I am planning a prairie dog hunt for a few close friends this year. I plan on taking my AI AX in 6.5 creed to stretch its legs on the long shots and a sub moa ar in 223 for a high volume gun. These guns will be passed between my fiance and I, so I think I need at least one more 223 gun in the mix. I don't have a 223 bolt gun in the safe so I am leaning in that direction. What do you fellow shooters recommend for this application that wont break the bank?
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223 bolt gun for prairie dog hunt
- Thread starter jphargon
- Start date
Something with the thickest barrel you can manage. Soak up that heat for more shooting before it becomes detrimental. I hate to suggest it because it’s temington but my rem 700 16” tac with the varmint barrel could take a good beating. The varmint savage maybe but I don’t think it’s quite as heavy of a contour.
Or maybe anything but invest in a chamber chiller, barrelkuhl, air mattress pump and tubing etc to cool it off.
Unless your hunting sucks and you won’t see all the dogs you’re dreaming of.
Or hell, I’ve heard of lots of people suggesting an ar as of late, something you don’t mind burning out nearly as bad.
Or maybe anything but invest in a chamber chiller, barrelkuhl, air mattress pump and tubing etc to cool it off.
Unless your hunting sucks and you won’t see all the dogs you’re dreaming of.
Or hell, I’ve heard of lots of people suggesting an ar as of late, something you don’t mind burning out nearly as bad.
I will go ahead and suggest it ... Some inexpensive 224V ARs in the PX
I've had some pretty good results with my Tikka Varmint. Only mod I made was threading the barrel for a suppressor and/or brake.
Just my personal experience, but if you're going to be shooting 6.5CM at PD's, I hope you're planning to shoot suppressed, because that report will definitely chase them down their holes, and turn the day into a whack-a-mole, hunt and peck game. Shooting suppressed (with a .223) is actually the way we approach them. Kill all the dumb, close ones (and I mean devastate them) off the near mounds, and then work the ones further out (also with suppressors). Makes for a more target rich environment for everyone involved, and makes the ranchers/farmers happy. Anyways....just a thought.
Just my personal experience, but if you're going to be shooting 6.5CM at PD's, I hope you're planning to shoot suppressed, because that report will definitely chase them down their holes, and turn the day into a whack-a-mole, hunt and peck game. Shooting suppressed (with a .223) is actually the way we approach them. Kill all the dumb, close ones (and I mean devastate them) off the near mounds, and then work the ones further out (also with suppressors). Makes for a more target rich environment for everyone involved, and makes the ranchers/farmers happy. Anyways....just a thought.
Check into the Grendle barreled action from Howa. Mini action, heavy 20" threaded. With Varmit loads (95 Vmax) you can really get them going. Super Mild recoil like the 223 and long barrel life. But I love me some 223 varmit hunting as well. Both work well surpressed.
Formula for inexpensive prairie dog hunting:
Don't worry about magazine feeding, single feeding is just fine for prairie dog hunting... they're stupid critters that will shake the dirt off from a near miss and allow you to take a second shot 10+ seconds later.
Do whatever other farkling you like (bolt handle, etc...) in order to set the gun up the way you want it... but the basics as stated above will get you in business and blowing up PLENTY of prairie dogs on the (relatively) cheap. Don't forget to keep an eye on barrel temps, and pay attention to your accuracy (read: you may have to clean your barrel in the field). Take plenty of ammo, and shoot a lot... as previously mentioned, 'dogs are stupid, so if you blow a shot, odds are that you will have the same shot available to you soon afterwards.
NOTE: this was posted previously, but is pertinent to this discussion
- Used short action Savage (any short action will do; replacement bolt heads are ~$65 from PTG) and a heavy contour 26" 7-twist pre-fit barrel (will also need a .223 Rem GO gauge and barrel nut wrench)
- upgraded trigger (Rifle Basix or similar)
- Boyd's stock (whichever one is most comfortable to you)
- decent optic with 20x or better on the top end (FFP and a hold-off/Christmas tree reticle are nice options if you can foot the bill)
- Fiocchi 50 gr ballistic tip ammo
Don't worry about magazine feeding, single feeding is just fine for prairie dog hunting... they're stupid critters that will shake the dirt off from a near miss and allow you to take a second shot 10+ seconds later.
Do whatever other farkling you like (bolt handle, etc...) in order to set the gun up the way you want it... but the basics as stated above will get you in business and blowing up PLENTY of prairie dogs on the (relatively) cheap. Don't forget to keep an eye on barrel temps, and pay attention to your accuracy (read: you may have to clean your barrel in the field). Take plenty of ammo, and shoot a lot... as previously mentioned, 'dogs are stupid, so if you blow a shot, odds are that you will have the same shot available to you soon afterwards.
NOTE: this was posted previously, but is pertinent to this discussion
I’d go factory Tikka Varmint 223 and the Fiocchi 40 or 50 grain ballistic tips.
I’ve also heard Tikka is coming out with factory CTR in 223 this year, one of those would be great.
My Varmint does this with Fiocchis:
I’ve also heard Tikka is coming out with factory CTR in 223 this year, one of those would be great.
My Varmint does this with Fiocchis:
I will have a suppressor for the 6.5 but the majority of friends will not be suppressed.Tikka seems to be coming up alot along with the 700s. I have a few 700s that I run as hunting rigs, but I have not had the opportunity to handle a Tikka. Ill have to put my hands on one and see if it fits. My local gun shop will be glad to see me coming.
I'll second that, aside from ammo cost/availability. Some of my .204's handiwork from my last hunt:
Another Rem. 700 VSSF fan here, especially the .204 (if I could only have one prairie dog gun it would be my VSSF .204). I have VSSF's in .17 Fireball, .204 Ruger, .223 etc. I started with a Rem. 700 Police in .223, which really shoots just as well. I also shoot RRA AR Varmints in .204, .223 and .224 Valkyrie (just watch your barrel heat especially with the AR's. Use a good scope of at least 20X (I prefer NF FX 8x32's). Also, shooting suppressed is one of the best choices you can make. Good luck, it's a lot of fun, although quite addictive!
On my last two hunts, I took a 22 mag bolt gun, 556 AR and a LRI built 22-250 AI to fire form brass. I used the 22 mag 60% of the time.
Guess, it comes down to the terrain and pressure. We hunt outside of Gunnison ,CO and most of the shooting was inside 120 yards.
Guess, it comes down to the terrain and pressure. We hunt outside of Gunnison ,CO and most of the shooting was inside 120 yards.
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223 Remington with a 50 or 55 gr vmax is king of the prairie dog town. I would go with a 24” Krieger barreled ar upper from Keystone accuracy. Or if your on a budget a stag arms varminter. Also a 17 hmr is a handy rifle to have along for shooting cheap and not heating the barrel up too much.
Why? Due to the distance of the shots? Honestly, a new 22-250 barrel would see probably 30% of its life used on a single two-day hunt in the Texas panhandle. We typically have pretty decent hit percentages out to 500-ish with .233s; sometimes a bit further. I have a few kills out to 600-650 with mine (but my hit percentage sucked at that distance).I took some guys that thought that to Wyoming. They bought 22-250s afterwards
I have a 17 HMR but had not thought about bringing it along. I can see where it would be useful at shorter distances to keep other barrels cool.
I bought the cheapest .223 Remington 700 Gander had during its closeout sale, complete with the cheap scope it came with. I took it to a prairie dog town and had one hell of a weekend. People crap on factory rifles, but the fact is if you actually load develop, many of them shoot quite well. This particular one was THE MOST accurate factory rifle I've ever owned, it never shot a group over half an inch once I finished load development.
I felt really guilty pulling the barrel at only a few hundred rounds to build a 6X45, which was the reason I bought it...
I have seen a lot of Ruger Americans and other .223s do quite well on dogs. If you're going to shoot far enough for extreme accuracy to matter, you've probably set down the .223 and picked up a 6mm or bigger...
I felt really guilty pulling the barrel at only a few hundred rounds to build a 6X45, which was the reason I bought it...
I have seen a lot of Ruger Americans and other .223s do quite well on dogs. If you're going to shoot far enough for extreme accuracy to matter, you've probably set down the .223 and picked up a 6mm or bigger...
Imo opinion a 223 works really well out to 400 yards. It will still work out to about 550 but the hit percentage goes down quite a bit. A accurate ar with 10 twenty round p mags loaded with 50 gr. Vmax is quite a blast.
Because there's much less guess work and everything is easier with a 22-250. Especially in Wyoming winds.
