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!
Prairie Dog Cartridge
- Thread starter Jud96
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Why not just use a .223 than! My favorites are .204, .22-250, and nothing beats a nice 17HMR suppressed for the close ones(<250). Although I have used about all my calibers from my 300WM and 338Lapua down to the 22 Hornet and 22 magnum and a crapload of them in between! Highly recommend the 204 or a 17 rem flavor for sod puppies.
I've used .223, 22-250 and 300 WSM. My favorite is the red mist experience with the 215 berger out of the 300 WSM. No More Mister Nice Guy!!
waspocrew
Well-Known Member
223 with 40 - 60 gr Vmax and you're good to go!
I went PD hunting in South Dakota last year. Took my 223 trainer PRS rifle. Per SD buddies advice, loaded up 75ELDMs to buck the wind. Worked great. It was very windy and I was happy I took the heavier 223 projectiles.
Hugnot
Well-Known Member
I have used the - .20P, .204R, .223R for volume rodent shooting.
The best economical combined with performance choice is the .20P -cheap necked down .223 brass. I use a Redding F/L bushing die with a .226 bushing. I use a small base .223 die to resize 1X fired brass from strange chambers, then go onto other operations for ammo production like neck turning trimming. More work than a .223.
Recent shooting comparisons with the .20P,40 VMax @ 3,650 & .223, 53 Vmax @ 3,300 at 300 yards show a definite flatter trajectory & wind resistance with the .20P using 40 Vmax bullets at 3,650 fps.
Barrel life with the .20P using 25.5 IMR8208 or 27.0 CFE 223 is very good. Slow shooting & cooling barrel with cold water-soaked towels has kept it accurate enough to hit pop can size rodents at 300 & more after more than 2,500 rounds.
.204 R brass is pricy. another 50-75 fps may be had over .20P. Nice cartridge shape.
I also shoot a fast 7.7 twist .22-.250 with 75 ELD's for good results to 600 & more. Reasonable barrel life using 35.0-36.5 grains of H4350, SW 4350 or Staball 6.5.
I take the .300WM safe queen out now & then & gets hits way out there but the recoil, blast, with over 71 grains of powder is painful.
The best economical combined with performance choice is the .20P -cheap necked down .223 brass. I use a Redding F/L bushing die with a .226 bushing. I use a small base .223 die to resize 1X fired brass from strange chambers, then go onto other operations for ammo production like neck turning trimming. More work than a .223.
Recent shooting comparisons with the .20P,40 VMax @ 3,650 & .223, 53 Vmax @ 3,300 at 300 yards show a definite flatter trajectory & wind resistance with the .20P using 40 Vmax bullets at 3,650 fps.
Barrel life with the .20P using 25.5 IMR8208 or 27.0 CFE 223 is very good. Slow shooting & cooling barrel with cold water-soaked towels has kept it accurate enough to hit pop can size rodents at 300 & more after more than 2,500 rounds.
.204 R brass is pricy. another 50-75 fps may be had over .20P. Nice cartridge shape.
I also shoot a fast 7.7 twist .22-.250 with 75 ELD's for good results to 600 & more. Reasonable barrel life using 35.0-36.5 grains of H4350, SW 4350 or Staball 6.5.
I take the .300WM safe queen out now & then & gets hits way out there but the recoil, blast, with over 71 grains of powder is painful.
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wyowinchester
Well-Known Member
I'm really liking the 204 now day. Take the rifle and bullet that is the most accurate with you shooting it. P-dogs usually blow up with almost any of um. Don't take any FMJ.
Charlie Brown Jr.
Well-Known Member
20- 221 fireball, gets about the same performance as a 20 practical, burning 10 gr less powder. A 40 gr .204 bullet drifts a lot less than a 40 gr. 223 bullet. I have 5- 20 Practical's, lots of 223 brass available makes it about the easiest cartridge to load thousands of rounds. 788 Remington's work great for re-barreling and the magazines work perfect and are very easy to reload. When one rifle gets hot, just set it in the shade and use another, gun till it's hot. Now you see why I have 5. You can easily burn a bbl up in a day, I've had guns that would shoot 3/8 in in the morning, and you can't hit a pie plate by noon. You'll need to replace the trigger on the 788s. The CZ 527s have triggers that can be worked over and work great down to about 8 or10 oz. If you get a CZ in .204, you can set the bbl back and rechamber to 20 P. 700 Remington's work good with a single shot adaptor. I have a heavy bbl AR 20 P, I only use it for running rats, and song dogs. A Calvin elite AR trigger is a must. The magazines in the CZ work great and are easy to reload also. I've shot long enough to have my fingers bleed after loading magazines for days. So easy loading mags are a good thing. I used to have all 700 Remington's but I reach for the 788s and CZs now. I shot thousands of 223 rounds when I first started, But the 20s defiantly have the edge. When the shooting is good it's hard to stop blazing away. So defiantly show up with more than 1 gun. Heat is the killer, so let them cool down and they will last for years instead of hours. Banana Boat Sport Ultra SPS 50, and a straw hat with a wide brim will keep you from cooking in the sun. Good Luck
.204 Ruger with 39gr SBK
.223Win with 50 to 65 gr
6mmBR with 105 Berger Hybrids
Bullets depend on what your rifle likes.
Would suggest the 20 and 223 in a AR style that shoots at least .30" MOA.
All heavy barrels
Take at least two rifles
