I got a late start, but what the heck, there’s usually dew on the grass in the morning and it had rained in the area I was headed for so the late start gave the sun a chance to dry off the moisture. I had my Remington 700 BDL that is chambered with a .1945" neck. The ammo I built for this outing was in neck-turned Remington brass, using 25 gr. BTHP Kindler Gold bullets coated with hBN. The primers I’m using are the Tula small rifle magnum and the bullets are seated about .020" off the lands. The load I’m using is 23.6 grains of IMR 8208 XBR and the muzzle velocity is 3,991 fps. The action and Remington Varmint Contour Lilja barrel sit in an H-S Precision stock. The rifle is topped off with a Leupold VX-III 8.5-25x50mm scope with the Varmint Hunter reticle and there’s a Gemtech Trek-Ti suppressor on the end of the barrel with a white mirage shield as well. This was the first time out with this big scope on this rifle and I rather like that VH reticle and had it cranked up to 25x except on one 18-yard and one 40-yard shot.
I left the pickup around 10:00 a.m. and walked in an ESE direction stopping and picking off prairie dogs as I walked along. Here’s a photo of one of the PDs and my .17 Remington rifle.
My plan was to reach a small grove of trees by lunch time. There was very little wind and the temperature was in the high 80s early on in my walk, but was up to 93º by noon. My walk took me approximately 1.4 miles away from my pickup. I had to chase some cattle out of the shade of the trees and took my lunch break at 12:48 p.m.
There were a couple of prairie dogs barking at me during lunch and I forced myself to quit eating and give them a 25 gr. Kindler Gold sedative. One of those rude PDs had just his head sticking out of his den and the only way I could get my sights on him was to stand on the fallen trunk of a dead tree and rest my rifle on the fallen trunk of another tree. It was a very, very unsteady rest. I made the mistake of putting my finger on the trigger while I was trying to move the rifle so I had the PD in the crosshairs and the doggone gun went off!!! Yes, it is a Jewell trigger adjusted to about 1 pound of pull and I know that I should NEVER touch the trigger until I’m ready to shoot. At that point in time I had taken 40 shots and hit on 39 of them. Here’s a photo showing the total devastation the little 25 gr. Kindler Gold bullets unload on a prairie dog that was 18 yards away from the muzzle of my rifle!!!
I went back to eating my lunch. After lunch, I decided I deserved a nap. About 45 minutes into my nap some more rude prairie dogs woke me up so I had to silence those PDs. I set my alarm to go off in 30 minutes and went back to sleep.
When I woke up I ate the second half of my sandwich and had a couple of cookies and drank some more water. I did an inventory on my water supply. I had taken 40 ounces of water along and by the time lunch and my nap were over I was down to about 3 ounces of water left!!! I had at least 1.4 miles to walk back to the pickup in temperatures in the mid 90s so I was going to get a little bit thirsty on the way back to the pickup. I had seen lots of blossoms out on the prairie as I was walking and shooting PDs in the morning so on my walk back to the pickup, I took out my camera and captured a few pictures of some of the blossoms you can view right below here.
I snapped photos and once in awhile I would shoot a prairie dog or two as I walked back to the pickup. By 4:15 p.m. I had shot the last shell from the two boxes I was using. I still had another 50 reloads along, but I had finished off the last ounce of water I had along and decided to call it a day and didn’t shoot any more shots. I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and tried not to think about how thirsty I was. I finally dragged my body back to the pickup at 4:46 p.m. I headed right to my cooler and had a good big drink of ice cold water!!!
The shooting was pretty good and the pups aren’t so small any longer. I had taken 76 shots and had one miss, hit on 74 singles, and hit on one double so I bagged 76 prairie dogs with my 76 shots. Here’s the “Hero Photo” for your enjoyment.
Thank you SF, for taking us along with you on you journey. Always enjoy your tales of eliminating vermin on the prairie.
As for the trigger on your rifle and not really paying attention when getting set up for a shot, I know all about that! The triggers on all of my varmint rifles is around 13 to 15 ounces. Without thinking my finger will be on the trigger, and the gun will go off, some times I will be on target, sometimes not.
NRA Benefactor Life member HOWA 1500 Varmint 204 Ruger, Bull Barrel, Hogue Overmold Stock, Leupold VXII 6-18x40mm AO LRV Custom Reticle Timney Trigger
Cooper Mdl 21 20VarTargW/Leupold VXIII, 6-20x40AO Varmint Hunter reticle.
Thanks for sharing. All of your stories are written in such a manner that I feel I'm right there with you.
How do you like your 17 Remington? I see those caliber laying around from time-to-time but rumors of cleaning the barrel [and bullet selection] has deterred me from getting one; same for the 17 Fireball [which are getting difficult to find].
Jim--I like the .17 Remington caliber so much that I have 3 of them!!! Plus, I built a .17 Tactical that I'll be using mostly for coyote hunting.
How do you like your 17 Remington? I see those caliber laying around from time-to-time but rumors of cleaning the barrel [and bullet selection] has deterred me from getting one;
My take on the barrel cleaning issue with the .17 Remington was it was only a problem during the early years of the caliber. Barrel quality has improved, especially with the after-market barrels and barrel cleaning in the .17 caliber probably isn't much more of a problem than it is with a bit larger calibers--at least that has been my experience over the last 30 years. The total number of rounds I shoot on a prairie dog outing will run between 75 and maybe 125 rounds. I don't stop to clean my .17 Remingtons until I get back home. I have shot up to 200 rounds in one day through my Shilen barreled .17 Remington and my rifle seemed to be shooting as accurately on shot 200 as it was on the first shots of the day. Just don't get the barrel heated up. It is real easy to put too many shots through the barrel at to rapid a pace and that will ruin my accuracy more than a dirty barrel. To me, the story that the .17 Remington barrels have to be cleaned very frequently is an old-wive's tale now, but it probably was true when some poor quality factory barrels were being used on Remington factory rifles in the early days of the .17 Remington. I have no experience with the 17 Fireball, but like I mentioned, the quality of the barrels being produced today has probably solved that problem, especially if you put on a Pac-Nor, Lilja, Shilen or any number of name-brand barrels. Some of the factory tubes might still be a bit suspect.
As for bullet selection, there may be a bit of a problem there, but Hornady continues to make excellent .172 caliber bullets and there are several custom bullet makers who produce excellent bullets. So, you still have a variety to choose from, albeit they will be a bit more expensive than the Hornady bullets. I like C.E. Nagel's 25 gr. and 30 gr. T-000 bullets. Kindler's bullets shoot pretty good, but they are a bit pricey. Last time I bought some 30 gr. Kindler Golds I think they were about $30/100 plus shipping. However, if you get lots of pleasure of shooting itty-bitty groups, it is hard to put a price tag on all the enjoyment you'll get out of shooting these higher-priced bullets.
Three huh...that's a lot of enjoyment and you're right, you can't put a price tag on that. I started out with the 20-cals and sorta' stuck with those. I think you would like a 17 MK IV or a 17 Fireball. I've heard they're a lot like the 20 VT and 221 Fireball in that they give the performance of the larger cartridges with 2/3's of the powder charge. I can attest that I can shoot my 20VT and 221 Fireball a lot longer than I can my 204 before barrel heat becomes a concern.
I have given a lot of thought to building a 20 VT, but I have 8 varmint rifles I'm taking care of now, so I probably won't be adding a 9th one just yet.
Silverfox wrote:I have given a lot of thought to building a 20 VT, but I have 8 varmint rifles I'm taking care of now, so I probably won't be adding a 9th one just yet.
I have five dedicated ones my self, six if you count the 6mm Remington so I can relate. My buddy Doc got me hooked in this ground squirrel shooting fun and what fun it is too with the 17 HMR and 204 Ruger. Following that, our good friend Rick in Oregon got me real acquainted with the 20VT and later on the 221 Fireball cartridges and I can say you won't go wrong with either one of them. You can literally shoot both all day long and not worry about barrels getting hot or fouling very quickly, if at all and without the blast of a 204 or 223 either.
OK, I'll continue to give the 20 VT some thought. Maybe I should just sell off a couple of my .204 Rugers and a couple of my .17 Remingtons, all of my M77 Rugers (one .22-250 and one .243) and build a couple of 20 VTs?????
We'll it sounds like you're well equipped for all options; from 17 to 6mm. IMO, that's a well diverse lineup to handle about anything you'll encounter. I'll always have a 204 Ruger and a 20VT and I really like the 221 Fireball too. I shoot 39 SBK out of my 204 and 32 Nosler boat-tail ballistic tips out of the 20VT. The 204 is a little flatter further out than the 20VT. I've never tried a 39 SBK in my 20 VT and don't feel the need to do so, especially since I have three 204's.
For the 221 FB, I'm getting just under 3300 fps with a Nosler 40 gr boat-tail ballistic tip. My barrel is a 1-14 twist so I'm pretty much limited to that weight class bullet. I haven't finished with my 223 work up yet but I'd have to believe the 223 should be a tad faster but with more blast.
The 20VT is a good choice. The nice thing about all of this is there are plenty of "GOOD" options.
Silverfox wrote:Maybe I should just sell off a couple of my .204 Rugers and a couple of my .17 Remingtons, all of my M77 Rugers (one .22-250 and one .243) and build a couple of 20 VTs?????
I don't think I would go that far, SF. I hate getting rid of any firearm. But, if it were me, I would consider, rechamebering one of the 17's, into a VT. I am not a fan of the 17 calibers, but to each his own. Of course my only experience with any 17 caliber rifle, is with my RWS pellet rifle. It is deadly on every thing I have shot with it, including one deer that I shot with it, at about 45 yards away. Typical heart, lung shot.
NRA Benefactor Life member HOWA 1500 Varmint 204 Ruger, Bull Barrel, Hogue Overmold Stock, Leupold VXII 6-18x40mm AO LRV Custom Reticle Timney Trigger
Cooper Mdl 21 20VarTargW/Leupold VXIII, 6-20x40AO Varmint Hunter reticle.
