Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 6mm for P-Dogs

6BR is probably the ideal 6mm for p/dogs...30-31 grs of BM..V133..H4895..8208...70 NBT or 75 V max..Lapua brass...my 12 twist is pushing 7500 rds...still dumps dogs as far as the eye can see...for the extra punch we all sometimes think we need..the 6XC & 8 twist & 37-38 grs of H4350...V100..RE17...or H4895..80 NBT....Leica LRF confirmed p/dog kills out to 1100...whats not to like ? No one likes to sit alongside a table in a p/dog patch with a 243 AI or 6mm Rem barking 46-47 grs of powder each shot..I build mine on Salvage s/shots & P-N tubes..was bored last winter...tore down the XC for a good cleaning.....

I'm going for P-Dogs 2nd week of June near Billings MT for a 2 day hunt. Bringing 3 rifles 223 shooting 55gr V-Max 22-250 shooting 53gr V-Max and a 6/284 shooting Primarily 105 gr A-Max and Berger hybrids and maybe some 87gr V-Maxes . My 6 has a brake on it but with 105s it still thumps ya. This is 1st time shooting P-Dogs ,in view of reading about recoil,muzzle blast,barrel heat and wear ,I wonder of what ratio of ammo I should bring for each rifle ? Surly the wind in MT is no less than SD .

Well, the build has begun. Parts and pieces fell into place quickly. Looks like it's gonna be a straight up .243 Win (for now) and so that it can be wrapped up by the time we head West. Friend of a friend, or a friend had the reamer and gages, so I'm guessing that's why the choice of .243 Win was made. My bet is that once he has loads worked up and fired, it'll stay that way, but you never know.

FWIW, my co-worker got a little ahead of himself and ended up with 2 barrels. A MullerWorks #4, S/S, 4 groove, fluted, that'll finish easily at 26", a Bartlein, Rem Varmint/Sendero contour, 5R, S/S, unfluted. That said, I may be advertising a barrel for him in the days to come (not for sure, or for that matter, which one)

Have you tried the 53 V's in the 223 ? the flat base 55 V is no where
near as flat as the 53 V........the 6mm 87 V max is all you would need for the 6/284...awesome bullet.......just bring your 'Sham Wow' to aid barrel cooling.......
223AI on table......

Ironworker,

It depends on the weather! (Yeah, I know, ha ha.) "Normal" winds are probably around 5-10 mph, with the highest in the afternoon, and a higher-BC bullet does help at longer ranges, especially at 10 mph.
My observation, though, is that if the wind's blowing MUCH harder than average, the percentage of hits goes way down at ranges beyond about 350 yards no matter the cartridge and load.

Normally about 3/4 of my ammo (and rifles) are for ranges out to 300-400 yards in typical winds, and the other quarter for shooting at longer ranges and/or higher winds.

Ironworker........I would by far bring the most ammo for your 223 , think you will find that will be the workhorse of your trip

you might want to beg , borrow , or steal another 223 or maybe a 204 if possible......dont think you will want more than a 100 or 2 rounds for the big 6mm for a the extreme long tries

myself , I usually take a couple of 204s , maybe a 17 remington and a 223 AR , also usually a 223WSSM.....next time the 6XC to fireform some brass or maybe a 6.5 creedmore for a few long shots

Thanks guys ,very helpful . What kind of weather can I expect in Billings MT in June ? Thinking about powder sensitivity . Powders I'll be burning will be Varget Ramshot TAC and Re#22 or H4831SC

You can expect all four seasons. Just the way Montana is. One thing for sure, you will have LONG days to exploit. 6 am to 9pm at least. Might still be some lingering spring wet. Or a blizzard. Hopefully it will be emerald green.

While I still think 243 and 6 Rem are too hot for dogging, 243 will work -- you can always cut it back and rechamber to XC or 47 over next winter.

Hope you have a great time.

It could be anything from around 50 early in the morning to 100+ later in the day. You should be fine with any of those powders.

One thing you also might consider is bringing a rimfire of some sort. It's often a good idea to start shooting a town with a quieter rifle, because the nearby dogs will stay up longer. However, this depends a lot on how much (or whether) a town has been shot at. An already hard-hit town won't provide many opportunities with a rimfire, but a town that hasn't been shot at all will. And even on hard-shot town, you can often find some less spooky dogs by hiking into nearby draws where most people don't go. A rimfire's ideal for this, since you can dump a bunch of spare rounds in a shirt pocket.

I usually bring a .17 HMR, because it will reach out to 150-200 yards, but have killed a pile of PD's with the old Long Rifle over the years.

Billings Airport NOAA Climate Normals 1981-2010

a thread this long about slaying prairie dogs, and .17 caliber got mentioned twice. Sacrilege......

Yeah, I noticed that too--but the original post did ask about which 6mm cartridge should be chosen to accompany a .204 and .22-250. Personally, I would bring a .17 Fireball rather than the .22-250!

MY 6mm PDog rifle.

Rem XR-100 action
-trued
-bushed
-Sako extractor
-TIG welded bolt handle
1.25" straight tapper SS Hart barrel
-28" finish
~12 TW
~6BR
-McMillan Bench Rest stock
-Jewel Trigger




Built by Clarence Hammonds

http://benchrest.com/hammonds/

a fireball would be cool , but think I am going to pick up a 17 Hornet one of these days....already have some ammo , just not the rifle to shoot it thru !!

243/6mm gets old in a hurry shooting pds in a good town and your barrel will get ate if you don't use some restraint. 70 and 85 gr Sierra HPBT's will launch them pretty hard. I'd spend most of my effort with the 204 ,223,22-250 and/or a 220 Swift. I live SD and shoot lots of dogs . But ,by all means find out for yourself. Magnum man

Fingers are too fat for 17's.........

20's rock........20VT..20-222 or 20 PT would be on my table

sdgunslinger,

The .17 Hornet is a lot of fun as well, and you can shot a LOT without heating up the barrel, or using much powder. (Got lucky about the same time on a pile of 20-grain Hornady V-Maxes for a very cheap price....)

I bought my CZ in .17 Hornet a couple years ago and it works very well, but is about 100 yards behind the .17 Fireball, so I tend to use the .17 Hornet more as my "big" rifle on ground squirrels, paired with a .17 Mach 2.

When shooting dogs I almost always take a .17 HMR, .17 Fireball and .204 Ruger, along with 2-3 other rifles, one in some larger cartridge for longer shots, and whatever others might be interesting. Just picked up my second .22 K-Hornet, an old Brno ZKW 465, which unlike most .22 Hornet repeaters has a long enough magazine to use plastic-tipped 40-grain bullets, though just barely. With the their higher BC, either form of .22 Hornet is also a lot of fun out to 250-300 yards.

I have two 6mm Remington 700's set up for Prairie dogs and two 223's. Plus I have a 204 Ruger. The long range dogs, I use the 6mm's. My favorite bullet for the 6mm on PD's is the 58 grain Hornadys. To me they void the need for 22-250's or Swifts.

I've burned up barrels before on dog towns. I'm more careful any more and switch rifles before they get too hot.

I hunt with a couple of relatives from Texas. I think I'll bring my 375H&H AI and ask them if they use bigger guns in Texas.

I killed a bunch of prairie dogs with the .375 H&H while practicing for an iron-sight safari in Botswana 12 years ago. However, must admit to using a reduced load with the 220-grain Hornady flat-nose on the PD's, at about 2000 fps. This shot right to the same place as 300-grain full-power loads, and after taking a bunch of PD's out to 175 yards there was no problem in Africa out to 200+. The Hornady expanded dogs about like a 55 from a .22-250.

The first time for PD hunting for me was with a 6mm Remington Sharon barrel on a Mouser action and a Herter's stock that dad built for me. Don't know for sure the year, but I think it was 1961. I shot a dog in the middle of three. It blew up and killed the dog on either side of it each having tiny bones etc. into their little carcasses. The bullet was 75 grain Speer HP with IMR4350 powder. Have no idea any more on the charge. I've liked shooting them since. That rifle spoiled me I thought all center fires (or as I callled them then high-powers) should shoot into .25" at 100. That was the rifle I unfortunately burned out on dogs. I know dad thought the 6mm should have been OK on deer too, but I never tried that rifle on deer as I got a 03 soon afterwards.