.308 load for prairie dogs

[cbmax]

Hi all,

I am going on a prairie dog hunt in Montana this summer. I have multiple riifles up for the task but I am strongly considering bringing my bolt action .308 with a 1 in 11.25 twist heavy barrel.

What weight / brand of bullet would you recommend for this rifle? I will hand load the rounds. I'd like to use this rifle for shots out past 500 yards. Will 125 grain TNT's work? I am open to all of your suggestions.

Thank you.

Chris

PS. I have only used 168 and 175 grain Sierra Match Kings in this rifle with superior results.

 

[broken6r]

Man, anything will get the job done in a .308. Our prairie dogs & ground squirrels are not that big.

 

[Art Eatman]

If you really want some fun, use 80-grain pistol bullets. Super-zappers!

Way back when, I loaded those in my '06. Somewhere near 4,000 ft/sec. Did horrible things to poor innocent jackrabbits. "Disassembly" is a reasonable word.

 

[cbmax]

Thanks so far, but my question has more to do with what bullet weights will work in my 1 in 11.25 twist barrel and still shoot accurately? My only experience is with 168 and 175 SMK. Will I have any problems shooting lighter varmint type bullets accurately? Will I over spin the bullets?

CB

 

[MtnCreek]

155gr A-Max. A 125gr Nosler BT does a great job on crows and the like, but it will not fly as good as the A-Max at distance.

Edit: Or just stick w/ the 168/175.

 

[spclpatrolgroup]

If this is your first time shooting PD's my advice is bring double the ammo you think you will need. If you are planning on bringing 500 rounds bring 1,000, it sucks when you stumble across multiple active dog towns and run out of ammo by noon.

 

[cbmax]

Other riflles I will consider bringing include:

1) 6mm BR Bolt action
2) 22-250 Bolt action
3) .204 Ruger Semi-Auto (AR)

Since I will be flying, I want to keep it to 3 rifles maximum. The purpose of considering the .308 was for possible shots out to 500 yards. The 6MM BR can probably get there shooting 75 Grain V-Max's but the .308 might be a better bet!

CB

 

[MtnCreek]

I would take the rifle that I know the best (and one backup). I've never shot a PD, but it's my understanding they could pop up anywhere and the ability to rapidly adjust for different ranges would probably be the key to putting lead in them. Sounds like fun!

 

[Certaindeaf]

125 grainers may well be too light. Only one way to find out though.
With that twist, 150 might be as low as you can go with good accuracy.
Have fun!

 

[Art Eatman]

A 1:10 twist is the general standard for 150- to 220-grain bullets in thirty caliber. 1:11.25 should be just fine for the lighter bullets.

Ancient rule: Slower twist is adequate for lighter bullets, faster twist is necessary for the heavier (longer) bullets. Lighter bullets do okay in faster-twist barrels, but longer bullets aren't well-stabilized in slower-twist barrels.

 

[GooseGestapo]

My brother used the only rifle he owned at the time for the only p-dog hunt we went on. I was using a .257Roberts w/85gr Ballisitic Tips.

He had his loaded to about 3,100fps w/H4895. Bench shot to about 1.5" @ 100yds.

He did well to about 300-350yds. Beyond that, the wind did weird things with those bullets. However when he hit a p-dog, they exploded, what wasn't vaporized.

FWIW; I've found that the 125gr Nosler BallisticTips are excellent from a .30/06. I was able to run them to 3,200fps and sub-moa from a 1/10" bbl. You should be able to get ~3,100fps from your .308wcf. This will put you in the category of a .222 or .223.

If flying, I'd take 2 guns or less. If only one, with your battery, I'd take the .204. Secondly, the .22-250. Especially the .22-250 as if you run out of ammo, the nearest WallyWorld, (which in p-dog land might not be very close) will have the excellent 45gr W-W white box ammo.
Just the weight of a couple of hundred .308 might put you over your weight limit. Some airlines will limit you to 11 pounds of ammo. Last time I flew commercial on a distant hunt, we waited to get our ammo where we were hunting, but then we were waterfowl hunting and shotgun shells are a lot heavier than .223/.22-250 ammo.

Be careful with a hot number like the .22-250. A former co-worker has smoked two barrels on his Savage M12 Varminter. He originally was shooting 40gr V-max over 41.0gr. of Varget till he found out what a barrel burner that load is. Then he switched to BenchMark and a 50gr ballistic tip. He says that 300rds on a warm morning will toast a barrel with that load.........

He now takes along a .223 and only breaks out the .22-250 when the close p-dogs "go to ground".......

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

overkill...way too much gun...yall read too many shooting magazines.

 

[Rem.222]

I've seen 6mm br and 22-250 work at 500 yds if shooter does his/her work. Only advantage .308 would have is in wind. 168 gr plus to buck the wind in 308. I know light weight bullets sound fast but don't buck wind very well (why do long range target shooters use heavy weights). P'dogs are easily killed if hit. Slow you shot pace down some, change rifles after 4 shots (always) and leave wide action open until ready to shoot barrel will cool quicker that way. I have shoot thousand of rounds at dogs this way and never ruined a barrel and always had high kill rates. I have watched many ruin a barrels by shooting to fast and over heating the barrel. Money is to hard to come by for me to ruin a barrel.

 

[wleggart]

500+ prairrie dogs

I have shot PD with .308 168 Gr. Black Hills Match HP at 500+. It's a blast! You have time to recover and see the bullet strike. Also, the ones that are sitting on the back side of the hill with only their heads showing are definitely not safe. Wind is MUCH easier to dope with big bullets! My .220 Swift is my first choice, but 350-400 is a long way. The wind always blow where PD live. If you can get down wind, and you can use your .17 Rem or 17 HMR for them a long way away! Hell, any gun is fun!