prairie dog bolt gun recomendation

Have you looked at the Remington VLS? Comes in .204 Ruger, .223 Rem, .22-250 Rem, .243 Win, and .308 Win

Remington varmint barreled guns in 204,223,and 22-250 are used here. Cooper Varminter in 204 too. The 223 is pretty ideal IMO. The deadliest prairie dog killer is an AR with a heavy varmint barrel IMO. You don't have to lose the prairie dog racking the bolt this way.

The Savage you're looking at sounds like a good way to go. My next p-dog gun will be a 223 since it comes withing 200-300fps of the 22-250 using 2/3 the powder and has 2 times the barrel life. Long 300-500yd shots require "feet" of holdover no matter if you're shooting a 223 or 22-250 so the little bit flatter trajectory of the 22-250 helps little IMO. Use hollow points over plastic tips for maximum red mist.

Is it your only gun

If it is your only varmint rifle go with a .223. You can fire quite a few rounds in a short time over a good prairie dog town and can heat up a barrel very fast with a higher intensity 22-250. Don't forget to take your 22lr for those close shots.

If you don't reload you can buy 223 ammo for just over half the cost of 22-250. Less recoil means you can sometimes see your hits. This is very important if you can make your own adjustments without a spotter. I usually dial my scope magnification down so I can see my hits with the 22-250.

The Savage 12 LRPV is an excellent rifle (I have only shot one of them and it was in 22-250). I only have a 12 FV in .243 but it's a consistant .33-.35" shooter at 100 yards.

The Savage 12 LRPV is an excellent rifle (I have only shot one of them and it was in 22-250). I only have a 12 FV in .243 but it's a consistant .33-.35" shooter at 100 yards.

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I do not doubt you're getting groups around 1/3" at 100yds. but I have to ask. Why did you give a 2/100ths of an inch spread in what the gun normally shoots? I've never shot or seen a gun that was that consistent that the groups didn't vary by more than .020" @100 yds. Did you type it wrong?

700 Rem VSS 22-250

Yep. I can't imagine why you don't like Remingtons - our Army snipers use 'em and never complain.

If you think it's too much money, look to Savage - especially since you mentioned triggers. Savage offers you more accuracy for the dollar straight out of the box. My Rem 700 Varmint Stainless was a gift, so I won't complain about it, but given the money, I'd be looking hard at the Remington versus the Savage, probably without anybody else being a serious contender. The new Savage trigger added to the very good package as it was makes it a top choice.

I shoot with guys who have Rem 700, Ruger 77 like mine and one with the notorious Savage. That darn Savage is dead nutz accurate and cost less than the rest.

CRITGIT

Wow. I spent ~$150 for my entire Savage .17hm2 set up (gun was $60, $30 for a clearance Bushnell 3-9x40 scope, $10 on sling studs, $40 on a bi-pod and $10 on scope covers on clearance at walmart) for prairie dog hunting. 9 bills is a lot more than i would spend on a p-dog gun.

I was thinking about a .17HMR and spending $500 tops

I'd go with two; get one for close in shots, something heavy bbl in 17mach 2, and take your shots out to 125 yds, after that, go with the 223, keeping both bbls cool. plus mach 2 ammo is 4 bucks a box...

I shoot a CZ 527 in 223, but when the barrel is gone, I'll be buying one in 204.

My buddy has a Savage 204 which is a tack driver. He loves the heavy barrel, but for myself, I prefer a lighter rifle.

Have fun!

mtlucas0311, If I had a Ruger M77 target grey in 25-06 sitting in the gun closet, as you mentioned, I would look no further. Loaded with 75-87gr bullets, you can make some hits in dogtown from way out of town. It's foolish not to take advantage of such a fine caliber.
But I also know that one needs no reason to add to the stable.

NCsmitty

Get a Savage 223, in a big boy twist, like 1-7. Or you can get the ARMY SNIPER RIFLE!! It amazes me that people think the M40 and M24 aren't highly customized. News flash - they're not an out of the box SPS.

Any reason the .223 is better than the 22-250 other than less powder and barrel life?

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Yes, cheaper factory ammo, and much more factory ammo selection.

I am not knocking Remington, they make fine firearms. Two things though. The "Remingtons" that the military snipers use, are hand built by marines. A little more love goes in to them then the factory. Point two, I hate Cerberus. Just my opinion....

Now, currently only own Savage rifles. The only thing bad I can say about them is that their synthetic stocks can leave some to be desired, and the guns them selves are not the prettiest. But, holy crap they shoot. Add the ability to change barrels/chamberings by yourself, and there you have it.

I love my .223 Savage 12VLP, but I'd hate to have to tote it for any length of time in the field. If you are shooting p'dogs from a stationary postion, this gun will find 'em.

Thanks for all the info guys, I'm happy to see the support for the Savage, I don't own one but I've come close to buying one more than once. I'm assuming that it's cheaper to reload the .223 than buy factory, what are you guys spending to load 1,000 rnds? Do you spend the money on the match bullets? I'm spending about $68 to reload 1,000 rnds of .38 for PPC, but that only gets 2.6 grains of 231, buying ammo is about $120 per 1,000. I've got a ton of LC .223 brass so I wouldn't mind starting to use it.

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It depends which .223 it is for. I run the cheapest .223 I can load through my AR. They come out around $75/500 last I bought components, though I will say at that price I already had the brass. For the bolt rifle varmint loads go up to $100/500 and for paper punching things go up to about $130/500. I am still doing a bit of load development for the rifles I have so I haven't bought bullets or powders in huge quantities so I know there are a few dollars to be trimmed off those ranges when settled on a given load. When we talk reduced loads I can get out for about $65-$80 depending on the bullet in front of it and those loads have held sub-MOA.

I like what I see in the Savage Model 12 Long Range Precisison Varminter in 22-250.

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Har, that's exactly what I bought for dogs last year, with a VX-III 6.5-20x50 with target knobs on top. I like the rifle, but the trigger got really gunked up after 2 days of shooting in WY. I probably should have cleaned it really well and used a dab of graphite. Also, I bought a used gun from gun broker so maybe it's just my rifle, but the extractor is garbage. I've heard they had some problems and Savage will send you a new extractor to fix it, but it's a PITA fingering every round out when you shoot 500-600 rounds a day. You will need a cheek piece with a LRPV as the standard stock isn't very comfortable and for the Millet medium rings I bought it is way too low.

what are you guys spending to load 1,000 rnds? Do you spend the money on the match bullets?

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Around $250 (including once fired brass) iirc. That was with 55gr sp bullets from Midway, but I bought a sack of 4000 and got them during one of their special email sales where everything is discounted. 22-250 is more expensive brass-wise, but I bought something like 1500 pieces last year so I don't need to buy more. Also I was shooting 55gr v-maxes (amazing results on P-dogs) but I don't know if I can afford to do that again. I had something like $3500+- invested in last year's trip with an $1800 rifle, all the components and reloading gear, but I hope to get below that this year, probably even with another rifle.