet?)
 
For this type of varmint hunting you usually use a bullet that pretty much explodes on impact (at those velocities). Examples would be Hornady V-Max, Nosler Balistic Tips, etc.
If you are hunting an animal for the fur like bobcats, mountain lions, or even coyotes, you might want to go with a bullet that doesn't come apart so it causes less damage to the fur.
Point being, it is the design of the bullet that makes it come apart.

With a typical varmint rifle/cartridge, you are usually closer to 4000 fps than you are 3000 fps.
Obviously this also allows the bullet to shoot "flatter" making range estimation less critical.
This aint your grandma's escopeta :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Colorado Prairie Dog hunting ban proposed
Replies
5
Views
982
BackCountry
B
Zundfolge
  • Locked
HSUS trying to ban prairie dog hunting in CO
2
Replies
41
Views
3K
JShirley
JShirley
E
  • Locked
What would you like to see in a scouting video?
Replies
7
Views
454
~z
Z
R
  • Locked
Got an old hunting dog.... how do I retrain him?
Replies
16
Views
2K
countertop
C
S
  • Locked
How To Catch A Polar Bear!
Replies
7
Views
851
Slip Shooter
S
Back
Top