22-250 bullets vs. groundhog questions

[quack1]

Does anyone hunt groundhog size animals with cast bullets? What bullet and alloy do you use and at what velocity? I love to hunt groundhogs, have a 22-250 and 2 .22 cal molds ( a 22 bator and a Lyman 225462). I'm thinking I'll need to cast lino with a drilled hollowpoint for fragmentation and/or maximum expansion, or will plain WW work OK with a hollowpoint?. I would like the bullet to expand or fragment in the groundhog for sure kills (for their size, they are extremely tough animals) and to help prevent any pass-throughs or misses from riccocheting any distance. Or, am I just too hopeful for these results with cast? I have been reading the thread about hollowpoints, but it mostly deals with bigger animals and bigger bullets. I'm looking for any experiences with alloys, velocities and bullet performance that would at least give me a starting point in the bullet department, before I start looking for a load that is accurate enough.
Thanks,
Quack

[carpetman]

Quack1---The only ground hog I've ever seen was the stuff used in making sausage,so Im guessing you are talking the groundhog which I have no experience with. Well ok I did see a guys weed trimmer that was A Ground Hog---no wait it was a Brush Hog, so I've not seen a groundhog. So why am I logging onto this thread? You did say similar size animal. I don't know how they classify animal sizes for the Olympics but I have shot a whole bunch of jackrabbits with cast bullets---maybe they are similar size--I'd guess em both to be under 500 pounds. Now all I did was shoot them and it killed them. I didnt get all the style points you get in the Olympics for tumbling,flipping,vaporizing,rolling,splattering etc.. They just fell over dead--I'm sure not as dead as those that get the style points. It was really a pretty simple deal and didnt require hollowpointing,lino, nor much blending of alloies. Recipe was pretty simple---I used 50% free wheelweights mixed with 50% wheelweights I didnt have to pay for. I used a RCBS 58 grain mold which is a gas check design. I used it both with and without a gas check and couldn't tell any difference---both worked. I had so many people telling me I needed to add tin for fillout that I actually bought some solder for the tin. I NOTICED NO DIFFERENCE, except I didnt have as much money. I used these bullets in both .222 and 22-250 and was in the 2,000--2200 fps range. Mostly using Unique and IMR 4227 and was using Felix Lube.(never got cast to shoot in my .223--maybe it needed lino and hollowpointing---but in the .222 and 22-250 seemed hard to find something that didnt work). These jackrabbits were shot at night with the aid of a spotlight and would reach out about as far as you could spotlight them. Even at full moon no silver was required as these were just plain jackrabbits and not weirjackrabbits---which is another subject. I've not heard nor read that groundhogs wear armor plating so I'd think you'd get about the same results. Actually I am sorta glad my jackrabbit shooting didn't get me olympic points. I wouldn't want to go to China and eat dog liver,rat rectum and cat kidney.

[Scrounger]

I wouldn't want to go to China and eat dog liver,rat rectum and cat kidney.

I assume you've tried them and found them not to your taste?

[carpetman]

nope--didnt try them--saw em on a Chinese menu and it didn't sound so appealling.

[quack1]

Carpetman- You never saw Punxatawney Phil on the TV news on groundhog day?
I'll try plain ww bullets first. They aren't armor plated, but they have a really tough hide and are built pretty solid, a lot more solid than a rabbit. By the way-they taste like beef.
Thanks

[giz189]

Carpetman, that is the best I have read in a long time. Am still laughlin ...

[carpetman]

quack1---Yea I have seen Punxatawney Phil on tv but I meant in the flesh. I do figure they are tougher than a jackrabbit but not so much they would live through a 58 grainer zipping through them. Yea everything tastes like beef---I even heard cows do. Thanks giz 189---probably more truth to the post than you'd think.

[1Shirt]

:coffee::coffee:Quack, No longer live in chuck or (groundhog) country, but grew up in western N.Y. befor the days of Chucky and Hillery, and there were pleanty of pasture poodles back then. Shot a lot of them with 22LR, and even some with 22 short HP's, but at ranges or under 50 yds or as close as you could get to them. When I graduated to the Hornet/222 level and condomsm, with 6x scope ( thought we were hot stuff with them)ranges stretched out to 200 or so. Didn't think of shooting cast in .224 back then, but many years later in Pa. I shot a few chucks with 222 with cast running about 2000+/- a little, and at ranges of out to a hundred or so +/-. Used 224415 cast hard, and don' remember the load, but it was with 2400. Kills were not spectualar, but if memory serves me right they were all 1 shot kills and shots were pretty well centered in the chest area. None exited. Think if you worked with it, and with todays lubes/sizing dies, etc, you ought to be able to get up to at least 22-2400 fps, and maybe a bit more. Think you would find the bator would be the cats whatever to start with. Try Lyman data for your starting loads and work up . Good Luck!
1Shirt:coffee:

[runfiverun]

jebus ray.....
you should just click and paste that response.... for all future re-plies..

i use 4%sn and 6% antimony....[yes ray, not made fron unknowns]
and it explodes on rocks nicely, i shoot at rock chucks frequently.seem to hit them rarely.
however my 32-20 light load will kill them quickly at a whopping 850 fps out to 100 yds.

[jhalcott]

Well since the others put THEIR 2cents in, here's mine. I have used severasl different calibers to shoot ground hogs with cast bullets. I like the 7mm in the 14" 7TC/U. I recently got a .225415 mold that drops a 49 grain FNGC bullet from Linotype alloy. So far I've loaded some PB powder and 748 to 2000+ fps. I just finished loading some with 26.5, 27 and 27.5 grains/ww748 for testing. I tried 23 to 26 grains last time out and groups got smaller and rounder as powder increased. I am assuming I will get near 2700 to 2800 fps with this load. ACCURACY is a whole 'nother story though!

[DLCTEX]

The only groundhog I ever killed was done in with a shotgun as it was handy when he was caught raiding my garden. I have killed a pile of prarie dogs in the past months with 225353 boolits WDWW in 222, 223, 22-250. All were one shot kills except one that unfortuantly got it's lower jaw shot off, but ran in circles long enough to give me an opportunity to finish it. These were pushed to 2000-2100 fps. Most boolits did not penetrate (large, old dogs), and the few I bothered to recover were mushroomed to about double cal. 1 feral cat, 1 badger (tough son of a guns), and 3 skunks took one shot each. I am of the opinion that a hit to the upper body with a 55 gr. would ruin a groundhogs day. A hollowpoint that was shallow would not hurt, but those little rascals will be a royal pain to hollowpoint. DALE

[quack1]

Thanks all.
I was mainly interested in having the most expansion/fragmenting possible for two reasons. First is, the farms around here are small and usually have a fair number of houses surrounding them and I don't want a miss that hits dirt or a chest hit that only hits ribs and passes through, to riccochet. I always watch my backstop, but have seen bullets do come crazy things when bouncing off something. Second, I hate to hit a hog and have it get to its hole to suffer for a time, then die. Plus, I like to recover them all, even though I only grill a young one now and then, the labrador gets the rest.
I'll just use WW and keep the velocity 2000 or over (and save my small stash of lino) although I may still try hollowpointing a few just to see if it makes any difference.

[Freightman]

The jackrabbits up here north of town are as big as a lot of dogs, aint never shot a groundhog, shoot aint never seen one but the jacks in NW Texas are plenty tough. They can run a little faster than GH's too by golly. Try to hit one at full gallop that is a real chalange.

[Larry Gibson]

I've killed rock chucks (they chuck rocks instead of wood), jack rabbits and even a coyote (.222) with 225415 cast of linotype. This was out of a M700 in 22-250 and a M788 in .222. Both had 14" twist barrels and shot 1 1/2 to 2 MOA at 2200 fps. I was using H4227 powder in both without a filler. I killed the rock chucks out to 150 yards +/-. Damage was on par with that of the .22 Magnum with HPs. The coyote was shot at probably 20 yards and died after about a 15-20 yard jump and run. The jack rabbits died with applomb as they are just not wrapped too tight anyways. Since then I'm looking at slower burning powders and sizing as cast (.227") with that same 225415 for the M700 22-250 ( I traded off the M788 - BIG mistake) but just haven't got to it yet.

Larry Gibson

[beagle]

Haven't popped a groundhog yet but there's one in dire danger that's working closer to my garden and I have the .222 loaded with 225415HPs.. I've popped a lot of .22 cast HPs and I'd look for a Lyman 225425 or a RCBS 22-55-SP and have buckshot HP it. Both are deadly on BBs out of the .222 and .223. For the Hornet, a 225438HP kills BBs grave yard dead. I shoot a bunch of .22 HPs and they seem to "blow" pretty good which reduces the chance of ricochets. Should be no trouble to hit 2,000 to 2,300 FPS with them. Above 2,400 FPS and I mean right at 2,400 FPS, accuracy goes south to about the tune of 2" per hundred feet of velocity. This is with WW alloy. Get a little babbitt and mix in and you should be good to at least 2,600 FPS. I haven't tested it above that.

That 250 shoul dmake a good ground hog getter...../beagle

[Bret4207]

I'm in the same boat as Quack1, killed many with a 22lr out to 60-75 yards, never with any problem. With that in mind I'd aim for the highest velocity I cold get with the required accuracy and try WDWW and a FN design. I don't know that you'll have enough speed left to shatter even a high antimony alloy boolit like you get with something at 3800 fps.

FWIW- The 358 Bator at 260+ gr does a great job on chucks!

[Bass Ackward]

FWIW- The 358 Bator at 260+ gr does a great job on chucks!


Haw, haw, haw.