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Posted: 4/9/2003 11:21:56 AM EDT
| Does anyone out there use cheap (wolf, etc..) or military type ammo (Q3131a)for plinking varmints? If so, what ammo do you use and setup for the AR? I know this ammo is not match grade, but you have to give the critters a little chance to make it fun. Just don't want to spend an arm and leg on ammo since I will be using a friends land of about 400 acres full of these beasts. Anyone use plain old 22's (22 long rifle)? |
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dasreich, I can understand the desire to spend less on ammo, but I am saddened, and even a little distressed, by giving "the critters a little chance to make it fun." I'm sorry, but this seems to violate every code of hunting ethics. If I can't kill it with one shot, then I don't shoot. Just me, maybe. These are prairie dogs? Coyotes? Crows? Yes, you may consider them to be trashy animals, but I firmly believe that one must always, when hunting, aim for a quick, merciful kill. I've been a hunter all my life, and will be one as long as I live. Love it, but couldn't ever endorse this sort of approach. .22's are sufficient, yes, for all sorts of rabbits and rodents and birds. The question isn't whether or not the round is enough, it is your kind of "fun." Don't want to attack you, of course, but the motivation seems a little sketchy. IMHO |
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If your not going to reload, i would definetely shy away from Wolf or any other suprluss ammo like that. Especially if you are shooting prarie dogs or other varmits where you might be shooting all day. When your rifle gets hot, the laquer coating on the wolf steel cases starts to melt and cause feeding and ejection problems. If your going to buy factory ammo, i would also suggest Black Hills or Ultramax. They are both remanufactured ammo using military brass which can be reloaded if you so desire. They come in a wide variety of weights and styles ranging from FMJ to BTBTs'. Good Luck and Happy Shooting! [beer] |
| I use winchester 55grn SP on rabbits and they work like a charm if you hit 'em in the boiler room (three weeks ago I shot a rabbit straight in the chest and when I got closer, I saw it's heart laying on the ground three feet away from him, still beating. It kept beating for about two minutes, wierd huh?). FMJ will just go right through without fragmenting on anything rabbit sized or smaller. The last time I used a .22 to kill a rabbit, I had put 50 rounds through him before he couldn't run away anymore. I've seen at least 4 rabbits give someone the slip after being shot with plenty of .22 rounds. For varmints, you can't beat 45-55grn SP. |
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Quoted: If your not going to reload, i would definetely shy away from Wolf or any other suprluss ammo like that. Especially if you are shooting prarie dogs or other varmits where you might be shooting all day. When your rifle gets hot, the laquer coating on the wolf steel cases starts to melt and cause feeding and ejection problems. If your going to buy factory ammo, i would also suggest Black Hills or Ultramax. They are both remanufactured ammo using military brass which can be reloaded if you so desire. They come in a wide variety of weights and styles ranging from FMJ to BTBTs'. Good Luck and Happy Shooting! [beer] Here's the old Wolf story again. I tried a little experiment. I took 1500 rnds of Wolf to the range a few weeks ago and blasted it all away in about 5 hours. I didnt clean or lube it at all. I had ZERO malfunctions. Wolf is good, cheap, and if you dont shoot Sub MOA you will not see a difference. IMHO. |
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Quoted: IMHO, I think you mistook him. It looks like he means he'll use a lesser ammo so he will actually miss some and give the critters a chance. With top of the line optics and ammo, it's simply point and click, maybe he wants to miss some :) Yes, maybe I did mistake him. Maybe it was a tongue-in-cheek comment. If so, then my remarks will not apply to him, and he won't be offended, and certainly won't consider my post to be a "flame". Still, though, a miss on a brain shot could mean a jaw, and a miss on a chest could mean the guts or a limb. May not make much difference with a prairie dog (or is it [i]rat[/i]?) or a Crow that tends to go to pieces when a .223 connects, but this still has far too much potential for suffering, I think, if the game is any bigger. Why even take the chance? Yes, I know that a day at a densely populated "town" can mean lots o' ammo, but missing and maiming and wounding is no fun to me. If the goal is to be rid of varmints, then a shot over the bow won't be enough to scare 'em away. If the goal is to hunt, then he can get a camera and a journal. If the goal is to practice shooting, then why try to miss? Why even have a target at all? "point and click"? You are obviously an exceptional, if not world-class, hunter and shooter, Syk :) If one wants a challenge, then he can catch and kill wild animals with his hands. IMHO |
| First, I would never shoot at or towards anything with the intent other than to kill it. I do not take offence to anything that is said in this forum. My question simply was to ask what ammo or set-ups other shooters used to varmint hunt. I really don't care to spend mega money for a precision weapon, then more mega money on ammo when this can be accomplished with a 22 rifle or AR15 using wolf or mil spec ammo economically. I have great comfort in knowing that my AR can put a round where it needs to go within a limited range. The prairiedogs, groundhogs, gophers, or whatever you want to call them cost friends of mine a considerable amount of money because of their wonderful homes they have in the ground. I will show them great kindness and consideration when I toss their bodies in a pile. I see no "sport" in hunting when standing over an animal and shooting it or examples such as using dogs when hunting. I feel you should hunt the way it was done many years ago before any of us was born (big game). If ya ain't gonna eat it then don't kill it. Varmints as far as I am concerned does not fall into the same category, especially when it harms your way of making a living. Again, no offence was taken. It is hard to get out what you really want to say with a minimum of words. Enough said I think and thanks to all for the replies. dasreich |
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