gopher calibre

[shooterbuck]

Originally Posted by manitoban

Gopher Call?

Ive actually had success just blowing into an expended 22 casing.
I used to go after them with a 12 guage and #2 long range.
Spot and stalk and give em a few on the 22 casing and ..boom gopher paste.

I'm a little more reasonable now and find that my 22 long does a great job.

[trouble]

i wouldnt fret to much over deciding a gopher gun there not very smart critters and it doesnt take a lot of pow to take one down, however if your land is flat enough you can watch your dog run away for three days you might want something with reach. My personal favourite are my brother equipped with his .22 no scope this is if somehting moves under a dozen feet away and i have my new england fire arms .223 i have pinned gophers at 400 yards lasered..after 5 shots. Buty if you really want to control them and arent ashamed of being cruel hook a pipe to the exhaust on your truck and monoxide them outa there and club em or use water

[Griswold]

I have abot 35 years of gopher hunting experience.
My favourite is the 22 wmr. Followed by the 22 rf.
I have shot them with my 243 win and my 223 rem but most farmers frown on centerfires.

[shootermcgavin]

I bought a Savage .223 last spring and it does a great job. I bring my 10 22 for close range targets and the 223 for the long rangers... I just bought a Leica 1200 range finder so this summer should be great fun with the far outs!

I recommend a 10 22 because they are cheap and so are the rounds. Then I guess a 204 or 223. 223 is easier on the wallet.

[Pioneer2]

Can't imagine buying expensive .22 mags or .17 rimfires for that matter when you can reload .22 hornet,.222 or .223 for the same money and reuse the brass umpteen times? With the Hornet at 10 grs powder gives you 700 shots per lb. Cheap like Borsh............I will be using a Weihrauch 80K.22 air rifle cause it was no challange splattering them with a centerfire and bi-pod.a bow with Judo points is fun too...........to each their own....Harold

[Percher]

I have a Ruger 77/17 Winchester Super Mag. It's the granddaddy of them all. Sighted in at 50 yards the bullet only drops 3 inches at 200 yards. Shot thousands of gophers with not a single one crawling down a hole. First thing I did when I bought it was to change out the 6 lb trigger, a proper break in, and torqued the action screws to the best accuracy. It's a tack driver at 100 yards with a 24 oz trigger. I used 22's, 22 mag, 17HMR but this rifle is my pride and joy in the pastures even on windy days.

[Newview01]

More than 10 yrs later...

[DiabeticKripple]

Originally Posted by BuckBuckBuck

I have progessed in shooting gophers from a single shott 22 lr, to the ruger 10-22, to the 17hmr, and lately its been the .223 remington.

I still prefer to bring the .17 and the .223, but my 22 rimfires just seem to collect dust nowadays.

The .17 in the popular savage laminate/stainless with the thumbhole stock and ventilated stock is such a pretty firearm. Its a quiet, 0-recoil tack-driver that puts the fun back into gopher-hunting. Plus it feels very sweet in you hands. You cant go wrong with one of these.

On the other hand, I just loaded up the .223 with barnes varmint-grenades and shot the first gopher of 2008 this weekend. My buddies were watching it through binos and said it turned into a fine dust. Almost like it siezed to exist. very cool. i actually thought i missed it at first.

i got some VG loaded up as well. i put varget under them so once i can get time to do a ladder test, look out gophers!

i also have some v-max im going to try as well.

edit: just realized tis a 10yr thread

[tool]

I realised how old this thread was as soon as I was reading about $0.029/round 22 lr and $0.10/round .223.

My how times have changed!

[pvh]

As stated in an earlier thread, .22 Mag 30 gr'ners was all I used when I was in Alberta.

[silver]

I picked up an accurate 22 lr a while back and it will be getting most of my short range use, out to 75 yards maybe. I have a small center fire and I can reload for it for the same price or less than you can buy the 22 mag and the 17 rimfires.

Yeah, it is a 10 year old post, but some things stay the same.

[elkhunter11]

The 17 hornet has become my favorite cartridge for long range shooting on ground squirrels. The ballistics are superior to any rim fire, and I can load it for the price of 17hmr loads. As well ricochets are much less of an issue than with larger calibers including the 22lr, and it is not much louder than the 17 rimfires.

[curtz]

I like my little Henry 22 open sights for closer range, last year I bought a Marlin 17 with scope and its fun at longer ranges. The 17's seem to be tac drivers.

[Big_Willy]

Originally Posted by rena0040

I'm looking to get into some serious gopher shooting this spring. I've made arrangements with a few ranchers so all I need is a good rifle, the .22 just won't cut it.
I'm looking for suggestions on calibre, i'm torn right now between a .223 and a .17 hmr. I've noticed alot of favoratism for the 22-250 and .204 but if i decide centre fire it will almost definatley be .223.
for those who shoot gopher what do you think? rimfire or centrefire. i guess i should add that it would also be my new primary target rifle (0 - 300 meters, nothing hard core)

Those are all awesome calibres. I own both .17HMR and .223. Hands down, .17HMR is the better of the two for gophers. Why? For .17HMR; no over-penetrations, hearing protection is optional, no recoil, light weight overall, short length overall, laser-like accuracy and humane dispatches.

As far as ammo costs go, .223 may be the cheaper of the two calibres. You can get .223 ball ammo very cheap, but, I would not recommend use for gophers.

22-250, .223 and .204 are all awesome if you graduate to coyote shooting in the winter.

-Willy

[bubba300]

I shoot a 17 hmr mostly for gophers but the 222 rem is more fun.

[gunluvr]

Sometimes my back seat looks like a golf bag. I like to carry my 10-22, my 17 hmr, my 223, and my 22-250 and sometimes a 20" 12 gauge pump when I'm going to a well-infested patch. It might be loud, but the 22-250 loaded with 55 gr. hollow points is spectacular. The most explosive kills happen when the vermin is broadside with their belly on the ground.
The cost of ammo? Means nothing.

[Groundhogger]

"Ancient history" thread....but a fun topic to discuss, so what the heck!
My perspective as a traveling gopher-slayer in prolific fields is that economy sort of rules the day. I like 22s anyway, and always have..so it's an easy pick for me personally. I think like all things in life, the sport is where you make it..so..stretch your distance if shooting them close is too easy. Here is my gopher slayer during a brief pause in the action;



The cheapest/fast ammo this CZ liked was CCI Blazer 22, but I open them up using a Waltz die...so you get results like this from a 22. Almost HMR-like. I also use an HMR and agreed, if money was no object...I'd probably park the 22 and focus on it myself. Best combination of high-speed, destructive hits, accuracy, distance, low-noise, etc. etc. I have a good amount of HMR heading out there shortly for my spring trip...and a pretty big pile of 22 as well.

Since both guns are heavy barrels I shoot prone...sometimes I encounter gophers on humps in the field, spots with a little height mean you have to shoot up a little and if there is no safe back stop, they're not shots I take. Some of the humps are polluted with gophers, that's when the walk-n-blast happens with a shotgun. You can get in easy/close range, aim
downward, be 100% safe and still launch the little buggers. Looks a little something like this...you can even see the gopher!



I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to shoot lots of different calibers at them, everything FROM 22/17HMR to .223, 6.5 Creedmoor, 45-70, shotgun, etc. and while they're all fun...when you're faced with pastures that can hold huge numbers, 22 is really all you need. .223 might be the most fun I've ever tried (talk about air time!) but based on the #s I've been lucky enough to encounter...that would get really expensive, really fast. So I guess it's a quality over quantity question..though I think my 22 hits are quality enough! That modified Blazer really smacks them hard. Not many moved after a direct hit.

[Digger1]

My daughter's low powered hand loads at 2800 fps in the .243 works wonders on even the gnarliest bull gopher running the plains. Usually can reach em right from the porch by dialing in the ballistics on the scope. For spot and stalk tactical hunting we go .22LR.

[Quest206]

Anything that goes bang !!!
Gophers don't know the difference. Shoot whatever you have... shoot lots ....... shoot safe ........ and have fun !!!