Best caliber for a wind prone area?

Maybe I should forget the crops and let the little devils expand their town, and run weekend guided hunts. Limit the guns to 17 hmr to protect the neighbors.
 
That would be a blast. I wish we had them here, i know its a bad thing but it would be fun to mow em down. I have to manage my local groundhog population, iv almost made them extinct in a few places. Are you shooting from a bi pod?? If so try going prone on the ground or in a truck bed and load the bi pod up with your body weight pushing forward. You should be able to spot your hits.
 
I didn't think of using my body weight to offset barrel buck. I usually shoot prone from the back side of a small pond where earth is built up. Its a nice vantage point and helps hide us. I usually shoot with as little of my body touching the gun as possible. The dogs are very gun shy and after several shots, they are way out there and even my heart beat causes misses.
I have thought of making a barrel weight that would help hold the barrel down.
 
I would absolutely consider a Suppressor. It helps reduce recoil and muzzle jump. Obviously you will be shooting super sonic so it will still crack the sound barrier. But just in terms of reduced recoil and muzzle jump it should be seriously considered. It will allow you to shoot a 6mm or 6.5mm while keeping the recoil of a .223 or less.

Also the heavier the barrel the less muzzle jump. I had a savage 22-250 with a 26" HEAVY barrel and it would barely move when shooting.

So a heavy barrel with a suppressor will allow you to spot hits very easy.
 
If you are gonna build something just for this I would go long too. The velocity gained and muzzle control is a big plus. Lay down strait behind the gun get up on your elbows. Bring the butt of the gun up to your shoulder. Then slide off you relbows. You will feel your body weight puching forward on the bi pod legs. You want to rest hte full weight of your head on the stock and be totally relaxed, neck, shoulders,etc. get a rear bag. You want to keep your shoulders square to the target too, if not the muzzle will go to the left or right at the recoil. With shoulders square and you notice the muzzle recoiling to the left or right move your belt buckle in that direction a little. Try it out it might really help you.
 

"heart beat causes misses" Try this, count down 3, 2, 1 fire, should be at the bottom of the exhail


Originally Posted By: FarmerShawnI didn't think of using my body weight to offset barrel buck. I usually shoot prone from the back side of a small pond where earth is built up. Its a nice vantage point and helps hide us. I usually shoot with as little of my body touching the gun as possible. The dogs are very gun shy and after several shots, they are way out there and even my heart beat causes misses.
I have thought of making a barrel weight that would help hold the barrel down.
 
I really appreciate the advice on shooting control. My great grandfather was the one who started me shooting. He was in the mounted calvery! At age 2 or 3, he got me a BB gun and taught me shooting. We sat in his back yard and I would shoot down my great grandmothers iris. Both my grandfathers and my father were in the military and they all took time to teach me to hunt and shoot. It was a great childhood. I don't remember anyone teaching me to weight the bipod with my body, and that is why I have such muzzle jump. Basically, I am only touching the gun with my trigger finger and touching the butt stock to my shoulder to stabilize it. I do rest my cheeks on the stock and try to be consistant. I do practice breathing exercises while shooting. I am able to shoot 3/4" groups with my 6.8, and less than that with both of my 22-250s. I will be shooting this next week and will try weighting the bipod with my upper body. And I will make sure I am squared up so the buck will be streight up and down. That would help a lot.
 
I changed to 6x45 several years ago for the very reasons you are describing. I wanted to add a few yards to my effective range on p-dogs in the wind. I did not want to burn much more powder; nor did I want to add recoil. The fact that you can use readily available .223 Remington brass and the wonderful assortment of 6mm bullets was an important bonus. My favorite bullet is the 80gr. Sierra Blitz, a very accurate, thin jacketed bullet (though I would not shoot toward my neighbors). If you really want some air time, the 65gr. V-MAX is a great place to start.
John
 
I believe the 204 is the answer... it has range... speed... no recoil... won't bounce into your neighbor's property... and you can see your impacts... which will allow you to spot your shots and adjust...which makes up for needing heavy bullets for bucking the wind... with dead on aiming holds.

To me if you can't see the hits... then what's the fun of that... about as exciting as kissing your grandmother...
the 17hmr does wonders out to 200+ yards... and the 204 will pick up the slack on farther shots.

If you kill everything within the range of a 204... then you have done something special... after that... just move up another 2-300 yds and start again.

If the pdogs are spooky... set out a dozen pdog wooden decoys... they will think it's okay to stand up if they see their friends over there.

Other than that...tell me when to come and I'll shoot everythng within a 204's range... and you can shoot the longer ones...LOL.
 
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