I want to go PD hunting but there's a problem

[pertnear]

I've never been PD hunting in my life but I'm fascinated by all the precision small caliber reloaders, builders & shooters. I live in Central Texas & varmint hunting for me is coyotes, hogs & any vermin that just happens to wander by while deer hunting. There is some PD hunting in the pan handle but that is 100's of miles from me. Most reports are that the number of Texas PD's available are minimal at best.

It looks like I might have a chance to hunt PD on a large ranch in New Mexico. But here is the problem. This ranch require lead free bullets to protect the birds & environment. I have a .223, .22-250 & a .256 WM which I think would be suitable for PD's . But from what I read you may shoot 200+ rounds a day. What monolithic bullets are affordable & accurate enough for the amount of shooting I may have? Not to mention I'll have to work up loads for my rifles which I hear can be tricky with solid bullets.

Any bullet recommendations?

Your thoughts or comments are most appreciated.

Dave

[Bill K]

In the 224 calibers you have, the Nosler Lead free 50-55 grain work very well and are not to expensive. Slightly less in cost is the Speer lead free bullet.
They are what I shoot in my 224 cals, since my commie state went lead free on game and non-game critters hunted.

[Johnly]

Originally Posted by Bill K

In the 224 calibers you have, the Nosler Lead free 50-55 grain work very well and are not to expensive. Slightly less in cost is the Speer lead free bullet.
They are what I shoot in my 224 cals, since my commie state went lead free on game and non-game critters hunted.

Bill don't mince words, just say what you're thinking.

As to the bullets, I'll second the Bil's recommendation of the Nosler LF bullets. Sometimes they like a little more jump into the rifling than lead core bullets, but no two rifles are alike.

John

[Bill K]

Originally Posted by Johnly

Bill don't mince words, just say what you're thinking.



John

I do try to be somewhat nice to the communist's in government now days in the USA. But it is getting harder each day, with how and what they are doing to completely tear down the Old Republic.

[SmokinJoe]

pertnear, another comment based on your post. For PD's you won't use a monolithic bullet but a frangible non-lead bullet like the ones mentioned above. Never had to use these so don't have any first hand knowledge about them. I have a bag of 100 35gr blems from Nosler maybe. A friend gave them to me to try. The Hornady NTX is another lead free frangible but don't know anything about them either but maybe someone who does will chime in. Hornady bullets have generally been a little easier to get during this recent scarcity. Good luck with your hunt, it's a lot of fun. Also, if there are a lot of dogs you might shoot up to 500 rounds per day; go home tired at the end of the day.

[Eric Mayer]

Hornady NTX or Nosler lead-free are both decent projectiles.

[flyrod]

I think the barnes varmint grenade options are unleaded and work well. There are lots of PD west of you around midland, hobbs, etc.

[WyoBull]

I would recommend the Barnes Varmint Grendade bullets. I I have loads worked up for them in my 220 Swift and .222 Rem. They would work very well on prairie dogs.

[drover]

No recommendation on the bullets but for rifles the 223 is plenty, leave the 256 home and concentrate on the 22 calibers.

For practicality develop a load for the 223 and load up however many of those as you think you will need. Do not waste a lot of time and expense trying to develop loads for multiple calibers.

In reading the forums one gets the impression that multiple firearms and 1000's of rounds of ammo are required, I shot PD's for a lot of years with just one rifle and never really felt as though I was operating under a handicap.
It does require some awareness though, my criteria is when I can no longer wrap my hand around the barrel and hold it comfortably then it is too hot and time to let it cool.

The 22/250 is good but unless you have a lot of self control it is easy to burn out a barrel quickly on them. You could load up some for the 22/250 to shoot while the other barrel is cooling but that will entail some load development and components.

drover

[B23]

If there's a chance you can shoot some inside of 200yds I'd take a 17HMR along with you too. Rimfires like the 17HMR and 17WSM won't have nearly the splat factor of a centerfire like a 223 or 22-250 but if some pop up inside of 200yds the rimfires can be fun while you're letting the CF's cool. The RF 17's aren't nearly as loud and don't get as hot either.