a couple of members were talking about these being the cat's meow for prairie dogs....

anyone used them on Sage Rats/ "Gophers" (in Montana Speak)?

my biggest concern is ricochets... as where we shoot, there is a lot of irrigation equipment around, and occasionally cattle...

don't need one hitting either of those...

thanks in advance...

Killed thousands of prairie dogs with them. Sierra, Hornady, Nosler, never had an issue with a ricochet.

Most of those were killed on a cattle ranch.

They may be fine for small varmints. I tried them on Texas coyotes using a .223 and found them to be less than dependable. Sometimes they would open, sometimes not. Switching to a 50-grain Blitz (softpoint) made a big difference.

Yep that 50 gr. Blitz is a good bullet on yotes. Not suggested over 3600 but have pushed them to Swift speeds without them going poof right out the tube.

I have used them some, no problems really, but with all the other fine bullets on the shelves, I just never went back to them when I used the few I had up.

SF,

I will give you one work of caution.

Stick to the 52/53 grain versions.

I tried the 69gr variants as well, but they seemed to hold together better then I liked for Prairie dog shooting, nor do they give you the same visual spectral as the 52/53gr variants.

The way the 69's held together, they acted like they would work reasonable well as a coyote/white tail bullet.

Thanks AntelopeSniper...

I sorta figured that out already tho...but a couple of you boys did catch my attention with the 52 & 53 grain Match bullets...

will start out with a box or two and see how they do...

I'm not short of varmint bullets whatsoever, but I always like to have another tool or two in the tool box, just in case I need to based on availability....

My two most common used ones so far now are the 53 V Max and the 40 grain Varmaggeddon Tipped...

Those 40 grain Varmageddon tipped bullets are wicked. Have an AR-15 with a 6.5 twist Noveske that loves them. The carnage is unbelievable.

Seafire,
They can be very accurate, but IME they are not as good for terminal performance as what you are using ; not nearly as explosive.
Just depends on what you're looking for, but for small varmints, I'd take the V-Max or other tipped bullets over them any time.
For small groups on paper for a few hundred yards, maybe a different story depending on what a gun likes.
Just my take on it.
Good luck,
-Ted

Thanks Ted...

That was what I was thinking... but since they were talked up, thought I'd give them a try.. and asked about others experience...

the ricochets were the biggest concern...

had a 55 FMJ once do a ricochet... turned 90 degrees.. and punched a hole in an irrigation pipe..

went and told the land owner... he appreciated me telling him about it... and then asked how many sage rats I had taken out on my last 3 trips to his property...I told him about 1500...

he told me he'd have his Mexican ranch hand throw a patch on it, and told me that those 1500 sage rats would have cost him a lot more in crop damage, than that patch was going to...

So I was lucky and skated on that, but I haven't used any bullets that weren't explosive ever since...

I've been out on large fields, where others were banging away with a 10/22... its amazing how much a 22 LR can ricochet...

they were shooting down the line from me...in the same direction... but I kept on hearing ricochets wizzing over head or near by....

I pull out and leave when I hear those...I am sure a ricochet from half a mile away of a 22LR is still got enough ooomph to put someone in the ER or worse...

Hornady 53 gr Match HP and you won't get any ricochets ,