Sask is great and .224 Bullet Choices for Gophers

[Dean2]

Just got back from two days of gopher shooting in Saskatchewan. Went through many hundred rounds and of that total there were 300 rounds of 223, 22 Hornet and 221 Fireball. This allowed us to try out a selection of bullets. They were; 36 grain Barnes Varmit grenade, 3800 fps, 35 & 40 Grain Hornady V-Max 3100 fps, 40 Grain Sierra Blitzking 3700 fps, 52 Grain Speer Hollow Point BT, 3400 fps, and the Hornady 50 grain SPSX, 3050 fps. The specific bullets used in each gun were were accurate loads in there respective guns, and all did the job very well on gophers out past 300 yards. All loads did considerable damage.

The bullet with the most disappointing performance was the Varmint Grenade. No where near as explosive an impact as expected, despite travelling 750 FPS faster than the Hornady SPSX and 600 fps faster than 2 of the nylon tipped models. It is accurate at under 1.5" at 300 yards, but the least accurate of the ones listed, all of which held under an inch at 300 yards, (the 35 and 40 V-maxs in the Hornets were range tested to only 200 yards but were producing groups from as small as .3' to as large as .75 inch. The Hornet did not like the Varmint Grenades at all, shooting them over 2" at 100 yards.) and along with the 35 V-max was the most wind affected.

The best overall performance went to the cheapest bullet. For pure accrobatic effect on hits and maximum destruction the 50 grain Hornady SPSX was the clear winner. One standing gopher at 150 yards, hit with an SPSX at 3050 fps out of the 221, went up 6 feet, did a double back flip, landed 8 feet back from POI and left a circular pattern of parts for about six feet around. This was pretty normal for this bullet, except the height was usually 2-3 feet..

It also tied for first place for best 300 yard groups, along with the Sierra 40 grain BlitzKings with best groups out of ten 3 shot sets, of .682" (both shot from a very accurate 12 series Savage Bull barrel with worked up loads for each bullet), was less affected by the wind than any of the others except the 52 Grain Speer HP and is the cheapest of the bullets running $15 a hundred versus as much as $26/100 for the Varmit Grenades.

Their only drawback is they are limited to about 3600 fps, which is fine in a 223 or 221 but for a 22-250 you would have to step it down, or their thin copper jackets may tear off from to much rotational speed. Hornady does make a 55 grain SPSX specifically for the 22-250. Haven't tried them but if they are close to as good as the 50s they too should be a lot of inexpensive fun.

If you haven't tried these bullets in your 223 or 221 Fireball, or stepped down in a 22-250, I would highly recommend taking them for a run. We tried them in the Hornet but the long bullet, 1/16 twist and the 2700 fps velocity didn't produce nearly as good accurracy (just over an inch to an inch and a half at 200 yards) as the 35 and 40 grain V-maxs did, and the V-Maxs would get up and go at 3,100 fps over a load of Lil"gun.

I also highly recommend Sask for gopher hunting or just touring. We did all our shooting the second day from two spots, 400 yards apart over 5 hours and never came close to running out of targets. People we met were all freindly and very helpful in locating hotels, decent restaurants etc. Permission to shoot was readily obtained. Prices for rooms and meals were low by Alberta standards, and quality was good. Two guys, two days, gas, meals, room, etc but not counting ammo, $200 each. Scenery was great, hit some neat points of interest like the T-Rex museum and got to see lots of hawks, mule deer, coyotes, a badger, many antelope etc.

Would be interested to hear other peoples experiences and opinions on the most explosive gopher loads in .224 or smaller centre fire. Enjoy the season.

[Scott N]

Good report, the SPSX has always been my favourite gopher bullet.

[IR_mike]

Heading to work in Swift Current for wednesday, plan to spend my evenings in a gopher patch.

P.S. I have never been to this part of the world before, any tips on where to stay, eat, and what to do in my spare time appreciated via PM as not to hijack thread.

[Canuck44]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Would be interested to hear other peoples experiences and opinions on the most explosive gopher loads in .224 or smaller centre fire. Enjoy the season.

I went to southern ab today with a couple of friends for some gopher shooting action and had a great day, there were three of us and we think we killed around 800 gophers in about 6 hours in a 400 meter square area. We were using a couple 17 hmr's, 22's, a 22-250 and a 12 gauge.

In the 22-250 I fired 50 grain varmit grenades, 40 grain vmaxes and 52 grain Amaxes. The varmit grenades were all over the place which was expected with the 1:14 twist, the Vmaxes were ok but the big surprise was the Amaxs. I have these loaded up at just over 3600 fps and they are the most accurate round I have currently found in my gun. My plan was to use the Amax's for coyotes and target practice but I tried them on gophers after running out of the others and they work great. The best result was one gopher about 100 yards out that split in two with the head and upper torso getting launched into the air. I don't know how high it went but I had time to take the gun off the fence post and look around before it landed. This was the most air I have ever seen on a gopher.

The 17's worked great as well with the vmax and speer hp's out to 100-150 like a laser with lots of flip up tosses in the air. I love the total lack of recoil in the 17 as well, you can watch the hit in the scope. I think I had a 90%+ hit rate with mine and a couple of doubles in the mix as well. Can't say enough good about the 17 hmr as a gopher gun.

My semi auto 12 gauge was also great, cheap target loads are the same price per round as the 17 and are great gopher killers out to 50 yrds when they are hiding in the grass and you can only see the tail flicking or only see the head poking out of the hole or when they are running or when they are sitting out in the open. Instant destruction with no gopher heading back to the hole wounded and it also cuts the grass. If a guy were to go out with a 12 gauge and a 17 with 200 rounds for each you would be set for the day.

[surfclod]

Would be interested to hear other peoples experiences and opinions on the most explosive gopher loads in .224 or smaller centre fire. Enjoy the season.

I love the effect the Hornady V-Max bullets have on gophers in my 204 Ruger.

Lots of spread of body parts on a small Richardson Ground Squirrel....


Accuracy has been good and I like the effect so the 32 Grain V-Max has been my go to bullet for the past couple years. I bought some 26 Grain Varmint Grenades but have not tried them, from what I have been reading I really don't expect much from them.

Recently developed a load for the Sierra 39 SBK that is super accurate but because the POI is quite different I plan to use these after my current stock of 32 V-Max are used up. I have yet to try the Sierra on gophers but most reports indicate it is an explosive bullet. My load for the 39 Grain SBK only sacrifices about 75-100 FPS over the 32 grain V-Max but much better BC.

I have a week booked off of work to go gopher shooting in SK at the end of June so I hope to do more "ballistic testing" when out there.

[Dean2]

Canuck and Surfclod

Good info. Thanks for posting. Surfclod, Will be interested to hear how the additional ballistic testing goes. We did some more "testing" yesterday, but all the loads this time were 22 rimfire, 17 Mach2 and 17 HMR. Will post them under a different thread when I get some more time.

[pat84]

I shoot a 22-250 and a bullet that I really like is the Berger 52 Grain Match Varmint bullets. I'm not into shooting paper and trying to get super tight groups so I don't know what kind of groups it would print, but I'm happy with being able to make a gopher do acrobats at 250+ yards. Also I have heard that alot of people are not happy with Varmint Granades, but I have been quite satisfied with their performance, I am on my second box of them this year. I have also been shooting V-Max's from 40 Gr. to 55 Gr. and have been happy with them aswell. I am from sask. and just spent 2 weeks their gopher hunting and golfing, I'm kind of enjoying this slow time in the oilfield lets me enjoy my hobbies a little bit more.

Taylor

[Unregistered user]

Interesting post, i'm also disappointed with the varmint grenades, I fell for the marketing. Now back to what works the best, Calhoon dhp.

[gube]

Have tried pretty much all of the different available 20 cal offerings with my 204's. My all time favorite for P-doggin is the 39 gr sierra BK. Nice high BC and very frangible for good lift and red mist action.