whats good enough accuracy for shooting prairie dogs?

[thelaw]

my handi .223 shoots handloaded 50gr ballistic tips and v-max around the 1" mark at 100yds. the win. white box 45gr hp shoots 1-1.25". is this adequate for making hits on PD's out to 250-300yards?

[HutchHandiMan]

was for me at our last PD shoot...259yards

I too shoot 50 vmax from my 223...mine does not like the whitebox for under 1.25" either 45 or 55

GL  remember that you are reaching the limits of the 223 at or about 300-325 yards...the 50 grain will start to sway in the wind beond 200 or so..

[hellacatcher]

All I know it is satisfying to take a 300 or 400 yrd shot and hear a prairie dog pop or teach him to fly. I am not going to say it was done on every shot.

[Graybeard]

Wow sure glad no one told me that before the last shoot. I shot them with the .223 out to a bit over 450 yards and it does them in quite well out there. Members of the Varmint Hunters Assoc. have used the .223 to join the 500 and 1000 yard clubs both.

MOA is adequate to make hits fairly consistently to about 250. A PD is about 2.5" wide at most so if you can keep all shots inside 2.5" at 2250 yards you should at least theoritically be able to kill most of them at that range. Really 250 is pretty well duck soup shots for most .223s. Only out past 400 does it get a bit tricky and require a really accurate load.

[Phoneman]

I shoot 1 inch and under at 200 yards with my .223. I use wwb. I wouldn't be afraid of trying a 400 yard shot.

[Lone Star]

The issue with 400 yards shots and the .223 is wind drift; it has plenty.  With laser range finders and ballistic software, shooting 'dogs at 300-400 yards is relatively easy until the wind enters the picture.  That's where the real skill is in varming shooting today and is what separates the men from the boys.

GB - don't forget to tell 'em that 1000 yard .223 wasn't a Handi rifle and it didn't use a 55-grain bullet...  

[nomosendero]

I always strive for minute-of-gnat's-a!!! but I don't always get that kind of
accuracy.
Like Lone Star said, the wind is a big deal for this, but also for Antelope,
Mule Deer & other Western hunting. Trajectory is not as hard to plot if
you have a range finder as doping the wind is, that's for sure!

[Fred M]

Anything over a 1/2 moa accuracy is not a good varmint rifle and that is not really asking much. However you do need to spend some money for good bullets.  A 223 should at least shoot 3/8 groups when well tuned.

[Lone Star]

Anything over a 1/2 moa accuracy is not a good varmint rifle....

Well then an awful lot of varmint shooters can't use their equipment!  One moa is plenty for much varmint shooting, particularly for 'chucks and coyotes.   Even 'dogs can be successfully harvested with a one moa rifle (or handgun).  There will be a shorter range limit for sure hits of course, but that doesn't mean that the shooter shouldn't hunt just because his .223 rifle won't group 3/8 moa....

What most varmint shooters forget is that one or two groups in the 1/2-moa range doesn't mean that they have a 1/2 moa rifle.  To be certain of their rifle's performance on a hunt where they may fire hundreds of shots they need to fire four to ten 5-shot groups and average the group size.   A couple of "bragging" groups prove nothing to experienced accuracy shooters.  What they are concerned with is the largest group their rifle will shoot.  That is what determines their real long range accuracy on a high-volume shoot.

[jeff223]

the handi rifles will kill the dogs out there at a good range but once the barrels on these guns get hot the accuracy goes out the window.if you are going to use these handi rifles for repeated shooting out on the grass lands a person should have two of three rifles to shoot.shoot until the barrel gets hot then set that one down and start in with another.if the dogs arnt out good and you are waiting 4 to 5 minutes between shoots the barrel wont heat up that fast  but if you are shooting faster than that your barrel wont hold accuracy very long.thats the only bad thing about these handi rifles.

one of these days i would like to go out west again on a shoot but i seem to spend my time after big game rather than hunting varmints.im planning on taking my 223 handi out to North Dakota in a couple of weeks just in case i get a mule deer with my bow,then i will hunt some yotes and such.there are several dog towns close to where we are hunting too.never know what will happen

[Mac11700]

my handi .223 shoots handloaded 50gr ballistic tips and v-max around the 1" mark at 100yds. the win. white box 45gr hp shoots 1-1.25". is this adequate for making hits on PD's out to 250-300yards?

While the rifle is most likely accurate enough...are you??? Have you ever shot at a PD or  target at that distance?...NO disrespect here...none at all...so please don't mis-understand...but...you owe it to yourself...and what your shooting at to practice at the yardages you intend to shoot at.I know it may be difficult ...but I'm sure if you looked you could probably find someplace to try it out at that distance and see if you and  the rifle/ammo combination will work...and if it does...then so much the better...your confidence will be much higher...if it doesn't...then you'll have time to make the needed corrections...prior to your hunting...

Mac

[Ditchdigger]

My Ruger 220 Swift shoots 1/4" and less at 100 yds.and its good way out there,but my Ultra in 223 only shoots 1/2" groups and is consistant out to about 300 yds. I have a 22 250 barrel now,and it looks like it will be a consistant 1/2" and less shooter.  Digger

[Cottonwood]

Attaining this is all ya want.  If you do your part, the bullet will do its part.


I used this pic because its less graphic, unless ya want to see a real explosive shot.  :shock:

[hellacatcher]

I had only been able to take a few 200yrds shots at a target before the Ok. Prairie Dog shoot but rather suprised and pleased at how fast one starts hitting at the 300,400 and 500 yrd range.

[poncaguy]

Are we going to have classes? You know, Handi's only.......45-70, 7mm-08, 22-250, 223, 22 Hornet, 17 HMR ? Prizes ? Cases of beer, ammo? Nicest beard?........ :-D

[nomosendero]

The Montanan
Yes, I do want to see more!

[Mac11700]

I used this pic because its less graphic, unless ya want to see a real explosive shot. Shocked

No...I don't think so...not posted here......

Mac

[Wlscott]

I think it's all relative.  A 1" rifle will kill prairie dogs out to as far as you want to shoot them, just like a 1/2" rifle will.  But the 1" rifle won't kill them as consistantly as the 1/2" rifle will.  It just depends on how serious you are.  If you're the kind of guy that counts kills, and calculates your kill percentage on your lap top at the end of the day, you probably need a $2500.00 dollar rig that shoots 1" groups at 1000 yards

If you're just out there to shoot and have fun, shoot what you've got.  I've shot these things all my life.  I started with a lever action Marlin .22 with open sights.  And I killed a LOT of prairie dogs.  Use what you've got, but know HOW to use what you've got.

As far as the .223 being out of gas after 300 yards........

I shot a .223 a lot longer than I'm willing to brag about when I was in the military (with open sights at that).  It will do the job on coyotes out past four hundred yards, I know because I've done it.  It just doesn't kill them with quite as much authority as something like a 220 Swift.  As long as you know what you're doing, it will do the job waaaaay out there.

[Cottonwood]

The Montanan
Yes, I do want to see more!

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