I'm thinking of using my 6.5 grendel and a couple of other rifles this year.
I would love to use my 45/70 but was worried about how far they go after hitting flat ground.
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I'm thinking of using my 6.5 grendel and a couple of other rifles this year.
I would love to use my 45/70 but was worried about how far they go after hitting flat ground.
The area's I shoot prairie dog in all have cattle on it. Even a 22 LR ricochets more than I want. I use V-Max or Ballistic Tips to limit the amount and lethality of ricochets
Last edited by M-Tecs; 02-25-2022 at 03:18 AM.
2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives? Because if not, there’s absolutely no point."
– Amber Veal
"The Highest form of ignorance is when your reject something you don't know anything about".
- Wayne Dyer
Interested in your results with the 6.5 Grendel. My Barber currently has an infatuation with that round, and as I have started/Tutored him on reloading over the last year. He has been reloading for a .300 Norma Magnum; and is gathering loading equipment and materials for the 6.5 Grendel. Given the limitations on 6.5 Jacketed Bullets that still exist; he might be interested in casting if it should prove out.
Mustang
"In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.
I’ve shot a few.... .375AI. It was pretty effective, but no different than a 375 Win or a 38-55 would have done! memtb
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“LETS GO BRANDON”
Only in the spring when the pups are dumb and you get close shots. You will have ricochets so be careful. If Sierra still makes the .264 85 gr hp- if findable- it is a good prairie dog bullet. Long ago and 7 hours away I used it in my 6.5 Remington magnum.
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I have shot allot of them with cast bullets. Gotta be careful what you are shooting around since they generally don't explode like a varmint bullet
Doug
.................................................. ........................................
Sticks and stones may break my bones but hollow points expand on impact.
Taxidermists are cheaper than surgeons....keep shooting
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Some people measure success in Minutes of Angle
I intend to someday, but haven't yet. I have to imagine they ricochet like 22LRs but only waaaay worse.
Take a kid to the range, you'll both be glad you did.
In the past if have been granted access to lots of land closed to shooting prairie dogs after much work convincing the landowner that I truly am using very explosive bullets that pose almost zero risk of ricochets. The risk to cattle, horse and equipment from ricochets tends to be the number one reason gates get locked. The worst offenders tend to be the FMJ shooters but if you hear bullets zinging you should be using a more frangible bullet.
I don't mind the locked gates since with some work and convincing I generally can get access. Problem is it's common that shortly after the gates get locked the poisoning starts. I have been mapping PD towns that I shoot for 40 years. In the last ten years close to 50% of them have be poisoned out. TV programs have greatly increased the amount of people shooting PD's. Lots of people shooting ammo that is ricochet prone, gates left open and tearing pastures up when its muddy results in the landowners poisoning out the dog towns.
Last edited by M-Tecs; 02-25-2022 at 01:58 AM.
2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives? Because if not, there’s absolutely no point."
– Amber Veal
"The Highest form of ignorance is when your reject something you don't know anything about".
- Wayne Dyer
I'm no prairie dog hunter, so take this with a grain of salt. The only places I've found that I want to actually sit down with a rifle and shoot for a few hours, it would not matter. You could use a 50 BMG and be fine. If you are trying to find every possible access you can, then you will have to work with that. I even found a decent group on public land, and while there was train tracks a mile down range, you could walk up to these prairie dogs sometimes into shotgun range. So like anything, your mileage may vary.
Unfortunately, cast and small projectiles at the accuracy / velocity required for small targets do not generally go together. I prefer the the J word bullets designed for detonation or denigration in a soda can full of water at 2-300 yards.
“There is a remedy for all things, save death.“
Cervantes
“Never give up, never quit.”
Robert Rogers
Roger’s Rangers
There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
Will Rogers
Like real estate...location, location, location.
Good advice above about the risk of ricochets. In some areas that could be a real problem.
No PD's here but I used to do a bit of groundhog hunting on small acreage farms (under 200 acres). I used the SX or Blitz bullets that were very unlikely to cause an issue.
I cannot get cast bullets to be accurate enough to consider them as decent bullets for something the size of a PD but some folks claim 1 MOA. PD are not very big but then again, a miss is not catastrophic.
Don Verna
A few years back I made a sojourn to Montana for a PD shoot. Mostly used a couple 223s and a 22-250 but also took along my 30x60 XCB rifle. With the NOE 30 XCB being pushed along at 2900+ fps I shot numerous PDs from 300 to 500+ yards. The place I chose to shoot PDs with cast bullets was a small valley and I was on one side shooting at the up sloping other side. Still there were lots of ricochets were heard but I was in wide open spaces with nothing but other PBs in range. The 30 cal bullet certainly didn't expand but killed them quite well. I shot about 120 rounds and batted a little over 70% with most of the kills in the 300 to 450 yard range. As dverna mentions, pick your location with ricochets in mind for safety.
I've also shot a lot of ground squirrels that act pretty much like PDs except they are about 1/3 the size of a PD. When i lived in NE Oregon Ishot probably thousands of them with cast bullets in all sorts of cartridges in rifles from 22 Hornet through 45-70 and 22 Hornet to 45 Colt in handguns.
Larry Gibson
“Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
― Nikola Tesla
I've never shot any but Prairie Dogs must be tough to require that much rifle. I've shot thousands of ground squirrels with 22 rimfire hollow points but if there was any danger from ricochets I used a 223 loaded with Hornady SX bullets or bullets I swaged using 22 LR casings for jackets.Originally Posted by Lex
BIG OR SMALL I LIKE THEM ALL, 577 TO 22 HORNET.
Larry shoots cast lead better than I can shoot jacketed. Pretty amazing, 500 yards with a cast boolit, you would need that rig shooting .5" or less at 100 yards (targets not much bigger than a beer can). Nice work Larry! I am kind of hoping for 1.5" groups at 100 yard once I start trying cast in a 222 Rem and anticipate shoot at distances less than 200 yards to hope for a +50% connection rate. I guess I am not too confident in my ability to do this as I have owned several 22 cal molds for several years and still haven't warmed them up.
I shoot 17, 20 and 22 calibler at them, all small primer cartridges. I have been leaving anything with large primers and over a 22 caliber at home in the past 5 years or so. I don't shoot much over 350 yards, prefer inside 250 yards to insure few misses. Wind (which is a normal thing in SD prairies) really pushes these little 50 grain and under bullets around.
Last edited by remy3424; 02-25-2022 at 02:18 PM.
Take a kid to the range, you'll both be glad you did.
A prairie dog was forty one'd by me at 60 paces with a 220gr Lee swc. Being young, I ran up to check the kill. There it was, dead. But something shiny beside it- the bullet! Damn, that thing was still hot when I picked it up!
Muleshoe, Texas long ago.
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OK...I am a dumb old Yankee....what is "forty-one'd"?
Don Verna
Mustang
"In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.
41 Mag is how I took it.
2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives? Because if not, there’s absolutely no point."
– Amber Veal
"The Highest form of ignorance is when your reject something you don't know anything about".
- Wayne Dyer
The 30x60 XCP cartridge and rifle were special built for accuracy at HV with cast bullets. I have posted a lot of the development and shooting results on this forum. The rifle is capable of 10 shot sub moa accuracy to 600 yards with the 30 XCB bullet at 2900 fps. As I said, most of the PD shooting was in the 300 [I don't shoot PDs at less than 300 yards unless I'm using the 22 Hornet] to 450 yards range. The day I used the 30 XCB was a very pleasant day with little to no wind.
Here's an example of the accuracy level capability;
The rifle, shooting position at location.
Larry Gibson
“Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
― Nikola Tesla
I have used my 218 Bee with cast to shoot sage rats .
Unlike Larry, I kept most of my shot around 100 yards.
Yes, ricochets are a factor to consider.
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