I love handgun hunting and hope to bag a pig soon. However a friend of mine goes p-dog shooting with a 204 rifle. What would be a good handgun set up for this kind of shooting, 200-300 yards?
Thanks

A few years back I was in the same situation. I talked to some guys about pistol shooting and started with the 223 Super 14" Contender with a 2x8 scope. I have taken PDogs out to 300 with it. The 222 Contender is a good round also.
I tried the 204 in the pistol length barrel and wasn't impressed with it. It didn't seem to buck the wind as good as my 223. I also got a 17HMR and here in Oklahoma the wind recked havock on the little bullets and sold it the day after the hunt. If you like to reload there are many out there.
I picked up a 222 Rem Mag in a XP100 and it has a little more gas at longer distaces than my 223. The 222 Mag is about 1/8 or so longer than the .223.
I also shoot the .243 which in the Encore will reach out past what you asked about with 80-87 grn bullets and is a thumper on coyotes. I like my 6TCU also.
I just got a 6.5JDJ but haven't had time to push it past 200yds yet. It would be a little over kill on PDogs but who cares.
I'm sure there are many out there as others on this site use but these are just the ones I use and like.
Heck, I took my 309JDJ one day just to fire form some loads. If I had some dogs that would just stick their heads out of the holes, I would just shoot at the mounds just below the top and blow the PDog out of the hole with it.
Go for it and have a good time. I also use my 22LR Contender when the dogs are brave and pop up close.
Mike

First question...what style of handgun are you partial to?

For the ultimate in economy shooting...try a Super 14 .22 Hornet. 10-12 of powder per bang allows for a LOT of shooting on one pound of propellant. And with the 40gr V-Max it will cerainly do every bit of 250yds on p-dogs...300yds would just require more work on reading the wind. That would be a great challenge. I've clobbered g-hogs to 250yds with the 35gr V-Max from a 10" barrel.

The .222/.223 would be my next choice. Loaded with 50gr varmint pills is great to 350yds and more depending on the wind conditions. I have a Contender Super 14 .222 that is ULTRA accurate along with an XP-100 .222 that is "Ultra'ER" accurate. BTW..."Ultra-ER" is a fancy technical term used by us moderators!

The 15" Encore 243 barrels have all the power and bullet selection and weight you should need for varmints up to small deer.

I haven't seen one yet that wasn't accurate either and you don't have to deal with all the wildcat dies, fireforming, etc. either.

Off the shelf ammo or reload cheap brass with cheap dies.

It's the "bomb"...

There's also one for sale in the classified ads too.

$bob$

20 cal is worth a look. I have no experience with it yet. Hopefully by spring my 204 project barrel will be rerady and I can get some charlies with it. I have high hopes for this cal.

22 cal is going to be hard to beat for all around use. The smaller 22's like 22 Hornet, 218 Bee and 221 Fireball really shine with 40gr pills and keep barrel heat to a minimum on extended shooting like PD's. The 223, 222 Mag and 22-250 are great with 50gr bullets and can reach out to 300 yards with ease. Barrel heat can slow the shooting down some.

24 cal would be good for some of the longer distances without excessive recoil. 6 TCU, 243 Win, and 6 PPC come to mind.

I have 5 of the above mentioned cartridges in an encore, XP, and Savage Striker. If I were to go PD shooting the 218 Bee and Fireball would go for the medium range shots with lots of shooting. Then the 243 would be dialed in for the longer shots. Also the MKII would be great for walking around and picking off targets of opportunity.

thanks for the good info. I looked at the tc website and it sure doesn't give much info on handgun barrels,etc. Do you know of a website that has good tc info and options avalible.
thanks

This one is one of the best on the net... Hang around and you'll learn fast.

$bob$

If you go the encore route, you might try a 22-250. it also works great in a xp or striker.
nmhunter

I used to shoot praire dogs in Wyo. and the .223 Super 14 was very good to about 200yds. Back then the 4x Leopold was the best scope I could afford and dont believe there were any variables back in the early 80's.

My choice is what I just aquired in December. I picked up a new Stainless-Steel G2 Contender Frame with a Stainless-Steel Super 14 .223 Remington Barrel. I topped this rig off with a 3x12x32mm Burris LER Fine Plex-PA Handgun Scope.

I haven't had much chance to test many loads in it so far, but plan on using this Handgun for Varmints and Coyotes here in South Dakota. So far I have been shooting 40gr. Nosler Ballsitic Tips loaded with IMR-4198 to a muzzle velocity of 3200 FPS.

There are a lot of good choices out there. In my opinion for the FIRST Varmint Barrel I think the .223 Remington is a good choice. There is a host of Factory and Commercial Reloaded Ammo available in about every conceivable bullet weight, plus the cartridge is easy to load for and brass can be obtained quite easily.

Trust me you will end up with more than ONE Varmint Barrel / Handgun.

Larry

PS I also like a 14" .22 LR Match Contender Barrel for smaller varmints and shorter range shots on Prairie Dogs. I like to start out with the .22 LR in a Prairie Dog Town as the low muzzle report doesn't seem to spook them down there holes as much as the centerfires. Once the close ones are either spooked down their hoels or have been shot I then dig out the centerfire for longer range shots.

for that distance the 223 Rem

Never hunted Pds, but I don't think you can do any better than a 223 loaded with 50 grain bullets. It sure plays havoc with the chuck population around here.

My handgun battery for prairie dogs includes an old Belgian Browning 6" Challenger .22LR and a Savage Striker in .22-250Rem. The .22LR is for close and kills without pyrotechnics. The Striker has a Rifl Basix trigger group and a Burris 3-12x scope, both of which I fitted. With 55gr molyed BlizKings, it's killed effectively out to 327yds, but the eye position at 12x of the Burris is pretty critical and a PIA offhand. I'm now working up the brass and loads for a .357RemMag out of an old style T/C Contender 12" barrel with iron sights for use within 100 yds. Using a 110gr .357 BlitzKing. Interested in seeing how well this works on the "low hanging fruit."