Exploding Prairie Dogs/ Ballistics thread

[MoValley John]

Are any of those barrel swaps on your Thompson, or all stand alone firearms?

Different guns. My TC is a Venture and doesn't allow for different calibers. I don't have the money for all of that, either. The .380 handgun is mine, I brought two of the .22's and a 30-30 we didn't shoot.

The TC Encore is the gun you can change calibers by swapping barrels. I want to upgrade to a heavy barrel, which you can do, but before I do that, I'll spring for better optics.

[Kung Wu]

Different guns. My TC is a Venture and doesn't allow for different calibers. I don't have the money for all of that, either. The .380 handgun is mine, I brought two of the .22's and a 30-30 we didn't shoot.

The TC Encore is the gun you can change calibers by swapping barrels. I want to upgrade to a heavy barrel, which you can do, but before I do that, I'll spring for better optics.

Nice, we have old school Contenders and can swap the barrels on those. We have a crazy 9mm setup and a .22 setup, both put together for IHMSA competition. You should definitely check that out and give it a go!

If you ever have a chance to go to the Oklahoma City Gun Club, you MUST go. Jim Fields runs it and is a world class competitor with a record that will blow your mind in the air pistol category. But he shoots big bore, small bore, and air pistol. But that club is just a fantastic setup.

[MoValley John]

http://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/handguns/thompson-center-pistols-contender/thompson-contender-3-caliber-set.cfm?gun_id=100581496

Only $1,500 used.

[MoValley John]

I love how you can build a .30-06 pistol.

[Shoxthemonkey]

Nice, we have old school Contenders and can swap the barrels on those. We have a crazy 9mm setup and a .22 setup, both put together for IHMSA competition. You should definitely check that out and give it a go!

If you ever have a chance to go to the Oklahoma City Gun Club, you MUST go. Jim Fields runs it and is a world class competitor with a record that will blow your mind in the air pistol category. But he shoots big bore, small bore, and air pistol. But that club is just a fantastic setup.

Have you ever used any Wichita Arms products for IHMSA shooting? I was a gunsmith for them back in the 70's and early 80's. We actually made a .458 Win on a WSP but we talked the salesman into cancelling the order after test firing it with bad results. We made many .308s and 7mm IHMSAs. Recoil is amazingly controllable with the proper setup. Laying on ones back with the barrel resting across the outside of your calf is very stable. I've shot quite a few Pdogs that way.
I don't do much smithing anymore but I did put together a Remington 700 tubegun with 4 barrels this past winter. I have 22-250, .243 AI, .260 and .308 barrels for it. I had thoughts of shooting F-Class matches but my golf game came back to me and made me reconsider.

[Shoxthemonkey]

This is my tubegun as a single shot. I have since made a new trigger guard that will accept Ruger polymer detachable magazines but I haven't taken any photos of it all dressed up. I'm not sure why the date on the photo shows 2006. I guess I never set the calendar on the wife's camera. It has a Canjar single set trigger and a 722 Remington action. That is a .243 takeoff barrel that was laying about. Replacement barrels are headspaced to a shoulder and are screwed in hand tight. Once in awhile I have to use a strap wrench to loosen them. All of the chassis is aluminum that we had around the shop. The scope is a cheap 6x24 Vortex. It deserves a better scope. The stock and grip are Magpul AR pieces. I still have several other Remington actions that I intend to treat the same way.

[Kung Wu]

Have you ever used any Wichita Arms products for IHMSA shooting? I was a gunsmith for them back in the 70's and early 80's. We actually made a .458 Win on a WSP but we talked the salesman into cancelling the order after test firing it with bad results. We made many .308s and 7mm IHMSAs. Recoil is amazingly controllable with the proper setup. Laying on ones back with the barrel resting across the outside of your calf is very stable. I've shot quite a few Pdogs that way.
I don't do much smithing anymore but I did put together a Remington 700 tubegun with 4 barrels this past winter. I have 22-250, .243 AI, .260 and .308 barrels for it. I had thoughts of shooting F-Class matches but my golf game came back to me and made me reconsider.

Wow, no I haven't shot any Wichita Arms pistols. I do remember 7mm was "the" caliber for Big Bore back in the 80s though. In fact I still have some of my grandfather's 7mm rounds, but I don't believe we have the 7mm barrel for the TC anymore. If we do my brother has it -- I will check with him.

.243 AI? I have no clue what that caliber is. Tell me more!

[Kung Wu]

This is my tubegun as a single shot. I have since made a new trigger guard that will accept Ruger polymer detachable magazines but I haven't taken any photos of it all dressed up. I'm not sure why the date on the photo shows 2006. I guess I never set the calendar on the wife's camera. It has a Canjar single set trigger and a 722 Remington action. That is a .243 takeoff barrel that was laying about. Replacement barrels are headspaced to a shoulder and are screwed in hand tight. Once in awhile I have to use a strap wrench to loosen them. All of the chassis is aluminum that we had around the shop. The scope is a cheap 6x24 Vortex. It deserves a better scope. The stock and grip are Magpul AR pieces. I still have several other Remington actions that I intend to treat the same way.

Wow! I have no clue what that sweet Frankengun is, but I WANT TO SHOOT IT! :) How does it handle recoil? Do the "muzzle" slots (whatever they are) in the frame get used with a different barrel setup?

[Shoxthemonkey]

Ackley Improved. Its a regular .243 Win with the shoulder angle increased to 40 degrees. Fireform the brass by shooting factory ammo and reload after that. Gives 5-10% increase in powder capacity. My barrel has 1-8 twist so the extra capacity helps push 120 gr bullets to the max and keep them supersonic at 1000 yards. Parker Ackley was the gunsmith that popularized the process back in the 50s and 60s. He was most famous as a gun barrel maker. When we were setting up to make our own gun barrels at Wichita, I had the chance to talk with him about the process. He wrote several books about wildcatting and reloading that are great resources for anybody interested in ballistics.

[Dave Stalwart]

I just want to take this moment to offer my two cents:

When I read a thread title called "Exploding Prairie Dogs" my mind is tempted to gravitate towards bathroom humor.

[shocka khan]

Actually, Dave, you could feed them a truck load of warfarin hidden in food and watch them explode from the inside. The warfarin thins their blood to the point where their blood vessels rupture and they bleed out.

So you could have 'exploding prairie dogs' that way as well.

[shoxlax]

The void in Prairie Dogs attributed to MoValley John's hunt is causing earthquakes here due to the empty tunnels and holes in the earth.

[MoValley John]

I ****ing want that gun! I don't even care I'd you can't say ****ing on Shockernet, I want that ****ing gun!

[MoValley John]

Just for safety, our magazines are empty when we shoot prairie dogs. You really only need a bullet in the chamber anyway. I don't care if you can add a magazine (or, according to Shocka Khan, a clip) on the thing, I want the ****ing gun!


So jealous...

[MoValley John]

Questions for Kansas prairie dog hunters:
Is there a lot of opportunity to shoot prairie dogs in Kansas? Are they widespread our very localized? Public land, and if so, productive? Should we look to Kansas for future shoots?

South Dakota is great for prairie dogs, but it's expensive, plus much of the good shooting is on reservation land. You need a varmint license, plus, many landowners charge $50-$100 per gun, per day. Shooting on a reservation is even more. In Nebraska, prairie dogs are still considered a nuisance, you don't need a license. On the flipside, being a nuisance, a lot more ranchers poison prairie dogs, and also, deny they have any. It It's a lot less expensive, but much more difficult to find them. I like South Dakota, love it for pheasants, but an always looking for prairie dog land.

Just wondering what Kansas offers.