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Have any of you hunted ground hogs with large caliber rifles? How do you compare it to shooting with regular varmint type rounds like the .22 calibers and such? More fun, harder, easier?
Huntin' hogs with big guns?
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regular .22 cals will work
I used a .22 mag. for years on ground hogs.
A bigger cal. will give you more range, more accuracy at longer range..ect.
With smaller cals. your range is limited in wide open spaces, meaning you have to "STALK" them a lot more for sure.
Now for Coyotes i wouldnt really recommend using a small cal. gun as they are very "spooky" most of the time..and stalking them is much harder..plus i sure wouyldnt feel very good hitting a Coyote or anything else for that matter with a lighter rough and having that animal get away and die days or weeks later because i didnt have a strong enough cal. to get the job done,not very humane!
One of my buddys hunts with a Ruger 270..the other a Win. 243..i think they are way over kill for just shootin hogs(my opinion) and i dont think they do the job my Rem 22-250 does.
Hey when we just wanted to have fun and stalk hogs..we always broke out our slug guns(great summertime practice for winter deer huntin). I have an H & R 12 ga. w/scope that is made from a 10ga. frame bored out to 12ga.(they also made a 20ga. that was made out of a 12ga. frame)..this thing has a riffled barrel and shoots those sabots very accurate out to 125yrds..The extra weight of the heavy barrle helps recoil heavy loads.
Man we looked like army men..crawling down the fence lines(in full camo) trying to get in range to get a closer shot on those hogs..was a lot of fun back then..and like i said great practice to get to know our guns and thier limits for deer season.
I used a .22 mag. for years on ground hogs.
A bigger cal. will give you more range, more accuracy at longer range..ect.
With smaller cals. your range is limited in wide open spaces, meaning you have to "STALK" them a lot more for sure.
Now for Coyotes i wouldnt really recommend using a small cal. gun as they are very "spooky" most of the time..and stalking them is much harder..plus i sure wouyldnt feel very good hitting a Coyote or anything else for that matter with a lighter rough and having that animal get away and die days or weeks later because i didnt have a strong enough cal. to get the job done,not very humane!
One of my buddys hunts with a Ruger 270..the other a Win. 243..i think they are way over kill for just shootin hogs(my opinion) and i dont think they do the job my Rem 22-250 does.
Hey when we just wanted to have fun and stalk hogs..we always broke out our slug guns(great summertime practice for winter deer huntin). I have an H & R 12 ga. w/scope that is made from a 10ga. frame bored out to 12ga.(they also made a 20ga. that was made out of a 12ga. frame)..this thing has a riffled barrel and shoots those sabots very accurate out to 125yrds..The extra weight of the heavy barrle helps recoil heavy loads.
Man we looked like army men..crawling down the fence lines(in full camo) trying to get in range to get a closer shot on those hogs..was a lot of fun back then..and like i said great practice to get to know our guns and thier limits for deer season.
The most powerful I have killed them with is a 7mm rem mag. I commonly use a 308 win. loaded down to lower velocities with a 100 to 110 gr. bullet .. it does a good job. I hunt with these rifles because they are my favorite rifles to hunt with .. I don't really care about the ballistics or overkill ... dead is dead
I am going to get a coyote here soon with my 308, we are getting over run with them here were I live. The 243 has some nice varmint bullets available for it. I would say that for a varmint rifle that is as big as you want to go, plus it is a good all round caliber, very accurate and good for deer if you ever want to go out of state to use it. I think for all around varmint war, the 17 is great. although I don't currently own one I have shot them. I have also experimented with shooting 22cal bullets through my 308. I don't see any difference in hunting with bigger guns, all are accurate and do the job, you just have to be very careful when using large calibers as the bullets are a lot tougher and can ricochet or just simply keep on going after the kill
I am going to get a coyote here soon with my 308, we are getting over run with them here were I live. The 243 has some nice varmint bullets available for it. I would say that for a varmint rifle that is as big as you want to go, plus it is a good all round caliber, very accurate and good for deer if you ever want to go out of state to use it. I think for all around varmint war, the 17 is great. although I don't currently own one I have shot them. I have also experimented with shooting 22cal bullets through my 308. I don't see any difference in hunting with bigger guns, all are accurate and do the job, you just have to be very careful when using large calibers as the bullets are a lot tougher and can ricochet or just simply keep on going after the killyep, 45-75 T/C Contender. ---- Fun gun
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---- Fun gun
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45-70? those things knock deer down like a truck, I can't imagine a ground hog.
Reason I was asking is because I am considering using my .300win. mag. I have a .223......figured the .300 would be.....more fun
Reason I was asking is because I am considering using my .300win. mag. I have a .223......figured the .300 would be.....more fun
B.B.,
Years ago I used to load alot of .30-06 ammo for groundhogs. The litest bullet that I found that would hold good accuracy past 100 yards was the Speer 130 grn. HP. With your .300 mag. I would guess that it will be the best long range bullet you will find. .30 cal. hunting rifles just over stablize bullets that are shorter than tha Speer 130 HP`s. There won`t be much left when you hit a groundhog though.
Years ago I used to load alot of .30-06 ammo for groundhogs. The litest bullet that I found that would hold good accuracy past 100 yards was the Speer 130 grn. HP. With your .300 mag. I would guess that it will be the best long range bullet you will find. .30 cal. hunting rifles just over stablize bullets that are shorter than tha Speer 130 HP`s. There won`t be much left when you hit a groundhog though.
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Easier for the birds...instant field dress!
I have shot groundhogs with a 7MM-08, 257 Roberts, 308Win, 250-3000, 6MM Rem, 6.5x55, they are all very fun calibers to use, I love rifles, and since groundhogs, crows, coyotes etc offer me my only chance to use my various rifles on game here in Ohio, the 257, 250-3000, and 6MM are pretty much on par with the 243 ballisticly, I say whatever floats your boat as long as its safe and legal, I mean I dont think the groundhogs will be able to tell the difference in being shot with a 22LR or a 300Win they will be in that big bean field in the sky
they will be in that big bean field in the sky
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Being shot with the .300 or that 45-70........they'll be part of the bean field
When's groundhog day!!!!!!!!
When's groundhog day!!!!!!!!
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I have used my .22 mag. and hit them with my 30-06 with 150 grain bullets. They just explode!!
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Hey......if you're gonna shoot......better make sure you do it right the first time. Although.....a head shot with a .220swift would do some damage........can you say "Got Head?" That would make a great add for varmint ammo. A hog standing in the field with his head laying next to him and a bubble that says "Got Head" I'll have to email that to Federal or Winchester!!!!!!
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I have had head shots and they are very messy. But very cool to see. Like a tomato hitting a wall. LOL
For the last few years I been useing .17 cal. guns, eather a .17 Rem. or a .17 K-Hornet. For several years I use a .257 imp. An 87 grn. Serria varmint bullet at 3,500 fps. It made some minty big holes in groundhog and nearly cut some in half, definately made a mess. Recently though I`ve come to love the .17`s. Have you ever had a groundhog standing looking at you and shoot him in the chest??????? Well with the .17`s they fall towards you. If you look them over real close you might find a drop of blood and maybe not. I like it that way, I don`t ruin so much of the food I leave for those big black birds that I like to feed so much.
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You're a very sick person, you know that
I had some very gruesome shots with my 220 Swift when I was loading it with the Sierra 60gr HP and RL-15, only cruised along at about 3500fps but boy it was deadly, 2 other calibers that are pretty awsome if you keep them within there range are the 22 hornet and the 222 Remington.
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I've heard a lot about the .22 hornet.....looks like a pretty potent pill. What kind of numbers does it put up?
Bouncer-- The Hornet with a 40 Gr. bullet will get up and go at about 2750 feet/sec. This would be a reload at max pressure of 43,000 cup. A factory load with a 45gr. bullet will be at 2650 feet/sec. --- 24 inch barrel
This is a nice round for hunting small game and them pesky ol' woodchucks. It would be an excellent round to shoot where a person would want to keep the noise to an minimum and still shoot a center fire cartridge. All in all not a bad little cartridge, it was very popular when I was a kid as was the 218 Bee.
This is a nice round for hunting small game and them pesky ol' woodchucks. It would be an excellent round to shoot where a person would want to keep the noise to an minimum and still shoot a center fire cartridge. All in all not a bad little cartridge, it was very popular when I was a kid as was the 218 Bee.
Even though I dont know firsthand I have heard people say they top 3000fps with Hodgen Lilgun powder in the hornet? also they say they can push 3000 with the 35gr V-Max? myself I get around 2700 with a 40gr Ballistic tip, kills groundhogs dead within maybe 150 yards, recoil is nonexistant, very economical round to load as well, I only use 11.5grs of IMR-4227.
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Who makes a good balistic tip for a .223? Speer? Hornady? Probably both, but I have never seen them on a shelf.
Ballistic tips are made by Nosler, but Hornady has there version called the V-Max and Sierra calls theres the Blitzking, you can usually find at least one brand of these in gunshops that sell reloading supplies or shooting catalogues that carry reloading supplies, also there are some factory loadings that use these bullets but some are a bit pricey.
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