I met Seafire in 2004 when he took me ground squirrel hunting. I brought my 17HMR and my 223 Ruger #1 loaded with 62 gr TAP bullets and 13 gr of Blue Dot. I learned Blue Dot from Seafire, he learned it from the James Calhoon website.
The 223 cost half as much to handload and killed them twice as far out.
A couple years later an Indian guide took me and another guy 20 miles out on the prairie on the Ft Belknap reservation to shoot prairie dogs. The other guy had a 17HMR that was inadequate. The guide loaned him a 223. My friend bought a 223 Rem 700 as soon as he got back to civilization.
For me, the 223 killed the 17HMR.
Right now, both 223 and 17HRM start at 20 cents per shot plus shipping.
