Gopher talk

Evan, it looks like that 17wsm is an esophagus seeker did you have a laser spotter on their throats? Nice
 
I would totally be up for a road trip to kill some gophers down south!!






66 days to Varmintgeddon....

I plan to employ a CZ455 in 17HMR, a Rem700 SPS Tact in .223, another Rem700 Sps in .243 and my JP Upper'd AR15.

Been looking fwd to the trip all winter
 
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I wonder if the Gravel Road Cops would deem the trailer as a vehicle here. Target shooting .com has dedicated shooting trailers.

A trailer is a trailer. It is not a vehicle. I am also doing up a shooting trailer. It won't be a dedicated trailer,..but rather will have 3 mobile shooting tables like this one does :)
 
I did not check all the regions in BC but this is what we have in my closest regions

coluMBian grounD sQuirrel 3-12 to 3-20, 3-26 to 3-44 no closed season nBl
The open season for Columbian Ground Squirrel is restricted to private land only. Hunters must obtain permission from landowners before hunting on private land.



Disclaimer: I'm not familiar with BC hunting laws.

However, what most people call gophers are Richardson's Ground Squirrels. You don't have them in BC. Their kissing cousins that live in BC are Colombian Ground Squirrels, which I've read in a few places are illegal to shoot in BC under a lot of circumstances. Maybe only allowed to shoot on private land? Not sure... maybe someone who actually knows will chip in.
 
since we are talking gophers. what is a good bullet to use on gophers for rimfire .22lr that will help turn them inside out? or are you guys using anything you can get these days?
 
since we are talking gophers. what is a good bullet to use on gophers for rimfire .22lr that will help turn them inside out? or are you guys using anything you can get these days?

Hmm usually they don't open up at all with any 22lr I have tried. Cci stingers would be a better, I suppose, but are not very accurate in my experience.
 
A .17HMR is the only round I have used that isn't total overkill that opens them up. Even with Yellow Jackets or CCI hollow point volocitors,..they often make it back down the nearest hole. They are tough little buggers.
 
rem. Yellow Jackets are hard to beat for .22lr , they have a massive hollow point.

if your rifle shoots them well they are great. I haven't seen anyother .22lr with more pop than yellow jackets.

since we are talking gophers. what is a good bullet to use on gophers for rimfire .22lr that will help turn them inside out? or are you guys using anything you can get these days?
 
since we are talking gophers. what is a good bullet to use on gophers for rimfire .22lr that will help turn them inside out? or are you guys using anything you can get these days?

Best I have seen was win 333/555 stuff. Most of the time with the lr they don't die instantly and run back down the whole or flop around like a fish out of water for 10 min. Although last summer I shot a few at 75+ yards with my lux (open sights) and cci subsonic hp. Bang, flop, dead so that was nice to see. Had good luck with mini mags as well.
 
rem. Yellow Jackets are hard to beat for .22lr , they have a massive hollow point.

if your rifle shoots them well they are great. I haven't seen anyother .22lr with more pop than yellow jackets.

This clobbers any other .22lr on the market. Bought a few thousand a couple years ago, haven't seen them since.

The velocity of them... They're a bolt-action only round, little hard on the semis. Also, needs a longer barrel. Non of my carbine length .22s can get them stabilized and accurate (as in, 1 inch groups at 25 yards), but my CZ 452 Lux loves them, and can keep group sizes under 3/4" at 75 yards. Zero is nice too - 25yard zero is 1/2" hight at 50yards is back on zero almost perfect at 75 yards and 3/4" low at 100 yards - nice flat trajectory. Initial results with my (new to me) Cooey are promising as well.

"Segmented Hollow Points" mean that it's a hollow point that shatters on impact, the energy transfer is awesome. I call them my anti gopher grenades. Doesn't matter what part of the body you hit (hard to get shot placement on the little turds past 60 yards in practical shooting), small hole in, giant mess of red spray out. They drop and stop.

cci_shp.jpg


If you can find them, buy as much as you can and then worry about finding a rifle that likes them later.
 
This clobbers any other .22lr on the market. Bought a few thousand a couple years ago, haven't seen them since.

The velocity of them... They're a bolt-action only round, little hard on the semis. Also, needs a longer barrel. Non of my carbine length .22s can get them stabilized and accurate (as in, 1 inch groups at 25 yards), but my CZ 452 Lux loves them, and can keep group sizes under 3/4" at 75 yards. Zero is nice too - 25yard zero is 1/2" hight at 50yards is back on zero almost perfect at 75 yards and 3/4" low at 100 yards - nice flat trajectory. Initial results with my (new to me) Cooey are promising as well.

"Segmented Hollow Points" mean that it's a hollow point that shatters on impact, the energy transfer is awesome. I call them my anti gopher grenades. Doesn't matter what part of the body you hit (hard to get shot placement on the little turds past 60 yards in practical shooting), small hole in, giant mess of red spray out. They drop and stop.

cci_shp.jpg


If you can find them, buy as much as you can and then worry about finding a rifle that likes them later.

Those used to be branded as "Quick Shoks". They are pretty devastating as as far as .22rimfire is concerned.

My favourite .22 ammo for gophers is Winchester Power Points. They hit like a train (42grs) and the large hollow point creates a massive wound channel. They are very accurate as well.
 
I do have to agree on numbers being down. I remember 6-10 years ago being able to spend the entire day out on the pasture, bring a lunch and enjoy the sun. These past 3 years have been low, so low when I see one or two I walk the 400m to where there are to get a shot off. So this year I'm resorting to the 204 for some long range shots. I'm getting pretty pumped though with all those pictures!
 
Good ammo for gophers are the CCI segmented, as they really open on impact. another good one are the federal (red box) american eagle hollow points, 40gr, they tend to really open on impact as well, any solid point will pass right through.

You want a large opening and not too fast of a bullet if you want them to open up well,

others mentioned here work well, for me its the american eagle hp. if not using 17hmr, which is a total blast as they dump nearly all their energy into the critters.
 
I have a 17hmr So I'm good there. I was just wondering if there was a good .22lr round that could do the job and give some extra entertainment when shooting gophers. I'll track down some CCI for my cz452
 
If anyone finds the Segmented HPs in the Calgary area, drop me a line. I hope to head out there this summer, and found the box and a half of these I've had for about 3 years. Turns out my Anschutz 1450 likes them~first gun I've owned that does. Anyhow, with my luck...like all CCI ammo...I'm S.O.L. CCI LR HP (another rare bird) also shoots well. Too bad CCI has abandoned it's Canadian customers.
 
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