Gopher season (what gun)

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Jayph

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I got the the rimfires I have a .22-250 so I am looking for something inbetween to send the little guys flying. I just can't make up my mind what cartridge to go with. What do you think I should add.

Have
.22 LR
.22 Mag
.17 HMR
.22-250


Interested in.
.19 Calhoon
.19 Badger
.22 Hornet
.17 Fireball
.221 Fireball
anything else you can think of?

I will be reloading but it has to have factory brass availiable. Thanks in advance.
 
I always liked the .221 Fireball,but a Hornet should be smack dab in the middle of 22mag,and 22-250.
 
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I have tought about the .204 but I have friends that have them and I don't see any difference between them and my .22-250 for carnage. I really like the cartridge and if I didn't have my .22-250 I would already own one. I am looking for something more in the middle of the .22-250 and the .22 Mag
 
sell the 22-250, get a 204 (spot your own hits, and get many more shots off between cool-downs)

Then grab a 223. It's kinda boring, but rifles and brass are abundant. You can load it with 10-12 grains of Blue dot, and get Hornet noise levels, trajectory and powder consumption, or load it up to full potential.

I've also got a Hornet, and I love it - though practically speaking, a 223 is a better choice. One day, my Hornet will become a 17 ackley hornet
 
7.62/39- sks, makes a nice mess. We take turns 5 or 6 with .22's and one guy with a .223 or 7.62/39, its like calling in a bloody airstrike,lolol.
 
I am kind of partial to the Hornet. But as mentioned above, a 223 is also a good choice and you can easily download to Hornet velocities.

Case life with the Hornet will vary depending on the chamber of the gun anywhere from 5 to 15. Unless you use really premium dies, polish the inside of FL sizing dies so you don't crush cases. Also use a collet neck sizing die.

If you go Hornet, don't get a Ruger unless you know it is accurate, most aren't.

You can also blow it out to a K Hornet for a little extra oomph, and better case life. The K Hornet is very popular and dies are not considered custom. Brass is fire formed Hornet brass.

Hornet brass is easier to find than Fireball, and much cheaper, although Hornet brass it doesn't last as long as Fireball brass (so I am told)
 
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Jayph said:
I have tought about the .204 but I have friends that have them and I don't see any difference between them and my .22-250 for carnage. I really like the cartridge and if I didn't have my .22-250 I would already own one. I am looking for something more in the middle of the .22-250 and the .22 Mag
Click to expand...

Big X 2 on that!
 
.204,
Low recoil, results visible through the scope, it REALLY reaches out there, love the pink explosions....whats not to like?
 
My most memorable day shooting gophers in the last ten years was with a .17 Mach IV. No recoil and that little bullet absolutely blows them to bits. It is like shooting the little buggers with an explosive laser beam. Flat, instantaneous and messy. :)

The only reason I'd never own one is the PIA factor of a .17 cal.

Otherwise .222 or .223 with the 40gr VMax's or something similar is about as much fun as a guy can have with small furry rodents.

7.62/39- sks, makes a nice mess. We take turns 5 or 6 with .22's
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What do you use the SKS for, a flag pole? You stick it in the ground muzzle first and hang a windflag on the butt? Cause thats about all an SKS would be good for in a gopher field.

No seriously?

In the last ten years I have shot gophers with just about everything you could think of but it really never occured to me to use an SKS. The operative word involving and SKS and gophers would be WHY?
 
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I have a Tikka Varmint in .223, complete with the 24" heavy barrel. Using a 10X scope I was making shots on gophers at 200+ yards last Thursday. It was unreal! I was using American Eagle 50 gr hollow points, and the ones I hit within 100 yards flew 15 ft in the air, while their insides were removed and flew behind them about 10 to 15 ft also! Even if I winged them, they were dead. That's what I like about the .223, it kills them very much dead so there's no suffering. Not to say the 204 or 22-250 doesn't either, but they have such high fps that I think you'll go through barrels faster-- could be wrong though.
I went out in the same field with a 10/22 shooting Winchester power points, and I found that I could get them with one shot about 50% of the time within 50 yards, but a lot of the time I had to put two or maybe three in them to stop the twitching... which seems cruel to me, even if they are prairie rats.
I say go .223 or maybe .17 hmr. Only trouble with .223 now is that factory ammo is tricky to find, but if you reload you'll have no trouble.
 
Tried a few and my preference is still the 204. I now have two of them and it's awesome watching those grass maggots turn into pink mist through the scope. If I had another choice it would be the 17 fireball. A very efficient cartridge.
 
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