.223 for P-Dogs, What bullet & weight??

B

ballistic_bill

New member
Have a Bushmaster Varminter and thinking of developing a good load for it to shoot P-Dogs with. I am new to the round as well with shooting dog's, should I go with a little heaver bullet for stability purposes, or a lighter bullet for speed, or should I just go out and by a decent off shelf ammo???

need help!!!

Thanks
 
I've always had good luck with 50gr V-Maxes out of mine. Think I'm running around 3400 using H322. Pretty explosive as with any tipped bullet. A friend is getting great accuracy out of his Bushy Varminter with Sierra 52gr Match.
I shoot the same bullet out of my 22BR with excellent results on PD's.
 
What range and wind?

Any .223 bullet will do a job on Pdog. To shoot long range you will need a fast twist barrel, 1 in 8 or 9 and longer (usually heavier), high BC bullets.

White box ammo seems to work pretty well from most mouse guns.
 
+1 on the 50 grain bullets. I have shot boat-loads of 50 grain bullets at prairie dogs and have had great luck with them. I have been using the Speer, TNT but you may not be able to shoot them with the faster twist. I would think that either the Sierra Blitz king or the Hornaday V-Max would be great.
 
Oh Boy! Wind and longish range!

50gr might not do it, but then a .223 might not do it at all.

When I lived in Cheyenne I wound up using a 6.5X55 most of the time (instead of a .22-250) just because of the wind and long ranges! A little more expensive to load but at least I could hit at 400+ yrds consistantly.

Definately go with the fast twist and high BC .223 bullets (or wait for the 2hrs a year when the wind doesn't blow).

For all you guys who have never hunted Wy.

http://www.bowkera.com/wyoming_windsock.htm
 
I try to hold my shooting to 300 yards or less. At that the 50 grain bullet works great but when you get out to the 400 yard mark and beyond, nmleon is correct, you are going to need a heavier bullet with some wind-bucking BC.
 
Thats what I think too, I was nock'n the crap out of them at 400-500 yrds with my hopped up .243 but I want to try my new heavey barrel AR out with some longer ranges. I always heard that a good AR can shoot out to 600 yards.
 
My advice having been there is 55 grain Blitzkings. Match grade, very good bullet with unbelievable terminal performance. Blackhills reloads these and are available if your not inclined to reload. All of us that shoot that part of the country deal with wind. IMHO find a load your rifle shoots well and learn to dope the wind. 400 yards is allot of fun with a 223.
( site picture and trigger control )



SEMPER FI Keep-um out of the wire!
 
I've used nothing but sierra 55Gr HPBT #1390 with 26.5gr of H-335,or W748 CCI-450 primers for the last 15yrs. Nothing shoots better then sierra bullets from my varmint rig! I've already had to replace the barrel once! This one is S/S now!
 
I use a Mod 70 Heavy Varmint in .223 with handloaded 55 grain VMaxes loaded to 2985 fps average for "close range" pdogging, which I consider to be 325 yds and less. I use a 6mm Rem with handloaded 75 grain VMaxes out of a Rem 700VLS for the long range stuff.

I've gotta agree with nmleon re: the .223 and truly long range combined with the wind you constantly face in pdog country. I've popped a few long dogs with my .223, the longest being 394 yards a couple weeks ago. That said, that kind of range is better left to the .243/6mm class of rounds if you want to consistently connect.

First off, I'll be the first to admit that a .223 can be sighted so it is consistently effective at 400 yards, but, you'll find yourself missing a high percentage of "no-brainer" shots in the 250-300 yard range. That said, the folks I've seen that "consistently" kill pdogs at 400+ with the .223 are usually AR shooters, and "walk" their shots onto a dog. Personally, firing 500-600 shots to kill 100 dogs is a little expensive for my taste, even though I reload.

If you want a good 300 yard or so pdog gun, it's pretty darned hard to beat the .223, but, if your bag is shooting consistently longer, without sacrificing close-in accuracy, the .243 would be a better choice.

JMHO

Mike
 
My ISSI 9 twist .223 AI AR kills pr. dogs @ 500 yds. just fine with the 69 Nosler Comp. bullet. I also employ the 4.5-14X Burris FFII with Ballistic Plex reticle. The ballistics of the heavies will overtake the 55's probably around 300 yds. or so.
 
I shoot 55 grain TNT's out of my Ultra varminta nd it seems to be deadly on those long range shots. In wind I keep it under 300 if I have to reach out for one I reach for the 25/06 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Ya know, Gander, I did try working up a new .223 load for pdogs last week. I went from my 55 grain VMaxes over Varget at 2985 fps to 40 grain VMaxes over H335. I was trying to get in the 3750-3800 fps range, but all I got was 3600. I could have lived with that, but, I couldn't get a group smaller than 1 1/4" and generally, they were in the 1 3/4" range. I tried the 40 grainer with a healthy dose of Varget with pretty much the same results, though not quite as fast.
I guess my rifle just doesn't care for light bullets real fast.
But, if anyone has a .223 that likes em small and hot, the downrange ballistics of the 40 grain VMax launched at around 3800 sure looks real impressive. I sure wish I could shoot that load!

Mike
 
I someday want to get into the light/high speed bullets but there are calibers that do that everyday like the 17 rem. I think that would be the ULTIMATE PD gun. The lil' woman had taken over all my varmint rifles when she goes. The only one she won't shoot is my 25/06. The 17 rem is in the near future so when she takes it I will have my 223 back! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Hey new member! I've had Good luck with ULTRAMAX 55 Grain S.P.s/ they are Reasonable 12.00/ 50 Box/ or they have 52 Grain H.Ps/ or NBT's for 18.00..I don't Reload yet( Obvious) but this stuff woks Good in A .223 700 Rem. ADL.. Regards, S. WOLF
 
Quote:
I always heard that a good AR can shoot out to 600 yards.



They can and do shoot that far (and win) in National Match Service Rifle competion at Camp Perry but that's with 1 in 8 heavy comp barrels and VLLD match bullets. They can't touch the 7.62mm's when the wind blows though.

Most of the time when someone's talking about their 600yd .223 AR they're really talking about walking them in, not first (and every) shot in the 10 ring.

I knew a Marine Gunnery Sgt. Major who gave demonstrations on how to kill at 1000yds with an M16, but it took half a clip or more in 3 shot bursts to walk them in on the gomer. Impressive, but not really efficient on Pdogs.
 
Back
Top