Factory 223 for Prairie dogging.

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rms65

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Any advice or recommendations for 223 factory ammo for Prarie dogs. We're using a Howa 1500 20" 1:9 heavy barrel and a Tikka Varmint 24" 1:8. I've used fiocchi 50gr on woodchucks out to 300 without a problem. Over 150 yards they don't exit a good size chuck but they still deflate them where they stand.
 
I find that ammo to be very accurate in my rifles and the price is right. You don't need a lot of power for what you're doing. That is what I'd use
 
When I started hunting prairie dogs back in the last century I used 130 gr 270. I found it a bit of an over kill. If I was to go hunting now I would use .223 55gr. I believe your choice of ammo would be spot on, good hunting and be safe.
 
Too bad you missed out on Nosler's clearance sale on their Trophy Grade Ammo. I picked up 400 rounds in a nice Nosler plastic ammo can for $169.95 + $13 shipping.
Great deal on top grade Nosler factory ammo with 40 gr Ballistic Tip Bullets.
I would try to find the best deal you can on the Fiocchi Extrema ammo loaded with either the 40 gr or 50 gr V-Max bullets. Won't be quite the deal Nosler had, but they do work well, in my experience.
 
The Fiocchi 50gr V-Max in 50rd boxes is exactly what I used my first year of prairie dog hunting and my handloads (every year since) have replicated that load. I'm even still using some of that brass. The price is also pretty good.
 
A woodchuck is a great deal bigger than a ground squirrel. So it's more about accuracy than anything else.
In any case, if you're not reloading, you'll have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo each rifle shoots best. With those rifling twists I'd be thinking heavier than 50 grains, but neither the ground hog nor squirrel will care what you use. Haven't used any factory ammo for eons myself.
"...found it a bit of an over kill..." Ain't nothing like varmint hunting as practice for deer season. And if you were a prairie dog, a 55 grain would be over kill. snicker.
 
How far do you want to shoot and how much of a mess do you want to make? If it can shoot accurately at the distance you want to shoot it will kill it, if you want to make a mess it may take more development.

If the Fiocchi already works for you, no reason to change horses.
 
I've had good luck with the Black Hills 52gr MHP ammo.

Twist is not going to be an issue with any bullet weights that would commonly be used for varmint hunting--especially not with the barrel lengths you have.
 
I had a short notice invitation to go on a hunt a while back and didn't have time to load up enough ammo to use so I picked up some Federal American Eagle 50 gr HP ammo to shoot. I got good accuracy with them in my Sako and they expanded nicely.
 
Purely Personal Opinion: When it's .223 vs. prairie dog, bullet construction is irrelevant. Whatever gives the tightest groups in your rifle will give the largest percentage of hits.
 
tipped

"Rifle" magazine ran an article by John Barsness(?)a while back, and he was extolling the virtues of tipped bullets in .223 for 'dogs. Logic was that the tipped bullets in most bullet weights yielded higher BC's than their HP and SPT counter parts, yielding flatter trajectories and less wind drift and allowing more hits at longer ranges. So much so that he supposedly claims to have retired his 22-250's for softer shooting .223's.......and he can spot his own misses due to lower recoil.

My own heavy .223 rifle, twisted 1-9", is set up for 68-69 gr HPBT match bullets, but I do not due a high volume of shooting with it.
 
55 gr Rem UMC does the trick but the gold standard used to be the beloved Winchester “white box” 45gr JHP which I haven’t seen in shops for years... Though it looks like Midway may have them...
 
rms65 said:
Any advice or recommendations for 223 factory ammo for Prarie dogs. We're using a Howa 1500 20" 1:9 heavy barrel and a Tikka Varmint 24" 1:8. I've used fiocchi 50gr on woodchucks out to 300 without a problem. Over 150 yards they don't exit a good size chuck but they still deflate them where they stand.
Click to expand...
Hornady match 73 ELD-M has shot sub 1/4 MOA in mine.
Works at short, medium, and longer distances.
 
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