At what range do you all feel that the .223 isn't up to par for GroundHogs?
What is your farthest kill with a .223?

My range finder said 407 yds with a 69 gr bullet.
The groundhog didn't complain about velocity or bullet construction.

muck

Woodchuck locally (NY) about 320 yards Hornady 55 SX, Pdogs 1,106 yards lasered and witnessed Hornady 75 A-Max.

you get a fast twist, that can handle 68 to 90 grain bullets, you can really get one that can reach out there....

75 grainers and up, double the range on a 223 easily!

In my limited experience on rock chucks ( a little smaller than most groundhogs, I believe), I found that 300 yards was a reasonable maximum distance. 50 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips that start out at 3400 fps or so, seem to blow them up pretty well up to that range. Beyond that, I prefer stepping up to the .243 Win with 70 gr Ballistic Tips at a similar velocity.

I can get 3500 with a 50 grain from my 222 Mag. I was hitting prairie dogs at 320 yards pretty regularly, but a chuck takes more to anchor. I would agree that 300 yards is a good maximum.

I've got a Rugger 77 MKII. What would be the twist on that rifle? I bought it new last year.

cath8r: From the Ruger website, your MKII has a 1 in 12" twist - probably not fast enough for bullets greater than 60 grains.

Just about any caliber, including the .223, can make a hit at many hundreds or even over a thousand yards. But you'll find that beyond 300 yards the .223 is a lot iffier than something like a .243 or 6mm Rem. The extra velocity of a .22-250 or Swift extends the effective range of a .224" bore by a little, but .224s (save and except the special heavy bullet guns) won't have the dependability out at 400+ that the 6's do.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Just about any caliber, including the .223, can make a hit at many hundreds or even over a thousand yards. But you'll find that beyond 300 yards the .223 is a lot iffier than something like a .243 or 6mm Rem. The extra velocity of a .22-250 or Swift extends the effective range of a .224" bore by a little, but .224s (save and except the special heavy bullet guns) won't have the dependability out at 400+ that the 6's do.

I must agree that when the distance grows a bigger bullet is far superior in the energy category. You must buck the wind and you must hit the vitals. Groundhogs are very tuff critters that's why I learned to shoot only for the head! My current serious varmint rifles are .243 AI, 6 Rem 28" 1 in 8 twist 40X, 6/284, and 6.5/284 guess that explains that.

never had the chance of shooting a ground hog here in wis. their protected, i agree with others that stated 300 yards is a good maximum for the 223 with a regular twist of 1-14 or 1-12,with a 55 grain bullet....... the sky's the limit with a 1-8 or 1-9 fast twist that sure changes everything rite now,farthest kill on paper 400yds 3/4 inch 5 shot group, live praire-dog 450yards in a 17 mile per hour wind holding off 3.5 feet and 3 ft high,nailed two hugh p-dogs but needn''t anchor them dead,i''m sure some critter ate em though....its a great round and cheap to shoot regards jjmp

I read and chuckle!!! When hunting them I dial and kill em!! 300 yards requires no dialing!!(I don't shoot the .223 but do shoot a .222 MAG)(I hunt with a friend who uses a 1993 vintage stainless BDL utilizing a Leupold 12X whom I would not bet agaist ON A FIRST SHOT KILL, out to 500 yards using 50 grain V-Maxs!! ..........yea!! he knows the wind stuff too..........and that darn scope is friction adjust, not target turrets!!) Best I've seen him do with the .223 is 605 yards! 300 yards here in the EAST on groundhogs is target practice and the targets don't live long!! 400 yards requires a bit of rifelmanship and 500 yards it starts to get interesting!! After that for "respect for the varmints" the 6mm's come into play..................unless we have the heavy barreled .204's along for the ride!! GHD

While I have taken them out beyond 500 with a 223 what matters to me is that they do not make it in the hole as if they do I won't count them in the talley. I find beyond 300 yards to be were a 223 falls off in the instant stop catorgory, especially on the big ones.

quote:

Originally posted by FVA:
While I have taken them out beyond 500 with a 223 what matters to me is that they do not make it in the hole as if they do I won't count them in the talley. I find beyond 300 yards to be were a 223 falls off in the instant stop catorgory, especially on the big ones.

This is exactly why we took head shots and only counted the bodies. Blood trails however wide meant dung.

well said ..fva and 308 sako, i couldn't agree more ,jjmp

My longest is just a couple of paces past 350yds with a 50gr SXSP, but to be honest if the range approaches 300ds or the wind gets above a soft breeze I start thinking about getting the 25-06 out of it's case.

I see little point in the "Big" 22's and don't currently own anything with a 6mm bore.

If I don't see chunks, splatter or body parts it's a miss

AllanD

I've personally seen 77g matchkings take out insurgents(they're like groundhogs) at 740 yds w/ a scoped 16. Once again it's shot placement and the skill to put the bullet there that counts.

quote:

Originally posted by WHELENIZER:
I've personally seen 77g matchkings take out insurgents(they're like groundhogs) at 740 yds w/ a scoped 16. Once again it's shot placement and the skill to put the bullet there that counts.

Thanks for your service Whelenizer

I can only speak of Savages...because their 223's all came with 9" twists; but they will work out here at 400yds if you can guesstimate the range close enough. They are also cool to get a 308 bolt face and rechamber to 22-250, 220 Swift or my little 22-284. Then you can use the Nosler 80gr Competitions or spring for the JLK VLD 80gr.

Rich
DRSS

With only top of the head sticking out at 300yrds I have been able to score a clean kill.

That being said it dosent happen every time.

I have seen many Ground hogs eating the the kills.

Thanks Seafire, 6 more days till i'm home for R&R. My triple deuce is gonna get a workout on the local gopher patch after I get the wife and kids calmed down.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
I can only speak of Savages...because their 223's all came with 9" twists; but they will work out here at 400yds if you can guesstimate the range close enough. They are also cool to get a 308 bolt face and rechamber to 22-250, 220 Swift or my little 22-284. Then you can use the Nosler 80gr Competitions or spring for the JLK VLD 80gr.

Rich
DRSS

I totally agree. I've got a 308 bolt face on the way, just can't decide which cartridge to re-chamber it in. In the meantime it's a dang accurate .223, so no rush I guess.

I have recently shot a number of ground squirrels with a 10/22 with 14" of hold over and 14" of Kentucky Windage. I don't think I could do it with out the puff of dust to show me how to correct the next shot.

An old guy that has been been shooting them since 1982 told me that he has hit a squirrel with a 10/22 at 400 yards with 14' of hold over and 14' of windage. He said he shot up boxes of ammo trying to make that shot, and finally hit the one he was trying for.

But for me to know that I can kill a squirrel for sure in no wind, it has to be ~150 yards or closer with the .223 and 75 yards or closer with the 10/22.

The further out from there, the lower the percentage chance of me hitting it with one shot. If I see one at 200 yards, the .223 will hit if half the time, and I am for sure going to take a wang at it.

The rock chucks and prairie dogs are bigger targets, and so the ranges would move further out.

I don't use a laser range finder, but I have some scopes with adjustable objective that are marked in ranges. My cheap POS Super Sniper marking don't mean squat, but the Burris Sig 8x32x44 reads 100 yards when the target is in focus at the range, and so I believe the rest of the markings on scope bell. On 32X the scope is blurry except for a tiny range of objective adjustment, and so the range estimate has good resolution. On 8X, it is fairly focused on the target over a wide range of objective adjustment, and so has poor range resolution in that mode.

We don't count them unless you can pick them up!! A groundhog down the hole bleeding and hurting is a bad thing!! But I've seen a lot of them stringing guts for 10 yards and go down the hole at less distance than 300 yards with POOR SHOT placement by .243's and even .308's and 30-06's! Our shots are usually head and neck only, not "middle of mass"!! GHD

I usually don't push a 223 past around 300 yds. I'll walk the yardage down.

If it's property I can drive tractor paths with the truck I'll bring 2 rifles. small 223,204 and larger 22-250,243,25-06.

As posted above I've seen Chuck's crawling to their holes with a few feet of intestines dragging behind.

quote:

Originally posted by WHELENIZER:
Thanks Seafire, 6 more days till i'm home for R&R. My triple deuce is gonna get a workout on the local gopher patch after I get the wife and kids calmed down.

Hey, I just saw this...

by this time you will be back home in Montana!
Glad you are home safe!

I have a good friend's son who just got orders to go over there.. he is in the Guard..he is 19...I sure hope he makes it home all in one piece also!

I've seen people get into the 500 yard club in The Varmint Hunter Magazine with the .223 so I'd say it can be steached that far, it all depends on how many misses you are willing to put up with before you get a hit.

personally I shoot off of a Harris bipod at ground squirrels while leaning against a tree, so my longest shot that way was in the 300 yard range, I tried some at 400 holding off, using my mil-dots, but just couldn't connect like that after wasteing 20 or so rounds.

My longest shot to date has been shooting from a picknick bench using a short harris bipod, first shot held over 2 1/2 mills (I think... been a while since the shot). Perfect head shot on a squirrle at 471 yards.

I'm convinced the shooting platform you use makes all the diffrence. I can shoot dime groups on a bench at 100 yards, but get me on a bipod and things get interesting... it all takes practice.