Prairie dog shooting... Anyone have any good loads?
- Thread starter timuchin
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hornady v-max is the right bullet. in the 223, anywhere from 40-60 grains - best results will probably be closer to 40 grains.
my wife uses 52 grain sierra matchkings in her 223 and likes 'em... but i prefer the v-max's in mine.
for powders... she uses h-322 exclusively. if i am using lighter bullets, i like h-322 also... if i am running 60's, varget seems about right.
better hurry up, though... running out of good dog shooting time and weather. t-storms here last 2 days, and it was windy as it could be all weekend - like the fall usually is...
(w/ v-max, more velocity = bigger explosion... most non-varmint bullets don't explode the critter much, if at all)
my wife uses 52 grain sierra matchkings in her 223 and likes 'em... but i prefer the v-max's in mine.
for powders... she uses h-322 exclusively. if i am using lighter bullets, i like h-322 also... if i am running 60's, varget seems about right.
better hurry up, though... running out of good dog shooting time and weather. t-storms here last 2 days, and it was windy as it could be all weekend - like the fall usually is...
(w/ v-max, more velocity = bigger explosion... most non-varmint bullets don't explode the critter much, if at all)
~z
Member
If it doesnt have to be .223, I use 22.8gn of 3031 behind a 52 gn speer molyHPBT out of a .222. Moving at a moderate 3150fps shoots .1350" @100 yd and sucks P-Dogs out of their holes.
~z
~z
How is the performance on prarie dogs with these? It's what I shoot exclusively and I'd like to eventually use these on my PD shoot next year. Do they just put a hole in the dog and he crawls back down the hole?
The SMK's just shoot so good, I'd really like to stick with them if I can.
Sunray
Member
"...62 grain armor piercing .223 might not be the best bullet to use..." And illegal in most places. If that bullet weight shoots well in your rifle, find a 62 grain hunting bullet and work up a load. Hornady makes a 60 grain bullet that'd do nicely. Sierra makes a 63 grain bullet that would too. Match grade bullets aren't designed to expand.
halvey- performance on 'dogs is fair-to-good. ricochets are rare, and the prairie dogs are killed. they aren't quite as explosive as v-max's or bt's, but certainly more impressive than soft points.
here's how i rank what i have used*:
1- hornady v-max: more explosion and at least as accurate as smk's. no ricochet. the 'gold standard' in varminting bullets.
2- sierra mk's: fair explosion, good accuracy, no ricochet.
3- sierra sp's: no explosion, decent accuracy, some ricochet.
4- nosler bt: good explosion, good accuracy, no ricochet.
*i have used many, many others, but these are the only bullets i'd put on a dog town again. most notably are fmj's... downright dangerous on a dog town... not only is there no explosion, but you wind up w/ dogs crawling all over, wounded, and ricochets go a long, long ways completely out of control - even worse than a 22 rimfire on a dog town.
here's how i rank what i have used*:
1- hornady v-max: more explosion and at least as accurate as smk's. no ricochet. the 'gold standard' in varminting bullets.
2- sierra mk's: fair explosion, good accuracy, no ricochet.
3- sierra sp's: no explosion, decent accuracy, some ricochet.
4- nosler bt: good explosion, good accuracy, no ricochet.
*i have used many, many others, but these are the only bullets i'd put on a dog town again. most notably are fmj's... downright dangerous on a dog town... not only is there no explosion, but you wind up w/ dogs crawling all over, wounded, and ricochets go a long, long ways completely out of control - even worse than a 22 rimfire on a dog town.
I'll have to retry the V-max. I had 20 or so and kind of used them working up loads. For some reason they didn't shoot all the great in my .223 VS, but I'm thinking the barrel wasn't too broken in.
I used Blitzkings and the accuracy was ok. I used Noslers and the accuracy was good, but not as good as the SMK's. The Noslers performed better on the 4 striped gophers at 80 yards than the BK's. But that's a small sample!
I used Blitzkings and the accuracy was ok. I used Noslers and the accuracy was good, but not as good as the SMK's. The Noslers performed better on the 4 striped gophers at 80 yards than the BK's. But that's a small sample!
Shooting FMJ bullets for PD's is not a smart idea. Because a richocet could upset your host if you are hunting near grazing animals! Plus on PD sized animals you just drill holes!
Personally I like the Rem 50gr PLHP for PD's in the 223. Accurate and cheap, although at times 250 packs of Vmax are offered pretty darn cheap! Nosler offers seconds that can be had at a savings, too!
Personally I like the Rem 50gr PLHP for PD's in the 223. Accurate and cheap, although at times 250 packs of Vmax are offered pretty darn cheap! Nosler offers seconds that can be had at a savings, too!
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