Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Looking for Recs for my new Prairie Dog gun

I know that this will initiate quite a few opinions, but I was hoping to get some suggestions.
I am looking for an additional prairie dog gun for shooting out to 400 yards.
I have reloading equip for 222, 223 and 22-250. I currently was thinking of a Tikka varmint yet was considering saving funds for a Cooper. I also like nice Ruger 1s...
Any thoughts (pros or cons) between guns is appreciated.
MTSmith

40 grain V-Max bullets made a 22-250 out of a 223 and it should to fine to 400 with those bullets at almost 4000 fps and a heavy barrel...

This is the answer.

drover

Stiff charge of RL 7, will get ya there...

I assume you already have 222,223

I'd spice it up with a 204

a 17 Hornet , fireball , or 17 remington would be nice too

Simple.

.204 shooting 40 grain bullets.

Forget the 204, you said you already have dies for the 223, besides that you can get higher velocities with the 40 grain bullet with a 22 caliber in the same sized case. If you are looking for another cartridge, get a 222 mag and never look back...

And I should add, get a Sako in whatever chambering you decide.

You CAN make a .223 sing and dance with good 40 grainers.....but that negates the rationale for getting a new gun.

And to the OP, FWIW Im not a fan of Ruger #1s for high volume varmint shooting....high volume is the operative phrase....

The 223 will get the job done. I used to carry a 22-250 for long shots. when I always went home and had never uncased the 22-250 I decided it was not needed. Some of us are slow learners.

I re-read your post and realized that you were asking about guns, not calibers. I am an ubabashed Cooper fan; I currently have three in 223, and others in various calibers. There has never been an issue with any of them, they have all shoot 1/2" or less with minimal load development.

I have also owned three Tikkas in 223, One was an honest 1/2" gun and the other two were nearer 3/4", for gophers and PD's those groups are more than good enough. The poorest shooting Tikka was one with the 1-8 twist using 40 gr bullets, I never tried it with anything heavier so it may have performed better with a heavier bullet.

A new Tikka Varmint seems to sell for just slightly less than $1000 while it will take some careful shopping to find a new Cooper Varmint for less than $1800 although good clean used ones can be found for $1300 - $1500.

The things in favor of Cooper are good factory support, the factory is in Montana, the value of used Coopers just keeps increasing, the rifles are made in the USA by American workers and the company is American owned.

My thoughts on caliber - 223 with 40 gr @ 3800 fps is all you need.

drover

CZ 527 221 FB will get you 3500-3600 with 40's and AA 1680. The guns are accurate out of the box. May want to tweak the trigger to your liking or use the SST trigger. Whittaker's has the gun for $615 right now.

That speed is right up there with a 223 and 40's.

Lapua brass is available for a touch more than Rem brass.

I'm with Shrapnel on this one, Sako Vixen 222 Mag



8 round 200 yard group from today with swirling and breezy winds.

Who told you to get that awesome machine?

Shrap you were right!

After spending the last two days shooting a Cooper M54 in 22-250, a Cooper M21 in 204 Ruger, an AR upper in 204 Ruger and the Sako 222 Mag. The vintage Sako 222 Mag is hands down my favorite. The trigger on this one is fantastic.

^^^^^^^ +1

Or the same gun in 222 if you can find one....

several PD hunters that I know have gone to 204 Ruger and rave about it, All have some model of Savage.

For me it would depend on how much time I was going to spend in the varmint shooting. I like to have 2 guns so I can trade off when is warmed up. I had a cooper in 223 and it shot in the 1/3 inch range but it was heavy and I did not care for the hard bolt lift. Since I was moving from Montana I sold it. I still have Hearters and a Savage in 223 but I only go to the dog towns 1 or 2 times a year.

The Ideal to me would be to re-barrel the old Hearters to 20 Practical. Neck size 223 down to 20 cal. and have 204 ballistics.

The easy, cheap, and accurate solution is to buy an RAR-Predator in either 204 or 223 and spend the rest of your build budget on glass and ammo.

If you're going to go .20 cal, skip the .204R and get a .20 VarTarg.

Other than that, all the advice you need is in this thread.

kingston excellent shooting and I love those Sakos. Question for you, what kind of spotting scope mount is that? I've been looking for something like that. Thanks

It's a Manfrotto 410 geared head on a Manfrotto 649 Quick-Release C-Clamp.

I may have been lucky, but I bought a used Ruger #1 .223 and personally shot over 5000 rounds through it and then had it made into a .223 AI and shot another 5000+ rounds through it before accuracy slipped. It then had a Lilja 7 twist barrel chambered in .223 AI put on it and is still going strong.

My shooting partners cannot believe how fast I can fire that rifle off a bench in the dog towns. I use a 6.5x20 Leupold scope on that rifle.