Author Topic: .22 prairie dog bullets?? (Read 822 times)

grizzlyguy · « **on:** January 26, 2006, 04:43:53 PM »

Where do I buy 55 gr. bullets, that don't cost $10/100. Like the Hornady Vmax but can't find volume discounts. Maybe if I give my son 4 or 5 rounds at a time we won't go through too many.

PaulS · « **Reply #1 on:** January 26, 2006, 09:05:45 PM »

You might try Cabbellas or Midway. They both sell bulk bullets. There are others too if you don't have the addresses just google rifle billets.

Graybeard · « **Reply #2 on:** January 27, 2006, 05:01:34 AM »

This is probably gonna sound harsh but so be it.

Shooting Pds is all about volume shooting. If you can't afford to spend $30- $50 on a day's worth of shooting then how the heck can you afford to go at all? Let them rip and don't worry about the cost.

Midsouth Shooters Supply has the Hornady V-Max in 250 packs I think it is and also the Nosler BTs in 250 packs. Neither varies a great deal from the other in price but the Hornady is a wee bit cheaper. They also sell the buck Remington bullets and also the excellent Speer 50 TNT in 1000 packs. The RP and Speer as as cheap a bullet as you can get and in some guns both shoot excellent groups. I've had rifles that did 1/4" at 100 yards with the Speers but never that good with the RPs altho both are accurate enough to do the job on PDs.

You're really just not gonna shave the cost per bullet to much under seven or eight cents these days on varmint quality bullets in .22 caliber. Just accept it and find a load your guns shoot and enjoy it while it's still available to enjoy.

Questor · « **Reply #3 on:** January 27, 2006, 09:05:02 AM »

You don't need to buy those expensive bullets. Get a 1000 pack of Speer 50 grain TNT bullets. They are excellent, and will cost around $85. I have used a variety of bullets on PDs and the TNTs are as good as any, and better than most. Expansion on varmints is explosive.

That said, the TNTs are made for velocities under about 3,500fps. Speer makes a different bullet for higher velocities.

If you must have a 55 grain boattail bullet at a low price, then see what Remington and others have available. Again, premium bullets don't make a lot of sense for this application.

skb2706 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 27, 2006, 09:22:27 AM »

Like the man said shaving a penny off bullets here and there isn't going to make or break the trip. If $.08 bullets shoot for you then by all means go for it. But if I were driving sevral hours, paying for lodging and all the rest of the amenities of the trip, bullets wouldn't be my biggest concern. If .....big 'if' you shoot 1000 rds. on a trip you might save $15 assuming there are no shipping costs associated with the bullets. Most good prairie dog weekends will be more like 500-600 rds. and cheap bulk bullets that don't hit what you aim at will ruin a trip even if you do save a few bucks.

Jim n Iowa · « **Reply #5 on:** January 27, 2006, 02:29:12 PM »

When I go for a varmint I take what ever is gathering dust, out with old and etc.To me its about having fun, and some of these old loads need to disappear. As was noted the are a lot more serious cost than bullets and powder.
Jim

Questor · « **Reply #6 on:** January 27, 2006, 03:01:10 PM »

Some good points before about being penny-wise and dollar foolish. When my son started prairie dog shooting I bought 40 grain Noslers so he'd get less recoil. The bullets were relatively expensive, but considering the overall cost of the trip, the cost was really insignificant.

The best thing to do is to not experiment much because experimenting is expensive. Just get some good quality bullets that don't cost a lot and you'll be alright as long as your gun likes them.

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #7 on:** January 28, 2006, 05:33:47 PM »

Quote from: Graybeard

This is probably gonna sound harsh but so be it.

Shooting Pds is all about volume shooting. If you can't afford to spend $30- $50 on a day's worth of shooting then how the heck can you afford to go at all? Let them rip and don't worry about the cost.

Quote

Youre right, it sounds harsh. And like you dont need to watch your money as closely as others might. It also sounds like you do things quite a bit differently than I do.

My p-dog hunting is almost always a secondary activity in conjunction with something else coyote or antelope or dove hunting, a visit to family members, etc. I have yet to take an overnight trip specifically for a p-dog shoot, but Ive sent many to the great prairie in the sky.

When I get serious about p-dog shooting I take my .22LR rifle and pistol and use them for the close stuff (100 yards or less for the pistol, 200 yards for the rifle). Helps keep the barrels on the .22-250 and .257 Roberts cool. Helps keep costs down, too.

beemanbeme · « **Reply #8 on:** January 29, 2006, 12:40:11 PM »

On a Pdog shoot, its pretty easy to shoot upwards of 1000 rounds.

Rem bulk 55gr bullets: $47.68 per 1000
Sierra Match 53gr bullets:$50.20 per 500.
That $50 difference would go quite a ways to paying for the powder or some of the gas to get there.

When I mention that I practice year around with cheap bullets and only switch over to the high priced stuff when I get ready to go hunting, I have some folks look down their noses and say they use only the high dollar bullets. I take this to mean they're a box a year shooter 'cause the difference in savings can amount to the price of a new rifle over the course of a year.

grizzlyguy · « **Reply #9 on:** February 02, 2006, 11:57:26 AM »

I'm not really that much of a cheapskate(well, maybe a little) I'm looking for a source of 55gr varmint bullets that are accurate, so that I can work up a load that will work in 3- .223 and then I can leave the Dillon set-up and ready to go. Locally the 55 Vmax is $12/ 100. I was looking for a place with maybe 1000 packs to get in the $8/ 1000 range?? Thanks for the replies.

mitchell · « **Reply #10 on:** February 03, 2006, 08:11:58 AM »

Quote from: Coyote Hunter

Youre right, it sounds harsh. And like you dont need to watch your money as closely as others might. It also sounds like you do things quite a bit differently than I do.

bill wasn't harsh one bit he just said the facts. if you can afford to go on the trip you should be able to save and extra $15-20 and buy a good varmint bullet. i like the hornady v-maxs and 20&223 cal. a P-dog bullet must shoot good and come apart quickly if its cheap you just lucked out.

Haywire Haywood · « **Reply #11 on:** February 03, 2006, 01:36:09 PM »

Check out Midway's house brand "Dogtown" bullets. I think they go pretty cheap.

Ian

Steve P · « **Reply #12 on:** February 03, 2006, 03:17:04 PM »

Midway USA
Mid South Shooters Supply.
Graf and Sons
Natchez Shooters Supply

All will have bullets.
You can also go to the Nosler store www.nosler.com and check out the price on 2nds. If you buy 500 bullets, shipping is free.

If you get on a good town, you can shoot 1000 rounds before lunch.

Remington Corelokt, Winchester 55 gr sp, all of the bulk bullets are plenty accurate enough out to 2-300 yards. Beyond that you want a premium bullet loaded to match specs to be fair to the PDs.

Go get 'em, load 'em and shoot 'em.

Steve

7x57mm · « **Reply #13 on:** February 03, 2006, 07:26:55 PM »

Graf & Sons has several .224 bullets in the 50 grain and 55 grain range for so little it shocked me. There is a Hornady 55 grain Soft Point at $6.59 per 100 or $59.31 for 1000. The company has a $4.75 order handling charge, but the shipping is already figured into the price. There are some Graf bullets, 55 grain, but full metal jacket boattails going for $4.59 per 100 and $41.31 per 1000. You might check out the Graf site. Good luck ... Tom Purdom

Graybeard · « **Reply #14 on:** February 04, 2006, 06:59:15 AM »

Quote

Check out Midway's house brand "Dogtown" bullets. I think they go pretty cheap.

I have heard ONLY bad things about them. About a year or so ago one of our members was trying to give them away just for the shipping cost and couldn't. I've never tried them personally but the reports I've heard on them tell me they might not be worth wasting powder and primers on.

The cheapest bullets I've personally found to be accurate are the RP bulk and Speer TNTs.

Lee in OH · « **Reply #15 on:** February 12, 2006, 04:58:34 AM »

Speer 50 grain TNTs are a good bullet for PD's. You can find packs of 1000 for about $75. Another good option are the Hornady 50 grain SPSX. About the same explosiveness as the VMAX, but cheaper as they are not a poly tipped bullet. They're usually less than $10 per hundred.